I silently sit in the swing at dusk and wait for the foragers. There are always a few when the apples are ripe.

Sometimes a lone deer comes to feast. Once, I saw an apple plop down and almost hit her below. There was a crow silently snacking above.

Groups of crows fly in to eat together. They hop up the leaning trunk and walk out the branches. They are noisy, but they do share the apples by busting them apart on the pavement.

Our rabbit from the thicket comes out to eat the scraps left by the larger animals.

The twin fawns are old enough to eat bits of apple now. They stayed quite a while one evening this weekend and then bedded down under our porch for the night.

This scene plays out over and over in August under my Daddy’s apple trees.

The visitor last night was not as considerate. There were scratches along the tree trunk and broken limbs hanging down and lying around on the ground.

The offended limbs were bare of their apples.

One of our bears has been back. It is not careful. It does not share with its neighbors. It hurts the tree that feeds it.

It breaks and scratches instead of hopping and picking.

I hope it has had its fill of apples for a bit. Our poor tree needs some TLC.

FLOWER