Only a month ago. If September memories were beets or pumpkins, they’d still be totally fresh and ready to use, tasty and fortifying, maybe even sweet if the pumpkins were pie; if these memories were green beans or berries, on the other hand, they’d have long ago become mushy compost. Either way, it’s a win, nourishment from every corner of our lives. Here’s looking back at you, September.
Walks & Sights … in New Hampshire
I walked seven different trail systems in NH in Sept., plus around town. All the rain this summer made for lots of fungi.
muddy trail 
new bridge and boardwalk 
mourning cloak butterfly on goldenrod 
hobblebush 
ferns 
narrow path 
great blue heron 
frog 
asters and monkshood 
green heron 
Monotropa uniflora (Indian pipe) 
Retiboletus ornatipes (ornate stemmed bolete) mushroom 
Harrya chromapes (chrome-footed bolete) mushroom 
Cortinarius sp. mushroom 
coral fungi 
Medeola virginiana (Indian cucumber root) 
Epifagus virginiana (beech drops) 
monarch caterpillar on milkweed 
Actaea pachypoda (doll’s-eyes, white baneberry 
black-eyed Susan 
cosmos and zinnias 
Cortinarius (probably C. azureus) mushroom 
Strobilomyces floccopus (old man of the woods) mushroom 
Actaea racemosa (black cohosh, bugbane) 
dogwood fruit 
asters and Virginia creeper 
juvenile common yellow-throat warbler 
hickory tussock moth caterpillar 
stinkhorn mushroom 
junco 
female black-throated blue warbler 
Walks & Sights … in Maine
We spent 4-1/2 days in southern Maine in September, in Kennebunk/Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, Wells, and York. Most of each day was spent walking and exploring in woods or on the seashore.
YORK – MT. AGAMENTICUS
Erechtites hieraciifolius (American burnweed) 
porcupine! 
sumac 
Vanessa virginiensis (American lady) butterfly in aster 
goldenrod 
wintergreen in moss 
sunlight on rocks 
long view
OGUNQUIT
kites 
Footbridge Beach 
Norseman beach 
knotweed hedge, Marginal Way 
monarch butterfly in knotweed 
Perkins Cove harbor 
Buddha statue 
restored pollinator garden 
asters 
KENNEBUNK/’PORT
snail on the move 
dog-walking on Gooch’s Beach 
gull 
dog-walking on Gooch’s Beach 
greater yellow-legs 
stained glass – St. Anthony’s Franciscan Monastery 
unicorn in Adirondack chair – St. Anthony’s Franciscan Monastery 
garden – St. Anthony’s Franciscan Monastery 
St. Anthony’s Franciscan Monastery 
stepping stumps – St. Anthony’s Franciscan Monastery 
great blue heron 
running deer 
Canada geese 
monarch butterfly on buddleia 
harbor 
sanderling 
bumblebee in rosa rugosa 
jetty 
cormorant 
Gooch’s Beach
WELLS RESERVE / LAUDHOLM FARM / RACHEL CARSON NWR
eastern comma butterfly 
sanderlings 
false Solomon’s seal 
Indian cucumber root 
persicaria 
American copper butterfly on aster 
great blue heron 
herring gull 
plover 
sanderling in clam shell 
sand dollar and dark rock 
noontime
Food
So many food photos, and photos of food places, this month. Many meals eaten outside at restaurants on our trip to Maine, as well as near home in New Hampshire.
champagne at friends’ for dinner 
shrimp tacos, Brix, Ogunquit 
Bog 2.0 orchid orb, Brix, Ogunquit 
Polyculture Brewing beer garden 
apple pie made by spouse with neighbour’s apples 
Chef Jacques crepes, Wells ME 
Mornings in Paris, Kennebunk 
Mornings in Paris, Kennebunk 
Bitter End, Wells, ME 
sauteed hake fish, Five O Shore Road, Ogunquit 
grilled swordfish, Five O Shore Road, Ogunquit 
sea scallops, papperdelle, saffron broth, local restaurant 
crusted Iceland cod, local restaurant 
Old Vines Wine Bar, Kennebunk 
pan-seared halibut with almond brown butter crust 
olives, Old Vines Wine Bar, Kennebunk 
view, Boathouse Restaurant, Kennebunkport
Socialising/Zoom
Salon on a friend’s porch 
poetry group on deck overlooking lake
House & Garden
CAT
GARDEN
basil harvest (made into pesto) 
cosmos 
Acronicta insita (large gray dagger moth) caterpillar 
Chelone lyonii ‘Hot Lips (turtlehead) 
crab spider in cosmos 
10 monarchs in Joe Pye weed 
bumblebee in ‘Rozanne’ geranium 
monarch on ‘Bluebird’ asters 
hover fly on ‘Bluebird’ aster 
pink perennial mum 
feverfew 
pink asters 
Helianthus divaricatus (woodland sunflower) 
calendula 
Helenium autumnale (sneezeweed) 
last hummingbird seen this year, in comfrey 
Kirengeshoma palmata (yellow waxbells) 
prairie warbler in goldenrod 
puffy catbird in crabapple 
monarch on buddleai 
jagged assassin bug on echinacea 
shade garden 
gazania (annual) 
anise hyssop 
Heuchera ‘Orange Marmalade’ 
milkweed tussock moth caterpillar 
goldenrod 
front walkway
