Out there

The figs swell and remain on the branches, although all the leaves have yellowed and fallen. Leaves dropped last summer, too. For two weeks, hummingbirds have been seen at the Turk's caps and the pride of Barbados flowers. Lantana isn't doing much right now; new flowers are on the way and berries are all consumed. We see gulf fritillaries and unclouded sulfur butterflies. I found an empty monarch chrysalis on a potted milkweed plant. This morning, we watched two wrens try to take down a small moth caught inside the screen pavilion. They didn't succeed. We have puny cosmos, not much in the way of fennel flowers at the moment, and a few still-blooming (very few) bachelor buttons and delphiniums. Nasturtiums have dried up or, if they haven't, are not blooming. We were pleased to see a couple of rain lilies this morning; the rain must have brought them, since our twice-a-week sprinkling wouldn't be enough to do so. Circo Hermanos Vazquez has been in our dreams; if we could, we'd return for another performance, tonight's or tomorrow night's.