Will o’ the Wisp

This last few days have been pretty hectic, & as is usually the case, ~ so much effort and too little to show for it all.
It seems that it was just a few short weeks ago that the weather was a balmy 38c, that in itself was crazy for Sept/October.
~ Summer Fall & Winter ~

Seems we missed the fall somewhere along the way, even the leaves for the most part, just rotted on the trees before falling away. Real will-o’-the-wisp weather if you ask me, for after reaching low’s of -3c this last week, today was up again to an unrealistic +13c.
In keeping with the weather, today we went to the park!
So here are a couple or so shots of a will-o’-the-wisp fall season!



Leaves stubbornly hanging on.



Pampas grass? A bright sight, in the cool fall weather.


Hmmmm It's that man again!



Cool clear waters



Cool clear brilliant sky.

Final Fall Days

We went to the park on Wednesday last week, but of course I didn’t write about it until now. The reason for that is I wanted to write a post in these final days, complete with more fall like pictures. On Wednesday Ted’s music was absent again and also on Sunday, chances are he doesn’t even know how much of an aura the music adds to the park in these closing days of yet another year.

In the midst of so much beauty, I can’t help but feel a little sadness. ~ Sunday was the closing day for the season at ‘Willow Park’ for this year 2007. This summer has been just one gorgeous treat after another in natures little wonderland. For the photographer it has been a very rich yield of one photographic opportunity after another. I have never ever been in such a place that gives so many display’s of naturalistic settings.

In relation to the park closing that took place Oct 21st it appears that, that was the closing date for the Ecology season education program for the young and youth of the community. ~ There is wonder in abundance in the vegetable and herb gardens as well as flower gardens, all thanks to the ecology programs. The obvious program success is there to see in the faces of the young children and the volunteers alike. They are as children will be, ~ excited at having learned and taken part in something that actually made things grow. We found out the park itself will of course be open year round right through the winter. I can just visualize the transformation that will take place, with a mantle of ice & white.



On the approach drive in to the park.


Even in the fall, flowers are still in healthy bloom.


Yours truly, back in my favorite surveillance position.


Pampas grass in full glory and in a high wind too.



This one I really love, a shot of the bridge.(on the River Kwai)



On my way home, it has been a great year, thanks Willow Park & all.

C'ya

Fall's In

These are just a couple or more fall pictures that I said I would post, and are from Ontario, just over 2 hours North of Toronto Canada. A point of interest in the picture with the fire hydrant. If you look closely, you will see a post with a small pic on it above the hydrant. For those of a curious nature, these posts are to indicate that there is indeed a hydrant at that location. When winter and the snow arrives the hydrants really get covered. You can judge by the height of the ‘flag’ just how deep the snow can get.



A shot of Fairy Lake



On the Road again.



A view of the Muskoka River.



This is called Hunter Bay.

C'ya

Giving Thanks

This year, before sitting at the table this thanksgiving, to partake of the wonderful bounty placed before us. I would like to take a moment, to offer our thanks to Mother Nature for all that she has given us already in such a wonderful year of pleasure.

This has been at a time of my life with this COPD, that I never dreamed I would participate in, let alone feast on such a menu of beauty to take home, but then who could turn down such an incentive.

When it comes to putting on a show nobody does it better than Mother Nature, who once again flexes her awesome power, putting on such enjoyable sights.

In addition to the park that we go to and I have shown so much of, we also have a small lake a short distance from where we live, it takes all of five minutes to get there. These then are a few shots taken there and some of its wildlife.

(clickable thumbnails)




Round em up, move em out!~ Time to go.




Now be nice ya hear, eat and no squabbling.



Well whadya think. ~ We come again next year?



Doncha think this is just a great turnout?




Get outer here! Ya say that to all the ducks.



Thanks for a summer to remember.

C'ya

Park Poetic

We were at the park again on Sunday, the days are getting shorter and the summer is drawing in. I never mentioned before, but near the entrance to Willow Park there is a day care nursery school. The air is usually filled with chattering shrieking children, most days when we arrive at the park, but they are just kids having fun.

Today when we got there, the playground was standing empty but the signs of kids were still unmistakably scattered around. Over by a far fence there were tricycles & scooters. Gently blowing around in the breeze, was a red balloon, but restrained still, by the captive fence.

There is plenty of evidencet this week that fall is well under way, with leaves falling like red and orange colored raindrops, soon to be replaced with feathery flakes of white as the face of winter arrives with a vengeance.

The very landscape seems busy preparing itself for that Christmas card look, that comes with the approach of cold blustery snowy days & Santa Claus.
Small chipmunks and squirrels scurrying around gathering up winter nuts, food supplies, before the blanket of white covers them up to sleep, the turtles having disappeared already. Strangely, when leaving to drive home on this, one of these waning days, my thoughts were filled by a red balloon.



A red balloon escapes-
Twisting, turning lazily
In a shifting wind.
No longer tethered-
To a sleepy child’s hand.



A leafless limb,
stark against an autumn sky.
Music faint-
Amid the swirling mist -
Mendelssohn.

C'ya

Class`ick’s

About a week ago now one of our neighbors endowed us with a gift of this very sizeable zucchini. This monster had to be about four feet long and weighed almost as much as me. The first question that came out of me was, where the blazes are we going to put that thing! Second I asked the wife, why? Why did you even say yes, I swear I don’t know what she was thinking of. So for two days ‘it’ resided on the end of the dining room table. (I’m sure if it was plotting to take over the whole house.) believe me it can be quite intimidating trying to eat a meal with that thing giving you the once over.
I know you can carve a pumpkin, I guess we could carve the zucchini, that would get rid of half of it at least.
The wife likes those things, can’t you tell I have no time for them. ~ Zucchini always reminds me of a cucumber that went rampant with the hormone pills!

On day four Elizabeth decided that she would have some of that monster fried, I declined, though I admit it did smell pretty decent when she cooked it.

So the monster now, somewhat subdued and smaller in length, graduated to the kitchen counter not that we have a lot of space to start with. Of course the cut end was covered, but even that didn’t stop it from discoloring slightly. Out came the knife and some more bit the dust, unfortunately, now the size would at a squeeze, fit into the fridge! ~ Oh no not that I said to the missus, it’ll contaminate the rest of the food. ~ She gives me one of those patented over the spectacles looks, the ones that say’s you’re crazy! I smile, for this is my way of teasing her about the monster.

***

Have you ever had a period of time when things don’t just feel the way they should? The last few days have been that way for me, and I’m dammed if I can put a specific label on it. The problem I am sure is that I have COPD.
For the benefit of those folks who aren’t familiar with COPD let alone what it means or entails, I can try and explain a little. To try and keep things as short as I can, COPD is a respiratory disease and the only visible signs are, if someone is really SOB (short of breath). A favorite saying is, ”Sick Lungs don’t show”.
A person can get COPD in various forms as well as various ways. If you have smoked cigarettes/tobacco for any appreciable length of time you can end up with emphysema that is one form. Being asthmatic or suffering bronchitis at any level is another form. In fact if you suffer anything at all that interferes with your breathing, chances are you have COPD. A spirometry test will determine how badly you are effected.
The problem is that once you have the disease then you become prone to anything that goes round, by way of germs/bugs. This is because with COPD your immune system is compromised, therefore you can get whatever is going around if you‘re not careful.

So getting back to my being under the weather for a few days. It did not mean I was ill or sick again, it just meant I was under siege by whatever is afloat, for even the very weather itself can do it. If it is hot/damp/humid then that makes the air very heavy & hard to breathe. The cold can do the same thing too, for then it freezes your lungs and once again you are out of action.

Today was supposed to be rehab drop in, I didn’t make it because of the above difficulties. Instead then, we decided to try and go in the a/c truck to the a/c mall and pick up some needed med supplies.

On the way to town there was ample evidence that fall is upon us, with all of the changing leaves. This then brought to mind our visits to the park and the declining number of days left. We had hoped to get to the park again today, but the weather put paid to that idea. Still there we were driving along and thinking. I could almost see the park from where we were, so tantalizingly close and yet, so far off limits for today at least.
At the mall we took care of a number of things, and at least I got some walking in, which is good for me. We did get one real steal today at the ‘Cole’s bookstore‘, ‘Windows Vista for Dummies” book was on sale at 30% off , not bad when you can get a book like that for under $20. So now if the computer starts acting up, I can at least, whack it with the dummy book!

We also ended up at the food court and the tasty ‘Frisco Fries’ need I say more! I keep telling myself that the extra couple of lbs I have put on recently, is simply because winter is coming and I need the insulation, yeah, that’s what I thought too, that works if you’re a bear.

Guess I have to do a workout when we get home.

C’ya

Waning Days of Summer

We were at the park again yesterday, the weather had picked up and it was warm enough to venture over and see if there were any more turtles sunning themselves.

It had occurred to us that although we have taken many pictures at Willow Park this summer, we didn’t have any of the two of us together. Yesterday we rectified that omission by shooting a healthy number of photographs.

Elizabeth and I will not torture you with a whole bunch of poses, but we will share a couple of the ones we like with you. Incidentally as it turned out no turtles showed up for us this time.



We hadn't eaten yet so I was getting hungry, still a walk to go though.



Honest we were just holding hands!





A seat at the picnic table after lunch.




Well fed and resting.


C'ya

Willow Park

Yesterday we went to the park. In the morning I was feeling very restless. I know that this came from checking my post for Tuesday.
The post simply read “Fateful Times” a poem that I wrote a number of years ago. Last Tuesday was the 6th anniversary of the infamous 9-11. ~

Yesterday we went to the park, yet thoughts were weighing heavy on my mind. Physically I was not having a very good start to the day, but I still had to get out and enjoy a little of what is left of the summer season.

From previous posts you have noted our enjoyment of this little piece of heaven, this corner of the ‘Garden of Eden’, ~ this ‘Willow Park‘.
It was an overcast day to begin with the temp’s hovering around 68f.
As I drove along the highway, I was having my doubts about whether this was a good decision to have made, ~ I drove anyway.

It was a similar morning six years ago that was preying on my mind. On that day many people left the house to go to work, or their daily business, just like any other day. Too many of them never came back home.
So many people died that morning and they never even knew it was coming, let alone how. Such a horrific scene, such a deep scar on the face of humanity.

Yesterday we drove to the park, and were thankful to be able to do so. We enjoyed the simple pleasures of the wonders of nature, clouds overhead with the odd burst of sunshine. Finally between sun bursts, a turtle sunning on a log in the pond along with three baby turtles on smaller logs, you can see a baby in the top righthand corner. We were beginning to wonder if there were indeed any turtles around. But yesterday was Painted turtle day and the bull frogs were conspicuous in their absence.

Like us the turtles time is coming to a close here at the park, as they are known to hibernate beneath the mud in the pond for the winter. ~ Amazingly, these turtles can survive without oxygen up to five months at 37.4f ~

Yesterday Ted wasn’t home playing his classical music, so everything seemed extremely quiet around the park. The geese flying overhead were the only sounds, other than the music of the rippling stream as the water hurried itself over the rocks and slipped away into the distance.

I reminded myself that there are not too many days left before the park will be closing up for this season. I still had to get photo’s though when the leaves turned, for they would complete the picturesque scenes of this place we have grown to love so much. I counted the days that there are left to come here and uttered my thanks that we should be so privileged.

My mind was active as we drove home from our September day at the park. ~

I thought of another September day, six years ago. ~

C’ya

Pandora’s box

This saying is fast getting to be a habit, but this last week sure was a Pandora’s box of events.

To start, the weather certainly played its part being so hot and humid. The humidity + temp at times reached temperatures of 40c which is warm in any language. On a sad note there was the passing away of the guy upstairs.

On the bright side though we were able to get to the park twice during the week, Monday and Saturday. Stolen visits between hot spells.

On Monday at the park we had the privilege of running into a gentleman who with others, helps run and look after the park, his name is Brian. We had a very entertaining conversation about the park and learned of some of the more intricate behind the scene concerns. Things that one would not normally think to be related with a place like this. A very interesting man.

The real bonus though is that we are always able to come away with a few more pictures, memories of a glorious days visit. (clickable thumbnails.)



I guess fall is on its way. A sugar maple on the turn.


Such a nice contrast in colors.


What can I say COPDer's!


One of the many trails that one can take.


Not exactly the 'Bridge on the River Kwai' but hey, this is a great place all the same.

C'ya

A Small Escape

Yesterday we finally had a little break from all the oppressive heat and humidity. ~ There was little humidity, but temps were a respectable 29c/86f though still quite hot in the sun. I had been housebound long enough because of COPD, so off we went to the park. (clickable thumbnails)


A few wild flowers


Can't have flowers without a butterfly.

A different shot of the river

And of course Freddy Frog has to have a show.

Yours truly, for after all the trip out is for our benefit.

C'ya

Whispers In The Willows

The air is full of old cliché’s nowadays. ‘The older you get the worse one gets?’ I don’t think so! ‘The best things in life are free’ we can go along with that, but then our needs are few, in order that we be happy.
‘Life is what you make it’. I can’t argue with that one.

The whole point to this preamble is, yesterday we had a great day, and all we did was go out to our ‘special’ park again and sojourn with mother nature for about three hours. Of course now on these excursions, we take along a packed lunch making it into a picnic. On these occasions the camera is a must, for there is no telling just what we will bump into each time we visit. ~ Today certainly was no exception.

Every time we go the park I seem to say the same things over and over. “I feel that I should sit and do an article about this place,” for each time we go I am moved by an urge to write.

Could it to be because of the peaceful tranquility that just seems to flow over you and envelope you in its embrace.
Or perhaps it just may have been the ghost of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Author of “Anne of Green Gables”, who used to live in this area for a while. Adjacent to the park, there now stands a beautiful memorial garden in honor of her. ~ Whatever the reason, the urge to write is always there!


Today the sun was shining brilliantly, occasionally peeking out from behind convenient white puffy clouds, that sailed along like ships in the night.
The temperature was very comfortable, with a light breeze, just sufficient to make the tree tops sway, in rhythm to the whispering sounds of the rippling stream. Happily, three American goldfinches flirted with the glistening waters, swooping and dancing then swooping yet again.
Further along closer to the wetland the bullfrogs could be heard honking their deep throated call. The vibrant chirping and singing of a cardinal rang out from a nearby tree. Overhead could be seen a gliding hawk, scouting the area for a morsel for lunch no doubt.

We sat for a while and had lunch ourselves, all the time surrounded by the sounds of nature, such music to the ears. ~ In the distance the sounds of happy children & their parents, as more visitors arrived at the park.

We wandered over to the wetland area to a chorus of calls of the bullfrogs once again. Standing on the wooden patio platform, one can lean on the rail and get a good view of the whole wetland terrain. Before long a couple of frogs came near, I thought they would pick up a hapless moth that had come amiss on the pond water, but no. Instead one sizeable frog came ashore. At first it seemed to sun himself but I guess he had his eye on a good sized bug that was flying around, more meat on that one I thought as I spotted them. However it was not meant to be as the bug went on his way the frog meanwhile, still sat there.

Elizabeth ever vigilant, decided to try and get close without scaring him away, and yes! She got a very good picture of our friend.

During our visit we explored some more, to see what else was different today that maybe we could photo and spirit away to go with the other souvenirs from previous visits.

We had been by the bridge a little earlier and heard the sound of a bird not very familiar to us. Then we spotted him landing on the branch of a nearby tree. The wife went to work right away with the camera. She was successful in getting a couple of shots and more when he decided to alight on the rail of the bridge, this was our lucky day! We are still not quite sure what kind of bird it is, it does look a little like a larger Robin except he has spots on his breast and his head is a somewhat different shape than a Robin, we have got to look that one up. So far the possibility is maybe a juvenile robin, but the spots are misleading.


We moved on eventually, making our way over the bridge ready for our departure, walking up the steep sides of the hill. Stopping for a moment that I may catch my breath, I noticed a very weathered tree, that at that level I thought, would make a good photograph.

At the top of this garden of magnificence there stands a grand looking house. The occupant of the house certainly provides such pleasure with their choice of music regardless of whether they are aware of the fact. They play the haunting strains of classical music from the Masters, which seems to simply float on the air as we wander around the park. Truly, Whispers in the Willows. A whole different World.

C’ya

A Futile Rant

Of late I seem to have lost a little gusto, words are getting increasingly difficult to come up with. This is not a good sign or a happy moment right now. In this fast moving world I now find I have to increase the pace, that I may keep up with life.

Right now I guess I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet with all that is going on around the world. When I was a kid growing up my parents always advised, never get involved in an argument that involves politics or religion. Well I ask you, how can one not get involved with all that is happening all too frequently today.

Yesterday I watched fragments of the “Live Earth“ show stopper that was being put on TV around the world. It didn’t take me very long to ask myself this question. Just how much good do the organizers think this will do, and how best do they think it will manifest itself?
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for anything that will stop this rollercoaster madness that is taking place, ~ virtually destroying the Earth. But to think that concerts are going to change that? To that I really have to say ‘Get real!’
The only way things are going to be changed is if all the countries and governments of the world get off their duff and get their snouts out of the trough!!

For while the concerts provide a nice summer interlude to the madness, ~ Still the wheels of destruction grind on.

I don’t see too many businesses cutting back on their toxic emissions destroying the ozone. I don’t see very many folks trying to cut back on their use of the automobiles and the poisonous gases they emit. The flagrant abuse of energy, just so some folks can have their toys to play with. I could go on forever for the list is rampant and so endless.

The thought crossed my mind whilst watching parts of the ‘Big Show’ wouldn’t it be great, (in a dream world) if all of the millions of people who were watching the concert, could be harnessed ~ as in one big voting block.
Put the votes to work in all of the countries concerned ~ get rid of the stumbling block bodies who are concerned only with their own image and brownie points.
Vote in responsible politicians who would devote their time and beliefs into doing something realistic about this World problem in addition to the normal government activities. Governments who would clamp down on big businesses and either make them comply or shut them down - period! I realize that this too would require some cooperation between countries. We all know that this can’t be achieved without some growing pains to everyone, that goes without saying. We would then see in reasonable time I feel, a change taking place in the world environmental conditions. At least then, there might be a planet for the children of the future. I know this cannot be achieved overnight, but it could be done.

The people who are the stumbling blocks to world recovery are well known enough, there is no need for me to get into names. I think that most will agree the BS has been going on far too long.

Of course all of this is probably a futile rant, lets face it, at times people living on the same street can't get even along let alone a whole world of people.


As a footnote: I would like to say my words are not here to be critical of the ‘Live Earth‘ concert concept. I do not take away in the least anything from all the good work, time, effort and entertainment values put out by all who contributed to the ‘Live Earth program” I thank you all for the attempts to make people more aware to the world’s environmental problems. Thank you again.

C’ya

Lazy Weekend

After being under the weather for so long, it makes a nice change to just sit back and take it easy for a day or two. Yesterday we decided to go out to the stores for a short while. For a change it was the wife’s leg that was in question and not me. Things went well for her and she went around with a smile on her face because of it.

Last weekend the superintendent here, recharged the water softener unit for the building with salt. Of course we were unaware of this; that is until I went to rinse my mouth out after doing my medications. Talk about gag! I felt like I had swallowed an ocean, sadly it remained like that all week. I was talking with the super on Friday and mentioned it to him. It surprised me to hear that nobody else had told him of this fiasco, which prompted him to say “ I suspected the unit was going and now that confirms it!” I grimaced “It is seventeen years old you know!”

Yesterday while we were shopping we picked up 3x 24 bottles of spring water. We were running low and because of the salt-water incident I am now using bottled water to rinse my mouth besides, it was on sale at a good price.

This morning we were just sat there having a lazy time of it, me on the computer drinking my tea and Elizabeth over doing stuff after getting out of the shower. Suddenly ‘The patented squeal” “Look, Look, look at the feeder! I wondered what the hell I was supposed to be looking at! I got out of my seat and took a peek. Well I’ll be! ~ I couldn’t believe it and we both said “what the heck is that!?” What we saw was a bird that neither of us had seen around here before, and the wife not ever.
(clickable thumbnail)


A remarkable thing was though; earlier today we thought we had heard a different bird singing. But then it sort of changed to a different sound almost like that of a running shoe squeaking on a hardwood floor, then back to the singing. We couldn’t see anything so we just dismissed the incident at that time.

Because this is not the first time that we have had to scramble to identify a bird, we have links to bird places for that purpose. We both attacked our task and got to it. The end result was that the bird turns out to be a “Rose Breasted Grosbeak” a member of the Cardinal family of birds. Now the Cardinals we have had before, in fact we seem to have two sets of them resident year round now. After checking out the new addition, our area seems to be the breeding ground for the RBG. The only thing that puzzles me is, why have we not seen them here before now? However; we will take what we have and be thankful for that. We consider ourselves very lucky to have the abundant numbers of bird species that we have here most year round. Which kind of makes this a little bit of paradise on a nice lazy weekend.

C’ya

Reflections Part 2

We were sitting bird watching one day when a couple of new faces showed up. This sent me scurrying to the computer to look them up for I wasn’t sure what kind of bird they were. That just shows how well I knew my birds but I was getting better. It turned out that we now had the common grackles and a purple finch or two. The finch was quite pretty with his purple vest and even the grackle was handsome dressed all in black. About this time I should mention that we also had three pairs of ground doves. Once in a while they would perch on the tree with the goldfinches, but mostly you had to look at the ground to see them foraging around, a thing I could overlook sometimes. Just like the juncos.

TV time again. Today I was watching a baseball game, shucks another loss, can’t seem to get any luck with the idiot box. At times I wonder why we bother with the cable TV for there never seems to be anything decent on and the news can be so depressing.

It was time for the leaves to change as we approached fall, and it was about this time that we got our latest new family members in the form of some nuthatches and three downy woodpeckers. I was a little surprised, because I had given up hope of ever seeing them in our back garden. This was because earlier we had put out a suet feeder and had no action, but here they were.
Even now, late in the year and already started into winter, we still have the woodpeckers, nuthatches and the black capped chickadees. Surprisingly, we still have an abundance of goldfinches. I thought they would have migrated south by now however; their coats seem to have changed and they look like they now sport a winter coat. Of course this would be so nice if they stay for the winter months. Unfortunately, the appearances of the blue jays are now getting more and more scarce and we had the one visit with the mystery birds. The closest we could find was that they sure looked like brown thrashers, but we haven’t determined that at this point.


In the political spectrum politicians jockeying for position, for it seems that their concerns lean more towards their own ambitions and personal agenda’s, rather than the welfare of the country and its peoples best interests. Everybody is blaming everyone else for the woes of the World. Often I wonder, just who is running the country, or even, are they?

I cast my thoughts and eyes back to the window, it was so much more simple to just enjoy the pleasures of nature. Some of the birds seem to be so tame that at times, they keep coming right up to the window and looking in on us, almost as if they are telling us the feeders are getting low again. I thought just how lucky we were to have this so available, and at the same time, thinking of the poor devils in the trouble torn countries, so many dead or injured, too many homeless, and no food or water. It is so sad. I guess that’s when I started thinking more of the simple wonders of nature and the apparent destructive actions of mere man.

Strange really when one thinks of it; there is always lots of talk of technology and progress, with man forever coming up with new ideas to make life easier for people.
Yet it would really seem more like, forever making things much worse overall in the world, in regard to the environment and wildlife in general.
Oh how wonderful it must have been to live in a world before pollution and damage to the ozone layer.

True, one cannot stay forever mired in the past. Yet at the same time, look where technology has taken us so far today. We seem to be always in a downward spiral, as we fumble with ideas of how to correct the damage
man has done this far.

It’s hard to believe that for a world that has existed and survived disasters for millions of years, it has only taken man about two hundred years to bring us to the stage we are at now.

With global warming, ice caps and glaziers melting, changes in the weather patterns which translates into more severe storms, creating devastation around the world, such as we have never seen before. In truth, the very survival of the human race now seems threatened.


There is so much that we as a race of people need to learn from nature. The wildlife, even the lifestyle and teachings of the North American Indian and other ancient peoples, but in particular for me, the birds. Perhaps it is already too late for this phase of world history. For everyone’s sake, let’s hope that it isn’t so.

I turned my attention back to the window and the birds. Life is so much simpler this way.

C'ya

Reflections

Have you ever just been sitting there in your favorite chair, feeling a little beat after a tiring day? Of course you have. I was doing just that today, and in those kind of moments my mind usually just takes off. I sat there lazily staring out of the window, with the TV on in the background, and the more I stared the more the thoughts just hit me.

It was such a simple thing really, a few birds were chattering away on the feeder and others, just flew in gathered a seed then took off again. These were the black capped chickadee’s, always very polite and orderly with each other. The thought crossed my mind that it’s such a pity some people couldn‘t take a leaf out of their book and learn something. I sat there reflecting on the past summer and all the wonders that mother nature had brought to our door or window, for our enjoyment free of charge. Such a variety of birds. Now that I think of it, far more than I have ever seen in my life before in one place and yet they all got along so wonderfully well in perfect harmony.

It had started out with three families of robins who would wake us up in the early morning with their songs, closely followed with the songs of a pair of cardinals. At this time the trees were just in bloom with a new mantle of fresh green leaves to herald the spring and summer, also accompanied by the early flowers already in the gardens.

As the season moved along, we would be joined first by one species of bird and then another, at different times some would arrive and others would move on. By the end of the Summer we would eventually end up with visits from a whole variety which included a Baltimore oriole. I get a chuckle when I think of the first time we had a visit from him. We didn’t know what he was till we looked it up on the internet; then we started phoning around frantically trying to find a feeder for him. Eventually we ended up driving 16 kilometers to a store and $15 later we were on our way home. As it happens we had a feeder out for the hummingbirds, and this is what the oriole tried to drink from the first time we spotted him. It was the beautiful sound of his singing that caught my attention at first for I had not heard one before and sadly even his stay was just for a short time, until he made another appearance later in the season. The real surprise for me was when an indigo bunting made a one time only appearance. He was such a brilliant color of blue, so pretty and so unexpected too. The hummingbirds too were always a treat as they hovered at the feeder, sometimes perching on the bird rest to drink then they were gone so fast.

I glanced momentarily towards the TV, and sighed. Another bombing had taken place somewhere in the middle east, with many dead and injured, also a few more shootings had happened in the big city here, in what almost seems like a daily ritual nowadays. Yet the pundits would have one believe that the crime rate was in decline. Sometimes I really think they get their stat’s from a flea market!

I looked out the window again because a blue jay was squawking his head off, which gave me a chuckle and a light moments break from the humdrum world of TV. It wasn’t very long before we had the first American goldfinch’s arriving, for we had already got the Niger feeder out there. Once again, such beautiful birds and such vibrant colors!

Where we live is just a small apartment building in a typical small town away from the big city. At the back of the building is a very small quiet expanse of greenbelt that runs the length of the building, with grass, a few mature trees and a small hedge on the back of the property line. This is more than enough to give us a decent amount of privacy, where we can also enjoy the countryside and the joys of nature.

It seems such a shame really, that in order to slow down and appreciate the simple pleasures of life, one has to get older. I guess when people are younger and still in the workforce, they are busy trying to make a living and having good times. Understandably it’s relatively easy not to notice such treasures of nature and they can just slip by you. Such a waste when you think about it at my stage of life. Gee, I must be getting old!

To Be cont'd tomorrow.

C'ya