Birds, Squirrels and Bunnies

The most peaceful times at the house are when we are watching the creatures in the front yard. Mother has become quite the bird watcher. She keeps a ready supply of birdseed and suet on hand and I go out and fill 3 bird feeders, put a couple of piles of seed on the ground and fill up the suet holder. The squirrels LOVE the suet (a sticky mixture of seed and goo - probably lard or something). They scamper up the tree and balance, upside-down, on the branch, while they take a nibble. Blue jays also love the suet. The bunnies would give an ear, I'm sure, to be able to run up the tree and eat the sweet sticky stuff. But, they get their nutrition from the tasty grass and then chomp some of the seeds off of the ground from either the piles or the droppings from the feeders.

We've seen all kinds of birds: thrushes, "cat birds", woodpeckers, doves, cardinals and blue jays. There are several small ones, too. Chickadees, for sure. Maybe a finch or two. And yesterday, much to mother's delight, we had not one, but two hummingbirds come right up to the front window and hover, looking us both in the eye. I took this to be a very good sign - for, in the Native American tradition (at least according to the deck of 'animal cards'), hummingbirds symbolize joy and love. We sure could use a heaping helping of that in this house!

One more regular visitor that continually delights me is the groundhog! He is about the cutest thing I've ever seen. All chubby and wobbly as he waddles up to the seed pile to have his dinner. He takes a bite and then sits up and his little mouth and cheeks wiggle back and forth as he chews. I squeal with delight whenever I see him and mother disapprovingly says "he's so FAT!!! He's ugly! "How did he get so FAT?" Mother is unrealistically disgusted by fat. Amazing, considering she is no stick figure. Must be something from her upbringing. Her loving words to me often contain the phrase "Oh Anne Louise, I just KNOW you're going to lose 20 pounds this summer!" Wow. And when I say, Mom, I'm fine with how I am, she says "Oh no, you're NOT!" Sigh.

Anyway, back to the animals. There are, supposedly, a family of dear that roam through the lower back yard, but I've been here a month and have yet to see them. Tommy, the plumber, told us to get some cracked corn to throw down and we might get to see them on a more regular basis. Deer are so beautiful. I remember the last time I saw a white-tailed buck chasing a bunny, in front of a big water pipe in Washington state. I took it as a sign and it directed me to to the right spot I needed to be at that moment.

Perhaps the birds, squirrels, bunnies and groundhogs are also giving us a message. Relax, enjoy the scenery, slow down and find joy in the small things of life.