Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Welcome to My World!







When I want to get comfortable and get away from the confines of the computer for awhile, I gather my paper, pens, research books, and project file and go sit in my living room where I can look out the window and watch the birds.

We have a big window in our living room that looks out over a tiny side yard with a 6-foot concrete wall. When we moved here, the previous owners kept their trashcans stored here and a pile of wood scraps to burn, but I decided immediately that this was a great place for birds. I dug out a hole and put in a bird feeder post that holds a large feeder on the post and two small ones hanging on each side. I added a hanger from the wall to hang a bag of thistle and a pole that I sometimes hang a birdfeeder and sometimes hang a potted plant. In the center, my son Ben helped me put the birdbath he made for me one year. He cut the shape of sunflower petals from wood that is the flat base which sits on a green pole with a pair of green wooden leaves. A brown plastic flowerpot bottom is the center of the sunflower and where we put the water. The birds love it! They sit in a row around the rim of the flowerpot and lean over to take dainty sips of the fresh water.

Since we moved here 5 years ago, I’ve added gravel all over the ground and planted a Cape May Honeysuckle bush shaped like a miniature tree that the hummingbirds enjoy. They love the orange trumpet blossoms that bloom periodically throughout the year. The back wall is covered by a row of Indian Hawthorne—the mockingbirds love the red berries! And during the winter, purple hyacinth and yellow daffodils sprout up after it rains.

I sit and ponder outlines or create verse while I watch the goldfinches on the bag of thistle, listen to the mourning doves eating seeds that have fallen to the ground, and observe the never-ending supply of house sparrows and house finches that flock to the feeders. Sometimes we have visitors traveling through like the bright orange black-headed grosbeak and the bright yellow American goldfinches. Occasionally, a Cooper’s hawk visits to eat dinner himself—he sits right on the wall to enjoy his meal!

No comments: