Meanwhile in my backyard…

By TAO

On Saturday, I was standing in front of the kitchen sink doing dishes when a fluffy chickadee landed on the railing.  Her little wings were quivering noticeably, and I worried that perhaps she had crashed into a window and hurt herself, so I watched – dishes forgotten.  She didn’t move but kept darting her head back and forth tweeting – you feel so helpless because what can you really do?  A minute or so passed, and another chickadee landed a ways down from the little one in distress, this one smaller, and leaner than the fluffy one crying, suddenly the smaller one swooped over and the distressed fluffy one expectantly opened her mouth, and the smaller one popped a small worm or bug in fluffy’s mouth.  Mystery solved – fluffy one was just a baby learning how to fly!  Having fed her little one a tidbit, and reassured her – mom flew away, and within a minute, so did fluffy way up onto one of the protective branches of the very tall spruce tree in the backyard.

I have lived most of my adult life without a dishwasher.  I don’t see the need when there is only two of us, and if I had one – I would also miss seeing all the different birds and squirrels that spend part of their day coming to my back porch, and their stories that play out right in front of me every single day.  They restore the peace in my soul.

I think we need to remember to stop and smell the roses…and yes, I have roses blooming and buds ready to open.  But roses are not what has my attention right now – one of my large shrubs (taller than I am, and pictured below, that I bought without anything identifying it – not even size) is also in bloom, perhaps the most beautiful it has ever been, it grows upright and once the branches get long, they cascade out and curve down towards the ground – every branch is covered with the most exquisite small white blooms that stand out against the small shiny green leaves behind.  Awe inspiring, and it comes to life just when the white lilacs next to it, are fading.  I love springtime – it just makes me smile all day long, even when it is raining like today.