A wonderful view...

I can't help but stop and look out my windows at times. A couple of days ago I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and ended up watching a couple of fat rabbits nibbling my soon-to-be-mowed grass. Today I again caught some movement and expected to see the rabbits. Nope, a fat opossum. Hmmm... I think they're not good for baby birds, so I'm going to have to do a bit of reading on them.

I have a fox or two also. Sometimes if I head out to the studio at the right time I'll catch them streaking across the yard.

I love watching the little chipmunks scurry on the edge of the woods. I'm not so thrilled when they dig up my plants during the dry season to get at the water I suppose, or maybe to eat the bugs or roots?

I do need to find the time to learn about all the creatures that wander around my own private backyard nature preserve.

I'm fairly familiar with all the deer... and the deer ticks. It's the time of year when I make sure to keep a can of bug repellent by the door. I've had my share of ticks thank you very much!

This is also the time of year when my bird houses are all occupied with moms watching their eggs. And the time when I fill up my hummingbird feeders frequently.

Have I missed any of my regulars? Ah, I don't think I've mentioned my favorites, the wild turkeys. I've watched them grow up! Now they're pairing off and the last group of nine is dwindling.

I do keep my bird book handy as I'm always finding some new bird out in the back that I've never seen before. One day I looked out my window and had a hawk sitting on the porch railing! It (because I have no idea of the sex) stayed there forever watching for its next meal to come skittering across the wide expanse in the back.

Sometimes I think about moving. We've talked about moving to a low maintenance area, a neighborhood. I can't imagine giving all of this up. I'd guess that sooner or later civilization, if that's what you want to call it, will encroach more and more and we'll lose much of the surrounding large tracts of land. We back up to wetlands, which is good, and we're surrounded by minimum 5-acre lots. Most are tree-filled with small grassed areas around the houses. Perfect!

I would like to think that in twenty years the area will look somewhat the same. I'm doing my part in our county to try and preserve as much as possible. Unfortunately, we have a group in "power" who will soon open the floodgates to developers. Once the economy turns around I'm concerned that we'll see growth like we've never experienced before. People will make their money, the county will change, the money-makers will move on to another area to make more money. Those of us who love the pristine beauty and slow growth will either be stuck in old age watching the county go through a cycle of destruction or will move to other areas.

Gee, what started as a positive, uplifting look at nature has turned sour. Hmph. Time to fix another cup of tea and go sit on the back porch and enjoy what I have and turn my mind back to all that's good in this world.