Coming up with titles for my blog posts is hard. Take today for instance. What could I call what I wanted to write so that you would want to read it, yet you wouldn't feel misled? I thought about many titles including:
"Life on the Funny Farm" That might be taken wrongly. I'm not crazy, you know.
"Who's Who In My Sanctuary" Some might think I would be sharing about people in my church. Nope.
"Friends, Furry and Feathered" I don't want to talk about pets.
Living on five acres located miles from town is interesting, not because I hardly ever see people who aren't encased in a tin can and holding a steering wheel in their hands, but because there is a forest full of critters all around our area. I know about the animals I've personally seen and the ones I've heard with my own ears, but the others? They are out there.
First off, there was my surprise visitor one late night last fall. The only reason I was aware of him was because the motion sensor on my porch light picked him up. After seeing the light go on, I went to the all-glass front door and looked out. There he was in all his black and white glory--my fat, striped, slow, waddling skunk . I don't know what he was looking for, but I sure didn't want him to see me see him. I backed off real fast. I haven't seen him since, but I haven't stayed up all night waiting for my porch light to switch on either.
Then there was the masked intruder who also triggered the motion sensor. Yes, he was masked, but he was also bushy tailed. My raccoon, meandering across the concrete on his way to the driveway, was fun to watch as long as he was on a mission somewhere other than my front porch.
Cats! They are feral cats. They are wild cats, but they are my cats. They live in the area I call home. Besides, they are cats who help keep the mouse population in check. The black, short tailed one hasn't been around for months now--just disappeared like cats do around here. The black, long-tailed one had been gone for quit awhile too, then reappeared for several minutes a few days ago. Just as quickly he then disappeared into the trees. But the curious thing are the two young cats that were napping on my porch the other afternoon. I had never seen them before. One was all black with a long tail and the other was a yellow striped one with a short tail. As soon as they saw me the yellow one took off, but the black one stayed, closed his eyes and continued his nap in the sun before moseying off to who knows where. I haven't seen them since.
I know my chipmunks are around here. I see one occasionally. But my most favoritist (excuse my English) furry visitors are my deer. Take yesterday for example. As I looked out my kitchen window toward the back yard, I became aware of two, furry, brown legs under the shaking, jiggling, apple tree. Slowly, the other two legs came into view. Then the entire body appeared as mama deer dropped to all fours, munching on an apple and leaves. I know her babies were not too far off, eating the grass. I also know they were taking note of their mother's change in dining habits. I love watching that deer family, and am thankful my tree is tall enough that, when they have supped on all they can reach, there will still be ample apples for my family to enjoy.
So much for my furry friends. I'm not going to talk about the coyotes. I've never seen one in my yard, but I hear them occasionally at night. They sound so eerie. I did mention disappearing cats didn't I?
Then there are my feathered friends. I wake up to my crows every morning as they loudly debate the day's events. Sparrows, juncos, and chickadees are also in the mix, though drowned out. What I would like to know is why some birds chirp and sing while others scream and yell. Yes, crows and jays, I'm talking about your racket.
Then there is the rat-a-tat-tat of my red-headed woodpecker as he drills his way around the trunk and limbs of my magnolia tree. The holes then fill with sap that traps bugs. Smart birds, those woodpeckers. My Stellar Jay is also a rat-a-tatter. He bangs on the top of my porch posts. I think he is just establishing his territory. I'm pretty sure he and his mate had a nest in the nearby fir tree this spring. I'm also pretty sure he is the one rat-a-tatting on my roof, too. He had better be careful or he will dull the tip of his beak on those new, super-dee-duper composition shingles.
Of course, there are my flickers, starlings, robins, goldfinches, red-winged black birds, swallows, hawks and eagles. Some of the most beautiful birds I've seen arrive every spring when the red-hot pokers are starting to go to seed. Those are my cedar waxwings. They are gorgeous.
Oh, did I mention my humming birds? They're beautiful too. Actually, birds, if you are reading this, you all have a beauty of your own.
These are my furry and feathered friends who live in my sanctuary with me. They are the ones I see. They are the ones I enjoy. There is one, though, I know lives here. I have never seen him, but he makes his presence known. I don't enjoy him at all. Although silent, he is the most intrusive, most impossible to ignore of all my creatures, MR. MOLE. Enough said.
There you have it, life on the funny farm, who's who in my sanctuary, my friends, furry and feathered. We all live here on my piece of heaven on earth. Everyday I'm thankful that my creator God blessed me with so much variety of life in my small space in his infinite universe. Wow.
Have a God day. I plan to.
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