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Stationary Fireworks
I was on my way to work earlier this week with the radio on. The announcer introduced a streeter– where a reporter stops random people to have them respond to a question – about favourite things about fall. One gentleman talked about the fall colours, and called the transition from green leaves to the riot of colour that is autumn “stationary fireworks.” It created such vivid pictures in my head that I had to write about it. Fall is my favourite season. The temperature is comfortable, the new apples are in season and nature is showing off in technicolour. There… Read more…
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The circle of life breaks down
I’m lucky enough to have a home that backs onto a small piece of parkland that is full of trees, brush and wildlife. Every spring, we watch the squirrels race around with spring fever. The rabbits scampering about around looking for tender new shoots to munch on. The birds flying across the yard with bits of twigs, last year’s now-brown lily leaves and twine in their beaks as they busily construct their own home for their coming offspring. This spring, we’d been enjoying a pair of robins – typical harbinger of the season – who built a nest just outside… Read more…
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A different kind of twitter
Recently, I spent a cold Sunday morning standingstock still in a forest. Why? To feed the birds. My middle child — a 15 year old boy — relishes the challenge of standing still enough to get the more curious birds to come and land on his outstretched hand to choose the best nut or seed to take. It’s amusing to watch the braver birds pick up a sunflower seed and drop it again, deciding that it’s not heavy enough to have a real treasure inside. My son is truly the bird whisperer. I can get chickadees and the occasional nuthatch,… Read more…
