Back Yard

It is fall again. This morning as I walked out into the back yard I noticed a squirrel about five feet from my cat, Silver. The squirrel was searching for a place to bury some odd looking thing that it was carrying. Silver (with her newly acquired silver bell which announces her presence wherever she goes) was watching the squirrel with the same fascination that I was. The squirrel finally found the perfect location, dug for a while and placed the object in the hole, buried it, and left. Soon, another squirrel came from another location to unbury the object and took off up the choke cherry tree. Then a flock of starlings came and settled on the grape vine which covers the wall of the garage to feed on the wild grapes that were abundant this year. The movement in the patch of wild sunflowers drew my attention to the small yellow canary like birds that were feeding on the sunflowers. Then my ears came alive to the symphony of bird songs that was playing to the beat of the gentle rain falling upon the leaves of the trees, and the wing beats of the silent crows as they flew from tree to tree way up above. Then the tinkle of the small silver bell as my kitty ran out into the yard to take it all in. Apparently, the wildlife doesn’t regard her as a threat any more since they can hear her whenever she moves. The symphony continued until, as I walked out to deposit seeds on the hearth at the opposite end of the yard, all birds became airborne; the symphony became the quiet whisper of wings. I waited for a moment, my bare feet rooted to cool grass, after depositing the seeds, to see if the birds would return. Return they did, eyeing me, yet wanting to take full advantage of the morning and of the feeding ground that has been allowed to grow for a time such as this.