Today feels like an official fall day. The air is cool,
the breeze fragranced by the faint perfume of clematis winding through my
neighbor’s fence. Nearby, the bird feeder seems like the only show in town.
Flocks of wrens, finches and robins descend en masse to
that small red-roofed house filled with black oil sunflower seed, shouldering
through to get the goods. Gone are the skittish birds of spring. This older,
wiser group means business.
I live on land that was once a bird conservatory. Over
the years, houses popped up where there had once only been trees. Some of the
birds have moved on, but others keep their families here, generation after
generation, refusing eviction and deciding to adapt instead.
I wouldn’t necessarily call them pets, even though that
is the blog theme for September. I’m more of a temporary landholder—a caregiver
of the flocks. Yet, I feel a bond with them, all the same.
Sometimes, when I see them congregating at the birdbath, chirping
and chattering, I imagine they’re sharing gossip. One might mention that rude
squirrel she caught hanging from the feeder, gorging on their food and ignoring a perfectly good ear of corn left for him.
Another might complain of a headache from the noise of the migrating Canadian
geese at the natural springs down the hill.
Then sometimes, I imagine the talk is all about how this
feeder—the one with the black oil sunflower seed—is far superior to the other ones
in the neighborhood.
I puff up with pride over this before I move from the
window, returning to my computer and steaming mug of tea.
Perhaps I’ll put up another feeder before winter.
~
Many thanks to Christy Carlyle for asking me to step in
for her while she’s away. Also, thank you to Judith and Sarah for welcoming me
to Romancing the Genres. You’ve put together a wonderful community here and I’m
glad to be a part of it.
If you’re in the holiday mood, check out Tempting Mr. Weatherstone in Five GoldenRings: A Christmas Anthology from Avon (available now). The story continues in 2014 in the Wallflower Weddings series. For more
information, please visit www.vivlorret.net.
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