An acquaintance, who was game to check out our website, commented to me that my blog (particularly the one about our lawn/soccer field) “was kind of sarcastic.” “Yes,” I responded, “and your point is...?” My husband thinks it may be this sardonic sense of humor that has kept visitors from our door. Now that we reside in the “country,” we have a viable excuse for their absence (they can’t find our house; their car won’t start....). But, even when we lived in town, about the only company we had was kids selling candy, cookies or popcorn; Jehovah’s Witnesses; and, once in a great while, a couple of friends who aren’t very popular either. The neighbor’s cat did stop over now and then, but only to spray something, and never stayed long. That’s why, at our new place, we set up birdfeeders close to the house. It would be almost like having company every day. The first few days, as the birdfeeders hung undisturbed, I figured our feathered dinner guests hadn’t found them yet. We added better feed and two birdbaths. After a couple of weeks – and accusations that I must also have offended the birds somehow – I decided that chemicals on the fields surrounding us probably cut down drastically on the bird population. Birdlessness, along with the disappearing snow – all evidence of climate change – was weighing heavy on my mind when I happened by a neighbor’s yard. There were at least 15 little birds hopping, flying and pecking happily around her birdfeeder. And this neighbor has at least one cat and an unfriendly dog. I didn’t know whether to be relieved that birds were not yet extinct, or resentful that they preferred the neighbor’s yard/feeder to ours. So, I’ve been working on my attitude, and we have been hosting more and more birds every year. In addition, recent and regular snow coverings have offered a smidgen of hope with regard to our climate. Ok, human company is still rare, but at least out here we don’t have to buy candy, cookies, popcorn or religious doctrine we don’t want. And our prairie plot, which awaits spring seeding, offers hope of many visitors from the world of bugs and butterflies.
