I have often posted in this blog about the beauty and wonder of nature on my property. However, this past week I visited a neighbor who engaged in me in a discussion about fishing and, as we talked, a chipmunk scooted around his driveway. The little critter visits his property often, sipping the excess water from his coolers following his lake and sea excursions.
"Yeah," he said, "I see him often. He takes off into the ground near my drain." I then mentioned to him that I also have not just one chipmunk on my property, but two, they feasting on the cracked corn treat I leave for the many birds. "My" chipmunks have created a hole near out outdoor central air conditioning platform, and deftly make their way towards and dive into the tiny opening when they sense my presence in the side yard. As we continued to talk, a bright red sparrow landed on a thin limb of a bush near the front of my neighbor's tiny home, about 10 yards away from us. "Ah," I said, "there he is. I see him all the time." "Oh yeah," my neighbor responded. "He visits me every time I'm out here." Conversation ensuing, the cardinal looked at us, cocked its head a few times, as if knowing we were speaking about him. I also wondered, as we made eye contact, if this was the same cardinal that I in the past have written about in prior blog posts, the one I refer to as my Guardian Angel. The red cardinal: a beautiful bird. Finally, something tiny and black moved quickly around a nearby bush, appearing and disappearing quickly. "Hey," I asked, "was that a mouse?" "Yeah, it might have been a mouse -- or maybe a mole." I agreed with his latter assertion, my neighbor much more knowledgeable about the outdoors than me. "I've seen a lot of things around here: skunks, opossum." He concluded, saying while smiling, "I have my own nature preserve right here." There are those who I coin "nature experts;" they have studied the outdoors and bask in the joy of seeing even the tiniest creature. Then there are others, like me, who lack much knowledge but are excited to see specimens on their parcel of land, and sometimes take to books to learn more. I am currently reading a book by Edwin Way Teale, perhaps the most informative and entertaining writer of nature. As I read his words, his description of the flora that he spots, the sounds of bird calls, the "pictures he paints" of the many different types of animals he sees, and -- and this really fascinated me -- detailing in southern Florida how a tiny plant was growing in a drainage ditch, it puts me at peace. My wife and I have planned soon to purchase a park bench and place it at corner spot in our yard, so that we can sip coffee and converse even on the warmest and coldest days while enjoying our own "nature preserve." Steve
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Steve Sears is a New Jersey based freelance writer
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