Relaxing with nature

Yesterday after finishing the “shed from hell” that I have been building for the last several weeks I sat down in my front yard and drank a beer relaxing for a bit. Once I sat there quietly it was amazing to see nature come to life before my eyes.

I need to preface this story a little so you can understand things a bit. My shed is one that I have been working on for several weeks now between the rain showers, work, and the normal everyday things that keep you from working on it. I should have built a shed made completely out of wood but instead ‘got a deal’ on a metal shed with the floor system thrown in. What the person at Lowe’s fails to tell you is the ‘floor system’ is not a floor only some metal pieces that makes up the shape of the bottom of the shed. You still have to but the plywood for the floor so I still needed six sheets to cover the area I was building. The shed is 14’x16’ and I decided to build my base on 2x6” wooden joists and cover it with plywood. This would eliminate the sheetmetal pieces provided with the shed.

Oh, did I mention the 1000+ pieces of screws, bolts, nuts, and washers that it takes to build this thing. Another pain is that it takes three people to build this so doing it alone makes for some creative ways to assemble things and keep the building square. There was much frustration but it is finally done giving me time to sit and enjoy a beer observe nature in my own yard.

As Deb and I sat out front under the deck enjoying the quiet of the afternoon and discussing all of those trivial things you do when it is just nice to sit for a bit. This calming effect of slowing down enough to realize it is happening was needed after another busy weekend.

Suddenly . . . from above there were small things falling down upon us. What was happening to us every few seconds? It was not sprinkling as there were no clouds in the sky above us. We quickly realized that the birds where flying up on to the deck railing where we put out birdseed and squirrel food.

As we sat quietly watching . . . we realized there were hundreds of small birds in the trees and bushes on the property. There were the small finches which quickly dashed and darted their way to the deck rail to eat or grab a small seed and fly back to the safety of the nearby trees. We could see other birds eating from the wild berry bushes loaded in the bright red color against the green leaves. These bushes are in full bloom now loaded with many berries and the wildlife here seek out their nourishment as they prepare for the coming winter.

The red tailed squirrel was happily making its way with the peanuts that I had put out for him and quickly going about his route of grabbing a nut, arranging it just so before he runs down the top rail making his way along the top edge of the roof to the far end of the house. He then heads down the side of the far corner head down at full speed to the fence. Along the length of the fence he runs until he jumps to the tree about fifteen feet away where he then runs to his underground lair taking his peanuts for storage.

When we first saw this squirrel after a long winter 2 years ago he was skinny with his fur all matted and mangy looking. After feeding him many bags of peanuts last year he is now hardy looking and his fur all nice and groomed. It takes him about two minutes to make his run from the nuts on either the front or back deck to his several stash locations around the yards.

Back to the relaxing time under the deck with pieces of bird seed and squirrel food dropping down onto our heads. The birds fly from tree limb to tree limb seemingly waiting until the time is right for them to swoop down and quickly grab some food knocking a tiny bit down upon us. Oddly there seems to be different birds between the front of the house and the rear deck. They do not seem to mix or find their way to the other side as the rear birds, mostly finch like birds tend to sit upon the railing for long periods of time slowly eating while looking around making sure nothing is going to harm them.

The rear birds are ‘fat’ with huge bodies but tiny little heads. Never in a hurry they happily sit and enjoy the easy meals for hours on end. I can tell they are happy birds but wonder if by feeding them will it prolong the departure time when they should start flying south for the winter. Will they be able to fly more than the few yards that they currently enjoy or have I fed them to the point they will not leave when the time comes? I am not sure but I do enjoy the time observing their habits allowing me to walk almost up to them when I put the food out. The squirrel is the same as he just sits . . . waiting, watching every move anyone makes. Some of the time he will move to the underside of the roof to watch us for minutes on end.

They are a pleasure to watch and relax too giving me a chance to slow down and smell the flowers around the house. Entertainment at the right price.

Ice