Morning

I've always been an early bird, waking up at the crack of dawn and sometimes earlier depending on the season. Lately, I've been sleeping in and I accept that as a blessing. I opened up the two windows here in my office and pulled the lace sheers back to expose the outside so I can both hear and see the hummingbirds as they are feeding on the feeders Bob put up outside my windows. Most of the time I enjoy the quiet so I can hear nature outside my window. Sometimes I enjoy listening to music, but hearing nature is a more restful type of music. Since we live in the desert, it was surprising to me that I have become more familiar with birds and their habits than I did when we lived in the country on the farm. I guess the reason I wasn't a bird watcher in the country was because we had lots of cats and very few birds. I do love cats too and we don't have one here. On the farm, they took care of patrolling the barns and especially the corn cribs where the corn for our chickens and cows was stored. And, the cats also took care of the bird population. So, I never saw a hummingbird until we moved to this home and Bob put up feeders. We also have a variety of birds that pass through - I call our place the "Bird Motel" and it is seasonal - we don't charge a "tree" fee, our payment is the reward from the enjoyment we receive of their "visit" and the joy they bring with their songs. We do have hummingbirds that stay all season because of our mild winters. In our neighborhood, we have quails - no shooting please - doves, mockingbirds, finches of all sorts, ravens, woodpecker, an occasional chicken hawk and a few other varieties of beautiful birds.

We did have feeders in our front yard, but duh! we couldn't figure out why our grass was looking crappy until it dawned on us - the birds were scratching beneath the feeders. Once we moved the feeders to the back, we finally have a green front lawn.

I hear the vehicle traffic picking up now as they are driving their children to school. My peaceful solitude is broken by the sound of the children's voices as they pass by the house. Their voices bring another type of peace and joy only children can bring to a grandmother's heart. I watch the children check out the thingies we have in our trees - some twirly things, the fake squirrels Bob put in several of the trees, and we always put some type of modest holiday decorations out too. It's fun to see their reactions as they are walking to school. By the way, have you noticed the size of the backpacks today - Holy Cow - I remember carrying my books in my arms, but my granddaughter's bag is so heavy I'm afraid she will break her back!!!!

Well, it's almost time for school to start. The school is just down at the end of our block. We can heard the school bell ring and the voice of the teacher on the loud speaker giving out a report. It's not annoying, and how loud the voice sounds depends on how the wind is blowing - or not.

It's a peaceful day today. When the weather is cool, the birds seem to be happier as their singing is louder and more frequent. The hummingbirds are playful and chase each other from one feeder to the other or they compete for the space in the flowerbed of red flowers.

I hope you have a peaceful day today. Take good care and God bless.