The Adventures of Glenda and Lexie

This is Lexie trying to tell me something important. If I could just learn dog language we would have the most interesting conversations. 

Life is never dull for me. I will begin with my visitors on my deck a few weeks ago.

One evening, my darling Lexie, began going out on the deck and barking. 
After ignoring her for a while, I decided to open the door and turn on the light to see what had upset her.

As you can see in the photo above, an opossum had dropped by and found appealing the food that I had left for the birds.  I tried to shoo him away, but he would not move. He crouched a little bit and hissed at me. Lexie had calmed down once she knew I had seen the visitor. So, I said, "Mr. Possum, have fun. I am going inside."  Opossums are good animals who eat ticks and help keep us safe.

In a short time, Lexie began barking again. I went to the door and looked out. The opossum was still eating, but another creature had arrived. In back of the opossum, I saw four small feet clutching the post. I could not see the body that was behind the post until suddenly the new guest poked his head around to see me. The little bandit evidently thought he might chase off Mr. Oscar P. Opossum, and eat the remaining berries, but that was not to be. 

As soon as I opened the door to step out on the deck, Rocky Raccoon disappeared only to show up a few minutes later, his head cradled between the forks of a nearby tree. He was so cute, I had to laugh. I said to Lexie, "Come inside now and let them figure out who will eat the remainder of the berries." 

I never expected to find two wild animals on my deck here in the city. That did not happen in my home in the mountains. But the empty lot on one side of me here is forested and our back yard is left to the Ivey and wild flowers. Just as I learned to live with deer eating my Hosta in the mountains, I'll feed these small creatures and hope they will leave my suet feeders alone. 

I'll post about another recent adventure next time.

Be kind and enjoy every day. 

I Love Trees, Woods, and the Critters that Live There

My neighborhood looks like the victim of a tornado. Two of my neighbors seem to have gone crazy and are cutting all the wonderful big old maples and oaks on their properties. It started when a developer who owns the lots around my house, cleared out the undergrowth plus a few big trees. Now the houses above me look right down on my house and into my bedroom window unless I keep my blinds closed at all times. I hate the loss of privacy.
One of the reasons we liked our house was the woods on three sides of us. We loved the wild turkeys that lived here and the deer that came down the mountain to water in the lake. Without any place to hide, the wildlife is not likely to stay.
Also, I am concerned because the underbrush holds the earth together and keeps erosion in check. Mudslides are disasters in the mountains. The ones who build on top of the mountains don’t worry about those who live below them. Sometimes I wonder if people even think about the consequences of their actions on others.

Secluded in the woods, existing in and with nature, I am surrounded by dogwoods in the spring.And, sadly, when the mud from above washes down on my yard, I have no recourse to claim damages. This happened to us a few years ago. I had hoped our county would pass a law to prevent building above a certain point and would implement conservation laws to prevent mudslides and erosion, especially those that could damage property of others.
However, I think the building industry has been so badly hurt by the recession that developers are going to be given free reign to do whatever if they will just hire people and get back to work.

I wish for the woods to flourish this spring and the green bushes and little trees to grow strong and soon fill the yawning emptiness between ground and treetops. I hope the turkeys and other small animals and birds that need cover will come back and make their homes here once again.

Where Will They Go?
Behind my house the dried leaves
line the floor of woods in winter’s dress,
bare gray tree trunks frozen in the cold.

Near the ridge line I see
a clump of brown take motion, one
and then another, and another.

I try to count but quickly
the lumps vanish, disappear
like spirit smoke
in the silence of the wood.

The low drone of dozers,
chainsaw screams, muffled by
the mountain still intact,
forewarn of approaching moving day.

Wild turkeys still claim these woods
though roads are coming, houses will rise up
where ancient oaks and maples, bear and deer
have always ruled;

houses built by urban dwellers,
city people, oblivious to the violation,
the destruction of all they
claim to love.
----- Glenda C. Beall