"When you change the way you look at things,
the things you look at change."
-- Dr. Wayne Dyer
There is so much I want to share about my wife Nancy, that it would take a year of Daily Inspirations probably. I will be very selective and focus on just a weeks worth here. I told you about her at church as a pastor, and how we met in Hawaii. Today is for the birds.
Kingfisher. A very rare sight in our yard.
My wife was for the birds. She loved birds. Birds of all kinds. Her favorite was always the hummingbird. So small, so beautiful, so fast. The house we lived in has old growth trees and bushes and you can barely see the house for the bushes and trees. Birds love that environment.
They like handouts too. We would buy bird seed in 40 and 50lb bags at the feed store. We always had Dove and Quail mix, and generally had Black Oiled Sunflower seeds, and from time to time, Niger seed, or thistle. Even though the free food is loved by the birds, it also attracts less desirables; however, my bringing this fact up never once dissuaded Nancy. So, for 26 years, we've been feeding birds, encouraging breeding on the property and so on. Nancy even had the property registered as a Certified Wildlife Habitat where she had to prove breeding via photos of nests and more. I just put more food out today.
We have always had multiple hummingbird feeders. We also have learned to leave a generous amount of spider webs outdoors because the birds love to use it in nests. In addition, we have straw baskets for hanging plants that the birds (especially the Blue Jays) take full advantage of.
Ants like sugar water as much as hummers
I built this six foot high feeder tray that came up to the bottom of the kitchen window with reflector film so that we could watch them closely without them seeing us there. It is so old now that the wood is falling apart, but still standing.
I have grown to love the sound of birds. My office is where the garage used to be and there is a sliding door facing a courtyard and I watch the birds drinking, taking baths in the birdbaths and I have sat and watched Blue Jays and Hummingbirds teaching their young how to jump around on branches, learn to fly and more.
Certain birds come at certain times of the year and then they're gone until next time. Cedar Waxwings and Robins are that way. We have a couple trees that produce small dark berries and the Cedar Waxwings gorge themselves in droves on those trees and then leave a mess as it comes out the other end. One photo shows a number of them in one birdbath at the same time. Robins love the worms in the front yard best. But they also like the berries.
A pause to refresh from the Cedar Waxwing feeding frenzy
I cannot imagine that I would have done any of this on my own, but I am that much more a complete person by doing as Nancy wished and learning to love it in the process. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
Squirrels. We never had squirrels around here. Considering the trees and bushes and free food, I was always amazed at that. One day just a few years ago, a golden squirrel showed up. We didn't see him often, so it was always a joy. I would go get Nancy and bring her and show her the squirrel. Days would go by, then another sighting, and progressively it was more often. We always wondered why it was alone and hoped it would find a mate.
Nancy had bought this solar cell night light that looked like a golden squirrel eating. Recently, I saw a sight that amazed me as I caught the real squirrel and the fake one dining out together. Then as you can see in another shot of the kitchen window feeder tray, after several years, a mate shows up and now there are two. This just happened a few weeks ago and I am thrilled that I was able to get Nancy into the kitchen to see them herself.
Nancy also rescued birds and tried to save them and bring them back to health. That rarely worked but she did what she could. She also had a bird book noting any new birds she would see and noting where on the planet she saw them.
We were both for the birds, but I was a late bloomer.
You Never Know What Joys You Will Find When You Open Your Eyes To Them.
Spread Some Joy Today--Nature is always a joy to see, or it will be soon.
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