Views from Mom’s Yard

 Mom’s backyard, Colchester, CT 7-2-2013

While I have been home from Connecticut for two weeks now I still feel like I am adjusting to being back in Arizona. For most of the month of June it was cool, gray and green in New England. There were only a handful of sunny days, and a couple of hot and humid ones, until the end of my visit, when the heat and humidity really started to build in. I thought I had escaped the Northeast just in time, but I returned to even higher heat and more humidity here in Arizona as the monsoon enveloped the state.

While I was in Connecticut I spent a good part of my time there either sitting in or looking out the windows to Mom’s backyard. Though she lives in the center of town, her yard is a virtual wildlife habitat. She has both red and gray squirrels in her yard, chipmunks, and a family of groundhogs which lives somewhere nearby and comes into the yard to nibble the grass and eat the watermelon rinds mom and her friends toss out for them. I observed at least one adult and 4 young at one time in the back yard!

Of course, there are the bird feeders as well. This year we hung hummingbird feeders and I saw at least two Ruby-throated hummingbirds at one time in her yard. While I did see hummingbirds at this feeder, they really preferred the one below.

This pole and squirrel baffle are from my apartment in Andover. Though I sent it home with family for Mom no one set it up for her since I left last year. I finally got it set up and hopefully she will be able to keep it full even during the winter. Both of these are new feeders I bought for her while I was there.

Of all the things in Mom’s yard, I love this fountain the most. It has a gentle sound and all the birds, animals and stray cats come here to get a drink. Yes, I counted at least six stray cats in her yard while I was there. I chased them away whenever I could. It was a daily reminder to me of why cats belong indoors. Still, it was so peaceful to sit at the table near this fountain and eat my meals or write, or just plain watch birds. Often I would sit here and Facebook on my smart phone!

Back here in Arizona the monsoon is painting gorgeous sunsets for us. While I miss the east coast, it sure is nice to be home!

Note: I have finally processed one of my 4 photo cards and hope to start posting on a regular basis once again. I have also been counting birds in my yard and my neighborhood and Chris Rohrer and I have managed to go out birding together a couple of times. As always, poetry is happening on Kathie’s Poet Tree!