The Outside and Us

Posted on 05/14/2016 by chick
  • The robins built a nest on top of the woodpile that’s only a few feet from our back door. They didn’t seem to mind our comings and goings while they were constructing the thing, but now that there are eggs in the nest, the mother seems awfully pissed that we’re around. She can see us through the kitchen window as we go about our daily business. When she’s not rudely giving us the tail, she’s facing right toward our window and giving us the stink-eye. If you’ve ever been the target of a robin’s stink-eye, then you know how unpleasant it is. We keep our recycling bin out on the back porch, and our tendency is to open that door several times per day to throw various things into the bin. It’s hard to remember not to do that. So this robin’s nest is simultaneously a beautiful Nature thing (aw, we’re going to have baby birds!) and an annoyance. It probably won’t seem so annoying once the babies start poking their cute little heads out of the nest, though.
  • After 7 straight days of rain, the grass had gotten out of control in the yard. I had to let my husband mow, even though the violets weren’t even close to done. But before I authorized their deaths, I gathered several vasefuls, so that we could keep the violet’s beauty with us for a couple of extra days.
  • There are caterpillars everywhere. The cold, rainy weather seems to have delayed them, nothing more. They’re cute, but the new rule is that we’re supposed to kill them on sight. Each one we kill now means one less to reproduce later, which could mean hundreds fewer next year. That’s my theory, anyway. I haven’t killed very many yet, though. It’s an easy thing to say but a hard thing to do.
  • I saw a bright orange bird in the woods the other day. I think it was an oriole. If so, it’s the first one I’ve ever seen.
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