I have been home for a few weeks now and here are a few
snippets of what I found:
Crossing through East Texas, I amazingly found a lot of
Kelly green grass. It must have rained while I was gone and it is stunning how
fast the chlorophyll machine kicks into gear when water is added. I was trying to take a picture of it
without risking stopping on a highway and got myself into a little trespassing
incident. After taking a turn off
and not quite finding the world as lush as I had hoped, I asked my,
not-to-be-trusted GPS how to get back to the road. Quickly she came up with a route for me to follow, which I
foolishly did, even though the turn she recommended led directly into a private
ranch.
It crossed my
mind that perhaps there are “sacred pathways” as there were on the Cape that
are still allowed to be traversed by the public. It gave me a great close up of some huge cattle, a nice
change from all the goats I see in our area but after chugging down into a
valley that clearly was part of the ranch, along came a ranch hand in a jeep
who let me know, no, this is not a valid way back to the road. More amused than angry while I showed
him my GPS he helped me turn around and exit as I came. Texans are nice people.
At home I woke for the next few mornings to the sound of
what I think is a Western screech owl.
They don’t sound like a whinnying horse as the Eastern screech owl does
but the sound I heard matches up the recording on the Cornell site. He has stopped by around 4 am on three
different occasions. This clumsy
walking cast really keeps me from hobbling about in the trees looking for any
tell tale owl pellets. They would
be pretty small and hard to find I would think. Still, that’s my guess and I am sticking with it.
All the black-crested titmice kids of the summer are adept
at all devices now, birdbath, feeders, etc. I occasionally see them all exiting the hole in the tree
where their nest was. Interestingly, I have read they love to crowd together in
old tree cavities, sometimes packed so tight that some suffocate! Yikes, I should post a warning outside
the hole of what I think the capacity is.
Because my husband put more junk birdseed in than sunflower
seed the house sparrows have laid claim to the jasmine-covered fence
again. Right out the window they
make tons of noise, hold lots of beach parties in the birdbath that always
empty it of water and engage in other gang activities. I saw 7 of them on just a few branches
all preening together the other day.
They are the most gregarious of birds.
Hummingbirds are still here and it is the season of looking
for them to be “fattening up”. I
really don’t think I have a keen enough eye to spot if some have added a few
grams since I last saw them.
Likewise all the gangly looking scrub jays are fleshed out
now and also making a racket especially when I have just put a new corncob in
the holder in the tree. Ostensibly it is for the squirrels but the jays often
get to it first.
The only sad thing that has happened though, is that for
some pretty unknown reason I have fallen right back into my own,
newly-created-since-I moved-to-Texas, SAD disease. Depression that comes out of nowhere and robs me of my ability
to think or create. SAD
indeed. Could it be that I taste
fall in New England and then return to heat and humidity and that makes the
brain go haywire? Who knows, but I do hate it. Last year getting reprogrammed for joy took three months! It always seems to follow a marvelous
time away. Either then, I should
never leave Texas or never return, one or the other!
I am flying back to NE in three days, and should be
deliriously happy but the joy robbing brain drain is blocking the normal
emotions. Hoping for the best
though, a miracle would be nice.
The world will be beautiful, the grandchildren will be seen and please,
oh please God, may that reconnect what has come undone. Blogs, or the lack of
them may give you a hint at how I am doing. Praying for the miracle.
