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Remembering a Gardener's Foxes

i had a friend...a friend that had a huge back yard that took hours and hours to mow....his persona was as sweet as St Francis of Assisi...and he called the birds in with his quiet open demeanor...and the mixed seed he picked up at the feed store once a week

large heavy bags...he didn't feed minimally.... oooohhhhhhnnnnooo

he fed them with a ferocious generosity...and they came day by day...to roost in the trees...eat from his feeder...and in every way delight him.....from the large Cardinals that march the yard... to the spritely Chickadee that gathered and refused to notice the larger Red birds who claimed guardianship and sentry privileges to the yard...they mugged at the prepossessed larger birds with their own brand of...nahnahnahnahnahnahnaaaaaaaaaaaaanah

this is not a common interaction...not just filling the feeders...and when they're empty....fill them again the next day....no this is a man who knows that many birds only eat on the ground...can't balance on tree limbs....so he walks his ground and spread seeds everywhere

i wondered aloud if there was so much the seeds left uneaten would they sprout and grow and turn the space into a green colorful birdling feast for later in the summer or fall

his property is backed by wilderness...the kind lovers walk into to salute nature with their passion....so beautiful and wild and that all questions are answered

~~do other seed loving creatures live there~*~ fluffy tailed rodents scamper about do they too find the yard alluring and cross the wilderness barrier...to eat with the birds*

the squirrels climb the trees...and chattered...bold heathens with no manners...the members of the "wedding party" uninvited...not properly trained or asked to be part of this daily festivity....they gather like interlopers at the edge of the yard..step into the circle like gatecrashers....too many....they are gluttons...and so St Francis must trudge to the feed store more often to make sure all are fed....til the "five loaves and fishes"....are multiplied and all are satisfied

sometimes my friend ordered some "fox urine" from LL Bean...the squirrels had become a gathering of such a number that instead of pretty scamperers the had become party dampeners...running thru his neighbors yards....and just making a terrible nuisance of themselves as their numbers grew and grew...

his intention was to doctor the yard with it...and knew the squirrels would smell it and stay out from a yard scented with their mortal enemy it worked of course...and soon no squirrel came to play...and bring their wee ones to stay and partake of the generous dining and he had an interesting reaction to the squirreless yard

he didn't like it

not at all

he liked having a few squirrels

but his solution for too many had driven them all away

a few weeks the "fox urine" scent would dissipate and the squirrels will find their way back...and first it will be a few...but soon droves will come again

this became the "horns of a dilemma" for my friend

as often is the case in living we find ourselves in a quandary of having all or nothing in any given situation

we can learn so much from this. lesson..do we want Black or White...or is it somewhere in the middle...which creates all the colors of the spectrum untidy but more desirable ??

messy maybe..hectic...noisy...just way more then any St Francis can stand...hahahahahahaha.....in a few weeks i hope to find out...when i asked the birdy benefactor what he'd decide to do this time next year

unfortunately for me and my bird lover there was no next year

~~ and so i say Namaste to all you tender souls~~willing lesson learners~~gentle avatars to the birds and beasts in each of your little corner of the world~~have a lovely if squirreless day today if you want one~~and know alway that our lives can be constantly altered to fit our needs~~but if the alterations change the wanted texture of our world~~we can remove those stitches~~and begin again and again~*~

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ― Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934

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i had a friend...a friend that had a huge back yard that took hours and hours to mow....his persona was as sweet as St Francis of Assisi...and he called the birds in with his quiet open demeanor...and the mixed seed he picked up at the feed store once a week

large heavy bags...he didn't feed minimally.... oooohhhhhhnnnnooo

he fed them with a ferocious generosity...and they came day by day...to roost in the trees...eat from his feeder...and in every way delight him.....from the large Cardinals that march the yard... to the spritely Chickadee that gathered and refused to notice the larger Red birds who claimed guardianship and sentry privileges to the yard...they mugged at the prepossessed larger birds with their own brand of...nahnahnahnahnahnahnaaaaaaaaaaaaanah

this is not a common interaction...not just filling the feeders...and when they're empty....fill them again the next day....no this is a man who knows that many birds only eat on the ground...can't balance on tree limbs....so he walks his ground and spread seeds everywhere

i wondered aloud if there was so much the seeds left uneaten would they sprout and grow and turn the space into a green colorful birdling feast for later in the summer or fall

his property is backed by wilderness...the kind lovers walk into to salute nature with their passion....so beautiful and wild and that all questions are answered

~~do other seed loving creatures live there~*~ fluffy tailed rodents scamper about do they too find the yard alluring and cross the wilderness barrier...to eat with the birds*

the squirrels climb the trees...and chattered...bold heathens with no manners...the members of the "wedding party" uninvited...not properly trained or asked to be part of this daily festivity....they gather like interlopers at the edge of the yard..step into the circle like gatecrashers....too many....they are gluttons...and so St Francis must trudge to the feed store more often to make sure all are fed....til the "five loaves and fishes"....are multiplied and all are satisfied

sometimes my friend ordered some "fox urine" from LL Bean...the squirrels had become a gathering of such a number that instead of pretty scamperers the had become party dampeners...running thru his neighbors yards....and just making a terrible nuisance of themselves as their numbers grew and grew...

his intention was to doctor the yard with it...and knew the squirrels would smell it and stay out from a yard scented with their mortal enemy it worked of course...and soon no squirrel came to play...and bring their wee ones to stay and partake of the generous dining and he had an interesting reaction to the squirreless yard

he didn't like it

not at all

he liked having a few squirrels

but his solution for too many had driven them all away

a few weeks the "fox urine" scent would dissipate and the squirrels will find their way back...and first it will be a few...but soon droves will come again

this became the "horns of a dilemma" for my friend

as often is the case in living we find ourselves in a quandary of having all or nothing in any given situation

we can learn so much from this. lesson..do we want Black or White...or is it somewhere in the middle...which creates all the colors of the spectrum untidy but more desirable ??

messy maybe..hectic...noisy...just way more then any St Francis can stand...hahahahahahaha.....in a few weeks i hope to find out...when i asked the birdy benefactor what he'd decide to do this time next year

unfortunately for me and my bird lover there was no next year

~~ and so i say Namaste to all you tender souls~~willing lesson learners~~gentle avatars to the birds and beasts in each of your little corner of the world~~have a lovely if squirreless day today if you want one~~and know alway that our lives can be constantly altered to fit our needs~~but if the alterations change the wanted texture of our world~~we can remove those stitches~~and begin again and again~*~

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ― Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934

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