A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Monday, July 28, 2008

We were with friends from Galena yesterday. Interesting conversation about the effects of the unusual weather in our area this past year. They have had a lot of rain too. Way too much for the crops. The small farmer has suffered and it shows this time of year, buy the lack of vegetable stands along the road. None of them have been open....although they heard that sweet corn may be available this week. Their fields and lawns are full of healthy weeds. Corn plants have caught up finally. The old "knee high by the 4th of July" didn't hold true this year. It is amazing how fast the corn caught up though. The rivers have gone down and creeks aren't swollen. They have seen boats on some of the rivers.

The subject of birds came up...as we are all bird lovers. They have bluebird houses in their yard. We usually sit at their kitchen table and watch them go to and fro. We have always enjoyed this and wanted to lure them to our house. We have the houses, built to their directions, they are placed in the correct spots, the right height, facing the right direction, there is a pond next door, meal worms.....everything they like. (while my hubby was building them and placing them he was muttering, "fussy birds") We have seen them, but they don't move in. Our friends said that they had a nest in the box this spring. Mom and Dad built the nest...eggs hatched... babies fed then the big storm came and Mom and Dad weren't around. The babies must have been too cold, because they were abandoned. Our friends checked the box and the babies were dead. They feel that the bluebird population is really down this year. We asked about hummingbirds and the same story for them. We have hummingbirds, but not like the last couple of years. There were bad storms along their migration way.The insect population is going strong. Lots of ticks, mosquitoes, and other biting things. We have had several really big moths. Some that I have only seen pictures of.

We also talked about some animal stories that were a bit unusual....I thought.
My stepson lives in an extremely busy neighborhood. Lots of building going on there. Lots of houses. He was telling about being in his garage and looking out the door and two deer...a buck and a doe just sauntered by the doorway...in no particular hurry. Grandson saw a family of skunks walk by, while they were shopping at a mall. These stories tell a story. Our world is changing and not for the better for our wildlife, I'm afraid.
Balisha

5 comments:

Barbee' said...

Yes, I have noticed the same thing about the hummingbirds. Only one or two this summer.

Balisha said...

Thanks for reading, Barbee. I just visited your blog and left a comment. It wouldn't publish it. I probably did something wrong. I always learn so much from your posts. I had several h.birds this AM. I was refilling their "juice" and they were buzzing around me.

Barbee' said...

Balisha, you probably didn't do anything wrong with the comment on my blog; I will check it in a few minutes. I have it set that I have to approve comments before they will publish.

I was telling one of our sons about there being fewer hummers this summer, and it wasn't long until he said he saw two at the same time checking out the larkspurs. I am glad the two were together or I would have thought it was the same individual each time. I am glad yours are back.

OhioMom said...

Balisha

I live in an inner-ring suburb of Cleveland, have been in this community for over 30 years and in the last 5 or so we have seen wildlife that you would have never seen before ... deer, coyote and even a few black bear.

With all the housing developments/condos built out in the rural areas, the animals have lost their habitat ... so now they have moved into the urban areas. This is not an occassional siting either, I have seen two deer in the last 2 weeks.

Unfortunately we humans have changed their world ...

Balisha said...

Thanks for visiting,Ohiomom. I'm going to a farmer's market this weekend to get some squash, so I can follow your recipe.