OUR BACK YARD seamlessly flows into open space, and from our vantage point on the patio, it’s one big high-def, wrap-around entertainment center for watching nature at work.
While sipping coffee, a coyote might casually trot by. There are numerous hares and jack rabbits scurrying up and down the hill, stopping occasionally to munch some fresh grass, all the while keeping their ears on high alert. Squirrels, of course, keep us endlessly amused as they look for new entry points through the mesh into the neighbor’s garden.
A few days ago, while I strummed the guitar and Sherry sang a little Bossa Nova tune, this lizard appeared and seemed to enjoy the show. We named it, appropriately, Stan Getz, although it appears this guy is a girl with a belly full of eggs ready to lay any day now.
Yesterday, we spotted a hawk in an aerial ascent with a freshly nabbed snake in its talons. A moment later, another hawk decided that that serpentine meal would be more suitable in its talons. A dogfight ensued, until the defender dropped the snake from about 100 feet in the air. We don’t know if the snake survived the claws or the fall, but we do know that two diurnal birds of prey went without breakfast.
On the macro scale, the bees are swarming the rosemary, the aphids have discovered the bright blossoms of the roses (much to Sherry’s chagrin). And slightly larger in scale, we have humming birds building nests.
What a world we live in.
Sherry & George 