The Goldenrod Chronicles, Tiny Woodland Creatures

Other tiny creatures

The door jamb is swollen from the heat. I pull the front door with muscle to open it, and need to slam it behind me to gin up enough force to get it closed.

A family of chipmunks now lives in the front yard. More accurately, I think this is their second summer here. A bit emboldened, I watch them graze the front garden, picking up the helicopter blades from the box elder tree, nibble, and fill their cheeks. They chart a path between the front porch and the planting strip by the shed - getting a little bolder each time.

I am convinced they are in cahoots with the dog - who seems a paid co-conspirator to ignore their chirps and scuttling.

I’ve spotted two different woodchucks in the last week. The first was a large, lumbering pal stopped to watch traffic pass - watching me on my way home from work. Today, a smaller-but-not-too-young woodchuck stood on the side of the road enjoying a snack as I drove by.

A turkey hen walked a group of babies across the far end of the hayfield. I dropped everything to find my binoculars to watch them parade through. Later that day M told me she’s not surprised since she and Roux started a turkey family who skittered off earlier in the day. (How did I not learn of this encounter immediately?)

There’s not one but two oriole nests, if my counting serves me - one to the south and one to the west. I used my hard earned grown up dollars to buy two new feeders for them - and another hummingbird feeder - mostly because I like dripping sugar water all over the floor but also because seeing these birds is just so neat.

There seem to be two, if not three blue bird families in the neighborhood - one which didn’t seem to migrate this year. One of the males keeps aggressively throwing his small, feathered body against the downstairs window and fighting his reflection in my side view mirror. But does often perch on the upstairs window next to my desk.

And the garage door is permanently open because the barn swallows moved back into their nest from last year. The first year I think I accidentally shut them out of the garage before I knew they’d built a nest. Last year their nest was disturbed by house sparrows who knocked the eggs to the garage floor. But this year they’ve come back and the door stays open because - birds.

And now we’ve slammed a very tight front door behind us after a long and hot day of work.

🦅vanessa