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Time of Change By Teresa Freeman September 20, 2007 It's September, a time of change. The days are warm and fuzzy golden, and the nights have a crisp nip to them. I've been watching the hummingbirds a lot lately, already feeling sad that they'll soon be gone from my yard. There are still honeysuckle, trumpet vine, and Mexican sunflowers blooming, as well as sugar water in the feeder. Yesterday I was delighted to see a trio of the little charmers dancing, diving, and zipping around the bright orange Mexican sunflowers, I wonder why I feel sad about them leaving. It's as if these little birds are my friends, and they're leaving me behind to go away for a winter vacation in the tropics. Maybe I'm sad because their departure signifies changing seasons, and as I get older, changes seem burdensome. It's a paradox, since I dislike the hot, humid summer, and love the gentle, cool autumn. I was delighted to discover a new family of cardinals in our yard yesterday. I was looking out the window at the bird feeder and saw a baby cardinal sitting on a thin sapling growing at the base of a tulip poplar tree. It hopped up each thin branch to the top of the sapling, just two feet away from the hanging feeder filled with sunflower seeds. It tried to hop to the feeder, but flutter-fell to the ground. Then it hopped back up the sapling and tried again, falling once more. It hopped up a third time, and it's handsome red dad flew up and landed on the sapling. The baby fell to the ground again! It was so cute, it's tail feathers little reddish spurts, and it's face had the silly grin that very young birds have. I took my camera out to see if I could get a picture of it, but when it saw me, it scurried away on the ground, like a quail. Every time I approached the young bird, it ran into ground cover or hopped up into the dense branches of cedar trees. I soon gave up getting a picture, because I didn't want to traumatize it or the parents, who were scolding me with loud, urgent "chips". Today I was picking muscadine grapes from vines that are intertwined with large privet hedges. I heard the little "chip-chips" of baby cardinals, so immediately began tip-toeing to where I thought they might be, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. There they were -- three of them -- all young babies with wispy crests and tails, and silly grins. The parents were there too, and when they set off the alarm "chips", the three babies began hopping through the dense thicket of privet and grape vine branches. I was so happy to see the family up close -- who cares if I couldn't get a picture? Later on today I heard the familiar little "chip-chips" in a wooded area near the grape vine, and when I went to investigate, there were the babies with their parents, flying between trees. Whew, what a relief! I had worried over the little baby who couldn't fly just yesterday. The cardinal family has delighted me because I enjoy watching nature so much, but I couldn't help but wonder if another reason it made me happy was that this is normally a summer event. Like I said, I don't care for summer, but I'm used to it, perhaps clinging to it because it's familiar. Once autumn gets into full swing, I'll be madly in love with it -- after all, it IS my favorite season. At least the cardinals won't leave me for the southern tropics! Maybe weathering changes isn't so difficult after all. About the author: I live in a rural area of northeastern North Carolina with my retired husband and teenage son. I enjoy nature walks through our loblolly pine woods and working in my organic garden. Reading, as well as writing poetry and prose, are my favorite pastimes. | | | |
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