Mini-Box: Bird Seed
"Small birds throw seeds out of the feeder; large birds pick them up off the ground, but the squirrels try to muscle in." Lilian Jackson Braun
One of the things I enjoy doing every day is filling my bird feeders. I have three. I fill each feeder and then strew seed around the feeder with tiny apple chunks and peanuts for my squirrel friends.
Every morning, and also at about 4 o’clock every day, they flock into my front yard. I can watch them through my front window. My cats enjoy sitting on the back of the sofa watching our fine-feathered friends too.
Most of the diners are Sparrows, but there are also many Mourning Doves. The Mourning Doves look like pigeons and are very steadfast. A disruption that causes the Sparrows to scatter into the trees doesn’t interrupt the Mourning Doves’ noshing at all. Starlings arrive and think they are skinny enough to perch on the feeder. They aren’t. I call it “those jeans don’t fit honey!” syndrome! Once in a while, Cardinals come. Once I had a pair of Mallard Ducks coming every day! They would eat and waddle off and then fly away. I have recently seen tiny, shiny Blackish birds that may be baby Starlings.
Back to the topic. Birdseed. Birdseed is a mix of several tasty tidbits: millet, milo, wheat, finely cracked corn, and black oil sunflower. I don’t know which birds like which seed, but they keep coming back!
There is a small lesson for us to learn from Birdseed. Not all lessons in our life are cataclysmic. Not all lessons take a long time to learn. Some lessons are little nibblets. Like birdseed. If you are having a conversation, your conversa-tee may drop a seed of interest. Something that you needed to hear. Something that you may need to consider. For example… You may be talking about home renovations, and your friend shares a painting tip you had never heard. Birdseed! Facebook posts are sometimes philosophical and can affect the way you view something. Birdseed. Books are like a pound of Birdseed. Read and learn. People have favorite streaming series that presents a new point of view. Birdseed!
Well, I hope I’ve made my point. And you will be happy to know that I saw my neighborhood murder of crows (four of them) gathered atop my pine tree. No more plaintive “caws” from the separated one. I like happy endings.
”Let’s keep breathing. Shall we?”