I must be getting older ‘cause this wind the last several days has kept me off the porch during part of the day. Course I always notice the pretty blue sky and all the birds flitting around the bird feeders. Saw the brown headed cowbirds during late afternoon, four came and ate seeds under the feeders. My friend has a new feeder and is watching the birds, too. She’s learning to identify them. She had a little flock of chickadees this afternoon. Her dog is enjoying watching their antics, too. Bird watching is such a calming and relaxing hobby. Makes the world slow down and makes you appreciate nature. You study the birds and you’ll see what fascinating creatures they are. Even the dullest females are beautiful when you observe them and notice how intricate their feather colorings are. Just like our pets, song birds will look at you with their bright eyes and study your face. Research says birds respond to our gaze. They can remember our faces and differentiate between our voices.

Spent the afternoon on Sunday with my niece and her family’s new puppy. Took Penelope so she could enjoy being off the leash and exploring their large back yard. She mainly sat on the porch with me except for one exciting case of the zoomies. When we walked off the porch so the puppy could play fetch she took off and got excited with the freedom and ran around at top speed for a few minutes. The old girl still has it!

I found an old photo this afternoon of Chief standing on the shore of the port at Vinalhaven, Maine, taken in 1962 when he was 27 years old. Our oldest grandson favors him so much in this photo. Gonna give the photo to Alexander on my next visit. Chief wrote on the back, “The Port of Vinalhaven, drifting back and back into another of those many pockets of recessed and hidden time.” He always talked about how beautiful it was there. For some reason I had written on the back of the photo that Chief said, “So I will follow the birds from tree to tree.” Searched for those lines on the internet but never could find the exact words to give the credit to someone who said them. Course I love to think those were Chief’s words, especially as I think the cardinals that come to my feeders are sent from him. Sometimes I even think he might be the large cardinal that will occasionally sit on the bannister and look at me.

The birds love all the trees and bushes and wisteria vines that surround the big oak in my yard. I’m in need of some landscaping cleaning and clearing but I know that will affect how many birds visit. The love the cover of the messy growth. Birds really rely on trees. The trees offer shelter, places to mate and built nests. Trees provide food, nuts and berries and fruit, and crevices to hide in and to store food in. Birds can even get water that stands on the leaves. But I wonder do birds help trees? Yep, birds are beneficial to the trees, too. Birds control insects, aid in pollination and seed dispersal, even fertilize with their poop.

I love this tree quote — “The tree, like longings of the earth, stands a-tip-toe to peep at heaven.” — Ravindranath Tagore

Wouldn’t it be great if we could peep at heaven. Just wonder what we’d see. I hope a lot of family reunions. One of my college friends was talking about heaven with one of her children and she described heaven as a huge front porch with lots of folks sitting around in rocking chairs happily talking. Chief always thought heaven was just an extension of Earth. I hope heaven will be like a big happy family holiday dinner with no empty chairs of loved ones at the long dining table. We’ll be surrounded by peace and love.

“After all, if there is a heaven, we will find each other again, for there is no heaven without you.” Nicholas Sparks