Wellsir, God has given me a push to get back to telling my tales! What a deal that is. I say that because I had a dream about this story coming up last night. When I have a dream, I take that as a message from the Almighty to get busy. It’s time to turn the page of my life.
When a fella gets to the “back nine” of life…a golfer’s term of old age… he reflects on what is going on around him and what makes him happy. Wellsir, my life is now about enjoying each day and watching my critters, and Jon and I visit over the breakfast table to talk about life and what God wants us to get or give in “these last days of our lives.” We also watch our “walkers” in the neighborhood and wave to them as they go by. Some stop to chat for a few minutes. Jon and I also visit the shut-ins with a container of chicken ‘n dumplings when the Dairy Queen has them in stock. I never would have planned it this way; it has just happened, and it’s kinda cool!
Wellsir, I want to tell you about my “critters.” Sir Charles is a big fat raccoon who comes by our deck every now and then. He assumes he is the complete ruler over everything and runs anyone off if they disagree. Today, the exterminator was out to see if we could do anything about him, so a cage is coming.
Then, we have the doves who stop by every day for their treat of bird seed we buy especially for them! There are about five couples. Did you know that doves mate for life? We’ve got one single one that comes to eat also, and they chase him/her off the seed, so we scatter the seed around so it’s too large an area to police it all unless Sir Charles comes by, and then they all scatter!
Opossums come by. Gosh-dog, they are ugly. There are either two or three of them. Then, we have Max, Maxine, and Junior, the three foxes I will write about later. Of course, my favorites are squirrels. I call them “Charlie” if they act tame. They have such individual personalities. Some of our Charlies are so tame now that they stand right beside me while I get the seed and peanuts ready.
Yesterday, I was working on a new flowerbed in our front yard. It will be a wonderful bed of yellow daylilies. Taking a time out, I sat in a lounge chair, sipping my lemonade. Suddenly, there was something hitting me on the head. I scratched my hair and brought a partially eaten cone from our bald cypress. Locating “Charlie” up on a limb directly over me, I said, “Charlie, stop throwing cones at me!” These cones are small, eatable balls all over my big, three-story-high tree. Taking another sip of my lemonade, I was once more hit. This time with a whole cone! Charlie swished his tail and chattered at me. I raised my voice an octave to say, “Okay, okay. Back to work!”
Getting up from my “coffee break,” I return to the flower bed I had been working on. In a little while, I see some movement out of the corner of my eye. Looking over there, I see Old Charlie under a shrub, swishing that bushy tail back and forth, eating some of the cones that had fallen from the tree. Suddenly, I remembered I had failed to feed the critters this morning! “Okay, Charlie, you win,” I said. Walking around to the backyard, I saw Charlie had beaten me with his shortcut through the trees and the roof of the house. He sits by “his plate,” waiting to be fed!
Wellsir, while talking with other folks on the golf course, I mentioned foxes. They were familiar with the whole family. They had been around for about five years and were well-fed. I don’t know how Jon and I missed them for so long. It took me retiring to discover them. But the folks didn’t know their names…now they do! We understand now why we only see them occasionally. Food is left out for Max, Maxine, and Junior!
Hey, I almost forgot our hummingbirds. One feeder brings three hummers…and they put on a “show” protecting their feeder! They come in April through September. We truly enjoy watching them play tag!
I reckon that’s it for now. Stay tuned for my next story about the close encounter with the notorious Bonnie and Clyde!
Ahhh, yes, I salute all those wonderful days!
