“Whew! How ’bout that last cold spell?” He hops further along the branch, “I was starting to worry that we wouldn’t have enough seeds. The humans weren’t venturing out to fill the feeders.”
She hammers at a sunflower seed to expose the nut inside. “I know, right? I wasn’t sure I could lower my body temp much more. You figure Mother Nature is on a holiday somewhere? Maybe she left town and forgot to turn up the heat.”
“Oh, that sun feels good. We might get a chance to thaw out a bit before the next storm moves through.”
“Yes, I should think the humans will have a chance to restock the feeders. We better fill up our caches while we can.”
Stretching his wings and fanning his feathers, “I know. But we’ve earned this thaw. We can spare a few minutes to just soak up some sun and sing without having to worry about anything.”
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I heard them this morning outside my window. The sun lit their stage. Pillows of snow topped the roofs of their houses. They were singing and chirping as if they’d feared they’d never warm up enough to sing again.
I stood for a minute and listened. They sounded frantic and excited and optimistic – like kids when the temps raise enough to go out and sled without the fear of windchill temps on a wet face after a face-plant.
And then they quieted for a moment.
Tucking in his wings and hopping closer to his companion, “So… if the humans begin to come out, does that mean the cat will be out again, too?”
And then the chirping and singing crescendoed.
Tags: friendship, life, survive, thriving
This made me think of one weekend morning. I thought someone was rapping on the door. Rap…rap…rap…rap. Who could it be? Rap…rap…rap..rap. I didn’t want to be bothered, but it kept going. Rap…rap…rap. I decided to look out the window and there was a huge woodpecker in my front yard tree. Waiting patiently around him were chickadees, a blue jay, a cardinal, a few sparrows, and a few more finches. What a treat for us and them!