I love listening to the birds. And watching them. It reminds me of when I was little. I remember thinking when I heard the birds singing, that winter was over, spring and good weather were on their way. My father said they were robins.
In our home, growing up, at the landing on the way to the second floor, there was a gold metal bench with a green cushion. On the window sill my father kept his binoculars. And a book on birds.
One could find him there on sometimes watching the birds in our backyard. He had put up a birdfeeder so lots of birds came to dine.
He’d sit there and watch the birds. And if I came along, he’d point out the birds and tell me about them.
He’s very well read. As was my Mom.
There was always a squirrel challenging the birds. My father put a squirrel barrier, a sort of bell shaped thang – to try to keep it out. The squirrel apparently was too smart. Or athletic. So my father tried another barrier. I think we just ended up feeding the birds and the squirrel.
I was always told to stay away from squirrels – they all had rabies. Or might have them. And “might” was enough.
We also had a beautiful bird bath which doubled as first base. The rock fountain was second (that’s where we found turtles who had migrated there from who knows where). The birdfeeder was third.
And home was…the corner. My father was always the pitcher. He had great hand-eye coordination – could catch anything.
We also often had visitors to the bird bath at night – raccoons. We felt so in the country while living in Philadelphia because of all this wild wildlife. My father thought maybe they had come from Fairmount Park http://www.fairmountpark.org/ – the largest city park in the world where we used to go sledding after a big snow day. There was one great run with a huge jump towards the bottom. I’d ride on my father’s back on the sled and we’d go flying. What fun!
We used to feed the horses that lived nearby near the Schuykill River http://www.schuylkillriver.org/. My father always brought some sugar to feed the horses. Very cool.
Some time I have to remember to ask my father: I have a memory that the Phillies, professional baseball team, or a professional football team played there once. It was exciting. I was very little then. Wonder who it was?
My father’s affection for birds and wildlife had quite an effect on me. So when I was in Nepal, and one of our counselors offered to take me on a hike thru the park outside Kathmandu, an area that has more species of birds than any other country, I jumped at the chance. Audubon is involved there. Or was.
Unfortunately, one of my colleagues told everyone, who all showed up. Trying to watch birds with 20 people – not easy. Still, we saw a lot of wonderful birds. And as usual, I separated from the crowd to experience it all somewhat by myself. Magnificent, very tall, majestic trees with colorful birds. I had written the different species down but don’t know what happen to these journals.
So this evening as Gen Chuck and I watched the linnets fly in to feed on our seedsock and sing a happy song as they did, I think of the promise of spring. (Or summer 
c. GCYI