Back to fall. I’m a bit of a fair weather friend when it comes to fall, too. I like fall when there’s still green grass, but no bugs. I like fall when there’s still leaves on the trees, especially after they turn all the wonderful colors. I like fall before frost, although the frost is pretty on things.
But there’s a reason for everything, isn’t there? This year, I tried to persuade the squirrels to give the birds a break and leave my bird feeders alone by bribing them with peanuts. I bought a bag of unsalted peanuts in the shell from our grocery store.
I toss a few of them on the front porch and the ground squirrels, whom I’ve named “Chip” and “Dale” come and scurry them away. The front feeder is on a shepherd’s hook and the squirrels haven’t figured out a way to get to that feeder, although they have relentlessly tried. So the squirrels have to be content with what falls on the ground in the front. There is plenty on the ground for them so they should have no worries.
Being creatures of habit and not trusting that the bird feeder will always be filled, the squirrels – and ground squirrels I am sure, have stored away plenty of the fallen bird seed, as well as quite a few peanuts. I discovered this because they like the two pots I have on the front porch in which I’ve planted geraniums. The geraniums in the pots have quite a time. It was not unusual this summer for me to get the morning paper and discover dirt all over the front porch. The geraniums would look bedraggled and it was clear that someone had ulterior designs on the pots.
So I would patiently sweep the dirt up, put it back in the pots and water them, hoping the geraniums would pull through. They did. The ulterior motives became very clear, though, when I discovered an assortment of sprouts popping up beside the geraniums. I patient pulled the sprouts out and began my war with the varmints.
We also have a feeder on our deck. The squirrels, “Itchy” and “Twitchy” have a hey day with this feeder because they can get to it. They bound up the deck steps, climb the railing and gorge themselves. One is a little braver and more agile than the other. One keeps his feet on the railing and reaches for the feeder, and then spends several minutes chowing down. The other leaps on the feeder and hangs upside down from the top, picking through the seeds to get the corn and sunflower seeds he wants.
I say “he” because there is another squirrel who is not so fidgety who comes just for the peanuts I toss on the deck. I don’t have a name for her yet. Maybe I’ll call her “Black Beauty” because she is an oddly marked squirrel with a lot of black in her coat, reminiscent of the black squirrels I have seen in Council Bluffs. Around here, squirrels are basically a reddish brick brown.
I am sure she is a she because she has figured out there is plenty of food to be had without risking life and limb for the bird feeder. Call it women’s intuition or faith or maybe lack of testosterone, but whatever it is, she has figured out that the birds will spill the seeds on the deck and that there will be peanuts and breadcrumbs daily.
I did have to move the birdfeeder from the deck to the back yard this summer, though, when our youngest daughter was home from college. I spent summer mornings on the deck drinking my morning coffee, reading the paper, writing and enjoying my bird visitors. She spent summer afternoons sunning and reading. The birds got used to us and, while they kept their distance, they would still flock to the deck. I found them cool and wonderous. She found them creepy and messy. And, so the feeder was moved to a shepherd’s hood in the back yard until she went back to school in the fall.
My war with the varmints has continued. They dug little holes all over our back yard. In particular, one spot under a tree is hazardous and pockmarked with a whole village full of holes. I have a bit of trouble with that spot when I mow. I never see critters by it, so I filled it up with potting soil and compost this fall. No one has dug a way out, so it must be an abandoned place.
I discovered a talent that my little friends have that I covet. I have tried for years to grow sunflowers and I have never been successful. This spring I tried again. I bought “systems” for starting plants. I bought fancy packets of seeds. I poured water on disks of peat moss and inserted sunflower seeds. I waited for sprouts. The sprouts came and croaked. I was able to get a few moss roses to grow but that was it. No sunflowers again this year. Maybe next year will be better for growing giant sunflowers. But, under the front bird feeder we have all kinds of sprouts – corn and sunflowers. The sunflowers were not the giant ones I envisioned, but tiny ones that grew, made flowers and wilted. Some were volunteers that thrived among the landscaping river rocks. Some were ones that were planted for future use by my buddies.
We are having glorious fall days with temperatures in the 70s. Who knew? Back in August I was wearing my winter coat on night shoots for the movies because it was dipping down to the low forties and I was freezing. Our night shoots were outside in a cornfield. I had on a long sleeved sweater, my cuddle duds, my winter coat, hat, gloves and waterproof thermal boots. Now I am wearing my short sleeved polo shirts and working outside in the yard. I saw a number of people in shorts today. This is okay by me. I can take 70 degree temperatures all month.
Last month my friend and I went for a train ride. We had been planning it for years and we actually got it pulled off. We had a blast. We drove to Boone, about an hour from Des Moines and rode the Scenic Valley Train. The trees were in full fall color and we snapped lots of pictures from the train. On one spot on the route, someone had carved faces in the tree. The conductor called our attention to the tree faces.
The ride goes for a few miles to a ‘turn around’. Then the engine does a little circle on the track and moves to the other end of the train. Then the engine pulls the train back to Boone. It was great fun and we loved seeing the puffs of smoke coming from our train engine. We had a fantastic day that day, complete with a lunch at a little tea place that both of us have wanted to visit forever but never had. Something always got in the way, usually my schedule.
Now that I think of it, there’s really little point in putting off those special places. Just go for the gusto, baby, and enjoy the day- all the way every day! After all, tomorrow could bring frost, no leaves on the trees and more excuses not to do the things you’ve always wanted to do. So, pick up a leaf, make a wish and do something special for yourself – right now. There really is no time just like the moment.
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