I first posted this to the class website, then thought perhaps a short update was also due, here.
A few weeks ago, I heard a glorious birdsong which I had never heard in my yard. And the songbird was in a tree only 40 ft from me. Still not sure what it was, perhaps a warbler?
And then yesterday, for the first time in the 10 years (at least that I can remember) there was a quail in our yard, down by the road. It was eating the still-green seeds of the grasses near the garden. And it was there until evening.
Other changes in the yard, the single remaining peach tree has succumbed to peach leaf curl, but we will let it stand until we are sure it won’t survive…
One apple tree is also in decline, for no reason I can identify. Which is a shame, because it gave lovely apples.
The thing about gardening (as about parenting) — you can never predict and it’s no use getting upset if the plants have ideas that differ from your own. Just roll with the punches. And find a plant that will thrive in the available space.
I can’t tell, since we have been here only ten years, if we are just in a cycle where the plants and animals are different, or if the plant and animal changes are part of bigger things. But I know that, at least in our neighborhood, though some things change, life goes on. And it’s always interesting.
Other interesting occurrences in the yard include: getting part of the garden ready for planting — the soil is finally warm enough, and dry enough; watching the pretty french iris in one pot bloom better than they ever had; and the neighbor beginning to ready the land next to ours for a home — he and his bride have been working hard to earn the money, and they are ready for their home. It makes me feel so nostalgic…