When I was growing up, in the ‘city’, everyone had a garden, bird feeders, fruit trees and 4 channels on the TV. Somewhere along the way, many of those givens disappeared for various reasons. Today, you see this seemingly new discovery of gardening, raising hens and stewardship of the land that was just a given fifty some years ago.
One of the enjoyable, simplistic connections with the ‘land’ is tending to birds throughout the year. The other night, as we sat in a friend’s backyard, in the desert, the landscape came alive when they filled the bird feeders. Birds arrived, singing their tunes, flitting about. Quail snuck in low to pick for the falling seeds. The simple act of feeding the birds, gave visual pleasure to all and a nice sense of caregiving.
