Positively Tuesday: My POSITIVELY Morning Show

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

My POSITIVELY Morning Show

by Mauverneen

Two positively delightful hummingbirds

Being retired, as I am, most mornings I have the luxury of sitting on the patio and leisurely sipping a couple of cups of coffee. I am also fortunate in that where I currently live has a big backyard that backs up to the woods.

Most mornings I feed the birds, then sit back and watch the show. The hummingbirds are delightful and the antics of the squirrels are always fun to watch. But I never know what else might wander through my morning, so I occasionally chase butterflies, raindrops or strange and interesting bugs. I used to see a lot of deer, but they have been sparse this year – just a couple of does. No fawns, no bucks. I can only hope they have found more fruitful pastures. I hate to think that last year’s hunting season took that great a toll.

Positively inquisitive

Earlier this spring I watched a pair of hawks build a nest. They are still hanging around – I have been watching one of them hunt squirrels lately. I am not really looking forward to watching it kill anything, but if it makes a catch I hope to be there with my camera.

The one that got away!
Look closely and you can see the squirrel climbing the tree

Bugs are plentiful this time of year –as are spiders. I’m not sure if it’s the rose bushes they like or if the side of the house is just warm and cozy, but it seem to be where those ‘daddy long legs’ like to hang out. I tend not to look too closely for them because when I do there are dozens.

I am no entomologist - red dragonfly?

One morning I noticed a large spider web on the side of the patio umbrella. The umbrella was closed, so I have no idea what the other side of the web was anchored to – nothing seemed close enough. The early morning light on the web was eye catching so of course I went and grabbed my camera. As I watched the spider, it suddenly became active and made its way down the web and back up to the center where it proceeded to quickly gather a section of it’s web by pulling it up to itself. It then ran down and back up another strand and did the same thing. I watched, mesmerized, until the spider had completely packed up the entire web! It then climbed up one remaining strand and disappeared into the top of the umbrella. I have never seen anything like it. It was like she had been out camping and just packed up her tent and went home.

Full web...

Half gone...

Almost done

I enjoy the happy morning songs of the birds. I even enjoy the cackling of the neighbor’s chickens. And then there are those moments when I hear - no swoosh of traffic noise, no thu-thunk of someone hitting a pothole, no beep-beep-beep of a garbage truck backing up, no wailing sirens, no planes droning overhead. I hear – nothing.

Aaahhhhh. It’s a positively good morning!