Seeing Things
This morning I went out to do some watering around 7:00 A. M. in an effort to beat the intense heat predicted for today. Because the watering I was doing involved changing the hose about every five or ten minutes from one watering trench to another, I stayed to watch the water flow rather than try too hard to be productive meanwhile. (In my opinion, watching water flow is on par with gazing into a fire or watching the clouds as a therapeutic pastime.) While I was there I observed several things that put a smile on my face and started my work day on a positive note.
We have two very tame kittens left from a Spring litter of four. Both of the kittens accompanied me companionably when I went to the flower garden, and they occasionally brushed up against my legs, and intermittently inspected curiosities that presented themselves. I kept out a sharp eye to head off any interest they showed in uprooting the flowers or rolling over on them as they lolled about. The white kitty was off to my left when I heard a sudden grunt (I didn’t know kittens could grunt.) from that direction and saw a streak of white beelining toward the porch. The white kitten fled to its hiding place under the steps before stopping. I laughed aloud as I realized what must have happened. Its tall preening tail must have made contact with the lowest strand of the electric fence around the flower garden. Sorry kitty.
Later the orange tiger kitty was rolling around on the ground in front of me, probably trying to scratch its back. Without taking notice, he/she rolled right into the watering trench, now with flowing water in that spot. An astonished kitten righted itself very hurriedly and then proceeded as if nothing had happened. On its back, the fur was thoroughly plastered with mud and water, and I wondered idly whether that spot was in reach of the cat’s own grooming tongue. I considered and then dismissed the possibility of squirting the kitty was water from the end of the garden hose after I remembered that a spray of water is one of the recommended pet cat training tools used to warn them away from bad behavior. This situation didn’t quite fill the bill so I refrained.
Shortly thereafter my Katahdin ram alongside the garden ambled into the kennel that opens into their grazing area. He marched over to a clear spot along the chainlink fence panal and leaned against it. Then he rubbed back and forth a number of times. I saw his problem and sympathized. His entire body is covered with sleek goat-like brown and white hair, except along his back. There, all you can see is a layer of wool about three inches thick. I’m sure he would have dislodged that insulating layer of wool long before now if he had been able to reach that spot. His self-shearing skills haven’t been perfected, and I knew instinctively again that my efforts to help him would probably not be welcome. If he were as tame as the ladies in the flock are, I could walk up and simply lift off the offending wool, but I can imagine him getting a panicky look in his eyes and dashing past me if I tried to approach him now.
One of the watering trenches in the garden has a 10-foot long crack running along its length. I don’t know why the ground cracks here and not elsewhere, but the crack makes the watering project more interesting. The water disappears into the end of the crack as it reaches it, and then flows along underground for some distance before there’s enough water to come to the surface and begin again to fill the trench. This morning, I watched thirteen small toads in turn wriggle out of that crack as the water reached their hideaways along its length. Each toad was worth at least one smile.
One day when Grant was much younger I asked him to join me in the garden on a morning when he would have preferred to stay indoors and do something on the computer. “Why?” he demanded in an effort to delay the inevitable.
“Because when you’re out and about, you see things you’d miss if you stayed in front of the computer,” I answered. Grousing and grumbling, he joined me, and as if orchestrated for our benefit, we witnessed an incredibly rewarding natural event.
When we checked a killdeer nest that we’d been watching and protecting in the garden, we found one cracked egg shell and three eggs that had chips and cracks. They were rocking back and forth slightly, but because of their pointed small end stayed in the slight depression that formed the nest. A short distance away a tiny little feather ball on stilts cheeped and bobbed around with its frantic parent dashing in periodically to lure us and the baby away from the nest. While we watched, three more killdeer chicks pushed their way out of the shell, and within minutes, they too were running around in the garden. The mother finally corralled all of them over to the headed-out triticale growing outside the garden fence where they had some cover. The rest of the morning we heard their occasional chirping nearby and cheered silently for their survival.
I couldn’t resist this made-for-sermonizing opportunity. “Just think, Grant, you would have missed all this if you had stayed indoors by the computer.”
This morning, I would have missed a host of animal antics if I had stayed indoors.
Never underestimate the power of the natural world to amaze and entertain. But if you want to see things, you have to get out and about.
We have two very tame kittens left from a Spring litter of four. Both of the kittens accompanied me companionably when I went to the flower garden, and they occasionally brushed up against my legs, and intermittently inspected curiosities that presented themselves. I kept out a sharp eye to head off any interest they showed in uprooting the flowers or rolling over on them as they lolled about. The white kitty was off to my left when I heard a sudden grunt (I didn’t know kittens could grunt.) from that direction and saw a streak of white beelining toward the porch. The white kitten fled to its hiding place under the steps before stopping. I laughed aloud as I realized what must have happened. Its tall preening tail must have made contact with the lowest strand of the electric fence around the flower garden. Sorry kitty.
Later the orange tiger kitty was rolling around on the ground in front of me, probably trying to scratch its back. Without taking notice, he/she rolled right into the watering trench, now with flowing water in that spot. An astonished kitten righted itself very hurriedly and then proceeded as if nothing had happened. On its back, the fur was thoroughly plastered with mud and water, and I wondered idly whether that spot was in reach of the cat’s own grooming tongue. I considered and then dismissed the possibility of squirting the kitty was water from the end of the garden hose after I remembered that a spray of water is one of the recommended pet cat training tools used to warn them away from bad behavior. This situation didn’t quite fill the bill so I refrained.
Shortly thereafter my Katahdin ram alongside the garden ambled into the kennel that opens into their grazing area. He marched over to a clear spot along the chainlink fence panal and leaned against it. Then he rubbed back and forth a number of times. I saw his problem and sympathized. His entire body is covered with sleek goat-like brown and white hair, except along his back. There, all you can see is a layer of wool about three inches thick. I’m sure he would have dislodged that insulating layer of wool long before now if he had been able to reach that spot. His self-shearing skills haven’t been perfected, and I knew instinctively again that my efforts to help him would probably not be welcome. If he were as tame as the ladies in the flock are, I could walk up and simply lift off the offending wool, but I can imagine him getting a panicky look in his eyes and dashing past me if I tried to approach him now.
One of the watering trenches in the garden has a 10-foot long crack running along its length. I don’t know why the ground cracks here and not elsewhere, but the crack makes the watering project more interesting. The water disappears into the end of the crack as it reaches it, and then flows along underground for some distance before there’s enough water to come to the surface and begin again to fill the trench. This morning, I watched thirteen small toads in turn wriggle out of that crack as the water reached their hideaways along its length. Each toad was worth at least one smile.
One day when Grant was much younger I asked him to join me in the garden on a morning when he would have preferred to stay indoors and do something on the computer. “Why?” he demanded in an effort to delay the inevitable.
“Because when you’re out and about, you see things you’d miss if you stayed in front of the computer,” I answered. Grousing and grumbling, he joined me, and as if orchestrated for our benefit, we witnessed an incredibly rewarding natural event.
When we checked a killdeer nest that we’d been watching and protecting in the garden, we found one cracked egg shell and three eggs that had chips and cracks. They were rocking back and forth slightly, but because of their pointed small end stayed in the slight depression that formed the nest. A short distance away a tiny little feather ball on stilts cheeped and bobbed around with its frantic parent dashing in periodically to lure us and the baby away from the nest. While we watched, three more killdeer chicks pushed their way out of the shell, and within minutes, they too were running around in the garden. The mother finally corralled all of them over to the headed-out triticale growing outside the garden fence where they had some cover. The rest of the morning we heard their occasional chirping nearby and cheered silently for their survival.
I couldn’t resist this made-for-sermonizing opportunity. “Just think, Grant, you would have missed all this if you had stayed indoors by the computer.”
This morning, I would have missed a host of animal antics if I had stayed indoors.
Never underestimate the power of the natural world to amaze and entertain. But if you want to see things, you have to get out and about.
posted by Mrs. I at
9:20 AM
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