Sep
25
2009
Several Discoveries Nearby
Author: siggyI made several discoveries around the house. The first one was a toad was living in a crack in front of the door. He was no small toad–at least two inches wide. I only saw him once in front of my door but I saw him disappear into the crack on the bottom.
It was magical: he just tucked himself into the crack and was immediately gone from my view. Since then I have kept my eyes open for him but did not see him again.
In back of my house, which was allowed this year to grow wild, was a patch of flowers I have often seen. I knew it was a common weed: a little white flower that looked like a tiny daisy. I was amazed: There must have been hundreds of those flowers in that big patch.
For months every time I stepped out the front door I would occasionally glance look at that tiny bird nest two inches in diameter resting on the nearby ledge. I would be awed that a hummingbird could build such an perfectly round edifice.
I found the nest in the middle of the road nearby. It must have fallen from an overhanging branch. Every time I looked at that nest my breath would be taken away momentarily.
Another plant I never paid much attention was goldenrod. For a long time I would mistakenly call another yellow flower goldenrod although goldenrod comes out later in the season. My wife finally told me the proper name of that spring flower.
When I was walking my dog around my block, which is almost a mile around, I discovered there were acres of goldenrod in the gigantic meadow I passed. I also found several patches of it around our property. It was as if I was seeing goldenrod for the first time this year. These were just a few discoveries I made.