It's the Little Things that make life worthwhile

Today, starts and ends with a question – what became of the little things?  You know what I’m talking about.  Sitting with a good friend in the shade of the yard in rockers on the front porch.  Maybe even sitting on a creek/river bank talking about everthing - but talking about nothing at all.  I’m sitting here rocking, watching nature and crocheting.   Crochet – that in and of itself is becoming a lost art   Most people today have to ‘go’ somewhere to appreciate nature.  I sit and look out my windows or take my coffee to the front porch.  We are fortunate to live surrounded by over 100 acres of pasture, creeks, orange groves and small thickets or bayheads of trees.  The house in which we live was built in the summer of 1941, before Pearl Harbor.  No central heat or air conditioning in those days, but lots of windows on all sides and a generous front porch.  Before we moved here, we visited the neighbors and one activity was watching the crazy people who lived in THAT house.  Shooting at each other, chasing one-another around the house with their two little boys in tow, screaming.  Cookware, pots, pans, dishes and other small appliances would sometimes come flying out the doors looking for a target.  The kids weren’t targets although sometimes they became collateral damage and we didn’t see them for a week or so.

When they were persuaded to leave, we had a month to pack our old place, clean the new (?) place and get it ready for habitation and also make the actual move.   We knew all our neighbors like family.  There was PawPaw and wife Helen to our east side.  Next door to PawPaw was his oldest son and his current lady and his 3 boys from his previous marriage.  Across the street were the operators of Gwen’s Market, about ¾ of a mile away.  On the other side of the property, but the same side of the road were the Lastingers and some Guthries.  All of these families had life in the community for YEARS.  PawPaw and his wife were the first people over to help clean up.  The grass in the yard was up to my shoulders – a little over 4 feet.  Hidden amongst the grass was flatware, car repair tools, pots & pans and probably could name a dozen other unusual items we found and put in large trash bins.

My front porch has the required 2 rockers.  I also have some of my hand tools for gardening on a shelf my husband built just for that purpose.  We placed it at eye level because of our cats.  Most years that we’ve lived here, passersby on the highway that run by the front of the property drop of cats and or kittens which they don’t want.  So, we feed them and care for them and we become their people.  However, the birds do not appreciate the kitties quite as much as we do.

This last spring, a mated pair of Carolina Wrens decided the shelf would make a lovely honeymoon cottage in which to raise their young.  Now you see the importance of building it at people-eye level.  Unless we inadvertently leave a chair sitting underneath the shelf, it’s difficult for the cats to harass the birds.  But sometimes, things happen. 

The shelf is just a couple of feet from the front screen door.  One day while Daddy Wren was bringing nesting supplies to Momma Wren, my husband opened the door and Daddy Wren took a wrong turn  . . .into the house!  That wouldn’t have been so bad, except we have a house-cat and she LOVES the birds.  She chitters to them and seems to be saying, “Come a little bit closer so we can become acquainted.”  Well, when Mr. Wren came in, she saw opportunity and had him before we could even think about helping him to return outside!  I caught the cat and when I did, Mr. Wren got loose.  Now, he’s excited, the cat is excited and we’re excited, trying to keep them apart and catch the bird to release him back to his family!

After locking the cat in the bedroom, we were finally able -after about an hour and lots of running from room to room – to get Mr. Wren under a towel and safely release him outside.  It all ended well.  The baby wrens hatched and safely moved out.  Mama and Daddy Wren left until it’s time to start a new family.  And after snubbing us for 3 days, the cat finally forgave us for taking her prize.  She still sits in the windows and calls to the birds and we sit and enjoy the view where it’s not as exciting, but more pleasing, over all.

Try to learn to appreciate the little things.  Sometimes, they’re actually the big things!

Auntie