Our first christmas tree in our first house brought some sparkle to our living room and is now providing shelter and perching- possibilities on our deck.
We had expected, as with our past trees, we'd be dragging a dry, needle-dropping stick outside to toss somewhere into the garden for the birds. We were nicely surprised to find our tree not only hadn't lost a needle, it was still absorbing water, so we gave it a new home in our outside living room.
Though we removed all our ornaments, we left on a string of white LED lights, set on a timer, giving us something pretty to look at as we eat our supper. Apart from aesthetic pleasure for us and convenience for the birds who are accessing our feeders, it also provides our feathered neighbours some necessary protection against our bigger winged friend, Mr. Goss Hawk, who grazes our backyard for slow moving Hors d’Oeurves.
We had expected, as with our past trees, we'd be dragging a dry, needle-dropping stick outside to toss somewhere into the garden for the birds. We were nicely surprised to find our tree not only hadn't lost a needle, it was still absorbing water, so we gave it a new home in our outside living room.
Though we removed all our ornaments, we left on a string of white LED lights, set on a timer, giving us something pretty to look at as we eat our supper. Apart from aesthetic pleasure for us and convenience for the birds who are accessing our feeders, it also provides our feathered neighbours some necessary protection against our bigger winged friend, Mr. Goss Hawk, who grazes our backyard for slow moving Hors d’Oeurves.
We're also enjoying our time with Frankie, exploring the highs and lows of St. Thomas walking paths.
The highs are the abundant railway tresels, remnants of a time when St. Thomas was Canada's railroad capital.
Some of these lofty roadways, like this one, are somewhat abandoned; one set of rails and ties have been removed and the surface is now so dense with earth and vegetation that you forget you're two hundred of feet above solid land (until you notice a "hole" in the ground and see cars racing past far below). Never gamblers, neither of us were willing to venture close to the railing, just in case.
The lows are the many ravines snaking their way through town, still hosting the rivers that carved them so long ago. These valleys, stocked with tall trees, are often connected to each other via dozens of pathways, and occasionally divided by roadways, high up at street level.In a drier or colder time of year, we'll be able to journey more easily by traveling through tunnels which are presently funneling water (if not dammed with debris and branches).
For now, we'll enjoy the challenge of climbing uphill, crossing roads, then climbing back down to rejoin the river.
These unofficial parks, our less-public, public lands need protection and respect. By being good stewards of the few remaining natural water and air purification systems we have, we may buy us some extra time while we gather steam for the storm which inevitably lies ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment