Over the years my backyard has become a little wildlife sanctuary. From chickadees all the way to red-tailed hawks and even a peregrine falcon, it’s nonstop action. And yes, we occasionally suffer the loss of a pigeon or dove to the hawks.

That’s nature.

It’s gotten to the point that my feeders must be filled two and sometimes three times a day. Last week I asked my husband, “How much sunflower seed do you think we’ve gone through in the past ten years?” and being the math whiz that he is, he took out a piece of paper and calculated the total within a minute.  On average we go through 50 lbs of sunflower a week, a little more in the colder months. So the total is 12 tons.  That’s right, a whopping 12 tons! And each spring when the red-winged blackbirds arrive and sing their magical songs and the downy woodpeckers bring their babies to the suet log, I sigh with happiness. They are all worth it.

No matter what I might be doing or facing, when a red-wing sings I’m reminded that life, in all it’s many stages, is good.