As I sat on my back porch recently reading a book, I had a visitor. One I had not had in the twenty years we have lived in this home: a Red-headed Woodpecker. We are regularly visited by Yellow-shafted Flickers, along with the garden variety of birds — robins, house finches, starlings, and mourning doves — but never have I seen a Red-head.
It landed on a telephone pole, spied out the area and then visited a Maple hoping to find something to hammer for. Not a peck. Then it flew on. Thanks, I said, Lord for such visitors.
Along with the family of Eastern Bluebirds at our local forest preserve, we’ve had a nice summer of birds.
We also spent some time last weekend planting these grasses just off the back porch: Prairie Dropseed and Elijah Blue. We were smitten with Dropseed at the forest preserve and last week bumped into one of the gardeners who told us what they were. So, we marched to the local nursery, bought some and then found some Elijah Blue, and planted them. The ground was something straight out of Genesis 3, for my shovel seemed to find a rock for each plant. Hurts the elbows. Blame it on Adam.

But, we are grateful we haven’t seen one of these Kapuas Mud snakes from Borneo in the backyard, or maybe we just haven’t spotted them!