The Trees Growled

"If only, if only," the woodpecker sighs,
"The bark on the tree was as soft as the skies."
While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely,
Crying to the moo-oo-oon,
"If only, If only.” 

~Louis Sachar,  from Holes

One of the stately old oaks in our neighborhood park.

I'm almost always up before DH. Sometimes I walk Zelda and sometimes I stall, drink a cup of coffee, putter with the computer...you know the drill...until he gets up and walks her. But in recent days of cold and sometimes wet weather, DH has come downstairs in shorts and a T-shirt. It's a bit of a message that he's not planning on braving the weather for a while.


So, today he wandered downstairs, put on a fleece vest, and started taking out the garbage and recycling.


Zelda and I put on coats and headed down the street.


We are alert in the neighborhood park, just around the corner. There is a dog living nearby who has killed pets and attacked walkers. We steer clear of that side of the park and pay attention. 


A group of birds were fussing at the top of one of the oaks. In this light, to us, they were just LBBs.* And I had no binoculars or cell, so we observed from a distance. Then I saw them moving in and out of a hole high on a limb. As I walked closer I noticed another hole slightly lower on a different limb.

The first hole was high in the tree.

We heard a rough noise behind us and turned in time to see a man walking down the street. He was clearing his throat. That startle was enough to push us towards home and warmth.

I had been looking for optimum Screech owl nesting spots, but these weren't owls going in and out.

But I had to go back to the park and watch the birds a little longer, with a camera!**

On the final stretch home a cardinal flew back and forth across our street. It would be the first of two of these flirty birds I would see today. Some would say it is a message from loved ones. 

The wind blew, the leaves rustled, and the tree limbs almost growled as I hurried along to my warm kitchen and waiting cup of coffee.

The lower nestin-hole

Woodpecker showing off.

NOTES:

*Little Brown Birds

**Only after returning home did I discover my cell in my back pocket...the trouble with winter is too many pockets to check.

The Bur Oak leaves and Red Oak leaves mingle on my sidewalk.