This Tree Has Gone to the Birds!

Our windows and sliding glass doors on the south side of our home used to look out onto a glorious cornfield....as far as the eye could see....the birds loved this field, on a summer's day you could hear crows calling to each other in glee as they nibbled on the corn....in the fall, after the corn was harvested, the geese flying south would always make the cornfield their layover where they had an ample supply of dried corn kernals on the ground to tide them over for their long journey ahead of them. The honking lasted for days...but it was like music to the ears! With each season came an abundance of new birds....the winter months brought little finches as well as starlings, and when spring rolled around, the geese came back through headed north from their sunny winter vacations. We loved this cornfield and all of the birds and critters that called it their home. A few years ago "our" wonderful cornfield was sold to a developer who built homes for people, where the bird's homes once were. We still get lots of birds through here, but it is just not the same. We have a flurry of starlings almost every Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve that fly in and darken the sky...there are so many....they land in our apple trees and crabapple and plum trees and we happily watch them as they have their special holiday feast that our trees have provided. I started the tradition of our "bird tree" when the cornfield was still a "hoppin' place" full of beautiful species of birds. Now many of them are just memories, but I get to relive those peaceful "cornfield" days each year when we decorate our bird tree in our upstairs den, and be thankful for all the years that we enjoyed the beauty and tranquility that the birds in the cornfield gave us. Christmas and memories...they seem to go hand in hand! Hope you have a special tree that holds wonderful memories for you!