Monday, March 7, 2016

Red Bellied Woodpecker back

I saw the red-bellied wood pecker again. He was in our next door neighbor's tree. It was too far away for a photo. But it's nice to know he is still in the neighborhood.

We don't get many colorful birds in our area. Blue jays are about it. On rare occasions I'll see a pair of cardinals. Audubon says red bellied woodpeckers are, "Most common in deciduous forest, especially along rivers and in swamps." I wonder if they are here now because of all the building going on in our area. Acres of forests and wetlands are being replaced with gargantuan warehouses.

I hate to see it. Acres of stark impersonal buildings--no windows, no store fronts, no architectural embellishments, no parking lots, no people, no landscaping, no color, just miles of high blank beige walls with--seemingly--no doors. It's hard to imagine any people working in them. Driving past, I feel like I've landed on another planet. It gives me the shivers. John said it's because of the internet. Everybody buys on-line now.

It's almost enough to make me want to stop buying on-line. Almost. But it's hard to beat the convenience. I have the world at my fingertips. Anything we need or want is just a few clicks away. For example, each month, with the push of a few buttons, from the comfort of my recliner, I can order my Mom's incontinent supplies and have them shipped directly to her residential care home. And sometimes things are only available on-line. So what's the answer? I don't know. I just wish we could keep our forests and wetlands and still order things on-line. If you are in a place that hasn't been invaded by acres of giant ware-houses, be thankful.

I'm thankful,
1. The red bellied woodpeckers are able to adapt to the loss of the forests and wetlands (see above Audubon page)
2. John fixed the problem we were having printing financial reports this weekend.
3. We got our accounts in Quicken reconciled through the end of 2015.
4. I restarted my cassette digitizing project and finished digitizing the church history series.
5. We took a walk yesterday and I did not have trouble with my foot. Maybe I will be able to cope with our trip to Israel in May.

1 comment:

  1. Glad to know your friend the woodpecker is still around. Hope you see it again soon. :)

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