As I was getting in my car one evening last week, a hawk flew so close over my head I could see the downy feathers on its chest. My head turned almost involuntarily to follow its flight into some nearby trees. Happiness at seeing him warred with an intense longing to be out in the woods somewhere.
For five days out of seven, most working people like myself are tied to home or a job. On days off, we can escape to the outdoors via local parks and trails. If we’re lucky, we can string together a long stretch of days for farther flung adventures in wilderness areas or national parks where we can see not just hawks but a host of other creatures.
But what if we had some of that wildness closer to home? What if we could step right out our back doors to connect to nature?
We do see wildlife in our own backyard sometimes, despite being located in a city. Most recently, a pileated woodpecker has been banging away at some of the dead wood in the big old silver maple in the back corner of our lot. Carolina wrens, singing their happy (and loud) little song, are building a nest in one of our birdhouses. We’ve been host to nests of baby rabbits (some of which actually survived being born in a yard home to dogs), multiple possums (which played dead when those dogs tried to bring them in the house), raccoons, and even (once) a turkey.
To welcome more wild visitors, last year I started working on making our yard more nature friendly. My husband, Herb, was totally on board when I suggested we participate in No Mow May. The initiative seeks to encourage the growth of flowering plants that provide food for bees and other pollinators and shelter for small critters. In fact, Herb was so on board with not having to mow the lawn that he suggested we skip it for the whole summer. We compromised by not mowing part of the backyard, where our efforts would be mostly out of sight of the neighbors. The…
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