The Birdie Bush

   Long ago and far away , in a time and place long before the present one , I was writing stories for my children . The hope , of course , was to have them published, but that was not to be . The stories and the primitive sketches that accompanied them were  , however , shared with my daughter's first grade class...to rave reviews by the class ( perhaps encouraged by the warm homemade cookies I brought ??) and their teacher . One of the mothers told me about something special at her children's bus stop and hoped I'd write a book about it . It seemed there was a shrub where the kids gathered to wait  . The sound of their happy chatter fostered a musical accompaniment of sorts by the little birds who were sheltered inside . The mother said the kids called it "The Birdie Bush" .
    Life intervened , as it frequently does , and that book was not written . It was brought to mind today , because there is such a shrub outside my window at this house ! It is especially visible through the corner window as Gabby and I snuggle in the front room . The enormous yew shelters all manner of vocal wildlife , including the smaller birds (sparrows , finches , chickadees , etc.) , chipmunks who also developed a taste for the yew berries , and a much larger visitor today . A swift movement there caught my eye , caused by something of a size and color not the norm . What was perched there was a hawk !!!  I don't know if it was after the yew berries or the "fast food" that nibbled there . By the time I realized what it was and began to heft a large kitty from my lap to dive for the camera , it was gone
... sigh...
   It would seem that some of the visual gifts bestowed are  not to be recorded by camera , but by the memory .