#161
When I got back here (reluctant to call it home, because, what is that anyway?) I see that a tree in the rear yard has been trimmed but the grass remains relatively high. Higher than usual. I wonder if Elias has locked himself out of the garden again by closing the gate too hard? This is probably the case. It’s that, or else he has gone back to Mexico for the summer. Not a bad idea, honestly. In the other corner, the grapefruit tree has released nearly all of the now very pink and rotten fruits, which will become fodder for the ants and things that live beneath it. Others around me worry about roof rats, but I’ve never seen one. The bird feeder is empty and I make a note to buy some seed when I’m next at the hardware store, pet store, or elsewhere seed is sold. If for nothing else but the pleasure of the dog, who for enjoyment, likes to chase them out of the yard.
My all-time high of the number of bird species I’ve encountered in the back garden is 12, according to the app I use that listens to birdsong and tells me what I’m hearing. That was in the winter when the weather encourages birds to move about. In the summer, the hot air and heat mean even the most hardy of birds, the pigeons, are sheltered in the shade until nightfall.