our feathered friends

Every morning when I get back from walking my dogs we come in the side gate to the yard and all is quiet, there's nothing moving, and not a peep to be heard. And before we go in the house I take a minute to fill the two birdfeeders. Then all hell breaks loose. Within 20 seconds of that birdseed hitting the feeder it looks like an air raid. Wings are flapping, the air's filled with chirping and 2 dozen birds are jockeying for good position. I don't know where they come from or how they know, but all of a sudden they just drop in from nowhere, and for 30 minutes or so they look like the happiest creatures on earth, gorging on a free buffet breakfast. They get a free breakfast and we get a free show. All around it's great way to start the day. This morning, as I watched the birds and read the paper, I came across a story in the Arizona Daily Star, Tourists dig birds, wildlife. It's all about people who come here from all over the country and the world to spend a week or two observing nature and the many varieties of birds that are native to Southern Arizona. For us it's part of our morning routine, but we don't take it completely for granted, we've lived in N.Y., L.A. and Chicago, and we're very aware that it's just another one of the really great things about living in Tucson.