Friend Gone Missing

  I make friends with a good number of the critters on the Bayou. Sometimes I think it is easier for me to relate to animals than humans. Critters don't seem to care one iota about the drama that most folks attach to their lives.  Critters just live life day to day and hope for the best.  There is nothing wrong with that attitude.  Perhaps more folks should take a lesson from wildlife and stop creating such huge messes in their own lives.  Simpler is better.

  One of my little friends has gone missing, though, and it concerns me a bit.  I do hear him off in the distance but he has not ventured much closer than the canebrake as of late.  The tiny Summer Tanager that always came to visit brought so much happiness when he came.  He would sit on the fence and sing to me as I worked the gardens.  His keen vision let him know when I would uncover a bug suitable to feed his little ones and he would dart down to snag the prize.  After a few minutes of delivering the food to some hungry mouths, he would be back.  As of late, he stays more secluded.  I hear his sweet call but he steers clear of the garden.  I am not even positive that this is the same bird.  It could very well be one of his offspring that has not had the opportunity to make my acquaintance.  Still, I pondered just why the bird is avoiding me...or the garden in general.

  This afternoon, I sat in my wicker chair trying to catch a cooling breeze. I could hear the tanager in the distance and longed for a visit.  It then occurred to me that two things have changed since the last time we were together.  One...there are now two cats that lounge about the place. Since the garden is one of the cooler spots in the yard, both cats have their chosen spots.  Their presence might be enough to hinder the bird's coming.  Second...I am lacking any running water.  Several years ago, I had created a "fake" stream that ran down the west side of the garden. The little bird loved to come bathe in this fresh water.  The yard has changed and the stream was removed.  Perhaps I need to find some other source of cooling water for my friend.

  While there is nothing I can do (or would do) about the cats in the garden, Son assured me that we could figure out some water feature that might be appealing to the tanagers.  With his help, another stream or at least a fountain will be installed to encourage future visits. I miss my little friends!  They need to come home!