I can’t believe April is nearly gone.
We haven’t had enough April showers to dampen the ground, never mind bring us May flowers. All around my house the grass is peeking through the “straw” left over from winter.
In the back yard, big machines are cutting trees and creating piles of sawdust, in preparation for some construction. In fact, I should be perusing the classifieds and making calls to locate another house to rent, as I will be moving – yes, again!
This finding affordable housing in Windham – rental property, that is – gets more and more challenging. If I could just find an old farmhouse somewhere on one of our back roads, I’d be happy. I’d be glad to paint and “fix up.” I’d also be forced to start boxing up the accumulation of stuff I now have spread all around the house and shed. A few good drenching rain-filled days would get this packing project started.
Right now, this little bit of sunshine and the swarm of black flies gives the illusion of spring and the temptation is to find a warm corner outside and just soak up the Vitamin D.
For those of you who missed getting an Easter bunny, I have to offer three Easter kittens, all trained nicely and more than ready for a new home. One yellow, one black and white and one a dark tiger. They’re free and of course provide hours of entertainment and no doubt would be glad to catch a mouse or two.
One of my brothers has e-mailed me a picture of a bluebird that arrived in the backyard of his Naples home. When I was a little girl, bluebirds were as common as chickadees, but I haven’t seen any for many years. Red-winged blackbirds used to be a common sight, too, perched on the tall cattails and among the sumacs in damp places alongside the road. It never occurred to me back then, that Windham would change so much that these beautiful commonplace birds would leave. Now, we have an excessive amount of the scavenging seagulls. Those were never around here and the only time we saw them was on an infrequent trip to Portland or Boothbay Harbor. I think the seagulls were frequent visitors to the old town dump.
Prior to the “town” dump, each household was responsible for getting rid of their own trash – usually it was burned up or recycled via the “junk man” who used to come around routinely. That changed, and a town dump was made – then the dump was closed by law, and we created a new industry: trash removal. The seagulls outlasted it all and now they have acres of parking lots providing plenty of forage. They’re an ugly replacement for the bluebirds, though.
I wonder sometimes if new people in town think that seagulls were always here. When I hear complaints about those pesky woodchucks, fox and skunks getting into backyards and digging holes in manicured lawns – I bite my tongue and set aside my explanation of what “rural” means. Let’s face it, I have a totally different perspective. As I was telling someone the other day, I can remember when most of the roads were dirt roads and there was so little traffic on the Chute Road that grass grew in the middle. Streetlights were not common and sidewalks were only in the villages.
Scenic vistas (we used to call them fields) were filled with cows and sheep and goats, and you knew it was spring when the unforgettable aroma of freshly spread manure mingled with that of lilacs. Cows would push fences aside and wander in the road and would have to be chased back to where they belonged. Woodchucks and deer would get into the newly planted gardens and if the corn was up, raccoons would visit and probably rabbits, too. Lots of wildlife in Windham back then. Times change.
I think I’ll find a warm corner outside, where I can sit and ponder how my little country town continues to disappear. And I’d better not see a seagull.
See you next week.
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