"Under the spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands," wrote Longfellow. Here, under my spreading oak tree, I've got the whole danged village. Silent woodland creatures, my foot! Dry leaves on the ground sound like crunching potato chips as the creatures parade back and forth. Roving bands of turkeys came at different times all day for the birdseed and to scratch for bugs under the blanket of leaves, some of the ladies taking a sun bath and all of them gossiping loudly. A flock of crows tried to hurry them along by cawing at the top of their lungs high up in the tree. Turkeys will not be rushed. It was obviously not the first trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet for the biggest ground squirrel I've ever seen. I had to take a hard look to make sure it wasn't one of the grey tree squirrels, and it wasn't until he finally took off running (waddling is more like it) that I got a glimpse of his tail. A young spike buck and his girlfriend came for leftovers in the afternoon, while other deer grazed on the slope and munched on low-hanging oak leaves throughout the day. Feed elsewhere must be getting scarce. The deer are starting to strip the green leaves from my lilac bushes under the kitchen window, and I startled a buck in the herb garden when I opened the door to call for Pearl last night. The number of vultures continues to grow as more show up each day. I've never before seen them drinking from the goat trough, and they are congregating on the ground as well as on the posts and wires. Huge shadows drift across the ground as they circle overhead.
We've got Longfellow beat by a country mile. All that's missing is the smithy.
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You know what they say, "The best time to travel is right after Labor Day when the children go back to school!" Guess the vultures, squirrels, deer, turkeys, and crows have been reading the same travel brochures that list the most friendly Bed & Breakfasts in the Sierra Foothills!
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