SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
Many of my readers live in wooded areas, or near woods. Fred and I have never really lived in that type of situation – we’ve always lived in cities. I guess the closest we have come to anything like that is where we live now. We are just a stone’s throw from what Floridians call “wetlands.” Builders are unable, by law, to build houses or apartments or commercial buildings in those area. The wetlands are, therefore, protected from developers.
Wikipedia states: A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is inundated by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail. The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other land forms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil. Wetlands play a number of functions, including water purification, water storage, processing of carbon and other nutrients, stabilization of shorelines, and support of plants and animals. Wetlands are also considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems, serving as home to a wide range of plant and animal life. Whether any individual wetland performs these functions, and the degree to which it performs them, depends on characteristics of that wetland and the lands and waters near it.
That’s a lot of verbiage, but it does describe what a wetland is and how it affects our lives.
All that to say that, we have a lot of diverse animals that frequent our housing development. We frequently see turkeys in the neighborhood, usually four or five in a group, and either all males or all females.
We were quite amused one time to see a flock of wild turkeys walking down our street. What was so amazing was that there were four “mother” turkeys, and 21 babies!! Here are pictures we took of that.
Occasionally we see Sand Hill Cranes – one of my favorite birds! They have those beautiful red heads, and such an unusual call!
Credit Wikipedia and George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Ladner, British Columbia
When we lived in Kissimmee, before moving to Orlando, we would quite often see plovers, not only flying around, but literally running down the street. And baby plovers are absolutely adorable!
Credit Google search
We’ve seen raccoons, but we try to keep our distance from them, since there is always a chance of rabies in that particular animal.
But the most unusual animal to grace our own back yard recently was a female deer! I opened the vertical blinds one morning recently to the back patio, and what to my surprise, was this beautiful deer looking back at me on the other side of the screened-in patio. She was beautiful! And was quite unafraid of me. I did nothing more than take her picture (through the screen), and she seemed quite calm.
Before she left, a group of turkeys came by, and they all had a meal on the grass. They didn’t bother each other at all.
The deer showed up one other morning, but I haven’t seen her since. I keep looking, however, hoping she will show up again.
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
Anglican Poem and hymn written by Cecil Frances Alexander
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years
Old Things R New 