The flora and fauna of Florida is the biggest drawing points for my husband and myself - four years ago in Sanibel Island and Fort Myers Beach, he said the air, the plants, smelled like his childhood, that open wild green smell even the endless buildings can't eclipse. So of course, this time the man brings back a handful of Spanish Moss and has it hanging from a small tree in our back yard. He assigned spray bottle keep-it-moist duty to the youngest son, and he has been determined to have it grow through the summer even though he knows the first frost will do it in.
One prob...the large male head of an extensive clan of Robins decided that nothing quite suits a nest like Spanish Moss. So he has been stealing it - from little snatches to big scarves of it. It has not been uncommon to see the husband running at the large window, slamming open the back door and yelling at the entirely unimpressed Robin. Moments after the door is shut, the bold bird is back with more moss in beak. This has almost been as entertaining as watching the husband in seasons past charge out the garage to run at the squirrels eating seedlings from the Elm tree, lobbing cans from the recycling bin (with no effect, aim not his strong suit when outraged). I think my favorite reaction is the near non-reaction of the ten year old, a smile, a shrug, "that's Dad". Yup.
1 comment:
Hi Susan - enjoyed your blog - perhaps the motto is -'You can't fight nature!' One winter's morning after a night of really hard frost, my Nearest and Dearest battled for 2 hours with a pick and a shovel trying to unload a pile of sand that had frozen solid in his trailer - and then the sun came out and it melted like hot butter.
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