I can see for miles and miles

For those of you that are interested, the red-tailed hawk is back. We live in a wooded area, it’s a subdivision but most of the homes are hidden down wooded lanes and dead end streets. We live on the main street, yet from our home we can only see one other house. Well, we couldn’t. Two months ago someone bought the lot across the street and started to clear it. They cut down most of the trees, piled up the brush, and left the stumps with colored ribbons on them. From my craft room window, all I could see was trees – now all I see are the homes through the cleared lot and the piles of brush the house sparrows take refuge in. My husband and I were very sorry to see the trees go. We assume once the lot has been completely cleared (probably in the spring), someone will be building on it. The one bright spot is the ecology has changed there. It’s gone from heavily forested to mostly cleared. As I write, the red-tail is back watching for rodents. The woodpeckers will be feasting on the stumps if they are still there when it gets warm. Many years ago we visited Mt. St. Helens after the eruption. Like the lot across the street, it had undergone a radical ecology change, from a high altitude forest to a high altitude meadow. The woodpeckers and sapsuckers had moved on and the hummingbirds had moved in. There were wildflowers in abundance where once it was too shaded for flowers. My husband and I walked one of the trails, me in my red coat, and the hummingbirds flew around me to check me out. It’s one of my favorite memories. Years later we tried to get back to the summit after a road had washed out. We were directed to a logging road that was actually twin ruts going downhill. It was a scary ride only to end up below the washed out road. All for nothing. We haven’t been back to Washington in years; it’s time for another trip.