Colosseum

Another beautiful mid-October day sent us outside to plant garlic in one of our raised beds. It’s only our second year but we had such good luck the first year, we thought, Why Not? We won’t know our success until next June or July. It’s a remarkable and satisfying crop to grow • Today I discovered the flocks of tiny birds gathered at various feeders around the yard are Pine Siskins! From a distance they appear to be small sparrows, but through my camera lens I saw the light streaks of yellow on their wings and on the base of their tails. They are a year around resident in Maine, so they are either new to our yard, or we’ve misidentified them in the past. Either way, they are most welcome. Our other resident birds may disagree because they are quite aggressive. Put another way: Tiny but Fierce! You’ll see that in today’s blip between a Pine Siskin and his reaction to the Nuthatch who suddenly arrived on the same feeder. No matter the bird, the Siskin stood his ground; was the last one standing; never gave up his post; scared all others away; king of the feeder! • Take good care. Keep joy in your heart. We will get through this.