Living in the Vortex

I think we must live in some sort of creature vortex. It seems every day brings new life to our surroundings. We have a young deer who drinks water from our bird bath daily, lots of fat sassy frogs, hummingbirds who will buzz you in a heartbeat, a pregnant deer who stays close to the apple tree. There are wild turkeys who meander through the field, hawks, raccoons, rabbits o'plenty.

I once saw a mountain lion take 3 leaps across our garden one snowy winter's day. Most nights you can hear the hoot of an owl that lives down below the barn. In the fall, there are geese who fly down to the pond for respite on their way farther south. There are wood hens, wood peckers,

doves, blue jays, blue birds, always a parade of birds at the feeders. Today, there was a lazy old turtle who found his way into our yard.

And then of course, we have our 5 dogs, Blackie Bear(a 97 pound lab/chow mix) Astro, another almost 100 pound lab mix, Taylor, the dump dog(who knows what her lineage is) Charlie(some sort of Benji shaggy dog) and then there is Buddy(wacky little corgi mix) . I can't leave out the chickens, Blue Boy the Rooster, Speckles, Red Wing and Little Red.

And last but not least, the assortment of chicken snakes, and various others who live on the property. It seems they all know they are safe here, there is food, shelter and water for all.

I guess they have some sort of creature Craig's List , that posts if you are in the Empire, Al

area, visit the Watsons! You'll love it there!

When I was growing up, my friends always wanted to come to my house. My parents never seemed to mind how many kids were around, there were always snacks(usually a chocolate cake that my mom had baked. After Rick and I built this house, it seemed that most of our nieces and nephews and their friends wanted to come here. I can't tell you how many weeny roasts we have had in our back yard! So, if there is some sort of vortex that sends out greetings and ya'll come, maybe I just inherited it from my folks. I do love it, when friends visit and they talk about how comfortable they feel here.

So, it's a good thing, this vortex of welcome, that welcomes creatures of every kind, humans included. Ya'll come.