At last you see a large sign ahead. It boasts "Charlie's Last Chance" café and fuel stop. You whisper a small prayer of thankfulness before you notice how forlorn the place is. A small note on the door states "Sorry, We're Closed." Panic begins to engulf you! Is this "really" the last chance as the sign says? And if it is, what will you do now? Your childrens lives, your own life could depend on what you do next!
Every year thousands of birds are forced to deal with this quandary as they migrate South for the winter! Will they find enough food, and clean safe water? Will the babies they brought into the world this spring survive to return next year? Will their human friends have destroyed natural habitats or will they have lush gardens waiting; filled with flowers, seeds, insects? Have pesticides and drought destroyed their only sources of clean pure water?
It is horrifying to us to think of being hot, thirsty, hungry! Yet few of us ever give thought to the plight of the migrating birds! It is we who have changed the water patterns with dams, we who have killed off millions of beneficial weeds, insects and grasses desperately consequential to life of all living things! All of us have our favorite flowers, grasses and ideas of how our lawns should appear, and we plant accordingly. There is nothing wrong in that, but if we take the time to do a little research we can find many ways to accommodate out feathered friends and still maintain the lush lawn we all so cherish! And in the process we become responsible members of Nature at its best!
Certainly it won't be easy, but we CAN do it!
If we plant the right things --(and we share) we can feed ourselves, furry animals and birds alike!
Fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs, even some flowers and weeds are beneficial to us all as well as beautiful! Surely we can find room (and time) for at least some of these in our landscape! And the rewards could be tremendous! And, like ripples in a pond the results will go on for many years to come!
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