COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE

I was sitting on my porch, a container of bird seed next to my rocking chair, when my husband Steven came outside.

“Morning.” He said as he kissed the top of my head. “How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty good. How about you?” I pointed to the chair next to me. “Want to come join me?”

“I slept okay.” He said as he sat down. “What are you doing?”

“I just filled the bird feeders and I’m waiting for everyone to come out of the woods.”

Steven looked confused. “Who’s coming out of the woods?”

I pointed to the feeders. “When I was filling them I could see all the house finches jumping from branch to branch waiting for me to finish.” I pointed to the chipmunk scurrying by the fire pit. “He’s on his second trip of gathering the seeds I spilled on the ground.” I leaned back in my chair and began humming.

“That sounds familiar. What’s that song you’re humming?” He asked.

“It’s from the Wizard of Oz. ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are.’ I started to sing, then laughed. “I feel like Glinda the Good Witch trying to coax the Munchkins out of the underbrush.”

Just then a goldfinch flew out from the woods and landed on the birdbath.

Steven looked over at me. “Glinda, huh?”

I looked down at my outfit, which was a bathrobe over an oversized tee shirt and pajama bottoms. “Okay, I may not look like Glinda right now. But I think I said I FEEL like her. I never mentioned looking like her.”

We watched as a cardinal couple flew in and landed on the feeders.

“See? Everyone’s enjoying their breakfast!” I said as I smiled at Steven.

A few blue jays swooped in to join the party, squawking as they landed at the top of the feeders. “There’s enough room for everyone!” I called out to them as I looked over at Steven and began laughing.

Just then three squirrels, who were chasing each other around the oak tree, stopped to watch the chipmunk loading up his cheeks at the bottom of the feeders.

“And there you have it.” I sighed. “The squirrels have arrived and now it’s ruined for everyone.”

Steven shook his head. “Why don’t you like the squirrels?” He asked. “They have to eat, too.”

We watched as a squirrel shimmied up the pole of the feeder, chasing all the birds away while it leaned over and dumped all the seed onto the ground. The other squirrels were waiting underneath and began feasting on the pile of seeds.

“That’s why!” I said pointing to the fat little intruders. “They just chased all the birds away!”

Steven looked over at the table and saw my empty cup sitting there. “Would you like some more?” He asked pointing to my cup. “I can heat up some extra water for you when I’m heating up mine.”

“You know, maybe some more tea would be the exact thing I need right now.” I said as I got up and grabbed my container of birdseed and headed into the house. “Seeing that my magical movie moment seems to be over now.” I sighed. “I guess it’s time for me to get in the shower and get back to reality.”