It was first thing in the morning and I was sitting on my sister Liz’s screened porch sipping a cup of tea. I was watching the birds, bees, and butterflies flitting from feeder to shrubs to trees and back to the feeder again.

Liz came out on the porch with her coffee. “How’d you sleep?” she asked.

“Pretty good. How about you?”

“Good.” She sat down in the chair next to me and put her feet up on the ottoman.

“I’ve been watching this for a while.” I pointed to her feeder. “I’ve never seen such a polite group of wildlife before. Is this what they mean when they say southern hospitality?”

Liz looked over to where I was pointing with a confused look on her face. “What do you mean?”

“Your birds aren’t trying to push past each other to get to the birdseed.” I pointed to the bushes out front where two butterflies and several bees harmoniously worked next to each other as they gathered nectar. “It’s like I’m watching a Disney movie.” I pointed to the corner of her house. “I’m waiting for Snow White to walk out singing while holding her finger up so the birds can land on it and start chirping in unison with her singing!”

Liz started to laugh as she took a sip of her coffee. “A Disney movie, huh?”

“I’m serious!” I laughed. “When I’m sitting out on my deck in New Jersey it’s like watching a scene from West Side Story! The mourning doves and house finches are the Jets and the blue jays and squirrels are the Sharks! Everyone is fighting to get to the birdseed first! Seeds are flying everywhere and while the poor mourning doves are trying to gather up anything tossed to the ground the chipmunks are pushing past them to get to it first!”

Liz looked back at her garden. “They do seem to get along don’t they?”

“Get along?” I pointed to her birdbath where two little finches were taking turns taking a dip. “We were having a heat wave last week and I had a squirrel just laying in my birdbath while the birds tried to attack him hoping he’d move out of the way!” I shook my head and sighed. “The squirrel won that one.”

“Well, the poor squirrel was just trying to cool off.” Liz countered.

“Hey, who’s side are you on?”

Liz started to laugh again. “I’m not on anyone’s side!”

I looked around her garden again. “You know, come to think of it I haven’t seen any squirrels around here.”

Liz shook her head. “I don’t get squirrels.”

I looked over at her genuinely surprised. “You don’t have squirrels around here?”

“No, we have squirrels in North Carolina. But I don’t get them in my yard.” She looked around her property. “I think it’s because I don’t have any tall tree around for them to make their nests in.”

“Well, aren’t you lucky.” I sighed. “My back yard is all woods so the squirrels just LOVE my property!”

“Hey, you’re here now so enjoy the Disney scene while you can.”

I sat back listening to the low hum of the ceiling fan above us and watched as two goldfinches landed side by side to get a snack from her feeder. “Southern hospitality at its best!” I said before taking another sip of my tea.

I was visiting my sister Liz in North Carolina and we were on her back patio tending her plants. I was deadheading some flowers while she was filling her watering can. I had just clipped a faded flower from her geranium plant when I noticed a hummingbird whiz by my head.

I looked around her patio. “Where’s your hummingbird feeder?”

Liz had just started giving a big drink to her hibiscus plant. “It’s over there.” She said pointing behind her.

I looked past her bird bath but didn’t see any feeder. “Where?” I asked again.

She pointed to a large bush with purple flowers on it.

“The salvia plant.” She said.

The hummingbird was buzzing from flower to flower on the large, lush plant.

“I knew they liked the color red but I didn’t know they were attracted to the color purple, too.”

“They really love that plant.” Liz answered as she moved over to her lavender plants to give them a drink.

I watched as a swallowtail butterfly floated by her grill. “Hey, do you ever use that?” I pointed to her covered grill.

Liz looked over to see what I was pointing to. “Nope.”

“Really?” I was surprised. “When your friend Rita and I visited you a few years back, Rita talked you into buying it. She said it would change your life.”

Liz shook her head and sighed. “Well, it didn’t.”

“Well, I know it changed mine!” I’d moved over to her bird bath to see if the base needed adjustment.

“What do you mean?” She put her watering can down and went into her screened porch and sat down.

I followed her with a handful of deadheaded flowers that I set on the side table before sitting down myself. “Steven and I hadn’t used a barbecue grill in years but after Rita cooked those steaks on your grill I was hooked. I talked Steven into buying a small grill when I got home from that trip and we’ve been grilling ever since!”

I took my phone from the side table and scrolled through my texts. “We used that grill so much that we wore it out!” I held up my phone to show her a picture of a grill that Steven had just sent me. “He just got the new grill delivered today!”

Liz took my phone and looked at the picture. “Nice.” She handed the phone back to me. “So when Rita said it was going to be life changing…”

I laughed as I took the phone from her. “I guess she meant for me!”

A slight breeze stirred and her metal wind chimes began to make a deep trilling sound. I looked up from my seat to where her wind chimes were hanging. “I love that sound.” I sighed.

“So why don’t you get some?” Liz sat back and put her feet up on the ottoman.

“All my guys hate the sound of wind chimes.” I sighed and pointed to her salvia plant. “I have a better chance of buying one of those before anyone at my house agrees to get those.” I then pointed up to the chimes above me.

Liz shook her head. “I don’t know how you do it?”

“Do what?” I leaned back against the cushion to get comfortable.

“Everything’s a group decision at your house.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “But,” I held my pointer finger up. “I’ve also got someone grilling for me now at my house so if that means wind chimes are on the back burner…” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m good with that.” I picked up my phone and began to text. “But right now let me send Steven a picture of a salvia plant and see where he wants to plant ours!”

We were in the middle of eating dinner when my son Alex asked, “Can you please pass the mashed potatoes?”

The bowl was sitting next to me so I picked it up and handed it to him. While my arm was outstretched my husband Steven looked over at me with a concerned look on his face.

“When did you get that?” He was pointing to the inner part of my upper arm.

I looked down at the raised red welt. “Oh, I was taking a cookie sheet out of the oven and I accidentally hit my arm.”

Alex looked concerned. “Does it hurt?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “A little.”

“Did you put anything on it?” Steven asked.

“I will after dinner.” I shrugged my shoulders again. “If I remember.” I looked at my forearm and pointed to several fading burn marks. “I usually like to burn myself here.” I looked back at the raised burn on the upper arm. “I guess I found a new spot.” I laughed.

“You better remember to put something on it or you’re going to scar.” Alex warned me as he took a spoonful of mashed potatoes and put it on his plate before handing me back the bowl.

“Hey, scars tell stories.” I placed the bowl back in its original spot.

Alex pointed to the quarter sized raised scar on his wrist. “This one says I fell off my skateboard and got a nasty road rash.”

I looked at it and winced. “That had to hurt.”

Alex nodded. “It did.” He took a forkful of mashed potatoes and the last piece of meatloaf on his plate to eat them together.

“Remember what you told me about the scar on your rib cage?” I asked Steven.

Steven laughed. “It’s not really a scar it’s a birth mark.”

I turned to look at Alex and pointed my finger to my right side. “It’s right here and about the size of a nickle.” I looked back at Steven. “We were still dating when I saw it and I asked you how you got it…”

Steven laughed again. “I told her it was from a gun shot.”

Alex started to laugh.

“Seriously!” I cried. “I believed him!” I was shaking my head. “It scared me so much that I was thinking about ending the relationship right then and there.”

“Really?” Alex said.

“I certainly didn’t want to date someone who’d been in a gun fight!”

Steven stabbed a green bean with his fork. “When I saw the look on her face I had to let her know it was only a birth mark.”

I looked at Alex and raised my eyebrows. “So, if I’d believed the gun shot story you wouldn’t be here.”

Alex looked at Steven. “So it really is a birth mark?”

“Hey, she married me didn’t she? So that’s the story I’m sticking to.” He took the green bean off his fork and popped it in his mouth before getting up to clear his plate.

“Wait…” I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly. “What did you just say?”

“Anyone want to play Backgammon?” Steven called over his shoulder.

Alex got up to clear his plate and started to laugh when he saw the shocked look on my face. “His stories still get you every time.”

I had just pulled the pan of chicken parmesan out of the oven and had placed it on top of the stove when my son Alex came into the kitchen.

“About how long until dinner?” he asked.

“I’m going to say about fifteen minutes.”

Alex looked around the kitchen. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Actually there is.” I reached over and grabbed the basket that was sitting on the counter-top and held it out to him. “Can you get some tomatoes and basil from the garden? I want to make a Caprese salad to go with the chicken parm.”

Alex took a step back. “I’ll go get the tomatoes and basil but I’m not using your basket.” He went over to the cabinet and took out a bowl.

“What?” I was confused as I stood there with the basket still in my hand. “But I bought this basket specifically for the garden.”

“You can use a basket but I’m sticking with a bowl.”

“Are you serious?” I shook my head as I placed the basket back on the counter-top. “It’s not like I’m asking you to have the basket draped on your arm and skip out to the garden.”

Alex went over to the drawer that we kept the scissors and took them out. “Well, that’s how I see it in my head when you try to hand me a basket.” He laughed as he headed out the back door.

I was whistling while I put the pasta in the boiling water when Alex came back in. “Are these enough?” He asked as he held out the bowl.

“Perfect!” I gave the pasta a quick stir and took the bowl from him and began whistling again.

“What’s that song you’re whistling?” He asked.

I took the bowl from him and went over to the sink to rinse them off. “It’s an Ella Fitzgerald song: A-tisket, a-tasket a brown and yellow basket. I sent a letter to my Mommy and on my way I lost it…”

“Wait.” Alex shook his head. “They wrote a whole song about someone losing a basket?”

I looked over at him and nodded. “It was actually a breakthrough hit for her.”

Alex laughed still shaking his head. “What a weird thing to write a song about.”

“Hey, it was a simpler time back then.” I went to the refrigerator to get the mozzarella. “In all honesty I’d rather be singing a song about losing a basket then singing some of the stuff they write about today.”

“True.” Alex shrugged his shoulders as he went into the cabinet to get the plates for the dinner table. “Are we eating inside or out?”

“Let’s eat outside! It’s so beautiful out!” I got the knives and forks out of the drawer, grabbed some napkins and put them in the basket. “Here.” I held the basket out to him. “You can use this to make it easier.”

Alex laughed as he shook his head. “Still not using your basket.” He said as he reached in and scooped out the silverware and napkins and placed them on top of the plates before heading for the back door.

“Hey.” I called as I put the basket back on the counter. “You can’t fault me for trying!”

“Hey, Alex!” I called out to my son. “Do you use insect repellent?”

Alex came into the living room where I was scrolling on my phone. “I spray my sneakers when I’m going out in the woods for a walk.”

“But you don’t spray it on your skin do you?”

Alex looked confused. “I don’t think you’re supposed to spray it on your skin.”

“When I was a kid we used to spray it all over our skin.” I laughed as I shook my head. “You know, to protect us from bug bites.”

I held up my phone for him to see the video I’d just watched. “I just watched someone spray our brand of bug repellent on some weeds and they were dead in less than a day.”

Alex shook his head. “You know you can’t believe everything you see on the internet.”

“I know.” I got up from the couch. “But this one I can prove to myself.” I looked over at Alex. “Where do you keep the can of repellent?”

Alex pointed to the hallway closet. “It’s in there on the bottom shelf.”

I went to the closet and grabbed the green and orange can of repellent and turned it over to read the directions. “Nope.” I pointed to the directions on the can. “It says you can spray it on skin.” I began shaking my head. “They don’t want you spraying it directly on children.” I laughed as I read the directions out loud. “When using on children, apply to your own hands and then put it on the child. Spread evenly with hands to moisten all exposed skin.” I looked at Alex raising my eyebrows. “That sounds safe.” I laughed.

“You don’t know if it actually kills weeds, too.” He reminded me.

“You’re right.” I headed for the front door. “There’s some weeds in the driveway that I’ve been meaning to pull up.” I began shaking the can. “Let’s see what this does to them.”

Halfway down the driveway we came to a little clump of weeds that had managed to grow up between the Belgium block.

“Okay, my little weed friends. Thanks for being a part of my experiment.” I lightly sprayed the weeds and stepped back. “So, I sprayed them with as much as I would have used to spray on myself.”

I looked at the slightly moistened weeds and then to Alex. “What do you say? We give it a day and check back?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I guess.”

We walked back into the house and I went to wash my hands. “I’m actually hoping the video is wrong.” I called over my shoulder.

A few hours later, Alex and I were headed out for a walk when I stopped halfway down the driveway.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I cried.

Alex and I were looking at where the green weeds had been just a few hours ago and were now shriveled up and dead.

“How does this stuff get approved to be used on people when it does this to plants?” I cried.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe they think the diseases you can get from bug bites are worse than the stuff you spray on yourself to keep them away?”

“Well, now that I see this,” I pointed to the dead weeds. “I’m going to be doing some serious research on natural bug repellents.” I hoped he could hear the conviction in my voice as we started walking again.

Alex looked over at me. “So what you’re actually saying is that now you’re giving yourself the perfect excuse to spend hours scrolling on your phone?”

“Doing research!” I countered.

He raised his eyebrows. “And stopping to watch the occasional funny cat video?”

I had to sigh. “Okay. Maybe that too.”

I was sitting on the back porch reading when my son Alex came out and pointed towards the woods. “The chipmunk feeder is working out great.” He said with a laugh.

“What?” I looked up from my book and sure enough there was a chipmunk sitting on the ledge of my new bird feeder. “Oh, come on!” I cried as I turned my book upside down on the table next to me and stood up. “I bought that feeder specifically because they said it was squirrel proof!”

“Well, in their defense they didn’t say it was chipmunk proof.” Alex corrected me.

We watched as some house finches tried to land on the feeder only to be chased off by the chipmunk within seconds.

“Can’t you at least share the feeder?” I yelled out to him.

“I’m guessing he’s not in a sharing mood right now.” Alex said.

We watched as the chipmunk jumped from the feeder onto the Shepherds hook the bird feeder was hanging from, sliding down the pole like a fireman headed for the trucks.

Before he hit the ground he jumped off the pole and landed on a rock that bordered our path to the shed. He quickly looked around, his cheeks stuffed with bird seed, before hopping from rock to rock until he got to our fire pit. He jumped up on the ledge and stopped to looked around again. When he was satisfied that the coast was clear he jumped up the steps of our deck hopping up on the arm of an Adirondack chair and began adjusting the seeds in his mouth.

“Got enough?” I asked him.

My voice made him look up and when he saw Alex and I he jumped from the arm of the chair through the rungs of the deck and landed on the back of another chair.

“Well, that was impressive.” I looked over at Alex. “He looked like he was flying and totally stuck the landing!”

Alex nodded in agreement. “He certainly has some awesome parkour skills.”

We looked over the railing and watched the chipmunk quickly scamper across our patio, taking one last look around before diving into the entrance of his burrow that he’d dug under our downspout.

I looked back at the half empty bird feeder that the two house finches were finally getting a chance to use.

“I guess I should fill the feeder.” I sighed as I went to get the container of bird seed.

“Really?” Alex looked confused. “You know the chipmunk is going to be back up there emptying it out again.”

“I know.” I picked up the bird seed container that we kept in the corner of the deck. “But you have to admit he was kind of fun to watch.”

As I walked down the steps headed for the feeder the two house finches, who had been busy filling up while the chipmunk was away, flew into a nearby tree.

“I know you two want to try the newest feeder but I think you might be better off using the old feeders for now.” I pointed to the two feeders that were squirrel and chipmunk proof next to the bird bath.

“I’m not sure they can understand you.” Alex called from the porch and began laughing.

“You never know.” I said as I took down the feeder and began filling it with seeds looking over at the two house finches that were watching me. “You just never know.”

My son Alex and I were driving home from the beach when we passed a landscaping crew working on a property. It looked as if they were trimming back some shrubs. I watched as one of the workers struggled to drag a large barrel filled with yard debris down the gravel driveway. He was using both hands as he tugged and pulled the barrel over the gravel.

“He could use some wheels on that barrel.” I said as we drove by.

Alex looked over at the worker, then at me.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m just saying.”

Immediately after that I saw a car pulled up to a house with a For Sale sign on the front lawn. I pointed to the license plate on the car. “Hey Pennsylvania, I sure hope someone let you know that the house you’re looking at is in a flood zone!”

Alex looked over at the house but didn’t say anything.

I quickly had to swerve our car to miss a child riding their bike too close to the road. “Hey!” I said. “Maybe think about where you’re riding and put on a helmet!”

I looked over at Alex shaking my head. “Geez…What’s going on around here?”

Alex started to laugh as he began rapidly snapping his fingers. “You’re just whipping those negative remarks out at light speed!”

“What?” I was confused. “What’s that suppose to mean?”

“Well, you’ve had three negative things to say in the past…” Alex looked at his watch. “I’d say a minute.”

“What are you talking about?”

“First the landscaper had the wrong equipment. Then Pennsylvania didn’t know they were looking at a house in a flood zone and now…” He pointed to the child still having some trouble riding his bike. “Clearly he’s still learning how to ride a two wheeler and you’re yelling at him to get out of your way.”

At this point we’d pasted the biker. I took a quick look in my rear view mirror and could see that indeed he was still learning. “I wouldn’t say I was making negative remarks.” I looked over at Alex. “I’d say I was just stating the obvious.”

Alex shook his head and laughed again. “Sure. If the obvious can have a negative spin!” He held his fingers and began rubbing them together. “Just sprinkling negative fairy dust wherever you go!”

“Hey!” I laughed as I reached over and pushed him in the shoulder. “I’m not sprinkling negative fairy dust!”

“It’s like riding with the negativity fairy.”

“Oh come on!” I cried as we passed a woman wearing a ridiculously over-sized straw hat that she needed to tip her head back so she could see where she was going as she walked her dog. “Nice hat.” I said then quickly looked over at Alex. “And I meant that in the nicest possible way.”

“Sure you did.” Alex laughed as he shook his head.

I held my hand to my heart. “I swear!”

“It’s okay.” Alex said as he reached over and patted my shoulder. “Sometimes you just can’t help yourself.”

I couldn’t help but sigh. “I’ll try harder.”

Alex nodded still laughing. “Well, we’re about twenty minutes from home so, good luck with that.”

“There’s something about that flower that just makes me smile.” I said to my son Alex as we walked past the pot of orange day lilies on our deck as we headed for the garden.

Alex nodded. “They’re pretty.” He agreed.

“They’re more than just pretty.” I argued as I opened the garden gate. “They represent the end of a school year for me!”

Alex laughed. “Happy start of your summer vacation.” He walked over to the strawberry plant. “Hey, you’ve got another berry ready to pick.”

“Don’t pick it yet.” I called over to him as I went to cut some fresh dill. I was planning on adding it in the potato salad we were going to have with dinner. “Remember the tiger lilies we had at the end of the driveway at our old house?”

“Sure I do.” Alex had moved over to the tomato plants. “There were hundreds of them right next to the big oak tree.”

“Well, when I was little I’d be standing at the end of our driveway waiting with my brothers and sisters for the bus to take us to school. I would watch that patch of tiger lilies as they first broke through the ground and formed buds. When they finally bloomed, I knew it meant that school was almost over.”

Alex looked over at me as I snipped some dill off the plant and put it in the small bowl I’d been holding. “You were never a big fan of school were you?”

“Nope.” I turned around and headed over to the tomato plants. “I hated school with an absolute passion.”

Alex laughed. “Those are some pretty strong words.” He was pointing to the small green tomatoes that were hanging from the vine.

“But very true.” I began checking the other plants to see if I could find any more tomatoes.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I wasn’t a big fan of school but I certainty didn’t hate it as much as you did.”

“I’m glad.”

“You know what’s really funny?” He went over to the sunflowers to see if they needed any water. “That you work in a school now.”

I laughed. “Don’t think the irony of that doesn’t strike me all the time.” I went to check the lavender plants. “But working with kids that don’t want to be there has become my new passion.” Pulling a few of the dried leaves off the plant I held them up to my nose and inhaled. “I love the smell of lavender.” I held out the leaves for Alex to smell. He inhaled and nodded his head. “Nice.” He said.

I opened the garden gate and headed back to the house with the little bowl filled with dill.

As we headed up the steps to the deck I stopped at the container of day lilies and cradled one of the flowers in my hand. “You my friend, were always a sign that there was light at the end of the tunnel for me!”

Alex laughed as he headed for the back door. “Clearly it’s still a sign for you!”

I had to laugh. “Hey, I might not hate school anymore, but it’s still nice to have the summer’s off!”

My son Alex and I were sitting on our back deck having our morning coffee and tea when out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving in our garden.

“Did you see that?” I asked as I set my cup on the table and got up to investigate.

“I think it’s one of our new neighbors.” Alex said as he followed me down the steps.

“What?” I stopped and turned around to look at him. “What new neighbor?”

Alex laughed as he pointed to the bird house across the yard where a new family of house finches had moved in and the babies had just hatched. “Ever since the babies hatched I’ve seen either the Mom or the Dad flying around the snow pea plants.”

“Are you serious?” I walked over to the garden gate and could see the house finch working it’s way around the snow peas vines. “Can you help me get him out?” I asked Alex as I slowly opened the gate.

“Don’t worry. They’ve been getting in and out all by themselves.”

“Really?” I looked at the five foot fence that surrounded the garden with a bird netting that covered the entire sides and top. “Is there a hole somewhere?”

Alex shook his head. “Nope. I checked the other day. I just think they’re small enough to fly through the netting.”

Sure enough as I walked over to the container with the snow peas our little neighbor saw us and quickly flew through the netting and headed back to their house. We could hear the baby’s frantic chirps as they entered the nest.

“Well, that’s just great.” I sighed as I began checking the plant to see if our little neighbor was doing any damage. “They can’t possibly be eating the peas. The plant looks fine.” I looked over at Alex and began to shake my head. “I can’t believe they can fit through the bird netting!”

“It looks like our new neighbors are garden thieves!” Alex laughed.

I looked around the rest of the garden. “Everything else looks fine.” I pulled a few weeds by the tomato plants before opening the gate to let ourselves out. “I guess I could share the snow peas with them.” We could still hear the baby’s chirps but they seemed less frantic. “They do have a growing family to feed.”

Alex and I were headed back to the deck to finish our coffee and tea.

“I just can’t believe they like snow peas.” I sat in my rocking chair and picked up my phone. “I wonder why house finches like snow peas?” I went to Google and began typing. “Oh!” I looked over at Alex. “It’s not the snow peas they’re eating. It’s the aphids that are on the plant!”

“That makes more sense.” Alex said as he looked over at the garden. “So they’re not garden thieves after all.”

“Nope. They’re little flying gardeners!” I looked over at the bird house where one of the parents had its head sticking out of the entrance before quickly flying out and landing on a nearby tree branch. “Eat as many aphids as you want my friends!” I called to them as they began happily trilling their little song. “I could use all the help I can get taking care of the garden!”