Most Popular Outdoor Cafe

In addition to my many other activities I also run a very popular outdoor cafe in my backyard.

About eleven years ago a very good friend of mine gave me a bird feeder as a house warming gift. This was the beginning of a long and enriching experience which provides a ray of sunshine on even the dullest of days!

To be clear, I am not a bird watcher [that is a role I leave more to my husband], and cannot identify much beyond a handful of common birds. Nor does my urban birdfeeder attract rare or nearly extinct species. The usual patrons are more pigeons scrambling on the ground picking up seeds dropped by the hoard of sparrows that diminish in number only when one of the local squirrel population 'leaps' in for a bite! On very special days, often excitedly reported to friends and family members, a pair of cardinals will drop in, or a blue jay will do a fly by.

However, I can, and have, spent hours with a cup of tea just watching the birds and squirrels come and go. In a life full of stress and hustle and bustle it provides me an escape and a pleasant, constant reminder of the amazing natural world that surrounds us all the time.

I think that an important, but often discounted component to living a greener life is to notice and appreciate the world in our own backyard.

If you can, invest in a birdfeeder, fill it up with birdseed, put it in a place that you can watch it and momentarily escape the realities of the day.

If you cannot set up your own feeder, here is a link to the Bird Feeder Cam at Cornell University, courtesy of Wild Birds Unlimited. For a wide variety of information about backyard birdfeeders, check out the education section of the Wild Birds Unlimited site.