A Tail of Two Countries

Because part of my morning included a drive to the airport, I had occasion to drive along one of my favourite roads, Zero Avenue. 

That may seem like an odd name for a street, but considering where it's located, it makes perfect sense. 

It runs along the Canada/US boundary, a space that for years has been proudly known as the world's longest undefended border. And yes, the trees and greenery on the right side of the road are the USA while those on the left are Canada. As for who paints the yellow line on the road, I'm not sure. 

Sadly, though it may be undefended by military forces, the border hasn't been open for travel for over a year and a half -- at least not to those of us from Canada who might want to head south. And yes, we all know (and are probably tired of) the reason for that. 

But on such a beautiful day as this one, I can't bear to dwell on anything negative. 

Instead I'll just offer a small explanation of the silly title I gave this post. 

Both when I was driving east on Zero and when I was going westward towards home, I spotted a bit of wildlife (okay, just a black squirrel) and who knows, maybe it was the same critter both times, but he (she?) was crossing the border, something I'm still not permitted to do.  

And I must admit, I am looking forward to be able to exercise the same freedom as that squirrel indulged in. 

Neighbourhood bunnification

  
I'm not sure why, but lately there's been a proliferation of bunnies around here. They're awfully good at holding still -- something I'm sure they do as a protective response, feeling safe as if they're wearing little invisibility cloaks. I don't mind, as that stillness makes it easier to take photos, even allowing me to zoom in on them.

And no, they're not part of our city's official beautification plan, though I admit to seeing them a bit
that way.

They tell me that our little biome, a mini-version of the temperate rainforest, must seem natural enough for them to move in. Although, maybe it's because we're one of the only such areas left around here.

I hope that's not the reason, and can only say I'm grateful for bunnification over gentrification, though I suppose not everyone will agree that a neighbourhood in suburbia isn't already 'gentrified' space. Still, we're seeing an awful lot of mega-development nearby and know that it's only a matter of time until we'll be crowded out by giganto homes and/or condo developments.

For now at least, home still feels like a haven, even after having been mostly confined to it for so many weeks.

And in case the bunnies want to move in and stay, we've even built a tiny little house for them. Silly? Probably. Fun? For sure.

Becoming a birdwatcher?

While I wouldn't consider myself a birdwatcher, especially not one with any knowledge of species identification, lately I've been seeing a lot of birds.

The baby robin perched in the photo above must have peeped or I'm not sure I would have seen him, as I was lying outside reading a book when he caught my eye. It didn't take long for one of his parents to show up, bearing a mouthful of wriggly-looking worms. Yum.

But there've been other birds catching my eye of late -- some of them barging right up the front walk, looking as though they were sizing up the place, set to move in. In fact, yesterday's pair of visitors may well have been birds I could have said yum to, though I didn't. It would have been rude to treat 'company' so badly, I am sure.

These two ducks came wandering onto our deck, I suspect looking for a place to nest (probably in the very spot where we'll soon be pitching our tent for summer sleeps).

They poked around, looking here and there, pretty much giving us the up-and-down before they seemed to decide our house didn't fit their needs.

And now, barely an hour ago, looking out the back door I spied another bird, this little visitor a 'regular' making her daily path to her 'secret nest' hidden in the periwinkle. She (I have my reasons...) stops, perching on one of the hanging baskets of lettuce, then hops down to a lower one (maybe testing the basil?) and then sneaks down to the ground, where she dives into the thick greenery. The egg I found earlier this spring was probably from this little bird.

Not a pastime I'd ever claimed before, but maybe one of my new hats will have to be birdwatcher, even if I don't always know their names.

We're in the West again

Yesterday, we drove the breadth of the state of North Dakota, making our way from Fargo, on the eastern edge, to Medora, almost at the border of Montana.

Along the way, we saw a lot of big things -- a big flood on the Missouri River, with water extending much too far over its banks; a big metal sculpture (supposedly the biggest scrap metal sculpture in the world -- according to Guinness); and some critters with mighty big heads, buffalo. Today we saw even more buffalo, as we visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park, home to the largest free-roaming herd in existence.

While we were there, we also saw several groups of feral horses. Technically, these aren't the same as mustangs (wild horses), as these are the offspring of horses that probably escaped from ranches. The colts, with their springy long legs were wonderful to watch. I couldn't help but think of the story I'd heard in Tennessee, about Daniel Boone letting his lame horse go free. These horses looked like they could have been related to such a happy creature.

But the picture of the boots? They're from a shop in town here. And they say a lot about just how western this last third of the state has felt. It's almost as if we passed some magical line across the land that tells you it's time to put your cowboy hat and boots back on. But cowboy boots or no, we're still on the track of playoff hockey!

Hangin' around

Whoever stayed in this campsite before us hung a seed-loaded birdfeeder in the tree. But this morning, when I woke up, I saw that the feeder was attracting more than birds. A family of squirrels were all over the free breakfast, including this guy, who'd figured out a way to hang upside down and get a big mouthful.

The image is a bit confusing, looking through the rungs of the ladder. It isn't there for benefit of the squirrels, that's our access to the roof of our RV, and I'm taking the shot from my 'bedroom' window. If you look beyond the trees, you can see just how close we are to the shore of Lake Huron. And once we get around the lake, we'll be just about in Canada.