My dad has always had an appreciation for nature. However, since my mom passed away, his love of nature seems to have reached a new level. When I visit him, we often end up sitting on the back porch watching the birds, squirrels, or whatever decides to make an appearance.

     So, for Father's Day, I bought him this simple field guide. I highly recommend the field guides by this author. They are very easy to use. There appears to be one for each state.

     A couple of weeks ago, I went over for a visit and saw he had a makeshift bird feeder in the backyard. He took a tray from the bottom of a planter and filled it with bird seed. The tray sat atop a pedestal style table in the yard.

     I couldn't believe how busy it was. The birds in the tray seemed to be having fun just tossing the feed all over the ground, where a dove was happily pecking away.

     Suddenly, a chipmunk started creeping toward the party. It stuffed a bunch of seeds in it's cheeks and bounced away, underneath a tree. It repeated this 4 or 5 times.

     The only thing that bothered me was that I didn't have my camera with me to film any of it. Damn. I vowed that, on the next sunny weekend, I'd have my camera and tripod with me.

     That weekend would be this past one. I had my camera all set up on the tripod. I put a bunch of feed in the tray and put the table in the yard. Then, I waited.
     

_{Dramatic recreation  (Source)}

     We past the time by eating. My dad grilled up some chicken spiedies. We also had barbecue beans and asparagus baked with minced garlic and mozzarella cheese. It was delicious. The entire time I had my eyes on the feeder outside.
     

     And, the entire time, there was nothing. Heck, I didn't even see one bird while I was there. No squirrels either. Absolutely nothing. I nursed two glasses of Angel's Envy before giving up on my mission.

     A couple of hours after returning home, I get a text message from my dad. The message simply said, "No birds, but..." He also attached the following picture...

     Touche, Mother Nature...touche.

     Wherever we are, we are surrounded by nature. It's always trying to communicate with us. Take time to notice. #NoticeNature.