Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan is published by William Morrow. It tells the story of my adventures with Atticus M. Finch, a little dog of some distinction. You can also find our column in the NorthCountry News.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Our Backyard Is Alive

Poor Atticus.

He's being very patient as I write my days away. Deadline gets closer and there's much work to do. Hopefully his patience will be rewarded later today with a short hike up Black Cap or the Doubleheads. But that's only if I get my writing for the day done.

Lately our world has become our backyard. Not sure if you've read or watched the Spiderwick Chronicles, but that's what it's like around here as of late. Our backyard has come to life. Magical creatures come and go. (Well, they're magical to me, anyway.) Woodpeckers and chipmunks come into the house and visit. Blue Jays throw fraternity parties while they eat seeds. Squirrels sneak around like spies as they steal food from the birds. And yesterday, although I couldn't get a good shot of him (or her), a bear walked through the backyard. I looked up in mid sentence and saw him crossing just 20 feet away.

Occasionally the tree outside our backdoor is filled with all kinds of life. It's a community center alive with song, friendship (the two Mourning Doves), bickering, squawking and just plain hanging around. That's where the pictures above were taken. I didn't get a good photo of the bear but I did capture this woodpecker giving me the evil eye and then flapping his wings at me. (Perhaps Amelia has a jealous partner.)

2 comments:

Ellen Snyder said...

Hi Tom,

Great photo of the woodpecker. I love your menagerie of wild (or not so wild) animals. Good to know that Atti has some entertainment while you write feverishly. May is a beautiful time of year, each day new birds arrive in our yard from their winter haunts.

Happy writing. Ellen

Cindy said...

That's a great capture of the woodpecker giving you both the "evil eye!"