Day Two of 20? A Room with a View

Today’s Prompt: If you could zoom through space in the speed of light, what place would you go to right now?    Today’s twist: organize your post around the description of a setting.I like where I am.

I would zip right around the world once and return to the exact place I started.

I like where I am.

My house is on the right, beyond that hill of trees.

can you see it better here? Just behind those trees.

 

The entrance to where I am is a dirt path that leads you through a tunnel made up of different types of trees.  In the winter it is almost like entering a long, dark cave. In the winter the entrance changes to ice and snow covered dirt. This tunnel opens up to a clearing surrounded by more trees. Some of the original trees were cut down to make this clearing. Those trees did not go to waste.  There use to be a sawmill on this property.  The saw mill and trees were joined together to build the house that now stands in the clearing.  My Dad helped. He turned the trees into the lumber that built the house I now live in with my husband and beagle. The yard is full of very tall, old trees and some brand new ones that are just starting their adventure. One tree even has a name. We call him Billie beech.  Billie started as what we thought was a weed. For some unknown reason whenever we would visit Mom to mow her lawn, we would leave that “weed” alone. It took quite a few years, but that weed eventually turned into Billie.  Now he proudly shades the small fenced in yard my beagle has to roam.

a “naked” Billie Beech

The first and sometimes last thing to notice is the sound. Or lack of sound. It is unique because there is rarely any noise.  It is unbelievably quiet all the time.  If you do hear anything, it is usually the honking of geese or quacking of ducks. Just the other day I heard a beeping.  I looked at my husband and said “gee. someone down the road must be getting oil delivered.” Then just like that, the sound was gone. back to quiet.

This particular place is where man and nature (and woman, and beagle) live peacefully together. We have had to evict nest building birds from our front deck on more than one occasion. It was for their own good. The outside lights make for a seemingly safe place to raise their young.  But the heat from the lights would probably kill the young before they hatched. Eventually the birds gave up on that spot and built their home elsewhere.

When the local bears awaken from their long winter slumber, they follow the brook that runs along the property line foraging for the best food. I have found their footprints at our cellar door.  Almost as if they were standing their waiting to be let in.

From the street, you would not know we were here.  You have to travel down that dark tunnel to find what I can only describe as peace. The beauty of the brook still amazes me every day. As I type I keep looking out my back door.  One quick glance and, who am I kidding there is no such thing as one quick glance.  I look at the water and get stuck.  Stuck just staring, captivated by its beauty. My imagination can go wild just imagining all this brook has seen.

Beavers are my closest neighbors.  They live in the brook and seem to enjoy it as much as I do. Watching them work, makes me truly understand the phrase “busy as a beaver”.  They really do work hard.  They built a sturdy little dam just up from our property line. One day we noticed it had been broken and the brook was back to flowing under the bridge.  Most likely torn apart by humans lurking in the night.  Within a week that dam was back and better than it was before.

I feel like I belong in the middle of all this nature.  I have glanced out my window only to find a brand new deer struggling to stand for the first time.  I have found turtles sunning themselves in my driveway.  The squirrels love my trash. They made a hole in the cover just big enough for them to fit through. They pick through the trash looking for the best stuff we left behind.  Some of their favorites are sweet and salty granola bar wrappers and peanut butter jars.  They comfortably sit on top of the trash eating their newly discovered breakfast. Now I make sure I leave the lids off the peanut butter jars when I throw them away.  Make their breakfast a little easier to indulge in.

Some may say we do not belong here, but I think we do.  The nature around me has adapted to my being here.  I will never forget the time I brought my car to the mechanics.  It was making a nasty, loud noise whenever I put the fan on full blast.  I literally laughed out loud when the mechanic called with his discovery.  My car was not just a car anymore.  It was a secret hiding place the chipmunks used to stash their acorns.  I learned that it was best not to leave my car in the same spot for extended periods of time anymore.  The chipmunks will have to go elsewhere for their storage.

view from my living room

The title of this assignment was way too perfect for me. “A Room With A View”.  I am literally typing in a room with one of the best views I could ever imagine.  I have no desire to go anywhere else.  I like it where I am.