Summer in the Sticks

It's 7 p.m., I'm sitting on my back porch watching the birds. There's a hummingbird just a few feet away, dipping into the feeder in front of my, the finches are chatting and squabbling on the clothesline, waiting for their turn at the snack bar. The sunflowers are getting bigger, and the little pond on my porch provides a lovely sound of flowing water.
About that pond- while David and I were gone for a few days last month, one of the lovely birds that frequent my garden committed murder. Yes, something speared the flashy little goldfish from the pond, one at a time. I think it was the black grackles that come around sometimes. I saw one perched on the edge of the pond a few days before we left, and innocently assumed it was having a little drink... murderer!!! It took 3 of my 4 goldfish, only one was able to avoid extinction.
I love my garden, I see the Butterfly bush, full of dark purple, cone shaped flowers, the honeysuckle that has overgrown the birdfeeder near it. I have a trellis on the west side of the porch with 2 large grape vines. They are full of grapes, and shade the porch area beautifully in the afternoon. There are containers of flowers and herbs all around the back porch, and roses along the edge of the concrete, blooming with complete abandon. That's what I see. Other people visiting are more likely to see the weeds taking over the edges of the yard, the cracks in the concrete, with weeds or marigolds popping up, the scattered oddball items I haven't picked up yet. But I, the eternal optimist, I only look at the flowers, the birds, pet my dogs, and live in happy oblivion to some of the messes around me!