Slow Summer

This summer is proving to be slow and uneventful. Lack of money is the main reason. I don't even drive to the nature reserve because I don't want to use up gas. I suppose I could go to our local arboretum but since they sold off 30 acres to be developed into shopping centers that means only 2 trails worth walking and I've walked them to death. The third trail (with the bird sanctuary) now looks at the back side of a hardware store and even the birds stay away. I might take in the local park but all too often there's trash floating in the pond. The current owners don't keep it up very well and the employees spend their day finding a spot to parc their trucks and sleep the day away. Quite a disappointment.
I do manage to sit in the back yard and observe the nature around me. This summer I've enjoyed watching the birds teach their young to get their own food. I.ve had my feeders a few years now and it seems as if my place has become a 'family tradition' for many birds. The grackles bring their young, hop around, pick up food, place it in their mouths and then the young attempt to pick up. Once in the beak, however, they don't quite know what to do with it. The mother will take it, chew on it, give it back. This goes on until the baby figures out he has to chew his own food. They seem quite excited when they finally figure it out. Blue Jays, on the other hand, fly to the tree and call out to the young. They want them to zero in on their call to find their way to the tree. They squak back and forth for sometime. I suppose they will get it right in a day or so.
That's about all the excitement I've had this summer. The weather has been quite cool these past few days. If it keeps up it will be good weather for sitting around a campfire at the weekend.