In the backyard

Summertime in Texas. All the world seems pale, hot, and hazy. The thermometer alone burns brilliantly. Defying the meteorologists’ warnings, I step out the back door.

Chickadees and titmice speed from the greenbelt to our backyard -- back and forth. They whirl around the feeder and occasionally pause on the Bradford Pear. Darting to the seeds, they fill their beaks and then rush to their homes in the woods. What busy little birds!

Now a cardinal rests on the feeder while his mate waits on a nearby branch. Mockingbirds perch along the fence, well aware of their backyard sovereignty. House Sparrows hop in the grass. Above the greenbelt, an egret propels through the thick air. A hot breeze stirs the sleeping trees. Dragonflies circle lazily over the yard, and the cicada’s rattle nearly drowns out a neighbor’s lawn mower.

And so life flourishes -- even on a heavy, still summer afternoon.