Unplanned Renovations

Our property came with a falling down barn and a storm damaged box elder tree.  And as sentry overlooking it all, a Pileated Woodpecker.

Our plan for a permacultural renovation was unilateral, and once I noticed our sentry I had a conflict; we were not turning back but we were going to turn him out.

So one balmy afternoon last September, I paused and had a meditation with Mr. Pileated.  I doubt it made a difference to him, but I pledged the branch would be remounted somewhere on the farm.  He moved on and we moved forward.  The branch was saved while the rest was razed.

Yesterday I came across that branch lying on the ground.  It had spent an ignominous winter buried under the snow.  With a welcome recognition, I propped the branch against the stair railing and moved on.  Within minutes, a pair of Chickadees moved in.

Becca had been watching this from the kitchen window.  She pointed it out and said, “If you are going to move it, do it now!”

With no time to plan, and no tools at hand, I set the log at the back of the new foundation bed and leaned it against the house; protected from foot traffic, close to our bird bath and feeder, and next to the towering Blue Spruce.

The Chickadees are nesting.  They shuttle now, non-stop, back and forth between their nest and the blue spruce.  Outbound, debris is hauled from the log. They land in the Blue Spruce and release their detritus, then await their partner to make the round trip.

We are able to watch this from our kitchen window.

An amazing show.  An affirmation, we hope, of our intentions.