Things That Bang

Garden Talk

Our garden has suffered a lot of neglect in recent months but whenever the weeds and the grass seemed to take over I've been ruthless in my demand to get the grass removed and the weeds pulled out due to the fear of cobras hanging around. But at the same time I've ensured that our flowering bushes and the branches of the trees are not trimmed. There is a reason for that- birds. On the flames of the forest trees we get parrots and on the flowering bushes we get pint sized birds that remind me of hummingbirds. And our mornings are always greeted by the sounds of cuckoo bird sitting on the mango trees cooing away and driving us and the crows nuts. The crows have a nest on the thick mango tree and the cuckoo inevitably lays her egg there. The poor crows bring the cuckoo fledgling up and then there is major cawing when realization finally dawns on the poor birds that they've been had. Recently I heard some major ruckus in the garden and ran to see what the commotion was all about. There were two crows and a fat cuckoo fighting. Since the wings of the cuckoo were half open and it was hopping around I knew I had walked into a family drama. The moment of truth was upon them and I got the front seat to watch the drama play out. My shabby garden is a fun place. Chameleons live there and they are gorgeous creatures who scuttle around when we water the plants and of course we have the occasional mole cropping up and leaving massive holes around the plants. The best part about being surrounded by nature is the surprise I got a few days back. A little birdie made a nest in one of our plants and laid eggs in it. I didn't tell my kids about it. Since I didn't want the mother to get upset by their constant attention and abandon the nest. And with the constant rains the land has come alive. Trees have begun to bear fruits and the soil is pliant enough to make me want to give mother nature all my attention.