March 22nd, 2021

Woodpecker.  Yes it is.  That is exactly what it is.  And the hole he is working on there, is new.   Very new.  As in he started working on it over the weekend.  And there is the dilemma.

You see, the tree in which the hole exists (and the bird is perched beside) is in our courtyard.  It  is in fact a dead tree.  A tree which Tim had every intention of cutting down.  Specifically he was going to cut it down this week.

Why this week in particular?  Well, Tim has taken this week off work.  And as part of the "staycation" he has a list of projects he would like to tackle.  Cutting down this tree was one of the things on the list.

Oh I suppose he could just do it on a different random weekend, but during a normal week, when he is chained to his desk for umptyump hours every day, he lives for the weekend and getting out of, not only his office (which is at home) but out of the house as well!  So most of our weekends are spent pretty much anywhere else besides home.  The man needs a change of scenery on the weekend and I do not blame him one single bit.  It's probably one of the few downsides of working from home.

Now you might be wondering why I don't just cut the tree down myself.  I suppose I could. I've cut down trees before.  But this is, first of all, a larger tree than I normally tackle and also it's in the courtyard which means close to other things.  Important things like, the courtyard wall, hedges, flowers, plants and, oh yeah,  the house. The dead tree is specifically just outside of our bedroom windows.  Nobody, including me, trusts my math skills well enough to ensure that were I to cut down the tree it would end up precisely where I wanted it land.  So no to Sam cutting down the tree.  This is definitely a Tim sort of job.

And, as I said before, it was high on his list of projects for the week.  But now that it appears to be a woodpecker habitat, perhaps not.  We are giving it a re-think.

Since the tree expired, I've actually seen lots of other birds perched on the top of the tree, the most interesting of which was a hawk.  Big old hawk just hanging out on the tippity top of this dead tree.  That was cool.   But I've also seen crows, blue jays, countless other birds whose names I do not know and once a cardinal who just paused for a brief moment at the top of this dead tree in the courtyard.  And those are just the birds I have witnessed.  Who knows what I did not see eh?  It's not as if I spend my days just sitting there starring at this one dead tree after all.

Lizard race up and down it as if it were a racetrack of sorts.  As do squirrels.  It's kind of a short cut from the inside of the courtyard to the bougainvillea on the outside.  I don't even want to think about the sorts of various bugs that depend upon this dead tree.  

It's not pretty.  When you look at the house from the outside, you see a cute little cottage with a walled courtyard in front, the blooming bougainvillea  lots of other live trees of all sorts and this one dead tree.  Kind of a blight.  Not something that anyone would say, "Gee I wish I had a dead tree in front of my house".  Which is why the plan was for Tim to take it down.

But now that we are absolutely positive that the woodpecker is making a home in it, I think it may need to stay for a bit.  Just until the woodpecker family moves on.  

Instead of thinking of it as a dead tree, for now, I will consider it a giant birdhouse.  Because that is kind of what has become.  

Oh at some point it will have to come down so that it doesn't fall down on it's own during a storm.  Storms are notorious for aiming trees at houses and that would not be good.  But for now, it's fine.  I am ok with the dead tree/giant bird house in the courtyard.  The woodpecker family will be our closest neighbors for a bit.    So it won't look perfect, but it will be perfectly fine. 

And all of this to tell you that because Tim is on "staycation" this week, we may be out and about on other adventures sooooo my blog posts this week will, no doubt, be sporadic to non-existent.  So if you do not see me around for a few days, that's why.  And since I may not see you guys all week, I wish you well!  Hugs all 'round.  I will check in here again next Monday for sure!