Behind the Puddle
The stories behind the stories, reflections on the patio, the puddle, accessibility, home, writing, and the unexpected ways a small place can change how we experience our lives and the world around us.
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Puddle Stories | Still Enough
Our end of the puddle truly looks like the definition of a puddle today. We haven’t had much rain lately, and the water that usually stretches across the view has been reduced to shallow patches surrounded by algae, mud, and exposed ground. It isn’t particularly beautiful by the standards we usually use to describe water.… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | Relationship
Brian and I spend a lot of time sitting beside each other behind the puddle. And most of it isn’t particularly romantic. We talk about what we’re having for dinner. Something that needs to be done around the house. A bird I think he should immediately stop whatever he is doing to look at. Whether… Continue reading
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Puddle Stories | An Afternoon Postscript
Apparently, the Puddle wasn’t finished with today’s story. By afternoon, the birds were back. They gathered around the feeder again, several sharing the little rim at once, while another found its own place beside the running water of the fountain. The quiet little bird neighborhood I had noticed missing this morning had simply been somewhere… Continue reading
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The First Few Leaves
This morning, August 27, I looked across the puddle and noticed something so small I could have easily missed it. Almost everything is still green. The sky is bright blue, the trees are full, and summer has certainly not packed its things and left. But tucked into all that green is the smallest patch of… Continue reading
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The Ones Who Still Show Up
A few Sundays ago, we conducted what became our very unofficial Great Birdseed Experiment. We filled one feeder with the Walmart birdseed our little neighborhood has always enthusiastically eaten and another with the special birdseed that seemed, at least in theory, like it should have been an upgrade. The birds made their preference quite clear,… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | Delight
It really doesn’t take much to make me happy behind the puddle. Apparently, my standards for entertainment have changed considerably. A squirrel hangs upside down from a feeder? Excellent morning. A goose walks through the yard a little closer than usual? Obviously worth watching. A hummingbird appears? Whatever I was doing is no longer important.… Continue reading
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The Dogs Behind the Puddle
Apparently it is National Dog Day, which means we probably should acknowledge two of the most consistent companions Behind the Puddle. Harper and Piper may not spend much time actually watching the puddle, but they have certainly claimed their places around it. They have been part of this little world from the beginning, long before… Continue reading
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When the Sky Became Quiet
I looked across the puddle today and realized the sky has been quiet lately. Yesterday was such a busy day that I hadn’t noticed when something familiar disappeared from the landscape. The Purple Martin houses across the puddle are closed for the season. For weeks, the Martins were simply part of the sky. They came… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | Reflection
I have taken a ridiculous number of pictures of the puddle. At the time, most of them didn’t seem particularly important. A goose in the yard. A bird at the feeder. A turtle that was mostly a blurry shape in the distance. The water after a rain. The water before a rain. Pinecone eating. Pinecone… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | Balance
There are times behind the puddle when it seems like everyone arrives at once. The feeders are covered with birds. Geese are wandering through the yard. Mallards are swimming across the water. Pinecone is doing whatever questionable thing Pinecone has decided to do that day. Something moves along the opposite bank. A heron flies overhead.… Continue reading
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