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 | Apparently No One Covered Chuck’s Shift
Chuck is back. Apparently his little absence from the puddle came with consequences, because judging by his determination this morning, things have gotten completely out of hand while he was gone. Somewhere beneath all that duckweed is the Puddle Dinosaur, moving with the unmistakable urgency of someone who has returned from vacation to discover nobody… Continue reading
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The Log We Almost Removed
When the mallards were little, they were simply “the babies.” Their mother kept them tucked along the protected edges of the puddle, often beneath the female tree or just beyond where we could easily see them from the patio. Unless we happened to be over by the grill, we usually caught only little glimpses of… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | Wonder
I have seen a Great Blue Heron enough times now that seeing one probably shouldn’t be particularly exciting. And yet it is. Every single time. I know Stella and Stanley visit the puddle. I know they stand along the edge looking for fish. I know they sometimes perch in the trees. I know approximately how… Continue reading
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A Visitor Is Still a Neighbor
At first, I thought he was a mallard. From where I was sitting, with the afternoon sun reflecting off the water and enough distance between us, I could really only make out a small dark shape standing among the green covering the puddle. Then he lifted his head differently, and I realized I wasn’t looking… Continue reading
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New Visitor | Green Heron
The puddle didn’t get a new bird today.I simply have learned how to see another one. Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | The People Who Notice
For more than three years, Carly has delivered our mail. She is one of those people who doesn’t just know the houses on her route. She knows the people who live in them, and probably even better, she knows their dogs. Carly loves dogs. She knows their names, their personalities, which ones want attention and… Continue reading
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Behind the Puddle | Why I Keep Telling the Stories
The other day, I was talking with my mom, my sister, and Brian about Facebook. It was one of those conversations that wandered through all the strange little things social media has added to our lives. Why did someone unfriend me? Why doesn’t that person ever like anything I post? What does that cryptic post… Continue reading
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Chuck Has Work to Do
Chuck the Beaver is back. It has been a while since I have seen our resident Puddle Dinosaur, but this morning there he was, moving quietly through the green water as though he had never been gone. Just the top of his head and back visible above the surface, leaving a trail behind him on… Continue reading
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Enough Room for Both
Again today, the Lone Goose and one of the herons are here. I think it may be Stanley, although Stella and Stanley have proven more difficult to distinguish than the names I gave them would suggest. It doesn’t really matter which one it is for this particular story. What matters is that both the goose… Continue reading
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Enough for a Hummingbird
This morning, I saw something move among the salvia. It was small enough that I could have missed it. A quick little movement between the purple and red flowers, followed by that familiar hovering that makes you stop whatever you are doing and look a little closer. A hummingbird had come to visit. And this… Continue reading
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