Why the Sight of These Swallows Filled Me With Awe

It’s mid-March and the annual bird migration has begun. Around here, the robins returned in February, and I thought I saw a turkey vulture. As the weeks go by, I will hear plenty of different types of birdsong in the woods, letting me know the seasonal residents have returned and are ready to breed.

But this migration took on new meaning yesterday. Here’s why…

After feeding the cows, I happened to catch a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and I saw about a dozen barn swallows flying overhead. At first, I was excited because I thought it was “our” barn swallows returning for the summer. But they just kept flying and I realized, “Oh my gosh. They’re still migrating. They are headed somewhere farther north than our farm.”

All of a sudden it hit me and I was awestruck: Those birds are exhausted and hungry and anxious to be home. They had already travelled thousands of miles to get to where I was standing and they had farther to go. I was watching the wonder of nature play out before my very eyes.

I spent some time pondering why this sighting caused such awe in me. I’ve watched geese migrate. I’ve watched Turkey vultures meander south. I’ve seen the swallows gathering to head south in the fall.

But I’ve never before seen a flock of migrating birds near the end of their journey. It gives me chills even thinking about it now because this wonder of nature goes on around us all the time. This migration has been going on long before we were here and I hope and pray it goes on after we’re gone.

Seeing that those birds working so hard to fulfill their destiny despite everything makes me that much more committed to doing what I can do to help by fighting light pollution, planting native plants, and choosing organic (because pesticide use kills off the insects the birds like the barn swallows eat)…just to name a few.

And seeing that wonder reminds me once again just how much beauty there is to be seen all around us if we slow down and pay attention.

May you also witness a wonder today.

That’s all for now.

Barn swallow photo by Mike Kit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/barn-swallow-on-wooden-stick-17326952/

March 14, 2025 0

Jimmy Carter and My Environmental Awakening—and Disillusionment

Jimmy Carter’s passing has me remembering my environmental awakening in the 1970s—and the disillusionment that has been holding me back…until now.

The Lightbulb Award

The country was in an oil crisis and the President asked people to save energy. Turning off lights was one thing we could easily do.

I was too young to understand the situation, but I did understand turning off lights. And I already had an inkling that we were messing with our planet. Hence my childhood environmental awakening.

From somewhere I got the idea to make a lightbulb award. The idea was to give the award to a family member when they turned off the lights when leaving a room.

So, I made an award, either drawing it or using construction paper, I don’t recall, and I put string on it so it could be hung on a doorknob or hook. I was proud of that award! I thought it was awesome!

I told my family about the award and how they could win it. Then I waited for my family to turn off lights so they could hang the award on their bedroom door.

And I waited.

After a few days of being the only one who turned off lights and therefore the only one who had the award displayed on her bedroom door, I gave up. In other words, I was the only one who gave a &^%.

That was disheartening for a child. I remember my disappointment as if it just happened yesterday, not 50 years ago.

Here I am all these decades later and I still have a lingering sense of isolation, of being someone who is alone in her passion for this planet.

On the other hand, I know that’s not true. So many people are speaking out and encouraging us to do the right thing, from fighting light pollution to planting native plants. I read their books. I know they care. And I do what I can do.

But it’s hard to shake those childhood experiences. I feel isolated still.

Not Any More

But that was then. And now I say no more. I have decided that this year, 2025, I will shake off that disappointment and seek out people who are like me, people who care and who want to make small steps to bring about big change. I have a list of people to reach out to. I will ask them to connect me with others who think like me. I will start attending county and city meetings to speak out.

It’s empowering to make this commitment to myself, to say no, the message I internalized in the 1970s was a false message and to act counter to it.

Looking back on it now, I think I had two kinds of awakenings as a child. The first was to learn that there were steps I could take to make a difference in the world. The second was that most people don’t give a rat’s ass, not even my own family.

And this is the year I prove to myself that my second “awakening” was wrong. Those who care are out there. I will find them. Are you one of them? Let me know. Let’s do this.

And that’s it for now.

Image by upklyak on Freepik

January 18, 2025 0

The Pond Is Full! And It Is Beautiful!

We had a lot of rain and the pond that is the cornerstone of the wetland restoration project filled up…and overflowed. But I guess that’s the nature of a wetland! (You can see a video of the pond full of water here.)

To be honest, it is shocking to see how much water is in that pond, yet still overflowing. And the swale leading into it is full too. Yet, we still have standing water. Just think how much waterlogged ground we’d have if so much of it wasn’t captured in the pond!

*Part of the swale. The swale goes over a gravel road that was installed for access to the project in order to haul out all the dirt. It’s called an armored crossing in wetland speak.*

Full of water, it looks like it has always been there, even though the 500 native trees and shrubs have yet to grow. It has definitely become a happy place for us. We love to visit it each day, and we are anticipating migrating waterfowl will also be visiting it soon. (You can see it without the water here.)

*This is where the swale goes into the pond. You can see all the standing water around the pond.*

Personally, as much as I love birds, I’m also looking forward to seeing salamanders since they are one of my favorite creatures. We have them all over the farm and the garden, and we see them when we hike and ride the logging road. But I hope to see several of them moving in to the wetland area.

So for now, we sit back and enjoy, and wait for trees to grow and wildlife to show up!

And that’s all for now. 🙂

December 4, 2024 1

Wetland Restoration Is a Reality!

We have a huge project happening on our 22 acres: a wetland restoration project. And not just any wetland restoration, but the first for our conservation district. So it’s a big deal for them too.

This has been a year in the making, although all we’ve had to do is sit around and wait…and open and close gates for the many visitors who have been out to survey, discuss, measure, dig, etc.

Now it’s October, 2024, and the final stage is taking place as 500 native trees and shrubs get planted as I type this.

What is this wetland restoration project?

Our 22 acres sits in a river valley. It was tiled and drained at some point in its 134-year history, but we don’t know when. All we know is the tiles have been breaking down over the past 12 years that we’ve been here, returning parts of our property to the wetland it used to be.

We had two choices: spend a lot of money to redo the drain tiles, or learn to live with the wetlands.

Since our goal is to farm for a future–meaning creating a place where farming and nature coexist in a way that benefits the planet–learning to live with the wetlands made the most sense. We are part of a voluntary stewardship program, learning to run our small farm in the most responsible way. That made it easy to talk to our local conservation district about the standing water issues and what we might do other than fence the livestock off. They offered to find the funds to restore a wetland on our property. That would help with some of our standing water issues, and provide critical habitat too. Of course we said yes!

From wetland mess to wetland restored

The half acre area that is being restored is technically wetland on geographical maps. For us as the property owners, it was simply a weedy overgrown mess that we couldn’t even walk through due to a neighbor getting his huge tractor stuck there—twice–and needing an even bigger tractor to pull his out. The tractor tires left huge ruts in the ground, making it uneven to the point of dangerous. So that part of our land sat and Oregon ash trees and Pacific crabapples sprouted and we thought we’d just let it be since we couldn’t use it.

I guess you could say it was kind of, sort of a wetland, but far from ideal.

But now…now it’s something! After months of meetings and budget approvals and paperwork and discussions and tours, the plan was finalized and the project began.

While the ground was still dry in September, the contractor dug out a pond and swales and hauled away 60 yards of dirt. He placed felled trees and brush piles in strategic places for habitat. Native grasses were planted in and around the pond and swales, and the area was fenced to keep livestock out but let wildlife in.

As the rain has started to fall, the pond has started to fill. And now 500 native shrubs and trees are being planted as the final step.

From weedy mess to wetland reality

What used to look like a weedy mess is starting to look like the wetland it used to be. We walk out there every day now to see the grass seed sprout and the water collect in the pond. It’s amazing to have this project happening right here, right now on our property.

To see what it looks like today, check out this video. (In the future, I plan to have a longer video showing every stage…and of course we will be tracking progress in the years to come.)

And that’s it for now.

October 29, 2024 1

Our Chicken Yard Looks Like Crap. Here’s Why…

We quit mowing our chicken yard, and boy, has that been hard for me to get used to! It looks like crap!

I’m trying to get used to the new look, because there’s a reason we quit mowing.

Ever since reading “Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard,” we have both of us been working on being okay with messy. By messy, I mean grass that’s not mowed or weed whacked.

And that goes against how most of us were raised: with the idea that grass must be mowed and neat.

But not mowing our chicken yard means native trees and shrubs have started to grow. We now have about a dozen Oregon ash trees, a few Pacific crabapples, what might be a hawthorn (?), and a couple of native roses all happily growing without being planted.

If we had kept mowing our chicken yard, we wouldn’t have any of that. We would have the one sickly looking non-native tree we planted before we learned differently. (Full disclosure: We planted three and two died. Duh. Of course they died. They weren’t native.)

Seeing the native trees and plants growing tells me we are doing the right thing by letting this quarter acre be wild and messy. But it is taking a while to get used to, I admit. To me, it looks like we don’t care, when the opposite is true: It looks like this because we DO care!

Plus I posted about this on TikTok and people made comments that helped me realize other benefits: more bugs for the chickens to eat and more predator protection for the chickens. Definitely two more good reasons to not mow our chicken yard!

Still…it is taking me a while to get used to.

@literalroadfarm
#nativeplants #nativetrees #learntolovenature
? original sound – Sharon

September 27, 2024 0