Changes
14/05/19 04:29
It appears that we are slipping directly into summer from winter with almost no spring. There have been plenty of clues. Two weeks ago I mowed my lawn and used my snowblower in the same week. That doesn’t happen very often around here. Yesterday, I got up and started to mow at 8 am and by the time I finished it was over 75 degrees. It was only the second time I’ve mowed this year. Unlike some of my neighbors, I mow your 1/2 acre lot with a walk behind mower. I’ve used the same mower all of the time we’ve lived here. This will be the 25th summer with that mower. The wheels have hard rubber tires, but I’ve worn out two sets of those tires. This year I replaced the drive belt for the first time. The old belt wasn’t broken, but it had become so dry that it slipped on the pulleys. The new belt made a great deal of difference. Oil changes, spark plugs and blade sharpening are the only other maintenance items I’ve done on the mower. On the days I mow I walk 3 1/2 miles without leaving my yard.
We live in a subdivision called countryside and when we moved here it was a good name for the neighborhood. We were just outside of the city limits, had a private water system and the homes were surrounded by the forest with mostly natural landscaping. Some of our neighbors don’t mow all of their yards. We’ve chosen to mow partly for fire protection of our home. But there was little of what I call “competitive lawn care” back in the early days of our living in this place. These days, several neighbors have installed underground sprinkler systems, hire companies to apply fertilizer and wee control several times per year, and have manicured lawns with fancy plantings. In contrast, we mow our lawn and allow the grass to grow dormant when the weather turns dry. We keep a vegetable garden most years, but when we get really busy, we have not planted much of a garden. Our flower plants are the species that the deer are less likely to eat and planted close to the house, where the deer are a bit more timid. We have no landscape plan and try to keep lawn maintenance chores minimal, like other folks who live out in the country.
As we were eating dinner out on our deck last night, I heard another sound of the urbanization of our neighborhood. We know that our neighborhood has changed because of the increased traffic on the road behind the house, the city water bills, and other signs. Last night I heard it before I saw it: a pigeon. That’s not a bird I associate with a pine forest, but rather a bird that is known for its adaptation to urban environments. Soon I could see the bird, which flew to the top of a power pole and sat there with its cooing for a few minutes.
Pigeons are also called rock doves and prefer cliffs for nesting. Originally they were more common on the coasts than in inland areas. However, the birds adapt to many different environments and, unlike some other species of birds, have adapted to having close human neighbors. They have been domesticated for many years and descendants fo domestic pigeons have become feral animals in many cities. Because of their urban diets, people have stopped hunting and eating them in many parts of the world, which allows their numbers to increase.
Another factor in the population of pigeons is that in their natural environments they fall prey to raptors. A pair of peregrine falcons in Boise Idaho kept the pigeon population very low in the urban core. An increase in the pigeon population can be a sign of a decrease in raptors.
I have nothing against pigeons. And a single pigeon doesn’t indicate a dramatic change in our neighborhood. I’ve seen others, however, and it is just one more sign that our world is changing. We still have plenty of wild deer and turkeys in our yard and we are lucky to have so much space between neighbors where we live. Our home is a pleasant refuge from a busy life with lots of contact with other people. And despite my frequent complaints about increasing traffic, we don’t have traffic problems when compared with those who live in cities. I sometimes joke that our town just can’t afford a rush hour so we have a couple of ten minute periods of slower traffic in the gap each day. The truth is a bit more dramatic. It takes me 3 to 5 minutes longer to commute to work than was the case 20 years ago, and the difference isn’t caused by the fact that my car is 20 years older than it was back then. It will still go as fast as I want to go.
One of the luxuries of our life is that we have been able to live in the same home and work for the same congregation for 24 years now. That is a rare experience for clergy. Some of my colleagues have moved every 4 or 5 years. Many of them have never served the same congregation for more than 10 years. Long term pastorates have benefits and costs for pastors and for congregations. In our case the benefits have outweighed the costs. It has allowed us to observe incremental changes in our community. We’ve been able to grow with the congregation as together we experience the changes in community, culture and religious expression. It definitely isn’t the same congregation that I was serving in the early years of my ministry. One of the teens in our congregation was practicing her driving skills under the supervision of her father in our church parking lot this past weekend. I remember her parent’s wedding. A lot has happened in their lives since that day.
With all of the changes, it is good to have a few things that re the same. I’ll keep my old lawn mower, and I’ll keep walking to mow my lawn. I’m not in the market for a riding lawn mower. And it brings a grin to my face when the jays chase the pigeon from my yard.
We live in a subdivision called countryside and when we moved here it was a good name for the neighborhood. We were just outside of the city limits, had a private water system and the homes were surrounded by the forest with mostly natural landscaping. Some of our neighbors don’t mow all of their yards. We’ve chosen to mow partly for fire protection of our home. But there was little of what I call “competitive lawn care” back in the early days of our living in this place. These days, several neighbors have installed underground sprinkler systems, hire companies to apply fertilizer and wee control several times per year, and have manicured lawns with fancy plantings. In contrast, we mow our lawn and allow the grass to grow dormant when the weather turns dry. We keep a vegetable garden most years, but when we get really busy, we have not planted much of a garden. Our flower plants are the species that the deer are less likely to eat and planted close to the house, where the deer are a bit more timid. We have no landscape plan and try to keep lawn maintenance chores minimal, like other folks who live out in the country.
As we were eating dinner out on our deck last night, I heard another sound of the urbanization of our neighborhood. We know that our neighborhood has changed because of the increased traffic on the road behind the house, the city water bills, and other signs. Last night I heard it before I saw it: a pigeon. That’s not a bird I associate with a pine forest, but rather a bird that is known for its adaptation to urban environments. Soon I could see the bird, which flew to the top of a power pole and sat there with its cooing for a few minutes.
Pigeons are also called rock doves and prefer cliffs for nesting. Originally they were more common on the coasts than in inland areas. However, the birds adapt to many different environments and, unlike some other species of birds, have adapted to having close human neighbors. They have been domesticated for many years and descendants fo domestic pigeons have become feral animals in many cities. Because of their urban diets, people have stopped hunting and eating them in many parts of the world, which allows their numbers to increase.
Another factor in the population of pigeons is that in their natural environments they fall prey to raptors. A pair of peregrine falcons in Boise Idaho kept the pigeon population very low in the urban core. An increase in the pigeon population can be a sign of a decrease in raptors.
I have nothing against pigeons. And a single pigeon doesn’t indicate a dramatic change in our neighborhood. I’ve seen others, however, and it is just one more sign that our world is changing. We still have plenty of wild deer and turkeys in our yard and we are lucky to have so much space between neighbors where we live. Our home is a pleasant refuge from a busy life with lots of contact with other people. And despite my frequent complaints about increasing traffic, we don’t have traffic problems when compared with those who live in cities. I sometimes joke that our town just can’t afford a rush hour so we have a couple of ten minute periods of slower traffic in the gap each day. The truth is a bit more dramatic. It takes me 3 to 5 minutes longer to commute to work than was the case 20 years ago, and the difference isn’t caused by the fact that my car is 20 years older than it was back then. It will still go as fast as I want to go.
One of the luxuries of our life is that we have been able to live in the same home and work for the same congregation for 24 years now. That is a rare experience for clergy. Some of my colleagues have moved every 4 or 5 years. Many of them have never served the same congregation for more than 10 years. Long term pastorates have benefits and costs for pastors and for congregations. In our case the benefits have outweighed the costs. It has allowed us to observe incremental changes in our community. We’ve been able to grow with the congregation as together we experience the changes in community, culture and religious expression. It definitely isn’t the same congregation that I was serving in the early years of my ministry. One of the teens in our congregation was practicing her driving skills under the supervision of her father in our church parking lot this past weekend. I remember her parent’s wedding. A lot has happened in their lives since that day.
With all of the changes, it is good to have a few things that re the same. I’ll keep my old lawn mower, and I’ll keep walking to mow my lawn. I’m not in the market for a riding lawn mower. And it brings a grin to my face when the jays chase the pigeon from my yard.