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It is Thanksgiving holidays and I am currently back home in Houston, Texas. It’s a sunny but crisp day, and its quite cold when I step out of the comfort of my home. Im actually quite happy that I am home to do this blog entry because I have quite a large backyard full of pine trees and a variety of plants, full of life. I decided to sit on my lawn chair with a thick blanket, my dog Blackie sitting beside me. The first thing I notice are squirrels, one of them sitting and eating grass, staring right at me the whole time. Not even 5 minutes of observing i learned something new; squirrels eat grass. Another squirrel run by him and he went off as well, running around with the other squirrel. Eventually they calmed down and started scavenging for food,and were joined by two other squirrels. I observed about 6 birds from my spot, two of them I  was really surprised to see. One was a falcon flying over the tree tops, its wings spread out, gliding gracefully in the air and then because i was still looking up, i was happily surprised to see a woodpecker high up on one of the tall pine trees. The Woodpecker was making this high squeaking sound, and it had an extremely red head. I was so excited, ran back into my house to grab my camera but by the time i came back, sadly it was gone from my sight but I could still hear its loud squeaks all the while. After more timed passed the sun was going down and i lost track of the squirrels, and although i could hear the birds, they were not in my line of sight anymore.

The thing about my trees is that they are tall, extremely tall, whether they are pine or oak trees. For the longest time I always wondered how old these guys were. Since I have lived here they have gone through strong storms, dry summers, cold winters, and Hurricanes. along the way they have lost a few of their friends but they continue to grow and thrive, never failing to litter our pool with pine needles and leaves. they provide a variety of organisms with their own little niche, through out the years insects, squirrels, birds, and the occasional cat have been seen climb these trees, looking for food and shelter.

The one down side about my backyard is the noise pollution. Unfortunately, right next to my backyard is a busy street. There are always sounds of cars going by, sometimes even construction work on some street or another house being built, which always seems to be happening in these suburban parts, but if you listen close enough you can hear the birds singing.

After a while, Blackie finally got up and decided that it was time to stretch his legs and go on a potty break. I remember before we got a dog, our backyard and even our attics were overrun by squirrels. But when my dog stepped in he became the top dog of the backyard, chasing squirrels when he could and marking his territory were ever he wanted. of course, he was never able to catch one but i think those pesky squirrels figured out who in charge around here.