Seeing planted seeds sprouting is always encouraging. Those first bits of green show so much promise. Soon, these cabbage sprouts will be out in the field, growing and becoming succulent heads.

The ripening apples portend cooler weather. This year is promising to be a bumper year for apples. The riper they become, the more I keep my ears open to hear if any pileated woodpeckers have found them. They love pecking and eating apples. We don’t mind. This year there are more apples than we can possibly eat. We are open to sharing them with these wonderful birds.

If you’ve never seen a pileated woodpecker with its bright red head, or heard its startling call, or listened to the rapid thump it makes when it pecks at a tree trunk, you’ve missed a great pleasure.