Barbara Bahbooshka lived with her husband in a big white farmhouse near the edge of the road. There were two big hickory nut trees in the front yard, which were always full of squirrels. The traffic in the front of the house was noisy at times, so Mrs. Bahbooshka liked to sit out on the back porch while she watched her grandchildren play. It was a huge backyard, fenced in all the way around so that Mrs. Bahbooshka, who was getting older, did not have to worry about her grandchildren wandering off.
The backyard was full of wonderous flowers and exotic trees. There were magnolia trees with big giant leaves and mimosa trees from Thailand that had beautiful pink feathery flowers in the summertime. She had an apple tree, two pear trees, raspberry bushes, and even a very old cherry tree in the corner.
Mrs. Bahbooshka loved spending time out there with her grandchildren. But almost as much as she loved her grandchildren, Mrs. Bahbooshka loved her birds. She loved to hear them singing in the morning as she awakened from a long night's sleep. She loved to hear their songs in the evening as she sat on the back porch knitting scarves and sweaters for her grandchildren. She loved the birds so much that, for fifty years, she kept several large bird feeders in the backyard. Well, actually Mr. Bahbooshka had set them there, but Mrs. Bahbooshka kept them well stocked with different kinds of seeds.
While Mrs. Bahbooshka loved her birds, Mr. Bahbooshka thought that it was all just a bother. "What a racket," he would say as they sang to his wife. But he loved her so and helped her by keeping the feeders in good shape.
As the long days of summer ended and the leaves turned colors, Walter the Owl started to stock up on the things that he would need for the cold New England winter ahead. "I smell snow coming," he chided the others. "It could be the worst storm in a hundred years." Bucky No-Tail said, "Oh Walter, you say that every year." Charlene Chipmunk told the owl that he was just an old worrywart. Even Clarence Cardinal, who rarely ever said a word, piped in. "I've been here for eighteen years now and she's never let us down. Sometimes I'm fatter in the winter than I am in the spring." Bobbie Bluebird wondered aloud if Walter would ever come down and join them. But he just sat in his tree saying, "If something happens to her, who-who-who will feed you?" But they all just laughed and enjoyed another feast.
Well, as sure as the sun shines, winter came and the nights turned cold and the wind howled. Mrs. Bahbooshka fed her birds. Not every day, as she did in better weather, but enough so there was always something in the feeders. Until one day in January, she didn't come out at all. There was still plenty of food, so no one seemed to notice at first. But days then passed and all of the feeders were soon empty. The mourning doves ate the last few crumbs off the ground and called to Bucky No-Tail to knock some more down for them. But when Bucky climbed a feeder, he saw that there was not a seed left to be had. "Sorry, guys," he chattered, "there's no more in here."
Over the years the feeders had attracted many different kinds of birds into her backyard. There were robins and sparrows. There were bluebirds and blackbirds. There were cardinals, blue jays, and wrens. If there was a type of bird within a hundred miles, at least one of them had visited Mrs. Bahbooshka's bird feeders to feast on their bounty. Even the chipmu
The backyard was always full of creatures attracted by the many wonderful things to eat. The only inhabitant of the backyard that never ate from thefeeders was Walter the Owl. He would always say, "If you depend on people to feed you and don't prepare for the winter, you will not know what to do if something goes wrong." And a wise old owl he was.
