Back Porch Visitors

In our corner of the Northwoods, all wild creatures are welcome … or at least appreciated.

- Steven Umland

Kathleen and I love to sit out on our back porch and drink a glass of wine while enjoying a warm beautiful evening sunset. It’s not uncommon to have a variety of back porch visitors, and we usually enjoy them. It might be a quick-flying hummingbird darting back and forth, or maybe a family of raccoons heading over to Jim and LaVonne’s next door for an evening snack. Maybe it’s that swooping bat, just after the bugs come out. There’s also the little fox who is helping Kathleen with leftovers that she has cleaned out of the refrigerator. A few years back, we even had a small bear out by the fire pit, obviously smelling the bacon from our breakfast.

We enjoy our visitors and our time on the back porch.

An unusual siting

One particular tranquil early evening just felt different somehow. It was beautifully illuminated with what I call the “sweet warm light” just starting to coat the trees and lake view. Kathleen, looking down the hill about 150 feet toward the lake and almost level with the height of our porch, spotted something unusual high up in an oak tree. “What in the world is that?”

“What?” I replied, not seeing anything.

She went back into the cabin to get our binoculars and sat back down in her comfortable back porch chair. “Oh my gosh, … is that what I think it is?” She handed the binoculars to me and pointed to the tree.

I focused the binoculars and exclaimed, “You have to be kidding me!”

We were looking at the largest stinging insect nest we had ever seen. It was hanging 150 feet away; but just the same, it was our back yard. And there we were on our back porch, a place where we were usually comfortable, enjoying a glass of wine, … the same place we sit and enjoy with Kathleen’s grandkids.