Allergy season has been blinding me. I go outside into a fog of loose green flying things, and the dogs take advantage and drag me where they will.
Cricket is very proud of herself.
But it’s made me more sensitive to the noises all around me. For example, there is a woodpecker somewhere in the backyard who sounds like he’s using a jackhammer to knock down all of the trees, at seven o’clock in the morning! The woodpecker’s name seems small for the sound he makes. His job is to peck at the wood to find bugs to eat, but I wonder, sometimes, if he’s got a megaphone attached to the side of his beak, to make himself sound more impressive, or maybe woodpeckers really have started to use power tools, just to mess with our minds.
My nose hurts in sympathy whenever I hear that woodpecker, but I’ve never seen him. My idea of a woodpecker is probably distorted, though, because I’ve only ever seen one animated in cartoons, so I may have seen him without realizing it.
I have not seen anyone looking like this.
Butterfly loves to stand still and listen to the noises all around her. She’s equally intrigued by a beautiful bird song, the sound of the wind through the trees, and an airplane flying way too low over our heads. The only sound she specifically dislikes is the bus that stops on our corner, and the mechanized female voice that announces each location.
Butterfly in listening pose.
There are some odd creatures out in the woods. I don’t know which animal makes the strangled baby noise, but the first time I heard it, I thought it was actually a baby, being strangled, and I looked everywhere to try and find it. There’s also an animal out there with a smoker’s cough, though that could actually be one of my neighbors hiding in the woods, choking to death. I can’t be sure.
I like the swish of the wind and the traditional birdsong, a little tweet here, a little twitter there, but the variety certainly does keep things interesting.
And then there are the two feral cats, Hershey and Gimpy (named by the human residents, not by themselves) who take up zones at opposite ends of the yard and avoid each other religiously. Hershey likes to climb the retaining wall and look down on her fiefdom. Gimpy likes to hide in the manicured bushes and climb through hollowed out trees.
Hershey, on guard.
One day I saw Gimpy leaning against my mom’s temporary green house (like a pup tent, but for plants) trying to steal some warmth on a chilly day.
The girls have been taking advantage of my frequent need to stop and sneeze. Cricket has been eating extra grass and sniffing extra smells, and Butterfly has been doing her sound meditations, letting the wind curve the sound around her ears in a new way each time.
Butterfly listening from another direction.
But at least they don’t seem to mind that I use their poopie bags to collect my used tissues, so that I don’t have to stuff them back into my jacket pocket after use. Maybe they remember that day, early in the season, when I had forgotten to fill my pockets with fresh tissues and had to sneeze into my t-shirt. Cricket looked at me funny when that happened, which is rich, given that she actually eats tissues filled with snot. Harrumph.
“I can hear you, Mommy.”
rachelmankowitz 
I am sorry to hear that airborne pollen is making your life miserable, too.
Butterfly thinks I should learn how to use the carpet to scratch my ears, like she does.
Do you think it actually helps her?
She loves it!
Then, I’m sure she thinks you should try it due to her love for you. I, however, would suggest claritin or something to dry up your head…. (surprising, since I dislike medication.)
Quercetin, I can’t sing its praises highly enough! It’s a vitamin, see my comment below for details if interested. I’m really trying to spread the word about this natural solution that got me off Rx.
I shall research this! Thanks for the tip. I currently am taking allergy shots, so – hopefully – my body will eventually be able to handle pollen, etc.
Ha!
;-))) Have a wonderful day!
When I moved to the mountains from a more urban state, a woodpecker’s constant pecking on my garage roof drove me crazy (I worked the overnight shift). I finally called the Dept of Wildlife to see if they had any helpful tips to make him go away. They faxed me the most interesting article. Apparently it’s called “drumming” and if a woodpecker successfully mated, he will return to the same area the next year and drum. The article also said that woodpeckers are afraid of spiders. I went in search of those black plastic spiders that are sold in little bags at Halloween. Finally found some, took a ladder, climbed up and hammered spiders all over the roof. The drumming stopped and I was able to start sleeping again…
Holy Cow! That’s awesome!
It’s one of those interesting little tidbits you file away in your mind then use one day – on someone’s blog! Hahahah. Seriously though, what fascinated me the most was the article the Dept of Wildlife faxed to me was written by a member of the Dept of Wildlife in NJ, the state I had just moved away from.
I’d rather the woodpecker than the spiders!
Maybe those choking sounds are people eating the bird-choking bread “crumbs”. Sorry to hear of your allergies. I sympathize!
Wouldn’t it be funny if there were humans hiding in the woods, eating the stale french bread!
I’ve been here in the Western Mountains of Maine for over 10 years & I am still more fearful of the “critters” than people.
Butterfly looks so very fluffy from every angle–so cute! Ha! I love that Cricket gets the last word.
Cricket always gets the last word. And the first word. And most of the words in between.
Rachel–that so makes me laugh!
Sometimes it makes me laugh too, but only sometimes.
This is the first time I’ve ever had trouble with allergies so I can relate. It’s been horrible!!
Allergies are just mean!
I can empathize with being miserable during allergy season, luckily I went through almost 4 years of allergy shots so now I suffer much, much less. The pain of the shots was so worth it. I lived through a woodpecker one season and it was sooooooo frustrating! 6:00 a.m every morning, day in and day out, I managed to catch sight of him or her and it was strange to see a nondescript bird responsible for such a racket, I expected something on a grander scale like the cartoon but it was kind of on the smaller side. The girls are adorable even when they tease you about your use of tissues and tee-shirt. 😀
I keep thinking there’s a construction crew hiding nearby, but I can’t find them either.
lol 😀
We have a flicker that drums on our chimney every morning around 6. It certainly wakes us, but it’s just part of spring that will pass – like the hay fever.
6 in the morning!!!!!!!!
Your description of the bird sounds was hilarious! I would love to see a woodpecker, too. I hear one a lot, but I never see him or her.
They are so sneaky!
Woodpeckers here don’t make a noise. They make holes for nest in saguaro cactus.
So you’re saying that the noise is being made by the trees?!!!!!
Here, there is no noise. There, you have noise.
Ha!
Ah, yes. This is my sneezing time, too. I’m pretty sure that the choking and coughing sounds you hear are birds too, but that’s about as far as my expert opinion goes 🙂
They’ve never listed the coughing and choking on the list of bird songs I’ve seen. I can’t imagine why they’d leave them out.
Maybe you’re hearing mockingbirds. I had one outside my bedroom window a few years ago that imitated my phone ringing. My friend had one in her yard that barked at her dog.
That would be awesome! Cricket could finally hear what she sounds like.
They probably described it as a “high-pitched warble” or some such thing. Can’t trust these bird guide authors….
Oooh, the sneaks!
Bummer about the allergies. I have them too, in spring AND autumn.
Me too, and they are brutal. I am a big fan of winter.
It’s winter now in Australia. I’m waiting for the first freeze, until then I sneeze!
Boo!
A fascinating walk. I hope the allergy season doesn’t last too long
Fingers crossed! I don’t have that many tissue boxes left.
My cat keeps trying to eat my tissues too. Yuck. Sounds like the dog’s ear is better? I hope?
Cricket is doing very well, thank you!
I live in the woods – we have a woodpecker – a piliated woodpecker, the big ones, that kinda look like Woody – who comes to our bird feeder. We also have huge holes in dead trees where they’ve pecked for bugs.
The noise you’ve heard that sounds like a baby crying? Do you have any foxes in the area? The mating call of a fox sounds like a woman being murdered. The first time I heard it, I told my husband to call 911!
I wish Cricket and Butterfly could come visit me, they would have so much fun with all the sounds and smells here.
A fox?! I hope we don’t have a fox hiding back there! Cricket has never mentioned it.
Love this post! Its hilarious! You’re dogs are so cute in all these pictures! I just went on walk today and Cinnamon was dragging me along too so I understand how it is! The part about the woodpecker cracked me up!
Thank you!
The trees in this neighborhood are old and dying. We get a lot pf woodpeckers and they are very loud. The baby crying sound could be several creatures, including opossums, At least you have a little nature around you, I find urban areas very sterile and stressful. I really enjoyed this post, the girls are a wonderful example of how to enjoy the small things in life.
Ooh an opossum would be exciting!
Wonderful photos, as usual. A homeopathic pharmacist told me to take 500mg of Quercetin with each meal and a glass of water. This got me off Flonase. Everyone I tell this to seems to get great results. Quercetin is an antioxidant vitamin that comes from apples and brightly colored veggies and fruits. It’s available at health food stores and online at Amazon and lots of other places. I hope it helps! 💛 (and yes, I’m dying to draw your doggy again hehe)
Thank you!
Allergies are the worst! Hope you feel better soon!
Thank you!
Poor you. In a recent telephone conversation, my oldest son was complaining about allergies he never had and has now acquired at age 51. I reminded him that as we age our immune systems begin to break down. He was very quiet, then said, thanks Mom.
Your ‘crying baby’ may have been foxes, and the animal with a cough could actually have been some kind of bird. I’m only guessing, but we hear some interesting noises at all hours here on the water. At the moment we have fields of sheep and lambs, tweets of baby moorhens, a lonely blackbird trying to attract a mate, and a variety of geese and swans that fly overhead. In the early hours, ducks are having punch ups alongside our boat, but the rocking of disturbed water soon sends me back to sleep. Maggie doesn’t like anything that buzzes though, and retreats either to the bathroom or bed. Glad I don’t have allergies. Sneezing at the moment could be quite dramatic! Hope you feel better soon.
Thank you! I think Butterfly would be in heaven where you are.
I think she’d love it too. So much to see, and sniff of course!
Here, early in the mornings, you can both see and hear them. They sit on lamp pole metal caps. You can hear them hundreds of meters away. I think they communicate using morse codes 🙂 I too use poopie bags for used tissues and am happy I have not, so far, had to use my i-shirt. Ufff, Cricket, don’t eat the tissues 😀
But she loves those tissues! I had to change over all of my garbage cans to covered ones very early on in her life. But her Grandma refused to give in, so Cricket still has her sources.
My husband and I have been having a rough allergy season too — wet spring here in North Texas .
Bless you!
Thank you and back atcha. I think it’s been rough all over with the new normal in weather patterns. I find peppermint and lavender essential oils help some but Benadryl is what I’ve been using the most – helps me sleep.
I hope you feel better soon.
Thank you!
I agree, allergies are mean, but the wind turns then positively evil! However, the pictures of Butterfly listening to and enjoying the wind are very sweet! She seems like such a peaceful, easy-going girl :).
She is wonderful!
A lot of these allergies start dramatically and then very gradually fade. So with my hayfever (I keyed hatfever, interesting) and my allergy to sticking plaster, it seems.
You’ve never knowingly seen a woodpecker? Assuming it’s not your American big one (Pileated), try putting out a peanut feeder (that is, a feeder with peanuts in it, not to feed peanuts). Next best, look up the pictures online.
I was thinking of sending Cricket up into the woods to find me one. You don’t think that would work? I could send her with peanut butter breath!
Such a fun post! You do a beautiful job of weaving together spring, dogs, even allergies.
Thank you so much!
Here is an odd thing – I never suffered from Hay Fever in Scotland but only a few weeks after getting here and I was sick, I was told I had Hay Fever. Very odd!! Still have bouts from time to time.
I’ve noticed that I have more severe allergies when I’m in a new environment. Maybe we develop resistance to the allergens where we grow up, but once we move to a new place, all bets are off.
Interesting, how dogs react to sounds… The beep of our car horn sets Chicki off. It’s not easy to drive while she expresses her displeasure…
Ha! Cricket would love Chicki’s style!
Lovely writing, as always~
I love the sounds of Nature, especially in spring. Once I heard something that sounded like a real Woodpecker’s repetitive hammering and actually saw him through the window right in front of me. Don’t remember why, but I woke up unusually early that morning, somewhere before 6 o’clock and got really lucky.
We live in a place surrounded by large green parks and wake up each morning to the song of a pair of Great Tits and the chirping of Sparrows. Sometimes the song of a Nightingale can be heard too, flowing through the tree tops, especially in the afternoons. In the early morning hours rare and shy small birds can be seen flitting through. One time I had the luck to see the rare Long-tailed Tit, perching on a branch in front of my window!
Hope your allergy goes away. I always wear sunglasses with polarized lenses outdoors, especially on windy days and large ones in bright sunlight, be it winter or summer all the same. It helps a lot with allergies and sneezing in spring, keeping the pollen out. xO 🐾
I need to get out my golden guide to birds so I can see what all of those birds look like. The big question is: who named these birds?!!!!!
Ha, good question! Especially because bird names have different meanings in different languages. :p For example the name for woodpecker in Slavic languages i.e. Serbian detlić/детлић or Russian дятел comes from the word for chisel tool – dleto/длето, долото.
Chisel makes a lot of sense!
Hi, Rachel. Those strangling baby noises might be coming from Hershey or Gimpy. Cats, especially in heat, make bizarre baby howls. Peace, John
Eek!
Eating local honey is supposed to help with pollen allergies. I don’t know if it actually works because I don’t have pollen allergies, but I’ve heard it from various sources so it might be worth a try.
So you’re saying that New Zealand Manuka Honey won’t help me on Long Island?
Inspiring how you find beauty amid misery of allergies. I went thru a bout with them a couple of years ago. Never could find a tissue when I needed it, couldn’t wear mascara, & postnasal drip kept me up all night. Numerous visits to doctor, various meds, nothing worked till I tried MSM. Wishing you the best. Oh, & love the kitty foto!
Thank you! Hershey is very photogenic, when she’s willing.
Woodpeckers never adhere to code violations. But you can never catch ’em!
They’re criminals!!!!!!
I hate allergies… I myself have problems with that and an undergoing immunotherapy as they were life threatening a few times.
Life threatening?! I’m so sorry!
It’s much better now thanks to the immunotherapy. 🙂 I’ve been doing it for three years and I can now actually go out with minimum antihistamine requirements during spring and summer rather than before there I needed to take huge doses to avoid worst possible scenarios
Our woodpeckers have gone quiet now… After the constant twittering of the babies it seems they just took flight and went… I wonder where…
Luckily we don’t suffer with any allergies, just as well really as we’re surrounded by trees and fields. Hope you get yours sorted.
The allergies have calmed down, thank God. Hopefully this will last!
It’s so interesting what you have written, please check this app out: it’s a sound meter and it’s pretty cool medidordesonido.wordpress.com/