Right on time, the partridge are back in my crab apple tree. They have been here ever since I moved in. They move to my feeder come winter (I put out cracked corn for them) and beat a path through the snow (I can see their little heads poking up above their snow-bank path as they come, which gets taller as winter progresses). I love it that some things never change.

One day, years ago, I went out to my rental cabin to clean and noticed white poop everywhere. I mean everywhere! (I didn’t go out to clean for days in between rentals.) I looked around and saw a little window broken out, (actually in). So I looked closer, and saw a partridge sitting on the sofa. We blinked at each other. He let me pick him up, and set him free outside. Me and his prodigy have been friends ever since.