I went to Hedlund's Hardware store the other day to have duplicate keys made. While waiting at the counter, my eyes browsed the store. If you've been a customer there, you know well that you can stand in one place for a long time and still not fully register everything that's been hung around or stacked on the floor.

The computer at the checkout counter caught my attention. Its screen saver was an old photo of the store. I asked one of the Hedlund men what year the photo had been taken. "1954," he answered, the year after grandfather had changed his grocery into a fledgling hardware store. I could see the corner of the Little America amusement park, but the driving range behind the one-story building was hidden. Grandfather Hedlund had given the building a new orientation that would sustain future generations.

This reminds me of the recycling that happens in my backyard. I hang several dried gourds out every year in March to attract house wrens. I love their song as I work in the garden. Their cheerful warbling always reminds me of spring and new beginnings. The gourds have a 1 1/4" hole (just big enough for a wren) and several drain holes in the bottom. Wrens makes a cozy home in the gourds and often have two broods a summer.

Come the next year, the gourd is not as attractive to wrens. Winter has taken its toll and other birds have pecked the entry hole a bit larger. So then the gourds morph into sparrow houses. I have even observed larger birds pecking the opening larger to suit their size. Just like men who make changes to their buildings and businesses, nature has the same adaptive skills. Look around and see what is changing in your backyard.