Stepping Out

Stepping Out
Just beyond my sunroom, my backyard is enclosed in a 6' privacy fence. I miss the openess that a chainlink fence afforded me. Chainlink gave the impression that all of the adjoining yards were bigger, but the privacy fence elininates a bit of the busyness of the other yards, which is too distracting for a sunroom window.
Directly behind my house is an empty lot, that I hope will stay empty (no such luck, I know). The owners, I think, plan to put up a modular home, and city codes dictate that new structures be raised 5 feet(?). So much for the view!
Diagonally right, my neighbor Veronica has raised her house; her 5' high deck has full view inside my sunroom in winter, but a large Chinese Tallow tree gives me some privacy in summer. So far, this has not bothered me.
Right of me is Mr. Dennis, who plans to repair his home, and replant his backyard with fruit trees that used to keep me supplied with satsumas, kumquats, miniature pomegranates, and even sugar cane!
Diagonally left, I do not know those neighbors; they haven't returned, yet. There is an oak tree in the yard. It's storm-damaged, but seems to be recovering, housing quite a few birds. For two days, I've seen what I think is a red-shouldered hawk. It's quite large, and has taken a liking to the uppermost branch of the oak. Several mockingbirds are determined to show the hawk that he/she is not welcome. They squawk and loudly chirp, swooping in as close as 10 inches of the hawk, before turning tail, and retreating. This doesn't appear to phase the hawk, but after quite a few minutes, the hawk takes off. Once that happens, one of the mockingbirds flies after it, with an attitude of, "You'd better run!," but I know it would probably faint in flight if that hawk turned on it.
On my left is Mr. Constentino, an opera buff. My heart hurt for him when I found out that he lost a lot of his music library. I empathize; I lost hundreds of books. But, loss is relative; at least I didn't lose a neighbor. I can still wave to him, talk too Veronica over - well, though - the fence, and get gardening advice from Mr. Dennis. And, even though my backyard neighbors will obscure my view, I look forward to seeing them, and all the others, through my sunroom windows.