“Build it, and he will come.” It’s one of those lines that went above and beyond the movie it was from. (“Let it go” is another, but we’ll save that for a future post.)

I just wanted to watch birds outside my dining room window, so I put birdseed out. A few birds became regulars. One hot day last year, I put water on the porch in the lid from a large peanut container. The birds loved it. The squirrel came on extra-hot days. A feral cat drank from it once in a while. The one toad sat in it occasionally. I tried putting a big bowl of water out, because I think it’s cute when birds splash around in bird baths or puddles – but there were no takers, so I brought it back in.

This year, after multiple toads started lining up to take turns soaking in the little dish of water, I finally found a wide, flat casserole lid that would hold about one-half inch of water across its length. So now it’s the toads’ hot tub by night and the birds’ water dish by day. (I do clean it frequently — just in case you’re worried about the birds and the toad-butt flavored water!)

The birds still wouldn’t “bathe” in it though. A few days ago I impulse-bought an actual bird bath with a solar-powered fountain. No takers on that yet, but finally, today, a baby sparrow splashed in the porch dish.

If you want something, build and prepare for it, and then wait. Just focus on enjoying what you do have in the meantime.