I spent Christmas day with the sparrow family this year.

A humble and yet heartfelt reminder of God's blessing was the sparrow's table. Mother Sparrow labored tirelessly to build a feast for her hungry and happy nest. They were peeping and fighting all night long with nearly no rest coming to them until just at the midnight hour. Some of them still believe in Santa and the other ones tease them that they are going to stay up all night to show them that he is not for real. The argument escalated into a fight and mother sparrow had to give them each a pluck with her right wing to calm them down and make them mind. They were quiet after that, not a peep out of them until the morning.
Father Sparrow was in the stores until the breaking of the day. They got tired, mother and father and wanted to sleep, but there was still all of that wrapping to do. Each little peep got a perfectly wrapped Walnut shell box with a bow on it filled with something heartsent and thoughtfully devised by father sparrow. He considers it his yuletide blessing to donn their holiday with a gift that bestows a prayer to God for them and an intention of his heart for their usefulness in the world. They tried to explain to me the meanings of the gifts, but it loses
something in the translation. All of the peeps seemed ecstatic to open the gift and see, a worm and a twig and a sesame seed and some of the other little items that he could stuff into a walnut shell. I really don't know how he found all of those shells the week before Christmas, with all of the stores so swamped?

I didn't know that you led your fledglings in sleet formation, said Mother Goose.

I didn't know there was a sleet formation. I said, surprised that she noticed our formations as I notice hers. You are missing 2 of the goslings, I mean Walkerlings, she continued. Alot to do, I said and I couldn't really continue the conversation. But I was grateful that the sleet formation was a new secret that Mother Goose and I could share on this dreary day.

2 Big red ants

Beat about 200 little black ants in the best football game I ever saw.
An earwig was dead on the ground when I was on my break the other day. Mrs. Bluejay had her eye on devouring those suckers whole, both the earwig and the ants that clung to it. She had no conscience about it and didn't even consider it gluttony to do so. I was sitting there at the table and bluejay decorum demanded that she wait until I left to pick up the tastey catch.
In the meantime, an entire colony of ants capitalized on the protective situation to their own advantage.Their entire colony would dine sumptuously because Mrs. Bluejay was kept from her hopeful prize. It took about 50 or so of them to drag the earwig in the direction of their hole in the cement about a foot or so from the seat where I sat. The other 150 were clearing the path and working rather diligently to do so. While I was watching, 2 large red ants came up out of the ground and one grabbed the earwig and the other seemed to immoblize 5 to 10 ants at a time. It looked like a game of football. the 2 red ants against the bunches of black ants. I had to leave before the end of the game. My break was over. I bet when I left, Mrs. Bluejay devoured them all.

What a set up there was in handball! That ball was just the right height for a killer.

I minimized myself on the walk around the building and entered the handball tourney. There were games going on all around the building. On each pillar there were matches set up and the roster was completely invisible to me when I was maximized, but, when minimized, I was amazed that I had missed it. Brotha had included me again, knowing that although I had said no thank you to his personal invitation; on the day of the matches I couldn't help but change my mind. He said you will have no pain as soon as the whistle blows, your knee will amazingly feel no pain. I took him up on that and he was certainly right about that.
Brother had me scheduled for center court, although I can never understand why he always does that to me. A tough cookie those leprechauns are. They can ski and play handball tourneys in the same day. Not me! It was all that I could do to keep up with them in handball. Brother had the photographers take a picture right when the killer happened. Like he knew it was going to happen. That girl is going to be something when she gets her head together. Yep, I said and we winked at eachother. I hate handball, I said. I know he said, what do you like. Nothing I said. I know he said. Just keep doing nothing and I will keep inviting you to the tourneys. Okay, I said.

Ellie the cow was the first to sit down and start chewing cud this morning.

The rest of the girls were still sniffing the blades; choosing the most choice and moist blades for first consumption. Ellie was done first and this didn't seem to phase the other girls in the least. We will be sitting and chewing for the rest of the day. That is our job, chewing cud to make the most succulent milk on the planet. They think very much of their job and that is why they are very careful to choose the perfect blades of grass, for eating. The rains and light mists were no deterrent or slowdown for their determined eating schedule. These girls are tremendous consumers of the grass. I love watching the gossip that they enter into on the rainy day, of course, Hess had her umbrella.


The sparrows had their rain dance with the turtle doves watching the show from the tiptops of the trees. It was adorable to see how they flew in formations and gave their friends a rain show that was truly worth their while to endure the wet weather to see.


I was so grateful the other day that God's timer included leaving the rainbow out for me to see when I got out of work. He certainly could have rolled it up, even 5 minutes earlier or caused the sunset to overtake it 5 minutes earlier. He didn't! He allowed me to see my very first complete semicircular rainbow from stem to stern. There must have been a pot of gold somewhere at either end it was so clear. I didn't have time to chase it to look or to photograph the wondrous spectacle.<

The Duck Family had a party last night.

They have a party every Friday and Saturday because they live at the center of town. There are always tourists and partygoers to share party food with. Mother duck sends her babies to bed before she and Mr. Duck head out on the town. They were all cackling loudly, when I passed them.
First, my vanity made me think that they were laughing at me, because I was limping from my bum knee. I know that they hadn't seen me limping like that and I must look alot older to them. They weren't laughing and they told me so. They were just happy to see me. It had been so long and the Goose family had them convinced of the worst having happened to me. They greeted me profusely and I them. It is nice to have friends of different species.

Bessie had some bit of gossip to share with me today, when we passed.

Because I was late, I didn't hear the news. She was running toward the fence. I call it running. I have never seen her walk that fast before. It is proud for me to think that she was running to meet me. But, she is my friend and I listen to the gossip about Hess and the Tess and I usually have a minute at the stop light to look into her eyes and listen to a moo or two. Not today, I was late for work. I hope she remembers tomorrow.:)

Mother Goose showed out this morning as usual.

She said Mommy, I know that the fog is going to bother you this morning. Its thick as soup she said carrying her younguns in the direction away from the blinding mists. I giggled that she would be so considerate to remember my lack of fondness for that semiprecipitous state.

They weren’t in their usual family formation. I guess(though I didn’t ask) they have a fog formation. Well, I saw the fog formation this morning. Who reads fog formation on the ground? Not me. I said. Either they have fog formation or they are Lutherans and celebrating the 95 theses in goose. It was a perfect Halloween and Reformation day weather pattern, as though they put Martin Luther himself on cloud duty in heaven. Martin doesn’t play with the clouds. If we are going to have clouds they should be at our door like the theses.
I do hate the fog, but it seemed appropriate this morning. A fitting day for the pretense of Halloween. The geese are reformed and celebrate the harvest and Lutheran because their celebration included a flight in the fog without the horns. What a celebration we had in our neighborhood! It was absolutely adorable.

Bessie gave me a nod on the way home.

I didn't even think she noticed me. Those cows have the most interesting lives. You would think that they would get sick of eachother after grazing in the grass together for years. No, today they were showing me why they put their noses around in the grass. They said that they like to smell each clump of grass. They bite them one line at a time. There is a science to it. They cannot talk enough about the best way to graze in the grass.
Grazin in the grass is a gas, baby can you dig it.
And its real, so real so real so real so real, etc.
I can dig it, We can dig it, she can dig it, they can dig it.
They sing that to me everytime I pass them.
This time Bessie was neither grazing nor chewing cud, she actually took the time to notice me. It took 2 years for her to look up from her cud at me.
I think she feels that I can relate with her, being a milk producer myself "retired".
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By the way...
There's a weekend jam session with the angel flutes on the columns of the building this weekend. I wish that I were working to catch it. It seems that they waited until Autumn to start their usual jam sessions. I am really not sure what the hold up was. I just know that the heaven made hornets nests and wasp nests are perfect flutes for them to use for wind instruments. They play insurance buildings, I guess.

I just love how the birds turn their heads away,

when I don't put my makeup on. They are the first to say, what happened to you today?
Weather patterns and ugly me, they seem to be experts at. Way up in the tree today, I saw a new couple of turtle doves very cautiously and coyly making their way into each other's attention. They were so cute, pretending not to see each other. I was a good excuse for them to stop pretending that they didn't see each other. Why didn't Jayne do her makeup today, I wonder? How could she let Ben look at her dark circles? I cannot understand her. Any chance I get I am primping myself in the lakes and ponds. She seems allergic to the mirror. They can be very caustic about those things at times. Especially if they know that you are a bird lover. I didn't mind today. Emily had hidden my makeup bag and I was incapable of getting it together. Many things didn't go well today and the make up was the least of my worries.
They were closer to each other on the branches by the time I passed them. This was just a gossipers attempt at making a friend out of an acquaintance. I hope it works Ms Turtledove. It looked like it would.


***********************************************
It looks like Ms. Viney is gone from the courtyard for good. I, for one, am not too disappointed by this. She was entirely too forward with Mr. Tree, for my taste. She has been replaced by the beautiful and far less oportunistic posies. It was refreshing to see the self-reliant posies enjoying the sunlight and the shade without a bit of self agrandizement or publicity. They stand on their own laurels and would never think of using Mr. Tree as a means to a higher stead in life like Ms. Sweetpotato. I do miss the gossip of the hyacinths. They have such a short season. They would have had a field day discussing the daily antics of the sweetpotato girls.
I am still trying to figure out the routine of the posies. They don't seem to dance or sing, or put on shows or aires. They are boringly perfect.

Give Mother Goose an inch?

These days it seems to be Mother Goose on guard, in my case. The last season it was Mother Robin who was checking on my emotional status, she is in charge of dispair and helpless times. Now it is Mother Goose who checks up on the aggression and antagonism season.
At least, it looked like she was there to check on me yesterday morning, dropping Elyse at her job. Selfless service, she attempts to cackle into my mind. Selfless service is one of my antidotes to contention. Why do you fuss so much? It doesn’t take all that, she says to me. Look, setting a good example is 50% of the process, at least. This morning, it was about food choices. You have a real cow when they take the longest distance between 2 points; as if humans were born with laws of physics in their hearts and minds. I hear you bantering that into your fledgelings: the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. I find that walking them through the straight lines is more efficient or effective in teaching others, than the cackling and worrying, which is what I see you doing.
Six geese were with her of the group, were down from the sky and traversing on the ground to check my countenance on the way to work. I am your claim handler on this mushmouth claim. Mother said. You are showing that frowny face again. Do I need to come into this car and peck you on the nose to show your face to your family? You human mothers are so funny, you think that, because your seasons are longer than ours for childrearing that you can get away with grumpiness. She covered her little one’s ears when she even said grumpiness to me. I don’t even let my children hear that word. My husband and I spell any mean words that we need to say. The season of rearing is too short to waste it in sour tones and sour tastes.
Her point was well taken.

Proverbs 17;27.He who has knowledge spares his words, And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
28.Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive

We went the wrong way and hit traffic! ACHHHHHH!

13 geese and Mother Goose came to rebuke me again. She is quite the butinski these days, with me. I told you to stop telling your husband what to do. You are such a bossyboots. What do you expect? He is neither a mother nor a goose, give him some slack. I wanted to lambaste right into him. I told you that a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. What is that supposed to mean she said, Wing on hip. You would never understand Mother Goose. You are a goose, but I appreciate the sentiment.

She reminded me that the 13th gosling gets a kick out of standing in line. Look at my 13th. I don’t! All 13 of the geese flew in a straight line to calm me down. Lateness is not a character flaw for geese, we are always on time. Timing is our best quality. This is a goose joke, it is over your husband’s head. I did everything that I could not to laugh about it. I would probably be late. I had suggested, we go the other way, to no avail and here I was sitting in the obviously inevitable traffic jam. Nobody understood but Mother Goose. She said we have got to give mommy a laugh in the traffic. She was yelled at by dad this morning and she was accused of trying to boss him. She needs a laugh. I am glad that they always understand.

Everynight at about 1 am Mr. Opossum

walks across the street in Davidson to visit his sweety. He is off white and brown and waddles as he walks to the beat of a song that he is singing to his precious. She has dinner on the table when he gets there. Usually some sumptuous delectible that they enjoy under the light of the moon. They enjoy listening to the crickets in their last chirps of the night as they whisper sweet nothings to one another and he gets ready for his happy saunter back across the street home. Pop Possum is always watching their engaging glances at one another with his shotgun at arms distance. He protects his babygirl with everything and Mr. Possum is saving his money for the day that he can pop the question. Until then it delights his heart to spend just a few hours in the presence of the love of his life.
I see him every night when I pass there. Love is in the bushes of Davidson.

Mother Goose and Posse come to 'Buke Me!

The sun was bright, in spite of the clouds and dusk of the day. I had sent the ladies in to buy their sundries and they were awefully time taking in their shopping time for these necessities. I can’t bear the store for longer than 5 or ten minutes, tops. I get antsy, to say the least. I had past my pacing time. I had past my grumbling time. I had past just about every emotional publicly acceptable show of anger that I was enduring. The geese had heard me. They are the nosiest birds and are always peeping over my emotional shoulder.
Mommy, they yelled, we were waiting for you at the park. Why are you standing outside sweating Elyse like that. She can’t hear you. Then they started calling Elyse. Elyse. Your mommy is sweating you, it’s hot out here. Mother Goose herself led the entire family to tell me that I am completely out of order getting on Elyse’s case for something so very stupid. You told her you were going to the park. I brought my children there to meet you and you changed your mind. What is up with that?
I stood reproved. It was hot. Go and have her paged. I can do that? Yep! You better not yell at her, do you hear me( wing on hip or tail). I walked in there and had her paged and you know what? She didn’t even answer me. When I came outside the whole goose family was gone. I couldn’t even yell at Mother Goose or the goslings for the pain in the neck.

Mrs. Pigeon’s Rainy Day Picnic

We were invited for the picnic and looked forward to it for months. It is not everyday, that the Pigeon family gives a picnic. When I woke up in the morning, it was clear and sunny. The kind of a day that would be great for a picnic. 2 years ago, we would have been sure that it would be on. The drought is far behind us now. The days are not as predictable as they used to be, down here in beautiful North Carolina.


I said to myself, I wonder if Mrs. Pigeon wants me to bring anything. I gave her a call and asked her. "Mrs. Pigeon, I had forgotten to ask if you would want me to bring anything to the picnic. You know that I am coming straight from work."
She became belligerent. This was not unlike her. The city was in her blood and she finds it difficult to keep her belligerence at bay. I told you that you are the guest of honor. I don’t know why you people always are trying to make yourselves into birds. I was sure that she has a real chip on her wing about being patronized. She said that she only became my friend because we could pass for twins in terms of belligerence. If I refuse to listen to her and let her dote on me, she will negate our friendship. Birds, I have found are very funny like that. The things that make people enjoy one another’s company are very, very different for them. They love to tell one another that they have a pet person or other and they spoil them rotten for a season or two and then divorce them completely and you would never see them again. It is their way of getting into your life. Birds are very fickle, you wouldn’t know it to look at them. They love to gab about acquiring and letting go of acquaintances and pet people like the wind.



I couldn’t convince Mrs. Pigeon that I meant any good by volunteering to bring something foreign to her. She was convinced that I was acting patronizing and that she could see that as a poor family, we had special needs to be cared for. I thanked her for her concern and consideration. I didn’t say another word about it and we had the picnic as planned in spite of the rain.

Ms. Viney shakes Mr. Tree's hand

There seemed to be a day of comfort among the flowers. Lady Lunar Moth sunk beneath the sheets of comfort in the Daylilies petals. She drank deeply of the nectar of the flowers and told every secret of her heart to her dearest friend. It seems a shame that they will only be friends for the day. The sadness that Ms. Moth endured seemed to be something that would have lasted longer than the day. But how true it is, that each day has enough, to bear with its own troubles. Ms Moth will wake up to a dead daylily but she bore her heart and tomorrow is sure to be a better day. Still it seems futile that such friends should share so much for just one day. I saw Ms. Moth still asleep when I left.
The hyacinths smoking had outlasted themselves. Their season of smoking and gossip seems so short. Nothing seems to get past their wistful gaze. I miss them and their 2nd hand smoke. They are beautiful as they puff and gossip, but not discreet in the least. They share everything they hear and never spend a moment fixing their own troubles, just gossiping about others.
My attention was struck by a new relationship starting in the courtyard. Mr Tree and Ms. Vine had their first handshake. The earth quaked and quivered at the beauty of it. I was surprised that, instead of the usual sundry spider web donning the august tree, there was a single strand of vine making the acquaintance of his handsomeness. This is their very first handshake and he was obvious in his admiration of her greenery. He has no idea that she has intentions of covering his branches with greenery. He thinks this is a friendly handshake. To her, this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. She has roots, already covering his feet. Their conversation is civil and polite. She is trying to see how her skills can decorate his barren areas.
He does have leaves and flowers on top that are a royal part of the economic system of the courtyard. He does business with the sun and the flying insects and the birds and has a complete rapport with all of the social elements. He has no idea that he is missing something. He has no leaves on the bottom branches and Ms Viney knows all about this. She knows that she can remain 100% herself and still decorate him. He cannot see the advantage, yet…

The bumblebees don’t even know what is going on. They visit the blossoms and blooms several times a day to buy and sell and rest and have picnics, but nobody guesses that Viney has designs on Mr. Tree, from the first handshake

Bess and Hess' Great Big Mess!

Bess and Hess had baby bulls and were out on maternity leave for a while. That is why I hadn’t seen them. That season in the city had gotten them more than they bargained for, I’m afraid. This morning they were arguing whose calf is cuter. I, without a trained eye, can’t much see the difference in bulls. They looked equally cute to me. But Bess was adamant that her little Horace is the most beautiful thing since a bucket of freshly gotten milk. Hess is not as insistent, though she is not convinced in the least that her Precious Syl is playing second fiddle to any other bull ever born. Mothers agree, cross species that their baby is best. After all, we work harder than any creature on earth to deliver them. They should win all awards at birth, we all think. A little something of a habit of caffeine that they have been in detox for for a while the little ones were born with a little pull toward the rambunctious. Not at all contented cows of yesteryear. Mr. Starbucks has made a couple of over active fellows of the two.

When I caught a glimpse of them this morning, they were already into mischief: slowly separating from the mommas, to do a little chewing of the fence as well as the cud that they were supposed to be doing.
What are you doing Horace, Bess bellowed over the coffee clatch gossip. Nothing mother. I told you, if I don’t keep a close eye on him he would be playing out there in the road. I am on him like white on rice, so to speak. Are you asserting that I am remiss in my parenting ability, because I am not a overprotective Heffer like you? Snapped Hess, back. They were deep in the bickering process which is new for these two who were before the best of friends. Babies will do that to you. The stress. Bessie placed her hoof to her brow and sighed large and then collapsed under the weight of her body and the pressure of possibly never being able to recover this friendship.
They had had so many years of fun, was it worth it for her to be the superior one in every argument. Hess was starting to show the strain of the relationship conflicts also. Her silence and distancing herself from the crowd, so as not to attract Bessie’s continual comparisons she was sick of it.
All the while, the little bulls were up to their ears in mess. They had taken it upon themselves to try to make a pile of poop, high enough to step on and try to escape the height of the fence. This might be fun for pigs, but it was completely out of character for the sensibilities of distinguished and refined cows. How could they both embarrass their mothers so?
The mothers had no clue of the mess that they were in for; when they would recover from their argument.
On and on the bulls ate, going to the same pile, stepping on it: thinking that they could climb a little higher than the fence. It was on their faces. It was on their bodies. It turned into a sliding contest, after the first 5 or six attempts. They forgot why they were doing this. They just kept it up for fun messing and laughing at eachother.
It was Jess, who remained calm because she had no calf. She was the one who had first noticed what they were doing. It was her determination to teach the bickering cows a lesson. She whispered from one cow to the other to get away from the calves because of the mess problem. They all wanted to be absolutely sure that they would not be close to the mess when the mother’s found their calves covered in it. They didn't know how many days it would be before they would be watered down. That meant, the odor would be unbearable until Thursday when they were scheduled to be hosed. The quiet whispering made Hess look up and she let out a squeal of a moo that was horrifying. " MOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The other cows were cackling like hens at the young calves, new found joy. It was repulsive to the particular sensitivities of distinguished cows to get into such a disgusting condition. After all they are the keepers of most of the world’s sustenance, in their own estimation. They consider what they do a labor and provision for all of mankind. The cows consider it their job to remain clean and aloof from the other animal’s disgusting partialities.
What would Bess and Hess do when they got to these little fellows? They looked at eachother from across the grazing field and tried to move at the same time. Their hooves seemed stuck in the mud as they attempted to run across to reach those younguns. Bessie reached for the switch and Hessie reached for the log to place them across. Nobody was raving on their boys now! They were attempting not to throw up, as each of them held the other one’s calf in the by the scruff of his neck. One hoof held a nose and the other the fellow and they looked at eachother in the eye and the biggest laugh came out of them. “Serves us right!” Doesn’t it? For being so proud of the precious ones. They don’t look so precious now, do they? Or smell so precious? They walked around with the fellows in mid air for most of the rest of the day after the whipping that they gave them they walked around looking for some water to wash them in. Farmer Joe saw the hullaballoo and accommodated them by putting on the sprinklers, for them. He was happy to see the two friends on the same side of the grazing yard, after the tension of the recent weeks.

Don't! Don't!--------Mrs. Bluejay prompts to primp

It does seem odd not to have seen Mr. and Mrs. Robin lately. Last year the building was all aglow with their inlaws and friends congratulating them for their quiver’s hatch. It was interesting to see Mr. Robin struggle with his selfishness as the attention was so totally away from him and now that the young ones are grown and gone they have forgotten that they are parents’ and gone back to being friends and loves. The couples have spread out this season, and quite a few of them have decided to move north and get away from mother robin’s doting “butinskyism”. It was cute in the beginning, but now the couples need time to themselves.
I miss the family times that they had and I know that Mrs. Robin thinks that I am much better to have left me as she did. Last year, she checked on me everyday. I couldn’t dodge her for anything. This year we are on the outs, for many reasons. But I suppose that it is my own choosing. Some other birds have made my acquaintance. I have learned that they are experts at timing. They calmed me down when my NY timer was on the fritz and I was ready to ditch it all. Ms. Robin was sent to talk me off the wall again. I will always be grateful for her intervention. Even if she never talks to me again, I will never forget her consideration for me and wise interjections. I hope to hold onto them.

Mrs. Bluejay is always giving me show off tips.  You must start primping she bleeps.  She finds a mirror wherever she is to show me how often she checks her make up.  She feels that God’s paint needs help so she covers and tweeks and tweezes and does just about anything that she can, to make herself attractive.   Last night, she was showing off when we were on the road home from church.

She knows just when we are coming around the corner.   She said you know my timing is impeccable.   I knew that you were at it again.  I am afraid, that you haven’t learned how to toot your own horn.  You must toot it to the children especially or they will disregard you.   Mine don’t even come to visit me unless they bring with them three compliments for mother.   I was not surprised.  She has made her own separate nest from Mr. Bluejay in Charlotte.  He has to visit her in her nest to get any attention.  If he hasn’t any compliments he is out immediately.   She has no tolerance for anything less than complete and utter devotion.   She is extreme, but she has a very proud and pompous mate who would crush her under his own vanity.   She said matter of factly, I am sent to you to teach you the starter class in primping.  You need a face and long mirror.   Look, I make a mirror out of anything.  In fact I flew this way so that I could admire my reflection in the car.  I am vain.  But, it does me good to be vain.   I would hope that you would follow me and learn vanity and do what I do.

Vain birds have to have separate residences.  Don’t you think I am wonderful.  At that point, the light turned green and I had no time to answer her, just watch her beautiful feathers flapping in the breeze.  I couldn’t have complimented her better than she did herself, anyway.

Mr Squirrel meets Turdus Merulla

Mr.Squirrel was acting strange as usual. There is always something out of sorts with him. This time the heat had gotten under his craw. Cranky and undignified he kept trying to reach for a breeze somewhere. Maybe if I stick my neck out this far I will feel cooler, he thought. It is my whiskers which make me hot when they are touching my fur. How can I separate my whiskers from my fur. Baby blackbird had just gotten up the gumption to venture out past the view of momma bird. Momma blackbird could never be called an over protective mother, by any means. She lets her fledgelings do just as they please from bedtimes to food. Pop Blackbird runs a tight ship when they get of age to serve under him. So during their formative months mom lets them enjoy whatever freedoms they can think of. They are all usually a very tightknit group, hovering close as they can to mom. They just love her relaxed attitude and although they could be anywhere, they sit at her feet and listen to her every word and peep.
Not today for baby, she was venturing out past the walls of the nest. The heat had her searching for a stray bit of water somewhere. Doesn’t anybody make a birdbath somewhere? She caught sight of Mr. Squirrel sticking his neck out and it was and observable unusual sight for her. She really had never made his acquaintance before. Scared and curious she made her way closer and closer to what looked like a posing squirrel. Do you need help? She peeped from the top of the stair bannister. No, he grunted back. Can’t you see I am catching a breeze? Silly bird, move away from me, you are causing me to use up my valuable energy conversating with you for what? You are of no consequence to me. Why are you bothering me in all this heat? You are just making me hotter than I already am. Get away, get away, I say.

Wow, you are a grumpy paws aren’t you? She had never met a squirrel and so she was under the impression that perhaps all squirrels were of the crankyshanks sort. I simply wanted to know if you needed help. If you are not in pain, I will stay right here and watch you for whatever it is you are posing. It is a free building and I will stay right here thank you very much. I am not at all blocking any air from getting to you at all. What class in aerodynamics did you graduate from anyhow to really believe that I could block air from you all the way over there. I am the baby in my family and I know better than that.

You are a judgmental, little feisty, flighty thing. I’d bet your momma doesn’t even know you strayed away from the nest now shoe, shoe, before I come over there and nip at your wings.
This argument went back and forth for sometime between them. Mr. Squirrel grew a little respectful for the little baby Merula who gave him what for. He had never had a bird take him to task in such a way. He was used to getting his own way with everybody being such a crankyshanks. Not with Merula. She knew how to use her tongue as well as her wings and her ganglion. This was just the beginning of a beautiful friendship between them but now momma blackbird was calling for supper and no water was to be found so she flew off as swiftly as she had appeared. Mr. Squirrel had enjoyed the challenge that she posed and was lonely now that she had excused herself.



It was Mexican American night at the pavilion and the ducks and geese couldn't seem to get into the rhythms that had overtaken the scene. Evvy said that they were all "whitefeathered". A stereotype, but it seemed to fit as they were all huddled on the other side of the lake, as far from the music as possible. Finally, one older couple decided to risk the ostracization that would happen if they went against the crowd. Come on, Harry, lets go down there and cut some ripples on the water. Sally, I am not ready to cut any ripples. Do you remember the last time we went out on the town? I couldn't paddle straight for a week. Do you want to see that happen to me again? Have a heart? Come on Harry, we are still young, lets go down there and dance.
Slowly, very slowly, they broke away from the crowd and went down to where the music was the loudest. Harry was doing the uptown paddle and the electric waddle. They cut, more than a few ripples, they cut waves on the water that night. Sally was pleased and a little embarrassed at what a spectacle he made of himself, but she was ready to nurse his wounds the next day. Their reward was that the children fed them all kinds of different Mexican foods that they had not had before and the other ducks listened intently as they recounted their adventure, the next day to them.

Its the early tennis player that catches the bunny

Momma bunny is early out of the den collecting the breakfast items for her children. She goes out to the garden and collects all of the salad pieces that she adorns her table with. We caught her posing for us on her short stop picking up breakfast. We found that she is quite a show off, in her way.
She was gracious to make the acquaintance of Enoch in the field. So you are the boy who gave my children that ball souvenir. We have it on the mantle in our den. You are famous for us. Enoch graciously received the compliment and off we went home. It was nice to get to the field before the young bunnies, to make the acquaintance of momma bunny.

The last bunny straggled in to breakfast when we got out to the courts today,

Enoch said he's coming out to the courts momma, I heard her say as she hopped in to their comfortable den for bunny stew. Today was the day that Enoch has learned to keep it in the court, of course. He is still a professional to the bunnies. His favorite fans, even now that he keeps the ball in play. They were hoping for a souvenir from the 2009 summer tour out at the courts from the Walker family. They just love us all, but especially Enoch, for some reason.
All except Ma bunny who keeps a close eye on the time and considers us a distraction from her bunnies learning the real facts of life. Most of the bunnies are grown now and they really don't need momma's talking to's that they get. They submit to her anyway because that is the bunny way!

It was adorable!

I thought that the sparrow family was humble. Then I went to Lowe's food store. There, right in the middle of the O of the sign, above the store was the sparrow couple's nest. Oh, you guys took my hay and stuff from my yard to build a nest across the street. That is not fair!:( Why couldn't the young couple raise their fledgelings in my yard? They were proudly touting their choice of place. Do you see the babies? No! I can't get up there to see them. I didn't think about that, said Mrs. Sparrow. You offended Mr sparrow with that hard bread and we never looked back. They serve soft bread at Lowe's. I am sorry about the hard bread and now I won't get to see the sparrow family until the children are grown. That is the way it is.

Mrs. Bluejay was sitting for an hour in a Red Fern tree.

Mrs Robin came and asked what is wrong, Mrs. Bluejay, I have noticed that you have been in this tree for a long time. Do you want a squirrell to accost you?.
No, No, responded Mrs Bluejay, Olive told me to look for a pleasant tree and that that would cure Mr. Bluejays cranky spell. I don't know, do you think this is a pleasant tree? Mrs. Robin swiftly snatched up a caterpillar and said, through the side of her beak, its as good as any, I suppose. and flew away. Mrs. Bluejay decided that this was not a pleasant enough tree and went about searching for another tree to test for pleasantness.

I saw the spiders making some ropes for the baby moths and ladybugs to play on, in the schoolyard. They were at recess, when I saw them. The spiders got such a kick out of the way that the bugs would jump over the long lines that they had spun, for the youngsters. It was fun to see how the yellowjack children and the ladybug children get along, at this age. There was a yellowjack tennis match on the courts. Queenbee was sitting on the referee's chair and calling the lines. Mapsy is a big cheater and Papsy called a linesperson so that the game would be fair. Queenbee is prodigiously fair.
The Peonies had shows, for the children in the morning and the afternoon. I caught them between shows, they were taking in sun and enjoying a little drink, while the children were jumping. The dance coaches were amazed at the development of their troop. Booboola and George did a wonderful job on the teams and it was worth all of the effort that they had put into this crew.

Pleasantries in pleasant trees!

Olive Owl is awake when every other bird is nested down. The other birds wake her up for consultation. She knows alot more than the other birds about the things that they don't know, because she is awake when they are asleep. She is also aware of the coming darkness when there is light. So her eyes are keener than the other birds.
Good morning, Mrs. Bluejay said to Mrs Owl this morning. Mr. Bluejay has a cranky beak this morning. Olive was too tired to have a long conversation about it, but she is a dear friend of Mrs. Bluejay. We aren't spring hatchlings anymore, you have to learn to work it out, she retorted, a little insensitively, because of her weariness. You might try some pleasantries, she whisperred and then she was fast asleep. Mrs. Bluejay tried to wake her, but after the long speech she shared with Olive, she realized that there was no response and no way to wake her and all she came away from the conversation with was pleasant trees. Off she flew to look for the pleasant trees that Olive was talking about.

Mr. Squirrel is watching my weight.

He says peanuts are not meant for being covered in chocolate. He could not believe that I could sit there and eat the entire package of those corrupted things. He thought that I was going to eat the chocolate and drop the nuts for him to take home to his family. Nope! I was binge eating again. Back to the old drawing board.
I really don't spend much time talking with the squirrel family, because the birds would never talk to me again, if they saw me covorting with the enemy. I like how Mr. Squirrel spoke about the problem that he saw of me eating an entire package of chocolate covered peanuts. I'll take that, he said. No way, I said.

Bessie and the Girls went to sunrise service.

When I saw her she was annoyed that she had chosen her cud chewing spot before she thought about the distance of the sun. Penny was enjoying the full shade and Bessie was sitting in the heat of the sun and lamenting the thought of getting up to move. They celebrated the resurrection in the earliest part of the day and chewed cud the rest of the day. Halleluia!

Last night must have been some bird holiday

or something. I know that they celebrate Easter, but the beauty of the choruses that were singing outside my job were drowning out the angels jam session on the side of the building. Usually, I can hear the wind instruments coming from the columns on the side of our building. Not last night, It was the birds' night to jam. The angels must have taken the night off to go to the concert. It was a glorious concert too. The geese were completely silent, not easy for them. They really think they sound wonderful and they drown all the other birds out with their squawks. Mr and Mrs. Bluejay and family, took center stage and sang every hymn in their bird hymnal. Some of the hymns I knew and some were completely new to me. They celebrate the Thursday, or all of the birds have a night during Holy week to show off their praises and exultation. Everybody else was quiet, to listen to the praise and glory. "Not for form or fashion, we have come here to praise the LORD", They really meant it! God is good and his praise comes from even the flighted animals. I truly hope that tonight is not the geese's night. Don't tell them that I don't really care for the sounds of their cacophonies. I hope the sparrows are tonight. The Bible says to make a joyful sound and that the geese do, I just haven't developed a taste for that particular set of sounds yet.


How can I make peace with my neighborhood sparrows? They have completely abandoned me.

Spring Fever seems, never so strong as...

after a season of rain. The geese were having a party Friday night and I just happened to be around to see their fun. One of the couples flew off over my head, making an aweful lot of noise. They are my friends, so I will not talk about the mess and the ruckus that they made. Mr and Mrs. Robin sat upon their new nests double checking that none of their young couples were invited to the goose party. It was exclusive and goose only, at the party. The geese have no conscience about excluding other birds and most of the birds wouldn't have gone to the party anyway. Mrs. Robin thought that some of the NY robins might not know the Southern bird way. So, she stood guard to make sure that none of her sons in law crashed the party in their insolent Northerness. They had no intention. Those birds have one thought in mind, now that they are down here in the South and the honeymoon is in full swing those couples; so Mrs. Robin didn't need to have stood guard. Don't forget it is also Spring fever...

Another Blessed Rainy Day!

The Sparrow peeps are enjoying a well needed bath with oneanother on this rainy spring day. Its been raining for 4 or 5 days, now.

There are 3 of them splashing around in there and they get along with one or another pokes in the eye and pecking one another is par for the course in a tight nest, like they have.

Mother and father sparrow have all their senses about them as they referee the nesting fun. It did not look like fun this morning as mother sparrow pulled the 2 insigators off of eachother. "Little birds in their nest agree!" was her delightful command to them. They got the message and stopped splashing one another for sport. Peace has to reign in the nest if they are to survive and go to the next level of flying practice one fine day. For now it is warming themselves with the spongy wet feathers...

The trees around the building are in full bloom

now and I can hardly remember the snow which covered the hill a couple of weeks ago. I went skiing on there with the blackbirds and I was going to write about it but I put it off and now I can't even remember the fun that we had for the beauty of the new blooms in my admiration.

Queen bee was calling the lines yesterday for a very intense match that the yellowjacks were having. She is far sighted and has to move about every now and again to catch the lines when the ball is going out.
The yellowjacks were on the farthest court and I accidently stood between Queen bee and the match and she got perturbed but just paced back and forth waiting for me to move and clear her vision for the match. When I moved then I heard her yell, Out. I said what is out. When I looked down I could see the bees had used the peonies dance floor to play a game of tennis. It was superb. They are really brilliant in their fun making while they are at work. Queen bee was far off in the bushes and had to stay there to call the lines. When she got upset about a missed shot, she would fly back and forth humming and mumbling interjections to herself, so as not to let the little yellowjacks hear her exclamations. Far be it from her to corrupt the morals of these minors. She gets so very upset about it she doesn't know what else to say. They had a good time and then they went back to the hive with lots and lots of pollen for the honey.

Yesterday, Mr. Sparrow,

Let me know in no uncertain terms that he was severely offended at me. It is not often that the sparrows get offended. They are not like the bluejays who constantly are aware of themselves. Ordinarily they are oblivious to me and anything that I am doing. I know that we are friends by the fact that they never poop on my stoop and they visit me on their rounds every day.
They haven't come, yet this morning, by the way. Yesterday, however, I thought that I would get rid of one of my daughter's, supposedly edible creations, by sending a piece of it out the back door for my friends the sparrows, who are starting a family not far from here.
Our dog wouldn't eat it for treats it had turned very hard and I was afraid that if we threw it in the trash Elyse would be offended. Well, Mr. Sparrow, had my head, so to speak. He came to my mail box and sat out there on it as if to say that his wing was on his hip. How dare you try to poison my sweet wife with that cement that you threw out to us. A few choice words followed that and then he flew off and suffice it to say that he hasn't been back since. I guess he doesn't like the old corned bread experiment. shhhh, I didn't tell my daughter that they were so offended...

Rosie Robin was sitting in the peach tree...

when pop, a bloom openned up right under her nose. That had never happened to me before and certainly not to her.
The recent rains had made the trees so ready to bloom that, upon the first couple of hours of sunlight they were in full bloom.
Rosie did a sweet little flitting dance in a circle and back around the tree. It looked as though she was moving in a formation that was the same as the shape of the bloom and how it popped. She was so cute.

The Blackbirds are back in line, Mrs. Bluejay admires her eggs...

You would never have known that they had stepped off the manuevers, when Pop Blackbird came back. Not a peep out of anybody to Pop, as far as he's concerned, life only continues when he is in their midst. I cannot even imagine what he would have said, if he knew what happened while he was gone.

Mrs. Bluejay flew to the top of the tallest tree in the forum and sang the sweetest song to the relief of having delivered the eggs. It went like this.

I wasn't fat, just carrying eggs.
I look pretty now and I can see my tail,
But nothing is so beautiful as my eggs in the nest,
Come over to see them when you can.

She is always so self centered. Laying her eggs hasn't changed her a bit.

Yesterday the couples were showing their husbands the worm hunting strategies of the South.

I could not understand the linear methods of these southern robins. The husbands were staring at their linear methods with jaundice eye. There is no such thing as linear worm hunting in the north. We go where every the wind takes us. We don't ask our dad if it is time to go worm hunting we eat whatever and whereever there is food. The arguments became heated and the male birds sulked in the tree for over an hour and they are thinking about moving because they refuse to let Dad Robin dictate the eating habits of their families.

Mr. Robin would be more than happy if they did move. The girls don't want to be that far away from their mother.
Robin conflicts!

The Blackbirds get "boogy fever"

Pop took a trip and the entire group of Blackbirds were completely out of character, when I saw them. They were dancing and jumping and playing and flying around. They took Pop's maneuver book and stomped on it while they danced and shouted. It was a happy kind of dance and I felt good that I could see why Pop keeps such a tight reign on them because they are wild birds, I say.
They had absolutely no decorum, when Pop's back was turned. I really can't wait until Pop gets back to see what he has to say about this unbecomming behavior.
Or, will they tell him? There is always one snitch, isn't there?

March Forth!

Two days ago, I was confronted, directly...

By Mrs. Bluejay. I would never want to offend her, she is one of my eldest friends there, at work. She was highly offended that I shared about her weight changes and how it had affected her relationship with Mr. Bluejay.
She showed my quite, matterof factly that she was not without the ability to shake her tail, she just had not had any reason to at that particular moment of the day that she saw me.
Seems that she used to shake her tail incessantly for Mr. Bluejay and now her tail had cooled, prodigiously.
I apologized and she accepted and we are friends again. But while she was showing me her tail shaking antics, behind Mr. Bluejay's back, so to speak. She lost 2 aphids which were going to be her mid morning snack. She's eating for herself and her eggies.

It was my suspicion that Pop Blackbird,

had forbidden his batallion to talk to me, since I had taken this later shift. Yesterday, they dispelled that suspicion. He is still keeping his distance, not sure about the intent of my initial acquaintance with the lot of them, if I was not going to keep up with the regimen.
He did, however, allow them to wave good morning to me as I came in to work. Sauntering, as he would put it, in at the unbirdly hour of 11:30. He has completely lost all respect for my industriousness. I waved and so did they.
After that, they went back to their bird maneuvers and I went in to the job.

It looks as though Mr and Mrs. Bluejay are

admiring one another from a distance these days. I do barely see them together. She isn't shaking her tail at him much anymore, like the first days on the branch, in the front of the building. They had absolutely no shame about their love, in those days. They were bent on falling into eachother's eyes and wings right in front of everybody. Now, it is a game of catch as catch can. She has grown a belly and he always reminds her, when she's picking up an extra worm, that the egg is one thing and the belly is another. He's always been a very blunt bird to her.
They are as much in love as ever. The game is a distancing game and I see one on the building and one in the tree and still the reflection of eachother in their eyes is as brilliant as the first day I had the privilege of chaperoning them. If you can call what I was doing, chaperoning. Perhaps a better word for it is monitoring their activities. There is no chaperone that can keep the lovebirds away from eachother.

BRRRR, I spoke too soon...Winter's back!

The chill came as a surprise to us all, in the wild life of the community around my job. The Robin couples found solace in their new relationships and Dad Robin was very happy that he'd gotten them all married off before this morning's chill. He didn't have to answer anyone's nagging questions about life and worms.
This morning found the Robins' discussing their own plans for the nest building for this spring. Mrs. Robin reminded Mr. Robin that they had almost lost all of the new hatchlings to the hail storm in mid Spring last year and that they would have to be more careful at their choosing the spot for this year's nest. He acted like he really cared, but that was not at all what he cared about this morning. Don't worry my beloved, we made it through, didn't we? Mrs. Robin could scream! Doesn't he remember how we nearly lost all of our children how can he tell me not to worry. The argument became intense as Mr. Robin accused Mrs. Robin of not trusting his judgement because of one storm and Mrs Robin accused Mr. Robin of foolishly leaving the decision to chance and circumstance and Mrs. Robin left for a breather to go and see what one of the young couples would be up to this morning.
Oh, Well!

Mr. Robin was in a singing mood yesterday.

Evidently, they celebrated valentines day early, also. He is ordinarily so grumpy, with all of the children couples taking his time with his sweetypie. He can't stand all of this attention to their needs that Mrs. Robin does. That is her way of keeping his attention. She gave him a whole day yesterday and he was singing at the top of the trees, just like after the first one got married and he thought that they were gone...
He's learning to juggle his selfishness of Mrs. Robin's attentions with some other occupations now. Instead of moping, like he used to. Now, he takes some time all to himself on occasion.
Each of the other robin couples found a tree to hide out and make up from the social differences with them. I can't wait to see how many nests we will see in the next coming weeks. Robin eggs should be all over the place. I never realized that robins celebrated Valentines Day.

Mrs. Robin so loves the NC Spring...

She remains the socialite for the entire outside of the building. She has complete control of the social calendars of all of the young couples these days. They don't know what else to do, now that they've gotten over the arguments about the social habits of the Northern vs. the Southern birds. Yesterday, she gave me a surprise party and it was so sweet. The whole lot of them were cooking something up, while I was on my first break. Mrs. Robin gave me a glaring look, as though they had planned this, for quite a while and I hadn't accomodated them. I had on nice shoes and hadn't been out walking. They were all angry with me and told me to go away.
I was nearly so offended, that I didn't want to walk on the second break that I had. Overcoming my lazy bent, I walked around and the robins seemed inordinately aware of my movings. They seemed to mark my every step and kept popping one of them who was accidentally shouting surprise after every turn. I thought that they incorporated me into some new game of theirs and concentrated on my own concerns and worries and calculations.
Mommy doesn't see, I heard Mrs. Robin say, That is why we have to help her. I started looking around at that, trying to figure out what would interest them that I see. I don't dig in the dirt anymore, I thought, what could they be referring to?
When I made the third turn and little robin yelled surprise for the 5th time, I wasn't startled at all and I wasn't looking, but that was when they all sat down in formation, on the side of the building. I just went back to my prayers and concerns to God and kept walking. Just then I saw them and my mouth flew wide open in shock and surprise, the most precious gift of the day, next to Ezra's drawing. A small bunch of newly bloomed daffodils, the first of the season were just popping out. "We knew you would do that. Aren't they beautiful?" they said and then they went back to their fun and play. Mrs. Robin hung around to reprove me for not walking in heels and how she almost spoiled the surprise herself, when she saw me finally out there. We had a really nice lunch together.

The Thaw has brought birds from far and near to Charlotte.

All around there is a mess from the recent Snow, frost and thaw. The birds seem to flock to Charlotte to get out of the mess. We are enjoying the view. I hope they stay around. It is beautiful here.

Mrs. Cardinal loves the snow day.

She and her children were playing a snow fort in the tree next to the building, this morning when I got in. I don't see the Blackbird family, now that I have a later schedule. My later schedule allows me to see the children before they go to school, but Pop Blackbird has written me off of his friend list. I hope he gets over it. I really used to learn alot from him.
Instead, this morning, it was the Cardinal family showing off covering eachother in the snow. I don't really know them yet, but I do hope that when Mrs Bluejay gets better from her morning sickness, she will introduce us. They are such a beautiful family.

It makes me sentimental

When I pass that precious tree where I first chaperoned the bluejay couple. They have never spent an hour in my view eyeballing one another since. Now they are so independant of eachother. Ms. Bluejay coaches me on my figure and how to show off to my husband and children. Today she embarrassed me right in front of my Sunday school class. If you take one more bite of that cupcake I am coming right through the glass! she snorted at me. I didn't listen, but I should have. I am glad she is my friend like that. They kept all the other parts of their family secret to me and have never introduced me to their children like the robins. But anything about love and showiness, if there is some kissy face stuff or new smushy couple ways they've started they seem to say, lets show this one off to Jayne. I just love it.
The branch is now sacred and even when they go to that tree to talk and powwow, they don't touch that branch. That is the branch where they found eachother in eachother's eyes. Who you are in love is who you are in eachothers' eyes and they fly in that identity. I guess I learned that from the bluejays and they carry me with them as they spend eachother on eachother. Don't forget the branch where we found eachother they always say to me...

The New Robin couples were showing off the other day.

Several of the children came home from up north with new husbands and there is something funny about those city slicker robins. They seem to get a kick out of flying so close to the heads of the lady robins and nearly bumping into them and then, just before they bump, they shoot up and just miss bumping heads, by a hair.
It doesn't seem like the little dainty southern robins care for this kind of play. There were quite a few family or love bird sqaubbles outside during my break.
I was really curious how it would all turn out with the robins, but I had to go back inside. I am sure that they had quite a time kissing and making up from these early arguments and learning what makes their families more comfortable.
Father Robin thought that the children would settle up north with the inlaws but now he has to share Mrs. Robin again and he is pouting a bit because of it. But, he will get over it.

Back and forth, she paced and then

she decided that it was time for a swim. Slowly and cautiously she approached the water. The only thing between her and the water was the ladder. The vicious thing, how could someone have planted a huge obstacle in her path like that. Sabotage, someone was obviously trying to laden her with bad luck. Bad, bad, bad, and she couldn't remember which of the ways was going to cause the ominous consequences. She decided she was safe if she went right, so she continued her focused waddle to the water to the right of the ladder. Her heart was throbbing, what if she were wrong, what if she were to find out later from Mrs owl that it was the left. She laid caution to the wind and continued to the water.