Smile for the Birdie – Or maybe, Birdies, Smile

When I was growing up, birds occasionally flew into the front window . They didn’t come out of that very well.

Fast-forward more than four decades. Over the years I have heard a clicking-thump sound occasionally but have never seen just what was rapping on the window. In the past few days, I have heard it so many times that I am almost getting used to it.

Wednesday, I was quick enough to look and see robins trying to land on my window. There wasn’t just a one-time attempt. There sometimes would be three or four attempts in a few minutes – and then a while later, another one arrived. Today, it started up again.

See me sitting at the computer. See me hear that now familiar sound of bird on glass behind me. See me grab my camera and sit and wait a bit… and take photos of robins banging onto my window.

After a couple days of this, I have developed a theory that they are trying to land on the reflection of a Japanese Cherry Tree which is in full bloom a few feet from the house. It hasn’t been cut back very far for several years so the branches are coming closer to the window.

Fortunately for them, since my new red-breasted friends are coming down to perch, they are angling in feet first. That saves some major injuries. That also gives me a very interesting view of robins - feet first.

After supper, I decided to see if my “cherry tree” theory could be possible. Even from a down-on-the-ground perspective there was a nice reflection. While I was out there, I witnessed another robin trying its best to take a rest. I had my camera with me but had it on macro so the shot was nothing but a blur.

I’m not sure if this is just a couple of birds that got concussions the first time they tried it and keep coming back, or if this is a robin spring-training requirement, or that robins are attempting to break into our house, or that there are an awful lot of dumb robins around here.

This is truly bird-time. Yesterday while waiting for another robin attack, I found a goldfinch and another little bird with yellow streaks on its wings. After I came in from checking out the reflection I came back upstairs to the computer. A little while later, I noticed a growing noise outside. My first thought was that a gaggle of Canada geese was flying over – or had decided to land in the field in back of the house.

Once again I grabbed my camera and headed out to the back yard.

Crows. Lots of crows – and they were flying between our fir trees and Marie’s huge dogwood in back. I hope this isn’t going to become their nightly ritual. I enjoy listening to and watching most birds but I draw the line at calling that loud cackling noise enjoyable. Way down inside of me I admit that I was hoping just a bit that a hawk or eagle was trying to pick off a crow or two. No such luck.

I do count 23 'black' birds in the tree. If there was one more, there would be enough for a blackbird pie.

Easter-time Lost and Found

All of you who have been asked repeatedly - "Are you sure you haven't seen my camera?" have a reprieve.

I have spent the past several days in frustration because I could not locate the wonderful digital camera Bob got me a couple of years ago. I missed it around Easter. By the time we went to Alexis’ birthday party Saturday, I had about decided that I must have left it some place or other. Bob and I had both looked high and low and behind this and under that and couldn’t think of another place to check for the third or eighth time.

I brought it over at Alyssa’s on Good Friday with food for our Easter dinner. I used those black re-usable Fred Meyer shopping bags to haul the food, and had put my purse, camera, and some other things I was delivering in one, too.

I didn’t take the camera out of the bag but that didn’t stop me from asking Alyssa (and everyone else) more than once, if she had seen it. Remembering that once, a long time ago, I could not find a camera, I even asked my grandkids if they had seen it. No luck there.

That camera finally showed up. I had just gotten it on Easter – for an early Birthday gift. It was the wonder-camera of the day with tiny 110 film – and I knew there was about half a roll left. We picked Caleb up a week later. The camera disappeared soon after. The film was all used up when it showed up again. The question of what happened to it was solved when we developed the film. Little Miss Toni, always quick to figure things out was then about 20 months old. She took her own pictures of our new puppy, Caleb, his dog food - and of herself. (By the way, I have been looking for her self-portrait and cannot locate it. If anyone knows where it is, please share.)

Since I had emptied the rest of the grocery bags in the kitchen, that was where I thought it must be, but couldn’t find it anyplace. The bags had been folded and put back in the car. The camera was not on the counters or floor, in cupboards or drawers, nor on shelves – not hiding on chairs under the table, either.

I quit looking. I spent this afternoon calling all of the stores I could think I may have been in and even changed from asking about my ‘misplaced’ to my ‘lost’ camera.

I gave up and started cleaning up. Bob and I have been under the weather since Easter and things had accumulated. Tonight after supper, I tackled the pile of old papers that had been mounting up on the table since then. After a while, I looked up on the table and there, sitting in the middle of the table, was the camera. Whew!!!!

My 040404 #4 is Four Today!

Today is one of my dear sweet granddaughters' - Alexis - fourth birthday. This one is easy to remember. She was born on 04-04-04, is our fourth grand, and is four today.

She was over Wednesday night and was telling me about her birthday. She said she was going to be four on Friday and is having a party on Saturday for the kids and, "I will be four… and in the afternoon I will have another party for family and I will be five."

She was so sweet – and so serious - but I still had to explain to her that no, she will have to go whole year while everyone else has their birthdays before she gets to be five.

That was a bit disappointing.

I think she had spent some time thinking about this one... exactly what makes her another year older? Deciding that it MUST be having a party that adds that wonderful year makes perfect sense. Two parties - well, double bonus - two years older.

Seasons of Change

I’m in the ‘Bob ate something as soon as he got home and won’t be hungry for a while’ lull so I thought I would write.

We had to go to the DMV, which was half-way to DD#1’s. Since we didn’t make it over there yesterday, we delivered the little boxes of Valentine chocolates we had for the older kids. It was fun to spend so time with them. Natalie came in from her bus ride home from school and sat on my lap giving and getting hugs for a long time.

After a while, Zander asked if we would go up to his room to ‘play.’ To him, having us sit and talk with his mom seemed to be a waste of time. I explained to him that to grownups, sitting around and talking is playing. That didn’t make any sense to him.

The youngest, Hayden, so much a big boy nowadays, didn’t have much of a nap earlier and was almost asleep on his feet. I picked him up, held him for a bit, and talked to him quietly as I carried him off to bed for a nap. It won’t be long before they are all too big to pick up like that. It was pleasant to have some one-on-one with them all. When all six of the grands get together, grandma time is much more hectic.

There are many ways to take coming home but I find that my car is on autopilot by that time and don’t bother to think which way to go. We usually end up on a road that parallels some train tracks. Between the road and the tracks is that bit of land that tends to be wild. After many years of getting to look at everything along the road, I’ve been driving most of the time lately. That means I can’t pay attention to anything but the road.

All of a sudden Bob piped up with “Quail!” I said “where?” he continued, not quite so excited, “… no, pheasant.” For that in-between moment I was ready to turn around to find that bird but knew that was about as useful as straining water. The idea of seeing quail made my heart sing just a bit, and I think it did that for him, too.

That ride home has changed so much. In the past 15 years or so, what used to be farmland, north and east of us, has become more and more ‘industrial parks’ – sprawling parking lots of cement warehouses. I don’t miss the smell of the previous year’s leftover cabbage on a warm late-winter’s day. But, I do miss all of what hadn’t changed for decades before that. I’ve seen coyote and bald eagles not that far from home.

It must be a few weeks since the last time I came down that road and noticed some more old farmland was being flattened. Today, some old farm buildings were gone and a new ‘park’ is going up across the street from Boeing of Portland where Bob worked for so many years.

There aren’t many old places left. Even the truck farm at the end of our street had to quit last spring – not enough land to make a living. At least the barn and other buildings and equipment are still there.

Spring is coming and it can either be bringing warmth and flowers or allergy attacks and sinus infections. I want the flowers.

There was still a lot of snow up on the foothills. It is supposed to be about 60 tomorrow so I’m guessing that the trees up on those hills will at drop their snow shortly, then the acres of open white fields will melt and it will be another year before that beauty returns. There are some year-round snow-capped mountains around here but when the foothills are also white, for me it is especially delightful.