Favorite Things

It's that time of year again when we make resolutions and review our lives up to this point. In my review, I prefer to think of things that give me pleasure. Here's my list:

• cornbread and buttermilk
• espying a rainbow
• freshly painted walls
• crisp, autumn afternoons
• reading a good book
• email from friends
• the laughter of my better-half
• conversations with my children
• dusk
• Cheeseburger in Paradise's pina coladas
• crossword puzzles
• family photo albums
• reading the Sunday paper
• baby animals
• a lap full of dogs and cats
• people watching
• the sound of a steady rain
• the smell of freshly baked apple pie
• robust coffee - black
• clean sheets
• Harry Potter
• tanzanite
• stories with happy endings
• stories about everyday heroes
• successfully solving a problem with my computer
• a yard full of birds
• key lime pie
• Madame Alexander dolls
• falling snow
• afternoon naps with my cat
• the call of the goldfinch

I'm sure as the day goes by, I'll come up with many more.

Feel free to share some of your favorites!

Happy New Year.

30 Years Worth of Wisdom

My better half and I celebrated 30 years of wedded bliss this month. We feel rather smug about ourselves, thank you very much.

Upon reflection, I realize that I have amassed quite a bit of wisdom over these 30 years, and I feel compelled to share some of it.

MISCELLANEOUS TIDBITS

Check the circuit breakers before calling a repair man

For every output, there must be an input. Get your glasses and read the labels on the connections.

Before replacing leaky faucets or sprinkler systems, have the water pressure checked.

Spackling, sanding, taping, and dusting are well worth the time spent before painting a room.

Before assuming your dishwasher is broken (because you've already checked the circuit breaker), look under the sink for an on/off switch.

Butterfly bushes take up a lot of space. You really don't need to plant two.

Putting a chair beneath a hummingbird feeder makes it sticky.

Grubs grow into Japanese Beetles. Lots of them.

When water skiing, lean back; when snow skiing, lean forward.

You can't boil water for coffee on a Buddy Burner when the power goes off.

If you don't have time to wash the paint brushes when you're through painting for the day, put them in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator, and they'll still be pliant for painting the same color again the next day.

When you need to remove melted candle wax from a tart burner, put it in the freezer for a few minutes, and the wax pops right off.

If you let leaves and tree stuff clog up the vents on your car underneath the windshield wipers, water will leak onto your floorboard.

Read the book before seeing the movie.

You gotta have a sense of humor when living with teenagers. Otherwise, you'll cry.

Don't let yourself get too emotionally involved when your teenager comes to you in total dismay over some huge crisis. You may lose hours of sleep from worry when, most likely, the situation has resolved itself after 3 hours, but no one thought to let you know that everything was okay.

Getting a college degree generally takes longer than 4 years. Plan ahead for tuition.

College textbooks cost almost as much as room and board.

Just because they graduate doesn't mean they won't come back home.

Pick your battles.

Never buy a high school student a brand new car. Wait until they graduate from college to be so generous.

Kids and spouses never tire of being praised.

Watch for opportunities to give compliments.

To diffuse an angry encounter, fess up to a stupid mistake and apologize. (assuming it is your fault.)

A smile makes everything warmer.

Go to weddings and funerals. It means much more than you realize.

Teenagers really are a lot of fun. They keep you young, if they don't kill you first.

Cats throw up when you change their diet.

To teach a little boy to aim, float cheerios in the toilet.

Never demean your spouse in public. In fact, do all you can to make him look good in front of his colleagues and friends.

Listen, and remember.

Nagging only makes everyone miserable. Especially you.

You cannot change someone from who they were before you married them.

Separate checking accounts is a good idea.

Pay off credit cards every month. Or don't use them.

Understand that you either have kids and pets OR you have an immaculate house. You can't have both. Get over it.

Family is everything. Nurture those relationships.

Do not be judgmental; it makes people stop telling you things. Instead, say things like: "oh really?" or "oh goodness" or "and how did that make you feel?"

People are the same, no matter where you live.

The CEO puts on his underwear the same way as you do.

Party guests don't care if the bedrooms are spotless. Focus more on having a good time and less on killing yourself getting ready for the event.

Good neighbors are true treasures.

Pets should never be allowed to wander. Bad things happen. This includes cats.

Dogs love you unconditionally. All the time. It feels great.

You can learn a lot about someone if you watch their facial expression.

Collect something. It makes gift-giving much easier for relatives.

Keep a notebook of Christmas gifts to buy, bought, and received. Every year.

Buy Christmas presents all year long. Finish by November.

If something is truly meant to be, it won't go away.

We are not in charge. Stop trying to call all the shots.

Life is too short to be unhappy.

I'm sure I'll think of more as I continue to reflect. If you have any to add, feel free to do so!

The Bluebird Diaries - From the Landlord

Bonnie Blue and Mister Blue kept the fledglings hidden away for about two weeks. This was for their own safety. Meantime, they were learning how to fly and to find their own food.

I wasn't sure I'd ever see them again.

I noticed a chickadee looking over the bungalow. Later, I noticed twigs protruding from the sides of the nesting box. I had removed Bonnie Blue's nest once the chicks fledged. Imagine my surprise when I found another nest that looked exactly the same!

Someone had been busy!

I noticed a female wren trying to navigate a large pine needle through the entrance of the box, so I figured it must be a nest of wrens, even though it had all the characteristics of a bluebird nest.

I was wrong.

On Friday, there was a perfect sky blue egg in the nest! Wrens don't lay sky blue eggs.



For the next three days, I watched Bonnie Blue going in and out of the bungalow. I knew it was her and Mister because they immediately recognized the mealworm dish when I placed it near the condo. Also, they returned to their same perches as before.

Each day I would check the nesting box, and each day I found a new egg. By Monday, there were three!

That afternoon, I heard a ruckus outside my office window. There was Blue Velvet and Elijah Blue on the roof! Mister Blue brought them to see their mom while she laid the eggs!



Bluebirds can lay two to three clutches of eggs per season, but I never figured these two would have another brood so soon. I was thrilled, and I kept diligent watch.

The day after finding the third egg and seeing the older fledglings, I once again checked the box. This time, one egg was missing, and I began to get concerned.



A raccoon, a snake, a wren, or a house sparrow can remove one egg from a nest without disturbing the others. In this case, it would've been impossible for a raccoon to get an arm inside the box with the veranda on it. I didn't really think it was a snake. I suspected it was the wren. In the days to follow there were no more eggs missing. But Bonnie Blue was nowhere to be seen.

House sparrows are mortal enemies of the bluebird. They are known to remove the eggs, kill the nestlings, and kill the adult. I suspect this could be what happened, but I don't know. I haven't seen any house sparrows in my yard.

Since the loss of the first egg, I've seen no bird at all checking out the birdhouse, although I did see Mister Blue fly into the box this morning. I wonder if he was looking for Bonnie Blue, or was he merely checking on the condition of the remaining eggs?

The eggs can go for about a week without having to be incubated, but, once begun, the female must remain diligent in keeping the eggs warm. Furthermore, only the female can incubate the eggs. The male has no "pouch" with which to cover them.

PostScript: This morning I found the remaining two eggs broken on the ground beneath the nesting box. I suspect it was another bird's handiwork. Probably the wren. I will watch to see who starts to build in the box, and may or may not discard that nest before it's used. I'd like to reserve the box for bluebirds even if I have to plug the hole until next spring. Nest box inhabitants can grow to be territorial.

The Bluebird Diaries - Epilogue

It was a dark and stormy night.

After a week of uncomfortably high temperatures, the Earth's fever finally broke. What followed was a deluge of rain, soaking the ground and everything around it. The pores of the heavens released the moisture that had built up from days of heat. Lightening bolts illuminated the starless sky. Thunder rumbled, and the land trembled.

As dawn's light began to twinkle on the horizon, Mister Blue and I checked on our babies. They had just spent their first night in a frightening thunder storm.

They were very happy to see us.

"Mama!" cried Jackie Blue, "don't make us stay in here any longer! We want to come with you and Daddy!"

"We can do it, Mama," echoed Blue Velvet.

Elijah Blue fluttered his wings and looked hopeful.

There was no time to lose. More rain was on the way. We would have to get in some quick flying lessons if these fledglings were to survive the days ahead.

Well before the landlord was awake, Mister Blue and I lead our newly fledged babies through some drills in the trees outside her window. We knew she would be sad to miss seeing the babies fly away for the first time, so we called our good-byes to her in those early morning hours from the nearby trees. I hope she heard us.

In only 18 days, our babies went from a clutch of eggs, to hatchlings, to nestlings, to fledglings. Now they'll stay with Mister Blue and me for the next few weeks while we teach them to find their own bugs and to become strong fliers. Their older brothers and sisters will be around to help, too. In fact we'll all pretty much stay together until Fall.

Sooner or later they'll find their own mates and build their own nests for next season's brooding. Maybe they'll even come back to see the landlord with the mealworms, the hose mister, and the camera.

"You know, Bonnie Blue," sighed Mister, "they probably won't stay around here when they raise their own babies."

This was true, I had to admit. Our journey wasn't over yet, though, and besides,
"Tomorrow is another day."

Want to start at the beginning?

The Bluebird Diaries - Chapter 7

Look at our little sleeping angel.

This is Elijah Blue, only 9 days old.

These days, Mister Blue and I spend much of our time collecting bugs and feeding babies. Every morning, our landlord delivers fresh mealworms to the deli. We watch for her and barely wait for her to turn the corner before we're filling up our beaks with juicy mealworms for our nestlings. That's why they're growing so fast - all that protein!

Here is a photo of all three babies at 9 days old.

You can see they're sprouting some wing feathers now.

Much to the photographer's chagrin, the babies all play 'possum' whenever she opens the door to the bungalow to snap a picture. But you let Mister or me land on the veranda with a bug, and those necks crane upward, beaks open, and the cheeping commences.

We're actually quite proud that our nestlings are so smart and cautious to possible intruders.

Now that they're getting bigger, Mister and I aren't always happy about daily photo sessions. Yesterday we both buzzed the photographer while she took these pictures of them at 11 days old. If you look closely, you can see Jackie Blue (at the top) peeking through one eye at the camera.

As our babies near the age of fledging (around 14-23 days), we must be careful not to let them jump out of the nest prematurely. Even though they won't be able to survive on their own, they will not return to the nest which would be fatal for them.

The last few days have been milder, but we fear the next few will be hot again.

Last week when the landlord turned on the hose mister for us, the yard man who lives in the building next door posted a sign on one of the trees near our condo:

WET T-SHIRT CONTEST
8:00

Mister Blue thought it was hilarious. He wanted to put on a wet tee-shirt and go sit on the yard man's back deck.

I was just thankful the older kids weren't around to see it, and I was saved from having to explain what it meant!

Next: Epilogue