Juvenility Juvenility*

Today, I was on a conference call that was fairly long.

A female goldfinch came to the thistle feeder outside my window, and I sat there trying to figure out how I could get a camera without being heard by the people on the phone. I didn’t figure out how to get my camera, so no pictures were taken.

I’m amazed how strong my urge was to drop everything to snap a photo. It’s possibly the result of art training, when we had 15 second sketches before the model fell on his face or shifted pose some other way. So, anyone else find themselves not quite as grownup as they hoped? Or, perhaps, responding to current situations with training from years ago?

Topical note: I also didn’t get to see the speeches, because I was working (I do try to watch them no matter which party has a new president in the White House). And yes, I did want to go to the theater to see it with everyone else on my block. Ah well. [Ahem: who is this clone who does things her parents did and sits watching the news for hours on end? No comment.].

*Points for which character from MASH (the TV show) who I’m misquoting in this blog title. No I haven’t decided if the points mean anything.

oh-mi-gawd AM

His Most Serene and Annoying Fluffybutt

This morning I got up at “oh-mi-gawd” hour to drive the Gardener to the airport. Like it always is at oh-mi-gawd hour, it was dark. No one else on the block was up. Even the construction workers hadn’t arrived to disturb the peace.

With regulations for how early check in is at the airport and the time security takes …. it wound up being 6 AM when I got behind the wheel, somewhat caffeinated. I spent most of the drive thinking, “I can’t believe they allow people to DRIVE this early at these speeds!” Like any other portion of the US near an airport, the highway was filled with trucks delivering fish/flowers/what have you to go on the airline with your luggage. There were also cars trying to break the sound barrier and thread the needle between the trucks. (I actually suspect that bad drivers are a worse hazard to national security than anything else, since they’re the thoughtless source of much fright for drivers.)

Once getting back in my home office before 8:00 AM, I was greeted by evidence of catly displeasure (otherwise known as, “hairball on the stairs”). Lucky for the probable culprit, he’s cute. See above (yes, it’s a rehash photo because the camera isn’t available).

Note: there are higher odds of seeing a juvenile peregrine falcon land in your backyard, near the birdfeeder*, when you do not have a camera. We’ve also had high winds (and some tree limbs down), with amazing shadows and bright lighting for flowers.

I regret not having any pictures, but most of the day has been eaten by a revision.

*So, I wonder if he was looking for takeout?

Wooden House Dwellers

If you hear a rapping, rapping, rapping sound from the walls where someone inefficiently walled up windows and a door (possibly in 1930), and you’ve noticed yellow jackets come to die in your office…..

Depending on your geographic location, it’s probably a woodpecker.

“B” Is for “Birds”

Spying on a juvenile goldfinch that's looking for handouts

Note to self: the mulberry tree has a branch that doesn’t have many leaves on it. If you’re walking in the kitchen without your glasses (in search of coffee) and see bright bright yellow leaves falling and then “flying” across the yard, those are not dead leaves in late July. They are goldfinches who have found the thistle feeder and the flowers out back.

If I’m able to get pictures [edited to add: yes, I managed to get one photo] of these cunning little arrows of yellow, I will. They are muscular, tiny, and yellow with hints of spring green. One of the goldfinches has a tiny mask on his face, so he looks like the Dad from the Incredibles. Most of the pictures I see online show birds that have their feathers fluffed up more. I’m not sure if my goldfinches are juveniles or not. I’m just glad they’ve decided to visit here as well as my neighbor’s feeder.

So far, on the gullibility meter, the goldfinches are showing they can’t be fooled… but they CAN fool me for a minute.