Baffles and Butterflies

Instead of taking advantage of a day off to accomplish work around the house yesterday, I meandered around with my camera and laughed, forgetting to comb my hair until noon. A Sloth, I was. Remembering Good Friday, I planned Orange Ruffie for dinner – the only work I did all day.

Do you laugh at bird behavior? I do. I thought having many Mockingbirds would calm the lonely savage. Instead, there is more very interesting chaos. Wince or smile, it’s an education. They made me laugh.

HA! Two pudgy pigeons arrived. I remember them making love on a rooftop last spring and there's no doubt that I’ll catch them again.

We regard squirrels in different ways but I think most of us find them to be very annoying, especially those of us who have bird feeders. My squirrels visit during spring and summer. They store enough food to make it through winter, thank you. Yesterday, I found great pleasure and a few laughs…

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. The best black oil sunflower around…

Uh-oh. Why, hello lady! Remember me?

If I may say so, you have the best feeder in the town.

She is not yelling, yet. Hmmm… I’m going for it.

Hey! Stop startling me! I’m teetering here…

Give me a break, will ya?

…gone, in the blink of an eye. I'll be baaaack....

Baffles. What a ridiculous notion.

A leaf flew by one of the hummingbird feeders and I froze in my tracks for a brief second. They’ve been reported north of us in eastern NC and VA. No sightings in Charlotte yet, but they’re getting close.

I plopped a large Hibiscus under their favorite feeder today. Hey, if they don’t come back, I’ll just have to go out and buy a few hummingbirds.

;-)

My shoulders are sagging, you know.

Springtime is full of unexpected surprises. Just beyond the hummingbird feeder, I saw the first Eastern Tiger Swallowtail of 2008 today.

The winds have been very gusty and strong which proved to be difficult for the butterfly to hold on and for me, too. Swaying branches test your focus but I managed somehow.

This swallowtail is for my friends who are still sloshing in snow, ice, and deep water - from Canada, Minnesota, Ohio, and all the way to Maine.

Spring is coming. Believe me.

I wish everyone a Joyous Easter!

Off to boil some eggs, now.

Neighbors

What’s your name?

These dogs are my next door neighbors. They moved in last summer and I don’t know their names. With two dog biscuits in my pockets, I broke through the thick evergreens that separate our properties and visited them this week. Their owners are thirty-somethings who rush in and rush out and spend the weekends away. I wouldn’t recognize them if we met in a convenience store, face to face. Isn’t it strange to have neighbors who are elusive and anti-social? All of my neighbors seem to be self-absorbed and caught up with the inside of their homes and rarely let the sun warm them. Busy, busy. I'm busy, too.

North Carolina is a friendly state and shines with southern hospitality. I like it here since we arrived in 2005. My neighborhood is lovely; however, it's loaded with corporate families who transfer often. In and out. But there is a lady I see occasionally who walks her King Charles Spaniel. She’s about seventy years old and when I see her walk by, she’s always looking up to my house. Pat has an uncanny resemblance to my Mom. She told me stories about her teaching and coaching career and her love of track and field ten times. Every time she tells her story, I listen and smile. Health issues affect her ability to walk without faltering which must be heartbreaking for a former athlete. I admire her love of outdoors. We talk Birds.

Living in communities is all I know. Growing up in a row home just inside the city limits, our neighborhood was active with children who played outdoors outside from sunrise to sunset and the adults really knew each other. Computers, TV, cell phones, and organized sports didn’t steal the life from us or the strength to walk down the street and knock on a door.

During the next few decades of my life, I made life-long friends over the fence. House phone rings - “Wanna meet me at the fence?”, or “Wanna take the dogs for a walk?”, or “Let’s take the kids to the snowball stand.”, or “Put your boots on, let’s shovel some snow.” And, “Let’s pack up for the pool after lunch.” "It's Friday, let's crack open a cold one."

And I’m so happy that my daughter, Gina, had that life… She had a heavy-duty organized sport to tend to but she also made some life-long friends in a real, living, community as she grew. As a matter of fact, Gina and her neighborhood friend, Regina, organized nights of “flashlight tag” with neighborhood kids during the summer they packed their stuff to attend out-of-state colleges. They were 17 and 18. How cool is that?

It sort of pains me to post bird photos with other homes in the background.

We own the tree in this photo. The multitude of birds attracted to my feeders, including pigeons and starlings, perch in my neighbors’ trees and on their decks

and poop all over the pristine properties the owners rarely visit.

So… let them sit in their kitchens and talk about me - the blonde who carries plates, buckets, and cups full of what-not to the bird feeders with a camera around her neck, in all types of weather – every day. They don’t know how much fun I am.

What I do is worth it. Screw the neighbors who don't like cold or hot or wind. I’ll lean on the fence and talk to the birds and my dogs. I’m too social for reclusive people.

Bella found something after dark last night...

First toad of 2008. CHECK!

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To all my neighbors out there in the blogosphere, please bear with me? I’ve not been a good neighbor. I’m working nine hours without a lunch break every day lately but it’s temporary. I want to acknowledge new visitors here and read others’ blogs but I’m whipped. It takes all my energy to post here with lots of typos and grammatical errors until things calm down. I’ll be back – hanging over the fence and chatting soon.

A Terrier's Dream

Whimsical, lively, and always entertaining – a Boston Terrier is full of surprises. If a dog could produce a bubble from a wad of Double Bubble, count on a Boston to do it. Gina saw this framed print at the mall - a nice gift we love.

A day full of non-stop puttering and heavy duty cleaning around the house isn’t exactly what I always look forward to but it sure felt great. Chloe and Bella were in the yard while I cleaned house, so I checked on them every few minutes – always concerned about mischief.

I was delighted to see not one, but two Brown Thrashers. Last year I had only seen one at a time. Leaning comfortably on the fence with camera, intending on a lengthy photo shoot, I happened to glance at the face.

Chloe is on the left, Bella on the right. I knew immediately what happened. Chloe never learns a lesson. For those who don’t know Chloe, she has a very high IQ and has challenged me for nearly twelve years. During her youth, she caught a bird in flight and ate it leaving the skull behind and also devoured a baby rabbit. I have countless stories to tell. Get the picture?

She normally looks like this.

Half smiling but disgusted, too, I asked, “What happened to your face? Come over here and let me take your picture.”

Me: At it again, huh? What’s up with your swollen face and what did you EAT?

I had a Bee Botox treatment! OK?

I told you my skin was sagging, woman.

She was getting irritated with me.

And if you ask me, YOU could use a Bee Botox shot or ten around your lips also. And what about that chicken neck? Ick.

Here’s another "before" picture (Chloe on the left):

After:

Get me a mirror but don’t look at yourself in it because it might crack.

Her supply of antihistamine needed replenishing so I drove to the grocery store during a thunderstorm. She’ll never learn to mind her own business and to keep her nose out of holes! She’s had spider bites and bee stings too many times - one bite warranted a trip to the vet because her eyes sealed closed from swelling. This was a mild case, so I laughed. My old girl is still the skilled terrier, with or without Bee Botox injections.

A few hours later, she broke out in hives on her back and legs and spent the rest of the evening slamming her body on the carpet for itch relief. I needed sleep. Right before bedtime, she received a dose and a half of antihistamine and I gave a dose to Bella, too - just because.

Yes, I drugged my dogs.

This is for you, Max. Hope you're feeling better.

Take me away...

from a windowless office, paperwork, and numbers. For a while.

Let me trespass, just a little.

Let me wander aimlessly in my car, or on foot, at my leisure.

For a time, before I die.

Let me be with my point and shoot camera. It was a Christmas gift fifteen months ago and what a gift it is! I have always cherished photographs and cameras but never devoted enough time to turn my passion into a hobby. Boy, am I blooming late.

Phlox made an appearance on Friday.

My Mom told me I was a lazy toddler. There’s a 1956 color photo of me wearing a yellow and pink sunsuit held up with strings tied in bows at the shoulders, sitting among the Dandelions, Clover, and weeds tall enough to tickle my nose. I was examining them with my eyes and hands while the other toddlers trampled them… I’ve seen that photo and imagine it’s somewhere in Maryland.

Does anyone else observe the zigzag path of raindrops falling on the outside of a window during a rainstorm?

Every day now, I pass thoroughbreds grazing around a pond with a pink sunrise behind them and cows grazing near the roadside beyond a wooden white-washed fence. There are vultures circling low and hawks perched on utility poles. I can’t stop the traffic behind me. So I keep driving and groan about the beauty I could have savored and shared.

I do the best I can do.

Saturday was a gloomy, overcast day here in North Carolina where bright sun and blue skies are the norm. Thunderstorms were on the way - an opportune time to watch the birds in feverish activity. Before I turned off the radio and ignition, I could hear a flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds at the grocery store pond.

Male Downy worked diligently in a warm and humid breeze. Not a good hair day for me – but the birds were wonderful.

The squirrels have become shy?

She didn’t mind me overstepping my boundaries. The skies were darkening. Muffled thunder threatened.

Daylight dancing on the waterfall…ahhhh.

Here’s a little switch in content:

This is one of my dramatic photos I included in the December graduation PowerPoint for the Police Cadets. It’s a tear gas drill. Sergeant Moore was ordering them to raise their arms to help release the gas from their skin and clothing. I just learned that this photo and a few others of mine are going to be enlarged, framed, and displayed in the lobby of the criminal justice building where I work. Cool, huh?

It fuels my fire. Keep your camera with you. There’s no telling what you might find.

Any Buckeye fans out there? (Click to enlarge license plate)

Encumbering What You Need

I like her attitude ;-) It might save me from job stress, especially now, during fiscal year-end and budget planning for FY 2008-2009. It’s only mid-March and the year ends June 30! During the next two weeks, I’ll be consumed with countless budgetary decisions and tedious tasks of encumbering funds for my programs before the end of the month. As of March 31, all State and County available funds will be swept away into a mysterious black hole by the financial gods and goddesses if they aren’t set aside. There will be no warnings or questions asked. Poof! Gone.

I’m already frazzled and the real work hasn’t begun. The vocabulary of my daydreaming is crowded with the words encumbrance, deficit, budget transfer, salaries and benefits, budget, budget, budget, blah blah blah. I've transformed into a mumbling financial idiot. If you think this whole ordeal sounds dreadful, you’re right. It is, particularly if you are of the right-brained persuasion like me who could do without numbers and calculations. That’s why I got nothin’ going on tonight – no stories or funny dramas to share. Just some photos.

A simple coping strategy works for me. I encumber time for a few minutes outside several times every day at my campus office and at home.

The campus wildlife habitat will keep me entertained. The Bluebird nesting boxes we added this week are being examined!

He likes the previously-owned model.

Chickadee likes the brand new look.

He found the perfect home. Now he needs to find a honey to share it with.

Enjoy the weekend!