Belated Thoughts and Traditions; Mr/Mrs Robin With Empty Nest; A Big Catch. Traditions.

May 18, 2014.

Since Time goes by so swiftly, it was discovered that I am behind in adding thoughts to my blog. We'll go back to May First. I love that day! On May Day, when you are very young, a child in the single digits, you go out and pick a small bouquet of flowers for your Mommy; you put the bouquet on the welcome mat, ring the doorbell or knock on the door, and scoot a little behind the house out of sight so she wouldn't see you. She opens the door and discovers that beautiful little bouquet of flowers! She looks around and cannot see anyone. She gives you a hug and a kiss when she finds you.

At Pasadena Waldorf School, they have a Maypole Dance on May First. I was there and saw a few of the Maypole Dances; it filled me with joy. It was so lovely to see the eight grades of students on the lawn at the Waldorf School, and a certain grade would dance around the Maypole and intertwine the long colorful ribbons. It was so very beautiful, awesome, and a wonderful tradition.

There was also Arbor Day, a beautiful idea of planting a tree or bush in honor of someone, or just because you like that kind of tree or bush. When I was very young in elementary school, we were taught about Arbor Day. Our recent culture has done away with some of our great traditions.
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Those robin teenagers grew so big! They would stand up and preen themselves, flutter their wings that were getting close to adult size, and the nest was becoming so full of four growing youngsters. I kept thinking, "This is the day the robins will leave their home!" The real answer was no.  Each day was getting closer to Departure Time, though.

A couple of days later, when I opened the door to peek out at the Robin Nest, it was empty! There was a tinge of disappointment in my heart for a few seconds because I wouldn't see a wonderful mommy and daddy feeding their growing children. Gone, but not really, because those almost-mature birdies were hiding out in the back yard, or the neighbor's yard, and their mommy and daddy still had to feed them for a while as they recovered from the shock of leaving their nest-home.  
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Early in May, one of my sons and I were driving through a lovely green park on a side road and we saw something we never expected. There was a large hawk in the field, to me it looked very large. All of a sudden, it flew almost straight up into the sky, with a snake hanging down from its talon, and the snake made a few wiggles as it was being carried away to the hawk's nest. We were both stunned to see this happening. Quite an experience for both of us.

My sister later told me that she and her husband were riding out on a lake, when they spotted a blue heron standing on a point with a big black snake hanging from both sides of its beak. She was quite surprised to find out that those herons eat snakes.


I'll see you at the Corner Post ...