Another walk? Gee... more birds to watch.

June 6, 2013.

Good morning, y'all, as they say in The South. 

I went for another walk this morning, but didn't leave early enough. The humidity is not good, although there was a cool breeze now and then. I must train myself to go before 8:45 am. It seemed a little unusual, there weren't as many birds today as there were yesterday morning. My walk was a bit slower and it took twenty-one minutes, but that's all right. I always must stop to take a breath, and I make it a bit longer to watch the birds or admire flowers. Kill two birds with one stone ...   oh, no! no killing of birds!!!!!!!! 

I did see several robins here and there, and spent a couple of minutes at several stops to watch them. I love the way they stand up so tall when they stop to see what I am going to do, while studying my movements and determining if I am safe to have around or not.  

There was a shiny black bird, with a long tail, a black beak, and shiny light golden eyes. It's a bit larger than a robin. It makes me wonder what kind of bird it is, as there are quite a few blackish birds. I don't think I would have to take a college course in ornithology to find out what kind of bird that is, though. 

The vine with those star-like blossoms showed wilted blossoms this morning. It appears to be a flower that fades and dies after blooming one day and night. 

There is another one that is deep purple, across the street, that has a similar star-shaped arrangement of petals. So lovely. I did make plans to stop and look at the little lavender-colored bush that I said was a foot high. NOT. It is about sixteen inches high. This morning I made it a point to 'talk' to it, and pay homage. I feel so blessed that there are such gifts as lovely plants with astonishingly beautiful blossoms.  

Back to the shiny black bird ~  as Wikipedia says, it is a Great-tailed Grackle or Mexican Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus). He's native to North and South America. I say 'he' because the female is smaller and mainly brownish-black, with a pale brown throat and belly. And there you have it: I watched a Great-tailed or Mexican Grackle hopping around as I was passing his territory where he was pecking at the lawn. Truly gorgeous with his shiny feathers that sometimes show iridescence as he moves in the sunshine.  

Y'all have a good day, and accomplish what you planned. 

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

On My Walk; Flowers; Happy Birds.

June 5, 2013.

Good morning, Dear Family: 

I should have gone for my walk within minutes after I woke up after a well-broken-up night. By 8:53 am when I started out, it was so humid, and the air was really 'close'. I had on a turtleneck top because I thought it would still be 'morning chill'. HAH! no way! 

As soon as I came back, I turned on the air conditioner to cool me off. My walk was all of sixteen minutes, all the way to Rasco and back, on Chesterfield. I stopped several times to catch my breath, and thought it would be longer than those few minutes. 

I stopped to admire in several places a few yellow flowers, a lawn full of beautiful white / pinkish clover blossoms, and a very lovely five-petaled lavender flower new this year. This foot-high plant grows in the same little plot that has such pretty pansies. The flower-lover at this house does a marvelous job all of the time.

 

Around a mailbox, along the street, there is a vine that has white blossoms in a sort of star shape. So pretty, it is! I thought it might be Moonflower, but I don't think so now, after I googled Moonflower images. 

There were lots of birds flitting here and there. I love those robins, they are so cautious, and keep hopping a few steps ahead of me and then to the side, to keep me off the right path to their nests. I keep wanting to say to them, I am NOT interested in where your nest is, Robbie! They are so whimsical and cute, I really enjoy watching them and having them in my neighborhood for a few months. Then I miss them when they've gone on their vacations. 

There are also a few other birds that are about the size of robins ~ some mocking birds, some darker birds, and lovely mourning doves a bit larger. Maybe those doves are just ordinary doves, but they have a long-lasting melancholy coo... coo... coo... as they sit on the top of the telephone poles. Sometimes they sit on rooftops or gables. I've seen them in the backyard from time to time, sitting on the part of the fence under a tree they call their umbrella. They shake off the raindrops from their feathery coats every once in a while, like a doggie. 

I spotted a broken robin's egg shell a couple of times this morning. Sure enough, it's hatching time for them! AGAIN! Then they are so very busy getting chopped-worm snacks for their little ones. It's quite odd how they will snatch an earthworm, and instead of just flying away with it to the nest to get out the cutting-board and chop the worms in bite-size pieces for their boys and girls, they do it on the ground. It is so interesting to watch them do this. Chop-chop, pick up the longer pieces and chop-chop again, and finally have the long earthworm in several pieces. After the food preparation, they gather it all up in their beaks and fly away with the gourmet lunch bag for their cradle-babies.  

There are several batches of baby robins throughout these long summers in Missipp, and it seems that the parents must be so tired out by Departing Time. They probably talk to each other on their way, saying, "Good grief, it's about time we can retire!" 

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

My walk; young robins 'abroad'.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013.

Good Morning, each one and every one of you! 

I took my 20-minute walk at 7:50, while the high schoolers were still walking to school. I said hello to several groups of them. The groups were of 5, or 4, 2, and 1 boys; girls, 2, 4 or 3. I said to most of the groups I spoke to, that I LOVED school, and kinda wish I could go again, ended with "have a wonderful day". That lifted my spirits.

I walked toward Rasco, and stood there for a couple of minutes looking at the long line of vehicles passing through and having to stop. Vehicles unloading the family kids at the school. Some parents were dropping their kids off at the small intersection of Rasco and Chesterfield. Then I turned around and walked back home. 

It was a lovely morning, temp was about 54, and I was so glad that I went for a walk before all the 'possible' showers and thunderstorms would be coming. Guess what the computer forecast is??????  Day and night, possible showers and thunderstorms from today through Sunday! When it says "20 or 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms", it doesn't mean too much, but once in a while we are greatly surprised. When it says "80 or 100% chance', LOOK OUT! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been mesmerized by the robins this morning. It is time for the nest to empty itself. Poor parents, they'll suffer for a few days because of the 'empty nest syndrome'. The parents are so attentive and caring. There was a young robin with "I'm LEAVING!" on his breath, somehow he got to the middle of the street, staying right there, and ohmygosh, my heart was in my throat. One car came speeding down the middle of the street, right over the young robin. Scared, I was! I could see from near ground level that the bird wasn't squashed, and he kind of rolled over and lost his balance when the wind from the car knocked him over. What an experience for a very young robin on his way to see the world. He was all right, thank goodness! 

'T is a mystery to me how the young robins leave the nest. Do the parent robins draw straws indicating which one will push the young robin out? Do the young robins feel that wanderlust growing, and sort of lean over the edge of the nest to see what the ground level looks like? Do they get hungry and itch to go and find Mama or Papa to come back and give them lunch? Does Mother Nature indicate to the young heart that it is time to pack a suitcase and move? 

After they are out of the nest, young robins are told somehow by their parents that they mustn't move, they must sit very still. So they usually are very still, waiting for Papa or Mama to come with their lunch. After a while, the one who was blown over by the car came, in several hops, toward the driveway next door to us. He then stayed in the gutter, waiting for his lunch bag delivery. He finally decided after 4 or 5 minutes, to get close to the bush that he saw, on that lawn. 

Another young one was on the lawn across the street, and the parents would feed him after a seemingly long interludes between their finding worms. The parents are very cautious when they have been gone hunting, they want to make sure that no creeping cat would be near. It's been very moving and interesting to see all of this. 

Another surprising point ~ this Robin family home is high up on the house across the street, stuck to the little round window high above the garage door. The parent robins must have gathered and plastered a lot of 'mud cement' to keep the nest stuck to the narrow ledge and to the windowpane and frame. It is hard to believe that the high winds haven't pulled it from the window. I keep looking at that nest, wondering at the ingenuity and engineering of its manufacture.  

Love and hugs from Mom - Grannamae - Anna Mae.

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

A Rainy Day and Good Friday at Church.

May 3, 2013.

What a rain we had in the early part of the day! The street gutters were full of rapidly flowing water. It was also very cold, I'm still trying to keep warm ~  my hands get so cold. Being '65' isn't really always loads of fun.

Bill and I went after the 3 o'clock service ended at Church to their house; he wanted to change clothes for tonight's Vespers and procession. Veronica and Jennifer went to Church with us, then, for the 7 o'clock Vespers. It had stopped raining, thank goodness!

We stopped at Janine and Tyson's apartment to drop something off. She is preparing a brunch to serve at Church for about 20-25 people who are going to be present at Lawson's Chrismation (Chrismation is similar to Confirmation) at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday). Lawson is Tyson's godson and a senior in high school. We are going to be there for it. The brunch will be held afterwards in the church community room. 

Then we went to Church for the 7 o'clock services. There were a lot of people there this evening. There were many prayers sung by the choir, and epistles and gospels about the week just before the Crucifixion were read by the readers. I had never attended all these services of the Orthodox faith, just a few from time to time, and am so glad that I have the opportunity to do so this year, preparing for Easter, which is on May 5 this year, according to the Julian calendar.  

In late morning today the young people and children decorated the bier with real flowers ~ with the help and encouragement of a few women ~ and it turned out to be a lovely sight. I took a lot of pictures of these children and their excitement. What a pleasure it was for me! The bier is where the body of Christ was lying before burial in the tomb offered by Joseph Arimathea. Perhaps the people carried His Body to the tomb in the bier.

Like the Catholic Midnight Mass for Christmas, there is going to be a long Liturgy celebrating the Resurrection very late tomorrow night (Sat). Just before the Liturgy there will be prayers for almost an hour, then the Liturgy for Pascha (Easter), until about 2 o'clock a.m. or after. The Church will be quite full of members and guests. A large and delicious Easter Dinner will be served then. Sometimes people get home at 4 a.m., after helping to clean up afterwards. 

Jennifer is going to have brunch for all of us, maybe about 11 a.m. on Sunday. Then there is something like an Agape service, and a jam session afterwards, when quite a few people are going to help with the 'jamming'. (Last year after some event at Church, there was a small group with a jam session. That was so much fun!) Son Bill is one of them, and I think I will take my kazoo!!!!!! 


I am really looking forward to that part of Sunday! I have been very fortunate that Bill and Jennifer have picked me up to go to Church this whole week! 

I took a lot of pictures this evening during the procession of the bier being carried by six or eight tall husky young men, and all of the parishioners carrying little candles in the procession. It was all really quite moving and emotional (for me). Most of the people feel like the members of this church are like family, very kind and sociable, thoughtful and watchful for each other. 

After this week, I'll buckle down and do some work here in the garage and try to tidy up things. 

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

Robin Redbreast Parents Busy in the Rain.

May 2, 2013.

It's been raining for several hours now, sometimes on, sometimes off; the sky is overcast with not one bit of blue showing, and more rain is coming along with a thunderstorm or two later this afternoon.

I was going to go to the mailbox to see if anyone besides advertisers sent me some mail. As I opened the front door, I saw a robin hopping about in the rain, looking a bit drenched. I stood very still so it wouldn't fly away ~ I wanted to see more of what he was doing.

He was near a medium-sized crepe myrtle bush, partly to escape all the rain, and partly to search in the puddles beneath it for food for his family. He'd hop a bit, stop, listen, hop a bit more, stop again, and by this time he was at the small trunk of the bush, and he stopped, looked, cocked his head to one side, then jabbed his beak into the ground.

Sure enough, he did hear something moving in that spot! It was an earthworm, and he would get it in his beak safely enough, and would keep dropping it on the ground, immediately picking it up again. It seemed that he was mashing it with his beak. I wonder if they cut it up so they can feed their babies smaller pieces? He finally got it the way he wanted it, grabbed all of it in his beak, hopped onto the small concrete bench nearby, stopped to look around, and away he flew across the street to a tall tree, all within twenty-five seconds.

He was probably humming "Dinnertime!" as he arrived at the nest. Suddenly another robin from that
direction came whizzing into the same area that he had come from. Now I am not sure if it is 'she' who came whizzing over and 'he' who caught the earthworm, or vice versa?

I figured out that it was a pair of parents. I turned around and got my camera to see if I could get a few good shots of this exciting robin activity. One of them came back again, and would hop around in the puddles that came from all of the rain that we'd already had in the last few hours. He/she hopped around, trying to obtain another good catch.

I took several pictures of those two beautiful drenched robins jumping here and there, sometimes stopping to give their feathers a shake ~ which was so whimsical to see ~ sometimes catching a worm and shaking the divvil out of it. I did see that these co-workers would find something, and would keep looking to find another item. There was one robin that flew away with three catches in its beak. The babies must have been so happy when Mom and Pop came home from a hunting trip!

What a wonderful part of my day!

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

What A Group of Thunderstorms! I'm Still Here!

April 11. 2013.

From Texas and The Gulf of Mexico, northeast through The Great Lakes into Canada, that long group of thunderstorms from Wednesday into Thursday was quite wicked. There are still some bad storms activating their idea of roughness in the northwestern tip of Mississippi and western Tennessee, AND the northern tip of lower MIchigan into Canada. 

It is quite interesting to look at the computer graphic to see the massive storm which reaches across most of the north-south extent of this continent. It is one long tremulous ribbon from south to north, traveling in an unbreakable chain. 

Where are those gentle days of Spring? 

Since I had such a fractured night, I decided to sleep late. Eight o'clock saw me get out of bed rather groggily. 

The front sidewalk is full; rainwater is flowing down the street and the public sidewalk; my window panes are all full of raindrops. Back yard is very squuushy, but I didn't have to go out in it to see how squishy it is. 

Birds are still aloft, they fly so fast through the two cul de sacs between our house and the two neighbors'. They sometimes startle me, when they suddenly appear in their flight which finishes in the tree across the street. I think they are competing in this rain with one another to see whose flight is the fastest.  

I've been up for an hour already, nibbling on breakfast, and will get to work quite soon. There are many things to do today. 


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

This Evening At Church; Uh-Oh, Tornado Watch!

April 10, 2013.

My son and his wife picked me up for Church early this evening. It was quite warm outdoors. 82 degrees today, and tomorrow it will be in the high 50s and maybe 60 degrees.

After the Liturgy there was a delicious meal of small cubes of potato with seasonings; whole string beans baked with a tasty sauce of tomato sauce, tomatoes, dill, garlic, and onion; and plenty of lovely shrimp with seasonings. Bread, too, of course. Lots of good conversation, too; it was quite pleasant. 

We saw some lightning on our way home to my house, and my son made sure that I came in all right, about 9 p.m. They left for home then.

Several minutes later I turned on the radio to get some weather news, but I didn't like the news at all. Tornado watch for western TN and northern Mississippi! 

I got the laundry room ready for me to spend some time there, in case a tornado watch turned into a warning and I would hear the tornado siren. I also have a flashlight in my pocket, and the bigger flashlight is where I know I can find it easily. Such a naughty turn of events after such a great evening at Church! 

I have been watching the WREG TV channel on the computer, for an hour already, and I think I'll lie down for a little while. It's time to sleep. Uh, oh, I just heard a loud bang of thunder which means the thunderstorms are coming close to my neighborhood. 

Showers and storms are beginning to show us all their naughty ways. 

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