Baby Creatures...

It's been awhile since I've blogged. I have another grandson--Keller Elway Agnew--and he is beautiful, strong, and very intelligent. It was obvious within minutes that he recognized his mother and father's voices. However, he was also born with an infection and is still in the hospital--a serious reminder of how fragile life can be. He is surrounded by strong, loving, and compassionate parents and grandparents and has so many people sending prayers and loving, healing thoughts and energy to him, and I have no doubt that he will recover fully. I have been blessed by God with five beautiful grandchildren and I am so grateful. As I watch the little creatures out my window fly from tree to tree or scramble across the ground, I wonder how many of them will survive and I marvel at the miracle of life.

There are four juvenile cardinals on the property. I never see them apart. I know that some day they will leave each other and find spouses--cardinals mate for life--but for now it is nice to see them enjoying each other's company and protecting each other by calling out when they sense potential dangers--like my little chihuahua whose greatest thrill in life right now seems to be running into the yard barking to frighten off the birds!

There is another cardinal that seems to have made friends with a painted bunting. A young male painted bunting who is still getting his colorful feathers. This is an odd pairing, but I have yet to see these two marvelous creatures apart. They are always standing only inches away from each other, eating from the same dish or drinking from one of the ponds. Sometimes I wish I could read their minds or explore their memories and discover exactly what happened to cause these two birds to trust each other as they so obviously do. I know they, too, will some day part in search of mates, but for now, it's fun to watch.

I accidentally startled a very large raccoon this morning. I woke up at five and decided to make some tea, and when I walked in front of the door I noticed one of the largest raccoons I've seen sitting in the middle of the bedroom patio table, eating sunflower seeds. I think she must be the grandma. Female raccoons often live together for many generations. She glanced up at me, then climbed onto the chair and started to slowly slink away. She must have changed her mind, though, and realized I meant no harm because she had returned to the table when I came back into the room with my tea.

I was stung on the neck by a red wasp yesterday afternoon as I walked through the garage shaking a paint can. They do not like loud noises. I quickly covered the hole with charcoal to draw out the toxin, but I still needed to take a little allergy medication. Our garages are both filled with yellow wasps and mud-dobbers and we will have to do something about this because the garages are also filled with all of our boxes of books and such since we're preparing to move to New Mexico. I don't want to start unpacking and suddenly find my new home swarming with wasps! We usually just ignore these creatures. It's the red wasps we watch out for because they are so aggressive.

It's that time of year again and the hummingbird feeders are filling up with birds. I saw the tiniest hummingbird I've ever seen yesterday morning and I know it must have been a baby. It was half the size of my pinky. There is a lovely gray bird that seems to be competing with the black-headed hummer who usually dominates the feeder by our back door. She is very careful to watch and wait until the other bird leaves, then she darts in for a quick drink.

I stopped to put fresh water in Mrs. Toady's bowl last night, thinking she might like a cool soak after spending such a hot day in the toe of my black garden shoe, but she was already out of the shoe and sitting in the bowl! I am amazed by how much she's grown in the past four years. She filled the entire bowl. I can't believe she still fits in the toe of my shoe! It must be quite a struggle to squeeze in at night and turn around--she's always facing out. Obviously, she likes her home. I don't blame her. I love this house, I just wish it was closer to my grandchildren.