Mother's Day is a special day. As the Mother of adult children (oh, how I love the sound of that), they are now able to plan 'stuff' that does not involve me. Our plan today is for them to go to a local Peruvian chicken place, Canastas, and pick up dinner to bring here. We are all vaccinated now..I'm on the tale end of my 2 weeks...everyone else in my family was ahead of me--not because I was reluctant, but because they had preferential treatment due to their work.
Memories that are still as vivid and poignant today as they were in the past are those of my giving birth to each of my two children. No moment is more special than when you hold your newborn for the first time. It is forever etched on your brain. And those memories also include the bittersweet memories of the loss of my mother. My mother was alive when my daughter was born, but she died when Hannah was 18 months old. My son was born after her death. My father married a lovely woman who was my step mother and treated me as a daughter, and she is a wonderful grandmother to my children. My father passed away 5 years ago this year, and my stepmother lives in another state with one of her daughters.
We are all vaccinated now, so all of us being together risk-free was a godsend. I needed to do a little EPA cleanup (less robust given we are related!). While cleaning in the kitchen, I was able to watch the bluebirds who have been frantically feeding their brood. Over Saturday and Sunday a.m. I noticed that their behavior changed dramatically. They started dive bombing the squirrels and chasing other birds away. Their nestlings were getting ready to fly the coop.
Though I could see one nestling poking its head out (aided by binoculars), I never witnessed their fledging. They went from being fed by parents and having their poop sacks moved from early Sunday morning, to poking head out, to being gone: the worms were now carried from the deck over the house to a tree in which the juveniles were in. With the leaves in full bloom, I could not spot one of those rascals. So as much as I looked (and washed, and cleaned), I missed the launch.
The red bellied woodpeckers are feeding nestlings. I can tell because they are taking a mouthful of worms to a nesting spot that I have yet to spot. Though with the pollen storm of the last month, I've not made a concerted effort to find it.
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