I am officially old. I have become a bird feeder/watcher. If you'd have asked me 6 months ago if I wanted to put up a bird feeder and keep an eye on birds, I'd have snorted derisively and said, "Hell, no."
Well.........I have put up a bird feeder (now 2 feeders, for crying out loud) and am keeping an eye on birds. I wouldn't say I'm watching them...maybe I watch them for a maximum of 4 or 5 minutes, but I look at them several times/day. And I have a book on identifying birds, and some binoculars next to the window that looks out on the bird feeder. As of today I've identified 9 different bird types, and have one quick little nondescript brown bird that I haven't identified.
It started with cardinals in the bush at the corner of the pool. I looked out one dreary day and saw 9 cardinals in it. Got the binoculars and looked at them up close. WOW. the females are really, really pretty, with that blush-red color on their tails and wings. So I put up a feeder, and viola!! Now I have a flock of birds to rival Alfred Hitchcock!
I still like the female cardinals, but I also love the doves. I like their soft coos, and I get a kick out of the way they sit around, not stirring much, all puffed out. They look fat and docile and serene. Then I thought of how probably I like them because they look so fat, like me. So I identify with them. But I'm not serene or docile, so that connection doesn't work.
A friend told me she'd like to come back in another life as a bluejay: cause they're beautiful and mean. ha. Got a big kick out of that.
So...my birds (they're "mine" now. Geez) are eating me out of house and home. I'm afraid they'll get too fat to fly, at the rate they're going. Then they'll get killed and eaten and it'll be my fault. Always the pessimist.
Oh yes, and we had 9 buzzards (vultures?) on a dead tree near the house the other day. ICK. Made me step lively on my hike.
Husband and I are off to AZ tomorrow for 10 days of hiking. Hope no one thinks the house is empty. Our son is here and has a loaded gun; trust me on that. Anyway, I've been having some seriously scary arthritis-type symptoms in hands, knees, shoulders this past week. I'll see how the hiking goes. Pretty scary. I WILL NOT CURTAIL MY RIDING AND HIKING TO ACCOMMODATE ARTHRITIS.
Well, off to the "salon" to get my gray roots covered. ........... Again.
Heck, forgot to figure my mileage. Well, just subtract another 8 miles from the last total. Those would be up and down steep hills mileage. And for a good laugh, let me assure you that I've now lost 3 lbs in about 5 wks. If that isn't enough to depress the hell out of me, I don't know what would. Geez. Optimists would say, brightly, "But that's wonderful!!!! insert toothy smile here. At least you're not adding weight!! insert eyelash batting here. Yea for you!!).
That would be a skinny optimist, for the record.
