Sunday, July 13, 2025

Freedom of the Wing

 In that hour, when night is calmest, Sang he from the Hebrew Psalmist,  in a voice so sweet and clear. That I could not choose but hear.--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I've several bird feeders outside my dining room window, each holding different types of seeds for various birds, a suet holder or two, and a birdbath filled with fresh water twice a day in the summer. I enjoy watching and listening to them while having my coffee in the morning.

Most of the birds that I easily recognize are the sparrows, my favorite, the Cardinal, and the occasional dove. There are ways to tell birds apart other than by looks or color. You can study what they eat and, of course, what they won't eat, by whether they sleep high up or snuggled down safe in a low covering, and by whether they eat more in the morning or at night. By the shape and size of the nest, if there is one. By their connection to the nearest body of water, if one exists, and to what degree that close body of water is necessary, to some of us, more essential than anything we could ever realize. 


Birds are meant to fly free, not be caged in. I've had a couple of parakeets over the years, but I always felt a twinge of guilt for keeping them locked up, even in a large cage. After my last two, I said "no more" and changed my mind about getting another when I moved. When you hold a bird in your hand, it closes its eyes in resignation. Trust. Or fear?



I once had a neighbor in the country who kept a quail in a cage just so he could hear the "bobwhite" of its call. I'd watch the bird in there, reminding me of a prisoner in a small cell in a prison camp, sending out small Morse code signals in hopes of someone hearing him and rescuing him. But no one came to rescue him, and I could only think of him growing old and dying there in that tiny cage, his prison cell, his will deflating, his spirit becoming drab as his prison uniform over time. I don't believe the man did it to be cruel; he simply thought, like others, that he could take a wild thing in and tame it, that it would only require the creature to make an adjustment in its lifestyle, to shift the center of its desire from one thing to another. 


One day, while the neighbor was away, I went over and quietly opened the cage door. The bird was gone in a flash, with the urgency born of imprisoned spring and the awakening of burgeoning truth; to itself, the sun and the wind, not the man who caged it.



The air is smoky this morning, the remnants of someone burning off some brush after we had a good soaking rain first. From the smoke, the birds escape up into the clear sky, up from the dense remains of green into the veined complexity of sky, where space and freedom interface. From aloft, they spot my feeder, simply looking for some shelter and some food, while keeping the freedom of their wing.

For isn't that what we all desire?

Monday, July 7, 2025

Naps


Naps. 

Because Dad was up until 2 in the morning cleaning illegal firework debris from your yard, so you didn't get sick from eating it. 


Wednesday, June 25, 2025

A Day at the "Beach"

It was too hot to even go down to Lake Michigan; the heat index was over 110 (it hadn't been this hot in Chicago in June since 1930).

So Sunny and I waited until late afternoon when a breeze came up and had some fun playing "fetch the toy" out of her kiddie pool. 



For Me?!

This is like the world's biggest water dish!
But there's a Ball!


Where'd It Go?



Thanks Mom!
OK, One last dunk!
 

Monday, June 16, 2025

Sunny meets Andy



Hey, I thought we were going to the VET.  I love the Vet.  She gives me treats!  Mom's truck is seriously short on treats!
What's that you've got there?
Wait - what are all those people eating outside?

Something smells like a Treat!  And it's not the boring, unsweetened Yogurt! 
Nom Nom Nom Nom
And I get to eat the container!  
Is there more?
I LIKE Andy's!

Friday, June 13, 2025

My Dog's Breed is Incorrect


After looking around the yard at all the ignored tennis balls and fetchable boys, which are occasionally picked up and gnawed on but never actually "fetched", I am afraid that Sunny is NOT a Retriever.

She's a BarkaLounger. 

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Ramble has Left the Kingdom

My friend Christine from the How Sam Sees It blog was one of my first friends in Blogville.  We  have kept in touch off blog, Christine living near where I grew up, and I love hearing about the antics of her golden retrievers, one of whom has been around since this blog got started. 

Ramble was a unique rescue (in 2016, when he was about 18 months old) who had no hair, although he proudly grew a little fuzz around his head and ears in later years.  Though he had to wear a coat when it got cold, it didn't slow him down, and he would greet his beloved Diane, the mail lady, at the fence of their rural property every day.  

Sadly, Ramble has crossed the Bridge to join his beloved big brother, Monty.  They will both be missed.
A tool
in your hand I am, dear God,
the sweetest instrument you have shaped my being into.
What makes me now complete
feeling the soul of every creature adjacent
my heart.
Does every creature have a
soul?
Surely they do; for anything God has touched
will have life
forever,
and all creatures He
has held.
--St. Francis Assisi

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Twice the Fun

Sunny and her best friend, Napoleon the golden, had some playtime in our yard over the weekend. Nap lives just close enough behind us across the alley) that if both of them are in the yard at the same time, they can catch a glimpse of one another, and the bakingiensues "Mom - it's Nap - can I go play!!!:  




 







Wednesday, June 4, 2025

End of a Chapter

I'm officially retired. 

None of my team is in Chicago, we're scattered all over the country, just based in DC, so no official send-off, but the group I've been sharing office space with - a different branch of Secret Squirrels, were fantastic and had donuts and a card they all signed with lots of hugs and "L.B. Stories."

I was still teary-eyed when I got home, but my husband had THIS waiting for me - my own "SHOT Wheels" truck with a redheaded driver.  


Note the name on the truck... made me laugh through the tears.

I don't know what the coming days will bring - I'm just going to follow the advice on the package and sit back, enjoying the ride. 

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Bursting your Bubble

 

That look when Sunny popped her ball and it deflated.

She did have fun with it for about 15 minutes. That $2 at the dollar store was money well spent.







Dad, can I have another one?