Remember this guy?

It has taken me all this time to figure out what kind of bird he is.

Verdin

The Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps) is a species of penduline tit. It is the only species in the genus Auriparus, and the only species in the family to be found in the New World.
The Verdin is a very small bird. At 4.5 inches in length, it rivals the Bushtit as one of the smallest passerines in North America. It is gray overall, and adults have a bright yellow head and rufous "shoulder patch" (the lesser coverts). Unlike the tits, it has a sharply pointed bill.
Verdins are insectivorous, continuously foraging among the desert trees and scrubs. They are usually solitary except when they pair up to construct their conspicuous nests. Verdins occasionally try to obtain tidbits of dried sugar water from hummingbird feeders.
Verdins are permanent residents of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, ranging from southeastern California to Texas, throughout Baja California and into central Mexico, north of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

Yes, I feel better having figured it out. :)

All this week I've had another visitor to the watering dish in the front yard.

The Robin is ubiquitous in California, but I think this is the first one I've seen this far south in AZ. Seeing him makes me think that spring is right around the corner.
And this is day 3 for my orchid. I'll stop posting about it after this, but I just love this!
We had a second visit by a potential buyer yesterday. We keep cleaning the house, raking out the gravel, and gathering the dogs with us in the motorhome while they look. This is the part of selling a house that I dislike the most. The hurry up and wait. But we have to keep looking forward to the time when we're just travelin' around in the building on wheels, with all of this part behind us.

Only the Beginning

Yes, day one of my orchid opening. Six years ago, Hubby came home with this for my birthday. I've never owned an orchid before this one. I'm no better at taking care of it today than I was six years ago. It's still in its crunched up little pot, roots sticking out all over the place, but it continues to burst forth in blossom for me, still.

What does that say? In spite of "not so great circumstances" we all still have the opportunity to bloom? I don't know. Now that I read that last sentence, it's pretty cliche. And lame. Must I read something into everything?

My mind these days is a convaluted mess, full of worry, over-thinking, and indecision. I'm questioning my motives and my choices; way too much going on. I'm eating all the time. I'm not hungry. Not in the normal "need to fuel my body" sense. I know something else is going on. Stuffing feelings? Maybe, but it doesn't feel like that's it. Trying to feed something that is lacking? Maybe, but that, too, doesn't feel quite right. I have a sense of it, but can't quite put my finger on it. Anxiety. There it is. Not just about myself, but everyone in my life, and the situations we all find ourselve in.

I guess that when I was young, I thought that everything would work out perfectly, everyone would be happy, settled, leading the kind of life that we thought of as "happy" back in the 50's & 60's. Well, okay, not in the 60's. Ha! I lived those. Do you get what I mean though? Sometimes I feel so naive.

My life is good. Really. But I do feels some responsibility in how others in my life are proceeding with theirs. Am I eating to stay afloat, above the worries and concerns of those I love? Or do I eat to not feel the angst of hunger for what I want for them, as well as for myself?

I have no answers. What I do know is that God keeps showing me that circumstances are never perfect. But they don't have to be. Life blooms anyway, maybe not in the way that we pictured, but they do bloom.

Back Home

It's good to be back in my own bed. I went up to the Phoenix area to visit my mother and to go with her to her doctor's appointment. I knew she had been having trouble eating, and breathing was extra hard (she has COPD), and that she had been really tired. When she answered my knock on her door, I was shocked. She was a hunched over, walking bone.

Why didn't I go up there a week earlier! Her doctor's appointment was troubling, and she was squeezed in to see the head doctor two days later, the one that only sees critical patients. The first doc had given her a shot to open up her lungs, and put her on prednisone. By the time she went to see the top doc, she was feeling better. He was in and out of there in no time. Whew!

I made her eat 3 times a day, and she seemed to eat better when she didn't have to figure out what to eat. She lives in a place that has a dining room and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But you have to go down there to eat, or to bring the food back to your apartment. Her breathing was so bad that it was too much effort to go eat.

We made a big pot of chicken soup together, ate some, and froze some. She's doing much better, thankfully. She spent the week telling me stories of her life, something she did not often do before. It was probably the best time we've shared in a very long time, just sitting, talking, and being together.

I'll probably spend the next few days trying to get caught up with work and catching up on all of my bloggy friends posts! Oh, and I have a whole lot of doggie belly rubbing to catch up on as well. Have a wonderful day!

Friday Photo Shootout

This weeks theme, circles, is brought to us by Kerry, in Corvallis, Oregon.

Imagine my delight this morning when I walked out the back door and found frost circles on the hot tub cover! Can you see them?


We see these circles every day when we grab the racket and hit balls for Willy. No, he does not bring them back. He is really just a Golden, not a Retreiver. He likes when the bucket fills up with water, when the ball hits the ground it sprays water all over him. He likes that.

The ubiquitous wild west wagon wheel...

Pathways through gravel yards...

Hubby's grandmother crocheted this table runner full of circles probably 75 years ago.

These circles smell exactly like roses!

Then there are these circles (they smell too)

To see more Circles from this weeks shootout, click here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Gull

Walking, listening to the waves pound the sand, alone. Gulls calling, watching, while sailing by. Water crashing all of the wrongs, all of the failed good intentions in my head. Its cold and I feel the brisk, moist air brush my face and hair as it works its way inland. The pelicans skim across the water, oblivious to anything but their hunger. It seems an easy existence, and yet, hunger, in any form, can be torture.

I sit on the berm, close to the waterline, and look out at the fog bank on the horizon. I think about each one of them, my people, their pain is palpable, each in their own way. They are lost, caught in the rip tide, struggling to swim towards land. I am helpless, lost, too. I tuck my knees to my chest, wrap my arms around them. I hold tight, trying to keep the scream from escaping.

As the wind picks up, the seabirds come to shore, flock together, heads tucked into the wind; as it should be. I turn my head in the other direction and notice a gull walking towards me. I lay my head on my knees and watch him. He walks, hesitantly, to within a couple of feet of me, turns to face the sea, and settles himself into the sand. His head cocks as he eyes me, top to bottom. I feel a surge of wonder, of forgiveness. A smile swells in my heart and rises to my lips. We both close our eyes.

What do you think?

There is an article in the newpaper about an amateur film maker looking for actors or anyone else interested in helping out with his project. The title of the film will be 13 Bullets, and is the story of a bunch of kids partying in the woods. One of those kids brings a gun to the party.

Really, that's all I read of the article. The plot can go any number of ways and probably will. You're thinking about how you would run with it right now, aren't you? Me too.

I'm also sitting here wondering what the difference is these days in how the younger generation thinks about guns. Guns have been around forever. We have a constitutional right to own guns. We own guns. But as a kid, I was always scared to death of them.

These days it's very hip & cool for a kid to have a gun, and usually the outcome of that is not good. My kids have told me about being at parties where it seemed like a normal occurrence to see a gun laying around. How frightening is that? Kids love to find a party, and they don't always know whose party it is, right? It’s scary. Having worked at the Juvenile Division of the County Attorney’s office, I know that kids can find them pretty easily, if they want them.

But like I said, guns have been around forever. Remember A Christmas Story and the Red Rider rifle? Is it Hollywood that has changed the way kids think of guns, that would make a kid want to carry a gun to have other kids look up to him/her? Is it the breakdown of the American family? What do you think?

Tuesday Walk Thru

Today we have a realtor walk through. We had a very small one just before Christmas. Only a handful of realtors showed up. Too close to Christmas, people out of town. So we are hoping for a much better showing today.

Our realtor suggested making cookies (me, not her) to entice them through here. Isn't that funny? I'm sure there are so many houses to look at on one of these once a month, Tuesday tours, but I thought it was funny that they would choose to see this house because we had cookies. No matter, I made them, and they are delicious!

I especially like the Coconut Cheese Drops. They have parmesan cheese in them! And they are addictive! My neighbor made fun of me for baking cookies for the realtors saying, "A cookie is not going to sell your house!" (She is not happy that we're moving on.) Then she popped over and I gave her a little baggie of them to take home. She finished them all and I had to give her more so she had at least a couple for her hubby.

I may tell the realtors whoever sells the house gets the recipe!