The Silence of the Bunnies

Last night when we came home from a baseball game, I opened the back door to say hello to the cats. Mother Cat was there to greet me, but Big Boy, the white one, didn’t show. I began to get worried when chicken time came and he didn’t appear. He never misses his nightly chicken snack.

I called, I used the “come-and-get-it” signal, and I walked around the house with a flashlight. I was afraid he had met with foul play.

Then I heard a rustling under the deck. The light revealed the blood-thirsty feline with a baby bunny in his mouth. Since the weather has been warmer, he has been sleeping outside. It appears that his hunting instinct is alive and well despite the fact that he is well fed. He has brought two field mice and left them at the back door for me. I realize cats are predators, but it doesn’t endear him to me. It also reminds me why I was cat-phobic for so many years.

The poor little bunny was was screaming; then there was silence.

As he moves up the food chain, who’s next, Bambi?

Making My Ears Bleed

When I was taking Chantix to stop smoking, I developed an intolerance to loud, high-pitched noise. I can’t say for sure the Chantix caused it; I’ve never heard of anyone else suffering from that particular side effect. I know that it began during that scary time in my life. I’m still very uncomfortable in noisy situations.

Imagine this—nine third and fourth grade girls all squealing as loud as possible every few minutes, and a volleyball official blowing her whistle so hard that I’m surprised that she didn’t pop a blood vessel. I think the decibel level would rival that of a rock concert.

Every time one of our girls served (it didn’t matter if it was a good serve or a bad serve) they would all gang up on the court squealing, high-fiving, and sharing hugs. It’s really nice they are so supportive of one another, and I’m willing to risk burst eardrums to watch them play.

I do hope, however, that someone steals the pea out of the referee’s whistle before the next game.

Frozen Assets by Lee Shultz

Several times a month I check Amazon’s Free Kindle list. Experience has shown that some are passable and some are simply dreadful. There was a some that I have enjoyed.

I found Frozen Assets by Lee Shultz most enjoyable. It had it’s faults, but the leading character made up for the deficiencies in the books. She is a 60-ish woman who began law school when she was 39 and the sole support for her three young children. She became a very successful attorney, but an attack by a knife-wielding assailant caused her to re-assess her life. She chucked the whole lawyer thing, and for two years wandered the country in an RV with her dog.

She chose the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the back of beyond, to live  in an isolated cabin with her pets, some wonderful friends, and a friend with benefits. She works as an ambulance driver as well as taking as occasional appointment as defense attorney. She chops her wood, she hikes, she knits, revels in her isolation, and is very independent. She is an admirable character. In fact, half through the book, she made me feel quite inadequate.

While the mystery plot wasn’t the best and I found the writing  would have benefitted a bit more editing, the characterizations were fun. Sometimes it was as if I were listening to a real person telling me their story. I look forward to Ms. Shultz’s next book. I hope she writes quickly.

Catching Up

The last few weeks (months?) have been busy. I hardly have a minute to myself. When I do, I have my a book in my hand. I have acquired another library card from another adjoining county which brings my count to three cards. I like the idea of being able to check out books on-line at any time, but I still go to the library for “real” books. It’s sort of like reading the news on-line. It’s just not the same as having that newspaper in my hand.

Mr. Fixit has now had both eyes repaired. He goes back in three weeks for a follow-up and to have his eyes checked for new glasses. There are still drops to be used for a few more weeks. He can’t do it himself; it makes it a bit difficult sometimes. He has been working for our son in a town 16 miles away. That means I have to make at least 3 round trips a day to help him with the drops. Yesterday it was four trips.

He also isn’t happy that he can’t drive yet. In fact, he is more than “not happy.” He’s being a bit of a butt about it, in fact. I just hope that with better vision that he won’t scare me so badly when he does drive.

The grandchildren’s spring sports have begun. When we received the schedules, we saw that there are several days when there are as many as four events scheduled for the same time. What’s a grandparent to do?

Bella had a volleyball game last night. She scored four points. The most important thing is that she is much more confident than she was.

Cole is playing varsity baseball. His team is undefeated in regular season play. It’s a source a wonderment to see him as a tall, handsome, smart young man instead of the two year old who loved Blue’s Clues.

The other three grandsons’ games begin a week from Saturday. I can hardly wait for Levi’s games. The little guys are such fun to watch. Noah and Owen are practicing now.

The Birds—For several days the vireos were in an absolute frenzy. (Perhaps they had spring fever.) I don’t think any more of them hit the dining room window, but I did see a small feather on the screen on the kitchen window. I didn’t see a fatality though. The screen isn’t as unforgiving as glass. The window in the dining room has those crank-out windows with the screens inside.

With all the crazies out there in the world of politics, I fear for our future. Sometimes I want to turn off the television and the internet and live in my own little world. What scares me most is not not the individuals running for office, but the people who support the sexism, bigotry, etc. espoused by these candidates and some so-called media pundits. It’s a scary old world out there, folks.

The Birds

Yesterday I heard a thump at the dining room window. I noticed a feather sticking to the window. When I checked the ground below, I saw a poor little vireo still moving a bit. He was dead by the time I got outside. I put the window covering down thinking it would keep another bird from flying into the window.

This morning the same thing happened. Another thump, another dead bird. The strange thing was it was the same kind of bird.

Later in the afternoon, I was upstairs  and I heard another single thump. This time there were two birds down. They appeared to be alive. When I went out, I walked very close to both of them. They were still breathing, but they were so stunned, my presence didn’t disturb them. I waited for an hour or so, making sure the cats didn’t hurt the poor little things.

When I checked a bit later, they were both gone. I suppose they regained their senses, they flew away.

This isn’t the first time, birds have smashed into the window, but it is the first time that they were the same kind. It’s a little weird.

I have to think of a way to stop this from happening. It certainly isn’t because the windows are so clean and transparent. I thought lowering the shade would help, but it didn’t. I don’t know what to do next.