The Visit...

[DDT (12)]

Claude and Claudia paid me a visit this morning… It was really great to see them again, too! I was sitting on the porch replaying the tapes of our most recent trek, and then I heard the unmistakable and undeniably sweet music of their chirping… I looked in the direction of that lovely melody, and there they were! I was being welcomed home again… It felt good, too…
 
A pair of cardinals and good ‘friends’ of mine! I call them by those names because… Claudia Cardinale, a famous actress of long ago… seems to lend her name so conveniently, and it does seem to fit. They are beautiful to these tired old eyes, and they do come to visit now and then… Never intrusive or annoying, just a brief fly-by and exchange of good will.
 
There have been times in my life when a cardinal would appear at just the right moment during a time of need, and I would take comfort and encouragement in the thought perhaps they were bearing positive news… Things always seemed to work out well after those visits, so I have come to associate their presence with ‘hope’ and a strong sense that better days are just ahead! Yes, I was indeed mighty glad to see them again!
 
We'd just returned from what had been an unexpected campaign in nearly every way. First, it had been originally undertaken as only a week or ten days of riding just to hold PMS at bay and give us a respite from the drudgery of routine… and, principally, long sessions in that danged ol’ recliner of mine…
 
That devious, deceitful, diabolical device designed and determined to cause my deterioration and eventual demise… that ‘symbol’ of all that ‘seniors’ should dread… The physical atrophy from sedentary extended periods, and the intellectual atrophy from binge-watching the mind-numbing propaganda emitted from that addictive tube a few feet in front of us… I’d simply needed to escape for a while.
 
We made an unplanned stop in Milton, FL, for a brunch visit with Farside, then on to another unplanned visit with some of our friends in Hattiesburg, MS.  From there, I’d figured to make the turn and meander back towards my landlady’s place… and ‘normalcy’. Just a relatively short jaunt to shake off the cobwebs, see some good folks, and give our girl some needed exercise… It ended up being a seven-week trek… and a most worthwhile outing in so many unexpected ways!!!
 
All of that while the unfolding drama of a pandemic was playing out around us, and risks to our very survival were becoming increasingly evident. Weather more than anything had determined our route and general direction, only to have even higher priorities eventually pop-up and lead us back home…
 
Fate does have a way of stepping in and dispatching us into the previously unknown reaches of life… and of giving us experiences and lessons we’d never seen coming nor even could have anticipated… For this naïve, often foolish adventurer, it has always worked out for the better, though… so, I naturally wouldn’t want it to be otherwise!

The meaning of that ‘friendly’ little visit this morning has yet to reveal itself... My expectation is, though, that things will improve and better days do indeed lie just ahead... I think I'll let my imagination loose to start contemplating our next trek... whenever it finally becomes feasible and safe to do so…

DDT

[hubcapsc]

Glad you got to see your cardinals... there's a lot of different birds zooming and
chirping around here... I was sitting next to my foundation the other day when
a blue jay came straight at my face from infinity, missed my head by just
a couple of inches and landed on a branch just a couple of feet behind me.

I don't know if you mentioned it already, but is it still easy, in the current
situation, to ride far and wide and be assured you'll find a motel that's
open at the end of the day?

-Mike

[Rams]

My "Spousal Unit" keeps bird feeders all over our property with the intent to lure Cardinals and other song birds here.   She's always looking for another place to hang another feeder.   I spend way too much time on a ladder for a man my age.  She also landscapes with plants that are supposed to attract butterflies and other attractive things (to her).   I also spend way too much time with a shovel in my hand planting things I don't know anything about.   I don't really mind but, it means a lot of trips to the feed store and nurseries.   

Such is life.  Enjoy it while you can.  

Rams 

[Skinhead]

Bruce,

Claudia Cardinale was so smokin' hot in Once Upon A Time In The West.  One of my all time favorite movies (She had a lot to do with that decision).  A good name choice.

[Willow]

Claude and Claudia.  I do hope one of them is brown.  I hope you didn't hang a female name on a red bird.     We seldom notice the females and males tend to not hang out together once competition begins.  They do sing nicely but they are actually rather mean birds.   

I'm glad they welcomed you home.  Little things can brighten our days if we just pay attention to them.

[Valkorado]

Fun read!

I love birds.  We get many species hanging around in the summer from blue to yellow to red.  The little finches usually hang out through the tough winters, but the more flamboyant songbirds should be arriving soon.  Late last fall, I was sitting ten feet from the bird bath when a red tailed hawk landed in it and stared directly into my eyes for the better part of five minutes.  Gorgeous animal!  We feed suet in the winter, and seed in the summer.

[hubcapsc]

Fun read!

I love birds.  We get many species hanging around in the summer from blue to yellow to red.  The little finches usually hang out through the tough winters, but the more flamboyant songbirds should be arriving soon.  Late last fall, I was sitting ten feet from the bird bath when a red tailed hawk landed in it and stared directly into my eyes for the better part of five minutes.  Gorgeous animal!  We feed suet in the winter, and seed in the summer.

I was sitting in my same blue jay chair yesterday when a hawk and two crows
flew overhead, all yelling at each other... crows like to pick on hawks...

-Mike

[The emperor has no clothes]

Interesting story Bruce  I lived in Indian, Alaska in a cabin my last year of high school. It is supposed to be the most northern range of the Steller Jay. Very cool birds, and my favorite other than the Bald Eagle.

[Valkorado]

Fun read!

I love birds.  We get many species hanging around in the summer from blue to yellow to red.  The little finches usually hang out through the tough winters, but the more flamboyant songbirds should be arriving soon.  Late last fall, I was sitting ten feet from the bird bath when a red tailed hawk landed in it and stared directly into my eyes for the better part of five minutes.  Gorgeous animal!  We feed suet in the winter, and seed in the summer.

I was sitting in my same blue jay chair yesterday when a hawk and two crows
flew overhead, all yelling at each other... crows like to pick on hawks...

-Mike

They are ruthless!  I've seen them herd our big ravens from horizon to horizon.  In nesting season, they will literally bring down those big guys.  Not something I've witnessed much, but it does happen.  I've sure heard those ravens screaming bloody murder as the little buggers dart in for some skull peckin'!

[DDT (12)]

Glad you got to see your cardinals... there's a lot of different birds zooming and
chirping around here... I was sitting next to my foundation the other day when
a blue jay came straight at my face from infinity, missed my head by just
a couple of inches and landed on a branch just a couple of feet behind me.

I don't know if you mentioned it already, but is it still easy, in the current
situation, to ride far and wide and be assured you'll find a motel that's
open at the end of the day?

-Mike

Mike,

As you might imagine, it is a tenuous and fluid situation, and it varies from state to state. I'm certain things have changed even since my riding just last week! I encountered no times where I could not get food or fuel... and the price of gas continued to drop the longer we stayed out. Motels were not a problem either, but that was changing noticeably.

Occupancy rates were way off, according to the folks I asked, and one motel in all my travels was actually closed. It was a chain motel, too, and one I've stayed in several times over the years. Others nearby were open, however, so I didn't have to sleep under an overpass or anything. Still, with the various clamping-down measures being taken in different states, it appeared to me I needed to get home ASAP, and stay there until this passes.

Most restaurants I visited, and nearly all fast food places, were open but offered carryout only. Everything had been open, business as usual, on the way out west, but only a couple of weeks later... I did manage OK, but, on the return leg of this trek, it was a bit of a departure from and an inconvenience when compared to the ride out west! I expect that will change, too, and that it will become increasingly more difficult to find chow as easily and readily as we are used to...

I do believe things will continue to go downhill from here until the virus is contained! I will not be venturing out, especially for overnight, until things generally improve... considerably! Besides the inconvenience, of course, there are the risks associated with just being out in the public! I did begin to notice other folks viewing me as cautiously and suspiciously as I viewed them! This whole things is taking a social toll on us in ways we may not realize just yet, but... My advice... DO NOT GO OUT YONDER FOR NOW!

DDT

[DDT (12)]

My "Spousal Unit" keeps bird feeders all over our property with the intent to lure Cardinals and other song birds here.   She's always looking for another place to hang another feeder.   I spend way too much time on a ladder for a man my age.  She also landscapes with plants that are supposed to attract butterflies and other attractive things (to her).   I also spend way too much time with a shovel in my hand planting things I don't know anything about.   I don't really mind but, it means a lot of trips to the feed store and nurseries.   

Such is life.  Enjoy it while you can.  

Rams 

Ron,

Yeah, 'seeding the scenery' so critters will come around to entertain us can be a bother, and it can become expensive, too! Keeping pets is the next rung up that ladder, with 'spousal units' being at the very top! Yep, those 'units' are typically the most expensive habits any of us ever develop! Funny the mind tricks we have to invent and play on ourselves to stay the course... huh...

DDT

Bruce,

Claudia Cardinale was so smokin' hot in Once Upon A Time In The West.  One of my all time favorite movies (She had a lot to do with that decision).  A good name choice.

Joe,

WHOA! Smokin' hot indeed! Many times she was responsible for this wayward sinner violating the Tenth Commandment! (Thou shall not covet... all that stuff!)

DDT

Claude and Claudia.  I do hope one of them is brown.  I hope you didn't hang a female name on a red bird.     We seldom notice the females and males tend to not hang out together once competition begins.  They do sing nicely but they are actually rather mean birds.   

I'm glad they welcomed you home.  Little things can brighten our days if we just pay attention to them.

Carl,

Yep, by all appearances they are a very straight couple! Appropriately color coordinated and everything. They've even built nests and procreated in the past. Yes, it is amazing how seemingly little things in life can pop out of nowhere and brighten an otherwise dark period in our lives... By smelling the roses along the way, our lives can be enriched in so many subtle ways by unexpected little details easily overlooked because of the frenetic pace of modern life...

DDT

Fun read!

I love birds.  We get many species hanging around in the summer from blue to yellow to red.  The little finches usually hang out through the tough winters, but the more flamboyant songbirds should be arriving soon.  Late last fall, I was sitting ten feet from the bird bath when a red tailed hawk landed in it and stared directly into my eyes for the better part of five minutes.  Gorgeous animal!  We feed suet in the winter, and seed in the summer.

Seth,

Thanks! Not surprising at all that you enjoy such things! As much as anyone I know, you are one to appreciate the 'finer things' in life... Keep smelling those roses, my friend!

DDT

Fun read!

I love birds.  We get many species hanging around in the summer from blue to yellow to red.  The little finches usually hang out through the tough winters, but the more flamboyant songbirds should be arriving soon.  Late last fall, I was sitting ten feet from the bird bath when a red tailed hawk landed in it and stared directly into my eyes for the better part of five minutes.  Gorgeous animal!  We feed suet in the winter, and seed in the summer.

I was sitting in my same blue jay chair yesterday when a hawk and two crows
flew overhead, all yelling at each other... crows like to pick on hawks...

-Mike

Mike,

Better keep yer head down, my friend! But, keep smelling those roses, and, above all, don't stop being you!!!

DDT

Interesting story Bruce  I lived in Indian, Alaska in a cabin my last year of high school. It is supposed to be the most northern range of the Steller Jay. Very cool birds, and my favorite other than the Bald Eagle.

Rob,

That Steller Jay is... stellar! Holy cow, that bird is absolutely gorgeous!!! I've never seen one, but it is easy to understand why it is one of your favorites... I'm also fond of Bald Eagles, too...

Lived in a cabin your senior year, huh... Funny, how the key to understanding us lies in understanding and appreciating the nuances of all along the full course of our lives... How so many small, seemingly insignificant details, can so radically alter the entire trajectory of our existence! Even minor tweaks early-on can make subtle alterations that in-turn produce profoundly different outcomes well down the road. We each are a unique mosaic... none of us all-knowing, perfect, or even 'complete'...

We each can benefit from other views of life through the eyes of another, though, and gain a perspective otherwise unavailable to us. Our lives are enriched by each additional view we gain, especially from those very different from our own... I'm mighty glad our paths have crossed.

DDT