10 Things I learned over the weekend...

My weekend consisted of trimming what seemed like 500 very overgrown, neglected shrubs, (98% of which have stickers on them..ouch!), attending three quarters of a baseball game of the Dracenator's that didn't get finished Tuesday night due to a thunderstorm, cleaning up the humongous mess made by the trimming of the sticker bushes from you know where, vacuuming, mopping, countless loads of laundry, cleaning up of vomit which entailed the washing of my and Charlie's bedding, from the comforter down to the mattress pad because the Dracenator had some sort of stomach upset most of the weekend (why he, Devin and a friend Devin had sleeping over Friday night were playing in our room is still a mystery though Charlie did find a toy sword in our bathroom), chasing and catching one very persistent squirrel obsessed wiener dog, doing my nails, making banana pudding(and other things), ordering NFL bedding for Devin and multi-sport bedding for Dray and a container of caterpillars (because the Dracenator found his butterfly habitat), clipping decorating and gardening inspiration out of my magazines (I'm now all about some knockout roses) and chopping down (well, Charlie actually did the chopping chainsawing) two way too tall holly shrubs/trees that would have been an osha violation to trim. 

But that's not all.

How 'bout that run on sentence?  Impressive, huh? 

After Charlie took the great big monster holly shrubtree thing away, I could then go at the sticker shrub demons from the back and while doing so I discovered a very young baby bird dead at my feet and then noticed the other 3 which were all still very much alive and nestless. Now anyone who really knows me or who has spent any time reading my blog will know how much this incident cut to the very core of my existence. 

I.felt.like.such.a.human. 

How could I have not thought about the possibility of a birdnest being in that bigA... shrub?  It is springtime, afterall.  I called Charlie and my stepdaughter, Shana, (who was with us this weekend) around and we gathered up the baby birds.  They said they'd seen what was left of the nest in the tree but thought it was old.  Apparently this mama bird is not the best nestbuilder in town.   Charlie quickly got a small box that he stuffed with leaves and things.  We placed the birds in our little manmade nest and placed it down in one of the other shrubs.

Well, guess what? 

It worked. 

Not only mama bird came back to care for them but daddy bird did too.  So, just so you know, that whole thing that if you touch a baby bird, the mama won't come back is totally false.  I had heard and suspected as much.  We have been checking on them periodically and Charlie noticed that she has added to and fluffed up the nest around them some.

I also saw from the window today that she has now started getting to them by entering the shrub from the bottom.  Since there is a threat of rain tonight and tomorrow, we gently covered part of the shrub with a tarp to keep them dry.  It is crucial for my sanity that these birds survive. 

I believe they will.  

I was so afraid they would be abandoned.  I underestimated the adaptability and powerful instinct of a mama bird.  She and the daddy bird just shook their tail feathers off and carried on with what they had left. 

And those baby birds are so trusting.  The one I picked up first off the ground opened its little mouth wide to me, not able to see a thing yet.  Reminded me of that book, Are You My Mother?  Don't you just love that one?  

This all just reinforces my belief that we can learn so much from the countless nonhuman creatures we share this planet with.  They don't fret, bitch or whine when they have a crappy day.  They just keep on keeping on... 

So, here ya have it, 10 things I learned this weekend:

1.  Never, ever chop down a tree/monster shrub without first checking for nests.

2.  Electric scooters are the bomb, except for those mini ones (??) cause they can't go through the grass and red dirt and up hills the way the big ones can and EVERYONE in our neighborhood has one! (per the Dracenator)

3.  When the Dracenator says his belly hurts really bad, do NOT delay.  Take him to the bathroom immediately.

4.  Do not place a wiener dog fresh in from the backyard that is full of red dirt on your lap while wearing white pants.

5. Do NOT, under any circumstances, trim anything with stickers on it while wearing flip flops.  Trust me on this one.

6.  Knockout roses bloom all spring and summer long in the South, they are self cleaning and disease resistant.  I see a whole lot more knockout roses and a whole lot less sticker bushes in my future.  

7.  Putting a gigantic comforter that says DRY CLEAN ONLY and is covered in vomit in the washing machine is really not the best option.

8.  Clorox is my friend for many reasons but the top two being red dirt/mud and white ball pants.

9.  Nobody left that half full soda can on the nightstand/coffee table/kitchen counter and Nobody makes a lotta messes 'round here.

10.  Birds, it turns out, are pretty good role models.


Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them? ~Rose F. Kennedy