Monday thoughts

So far I have spent the day reading and ordering books and a CD on Amazon, following an early morning jog in the park.  It's rainy but not depressingly so.  As you might surmise, it's a day off from work.  Heaven knows what time I would have arisen this morning if my son didn't have to be driven to the bus stop at 6:55am.  I guess I should be grateful for his ridiculously early Middle School starting time, because when I think about it, morning is my favorite time of day, and I really don't want to sleep through it!. 

Just now, the red-bellied woodpecker hammered on the gutters above my front door.  That is his signal to let me know that he's available to receive a peanut.  I toss one up into the air above my front door, and he swoops down to catch the peanut mid-air.  People who have witnessed this interaction have been dumbfounded.  It took the woodpecker and I several years to perfect this act.

There's more to it.  Several other species have figured out our routine.  After the woodpecker flies away, I invariably see his shadow, a male cardinal, who is unable to catch peanuts midair but will gladly scoop one off the ground.  There is always a chipmunk standing at my front door who I'm sure has been debating whether or not to enter my house in search of my stash.  He will accept 4 or 5 nuts at a time which he is able to stash in his chubby cheeks.

And my dear squirrels are always hanging around hoping to catch sight of me.  They come running when the woodpecker knocks, knowing that the peanut lady shall appear.

It's nice to be popular.



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