Of squirrels and mockingbirds

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I believe that.

But I want to tell you about two things and I have no pictures.

I am hopeful that with my words, I am able to paint the picture for you.

Perhaps you will let me know if I succeed.

On my back deck step there is a resin angel. More like a cherub, I guess. It's in a kneeling position and its wings are rounded and downswept. In its arms rests a bird.

That angel has been sitting there for years. I am sure I've shown you pictures of it before.

I estimate it to be about ten inches high.

The other morning as I wandered over by the French doors that lead to the back deck, I saw a squirrel.

I love squirrels. I don't feed them or anything but I enjoy seeing them scampering across our fence and I even like to hear them galumph across our roof, sounding like they're nine feet tall and bulletproof.

Why only yesterday, as I sat outside in the front enjoying the peacefulness of nature, there was a squirrel rummaging around in our gutters.

I heard him first. He was making a lot of racket, scratching and chattering. It sounded as though he'd lost his baseball glove or something.

But all I could see was his tail, sticking out over the edge of the roof.

Next thing I knew, he ran lickety-split the length of our front porch, still in that gutter.

I mean, the William Tell Overture would have been a suitable musical accompaniment, although I fear a tad too slow.

So then when he got nearly to the end? He took a super-quick flying leap into a branch of the White Oak. The whole tree shook. Practically.

Little sucker must've had Kryptonite on his Wheaties for breakfast.

Anyway back to the squirrel I saw on the back deck one morning last week.

He was sitting up beside the angel and he had one little paw reaching out and resting on the angel's wing.

As God is my witness.

But unless my very eyes were cameras I would not have been able to capture that for you.

The second he perceived I was there on the other side of the door, my furry friend hopped over under the swing where he sat for a few moments, then scampered off the way they do.

It was so cute. I wish you could have seen it.

The other thing I want to tell you and no, I have no picture of this either, is about a mockingbird (I think it's only one) who basically hangs out in our front yard most of the day.

Also having taken up residence -- or maybe only on a daily visitor's pass -- in our White Oak. Sometimes he hangs out in the the hedges.

As often as not he perches on the roof of Erica's car, if she is home. From there he may fly the thirty feet to the neighbor's magnolia tree. 

At any rate he stays close. Close enough that his endless energetic song is a near-constant in my yard.

Now, until recently I didn't know from a mockingbird. By that I mean, I could not have identified one.

Yes, I've seen the movie. And read the book. I'm not talking about killing one; I'm talking about knowing one when you see it.

It was Erica who told me the bird was a mockingbird. They are black and white with very long tails, she said.

And so they are. Now you know and so do I.

But this guy? L-O-U-D.

When he sets up running through his repertoire full-voiced, I would almost bet you he can be heard in the next county.

And if you listen, you can hear birds all over the neighborhood answering him, one after another.

My only question is, are those other mockingbirds mocking the mockingbird? Or are they the birds the mockingbird is mocking, unaware that they are being mocked?

If you know, please enlighten me.

And that is all for now.

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Happy Monday ~ Happy Week

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Comments

[Mari]

There's never a lack of excitement at your place. You need to keep that camera on your person at all times. :)
PS - I got an email from the publishers. They said the copy of your book will go out this week. Please let me know when it arrives.

[Sue the Hobbit]

I have a soft spot for squirrels, even though they are prone to carrying fleas and rabies. I love to feed them and then watch them pick up the food in their little paws and nibble on it. I can see the squirrel reaching up to the angel's wing in my mind's eye.
As for the mockingbird, I think you may have a magpie on your hands. I have never seen or heard a mockingbird, so I just Googled them and listened and looked. Mockingbirds are more grey and brown. I do know my magpies, because they have taken over New Zealand, and they are black and white with long tails. Magpies are actually known to mimic other birds, so maybe they are known locally as mockingbirds.
There, isn't that more than you wanted to know about mockingbirds and magpies?

[Jennifer]

@Mari ... I need to become a human camera!

@Sue ... Well blow me down! I guess I should learn not to listen to Erica. I'll be looking up magpies and mockingbirds to get my story straight. Whatever he is, he sure is cute, and a feisty little darling. Thanks luv. UPDATE: OK I looked them up. Our bird looks and sounds exactly like the mockingbird in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zd6Iy4JuGk ... It looks nothing like the magpie vids I saw, but the magpie is adorable. I guess Erica is vindicated, LOL

[irene]

Such excitement at your place.