The Babies Are Here !


Oh, I've been so worried. For the past two weeks. I've never gotten over March of the Penguins -- my eyes were swollen for days afterwards from boo-hooing. Thank god I watched it from the privacy of my own home and not in the theater. Someone would have had to carry me out of the movie house in a stretcher. I was fetal.


Two weeks ago, I noticed a pair of mourning doves stomping around in my flower boxes and crushing my newly planted pansies. It made me a little cranky, until I realized what was going on. Then I romanticized the whole thing. And felt a little special that they chose my flower box on my balcony. Narcissistic, I know, but it made me happy. It is the little things, at times. Every day I waited and protected the couple looking from my living room window -- through the wind and the rain and shooed any pesky squirrel sniffing around.


I avoided going out on the balcony, and certainly prevented my husband from doing so with his manly voice. He didn't share the same... affection as I did for these little eggs. I didn't want the mother to be scared off. She needed to keep the eggs warm. My thoughts went back to March of the Penguins. And the scene with the cold, cracked egg which the parent penguins mourned. I still get weepy.

When the mourning dove mother needed a break, the father stepped up to take her place and keep the eggs warm. Neither of them seemed to mind my dog, who absolutely insists on sunbathing during warm late afternoons. The cushioned chaise lounge is his. While my husband and I get a metal chair.



Two little baby birds born today. So far a success. I'm still keeping my distance until they are old enough and strong enough to venture out on their own. No BBQ-ing for a bit on the balcony. No loud noises or sudden movements, and certainly no more foul language.


My dog during a mid-afternoon nap before his snack, followed by another light walk down the street, and then to stretch out on his chair outside on the balcony. I cater, I pander, I will do anything this dog wants. After dinner and yet another walk, I put him to bed at night. And then I can finally get some real work done.