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Mrs. City Boy

~ Our little corner of the Midwest!

Mrs. City Boy

Tag Archives: Bird

Poms To Beat the Blues

14 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Our Life and Times

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

being kind, Bird, Colorado, death, Dick Willingham, Fruit, grief, kindness, loss, nature, nature photographs, Pomegranate, Rocky Mountains, sadness

Of course, there is a story behind the pomegranates — it’s not a long one, but worth telling.  The kindness of others is always worth talking about.

Yesterday was a not-so-easy day.  I wanted to go to the hospital to visit Uncle Bud (if you are not up-to-date on what’s going on there, catch up here), but City Boy was working and had our only vehicle.  He was sure he wouldn’t be home until too late for me to see Uncle Bud.

Uncle Bud with his daughter Susan in 1977 while on a Rocky Mountain vacation

When I talked to Aunt Ann yesterday, the news was not good, and I was in a funk.  I had a feeling I was not going to see Uncle Bud again, at least not to where he could see me.

My mother had taken ill with some bug, and I was also concerned for her, so I was trying to stay busy to beat the blues.  Lucy, our dog, started barking loudly and consistently, so I knew someone was approaching the front porch.

Sitting there by the door was a box.  I figured it was the vitamins I’d ordered.  But it wasn’t.

A friend who has been following my blog almost since the first day I started it had sent me some pomegranates from her own trees where she lives.  When I opened the box and saw the little card and the pomegranates, I just started bawling.

The timing couldn’t have been more needed and excellent, and the sheer kindness of this blessing made my broken heart melt.  I had really not had any problem with the weepies until I opened that box.

7 lbs of beautiful pomegranates were sitting on the dining room table when I got the call later that evening that Uncle Bud was gone.

Uncle Bud used my 110 pocket instamatic camera to take this picture of a 17-year-old me (who rarely wore those funky glasses) while I was vacationing with his family in the Rocky Mountains.  If a person stood there holding a peanut in the air, a bird would eventually swoop down and grab it.  

The kindnesses you do for a person may not seem like that big a deal to you, and you may feel like the recipient probably doesn’t consider it anything special as well.  But you don’t know what is happening at that moment in someone’s life, and you may be granting anything from a brighter day to saving their life.

My heartfelt thanks and many hugs to Cindy for the lovely pomegranates!  Cindy and her husband travel extensively, and she posts the most fantastic photos of her travels.  Home is a place Cindy calls “The Holler,” and it has many wonderful things and places that she photographs and posts as well.  Stop by Cindy’s blog for a visit — you’ll be glad you did!

Many blessings to you all, and I wish you a happy and peaceful Sunday!

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The City Yard

10 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Holidays/Seasons, Nature, Our Life and Times, Summer

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bees, Bird, butterfly, Evening sky, fruit tree, nature, nature photographs, plants, rural Ozarks, Summer, sun rays

Wandering around in the yard on an overcast day after a stormy night may not sound like the most interesting thing in the world to do, but you may be surprised at all of the teeming life that can be found in a city/country yard.

Poor Mrs. Butterfly looks a little ravaged by last night's storm.

Poor Mrs. Butterfly looks a little ravaged by last night’s storm.

But the bees don't miss a beat getting right back into the swing of things.

But the bees don’t miss a beat getting right back into the swing of things.

Mrs. Bird perches on the fence top to oversee all the action.

Mrs. Bird perches on the fence-top to oversee all the action.  This photo was taken from a distance away so it’s not as good as I would like, but this little bird is a frequent visitor to our back yard fence.

In a city/country yard the last thing I would have expected to find is a shell, since there is no body of water even close to our house, other than the water pipeline and occasionally the bathtub.

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” — Lord Byron

Have a lovely night and beautiful day tomorrow!

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Another Saga of Yard Wildlife

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Holidays/Seasons, Nature, Our Life and Times, Spring

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Bird, city wildlife, nature photographs, nature photography, rabbit, rabbit photographs, Robin

“The other day when I was walking through the woods, I saw a rabbit standing in front of a candle making shadows of people on a tree.”   Stephen Wright 

The other evening, just before the sun was about to sink below the point where it can be seen, City Boy caught sight of a rabbit sitting in our front yard.  Knowing the little creature would disappear the second he heard the front door open, I was tempted to try taking a picture of him through the window pane.  But, I hate the bluish cast that tends to add to the pictures, so I decided to take a chance on sneaking out and maybe catching one decent shot before the rabbit hurried off.

Lo and behold, I opened the squeaky front door and stepped around the corner, and there Mr. Rabbit was.  I kept creeping closer, unbelievably, until I was only several feet away from him.  He didn’t move, and I got a couple of slightly decent shots of him.

Next thing I knew, Mr. Rabbit got up, and showed me what he thought of me being so close!

Although he looks like he is in attack mode, this rabbit’s reaction to my presence was to give a lazy stretch.  The picture isn’t as clear as I would like it to be, but I did manage to catch him in mid-yawn!

It was hard to decide if I should be happy or insulted that a little wild bunny rabbit found ME to be absolutely no threat at all, to the point that he started grooming himself in front of me.

Then he turned around and nestled down with his back to me.

Maybe I’m interpreting things wrong, but I kind of took that as an “up yours” kind of attitude.  I moved around to the other other side of him, and hurried to try and get a picture of him before he fell asleep.

Maybe I should mention here that there were cars going up and down the street, kids playing basketball directly across the street, where there was also a little dog barking its head off at Mr. Rabbit, and none of this seemed to phase him.  Finally one of our curious resident robins landed and started hopping towards him to get a better look.

"Can't you make HIM leave so I can get to the bread crumbs?"

“Can’t you make HIM leave so I can get to the bread crumbs you threw out in the grass for me?”

Finally, when I took a few steps closer to get a really clear shot, Mr. Rabbit decided I was close enough and got up, ready to go.

He turned around and I got one parting shot of him before I went inside.  

Later on, while it was still light enough to see, I looked out the window and there Mr. Rabbit still sat.  Maybe Mr. Rabbit is nocturnal.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and stay safe!

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The Nature That Flies and Crawls

23 Thursday May 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Holidays/Seasons, Nature, Spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Beginning photography, Bird, nature, nature photographs, photography tips, Robin, rural Ozarks

Little robin digging around in the grass.  For what?  The bread crumbs that City Boy tossed out for them to eat?  Seeds?  

No, the old cliche’ saying still holds true…

“The early bird gets the worm.”  Or, in this case, the late afternoon bird.

I wasn’t going to post this picture of the azaleas (we think that’s what they are) after another beating storm had them laying almost on the ground.  I thought it was a pretty bad-quality picture (still do).

Then, to my surprise, I noticed the bonus caterpillar-on-a-stick — the little fella was practically posing for the shot, and I hadn’t even seen it when I took the picture!  I only noticed it when I put the picture on the computer and was about to press the “Delete” button.  Talk about a person being unobservant — I guess a creature has to hurl itself out of the ground into my face before I notice it (referencing the worm post here).

I was trying to get a close-up picture of a bee that was buzzing from dandelion to dandelion, but it flew off before I could get a decent shot.  I was outside with a camera anyway, so I thought I might as well get a shot of this guy…

As a rural Ozarkian, I should know this, but I actually had no idea that flies went after pollen or whatever it is that a flower has that bugs are interested in.  But, there this one was, not going after the usual cow-patty, and instead burying his head in the dandelion in search of SOMEthing.  Usually I’m all about putting flies to death, but what the heck.

The thing that I am really trying to learn that is important when trying to photograph things, is being observant.  The other bloggers who take excellent pictures use observation to catch things that people ordinarily wouldn’t see or notice.  If you are not yet honed in this skill, try taking a GOOD look at your subject with your eyes before you look at it through the camera.  There are often things not normally obvious that, if seen ahead of time, can be a source of interest in your photo, or even the subject of it.

Life is so full of wonderful things.  Blessings to you today as you enjoy them!

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From One Sunset To Another

19 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Holidays/Seasons, Nature, Our Life and Times, Spring

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

Beginning photography, Bird, flower photographs, flowers, nature, nature photography, Ozark, ozarks, sky photographs, spring, spring flowers, Sun, sun photographs, Tree

Yesterday evening, while the sun was still up, the yard was once again alive with critters and flowers, so I grabbed several pictures through the window just for fun (stay with me, they get better).  These next three were the only pictures I took from inside the house, and I try not to post them when I do take them through the window, but I wanted to give you an idea how lovely Spring in our little Ozarks town is!

Have absolutely no clue what kind of tree this is at the corner of our house, but it was covered with little buds

No clue what kind of tree this is at the corner of our house, but yesterday it was covered with little buds!

There were two of these kind of birds foraging around in the yard seeing what they could find, so I’m guessing they are a “couple.”

This shot even had to be taken standing a ways back so as not to spook a rabbit that was right close to the window as it was getting dark.

Then last night, as the sun was sinking behind the trees, it looked like a big orange ball.  Nice sunsets are so peaceful!  Who could resist stepping outside to enjoy it (and take pictures of it)?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Bright and (halfway) early this morning, the tree that had been only budding out yesterday was covered with blooms!  It is so beautiful!

Tonight’s evening sky was fairly low-key because of the clouds (compared to our orange ball sun from last night), but peaceful and pleasant just the same.

It’s been a great week, with some storms and some sun, some warm and some cold, some turmoil and some peace — things are not always sunny, warm and peaceful, but that doesn’t make it a washout.  Long as we remember there is no storm that somebody can’t help us through, because it rains on everybody at one time or another — we’re all in this together.

Have a delightful weekend full of peace and blessings!

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The Wildlife Wants In

13 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Holidays/Seasons, Nature, Our Life and Times, Spring

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

ants, Beginning photography, Bird, clover, ladybugs, nature photography, nest, rabbits, spider

One day I was breezing through the dining room and noticed a particle of food on the table.  Messy Frank, I thought, and started to swipe the crumb into my hand to throw it away.  I stopped short when I noticed it wasn’t a crumb.

By the time I got a clear picture of the little critter (and showed off that I had neglected to dust off my table), she was no longer afraid of me and the rapport we had formed made me unable to kill her as I had planned to.  So, the evil-looking thing willingly climbed up on the napkin I offered and was escorted outside.

Foraging ants

Before Spring, while the temperatures were still cold, City Boy and I noticed that there was suddenly a mass number of ants joining us in our home.  This would not do.

We do love most living creatures, but we’re selective about which ones we share our house with.  So, City Boy went about the task of trying to do what he could to rid us of our indoor pest problem.  There was, after all, still snow on the ground, and we really couldn’t be effective with our efforts until the first warm day when Frank could treat the outside of the  house.  

Once, that happened, the ants disappeared as mysteriously as they came (thank goodness).

Lady bug

Frank came in today from spraying the outside of the house and yard, and said he really hated it when he kept seeing lots of lady bugs where he was spraying.  He said he kept trying to avoid spraying where he saw them, but he would then find them eating the same grass that he had sprayed, so he was really hating that a lot of lady bugs were going to end up suffering the same fate as the ants.

If anybody knows an effective way of getting rid of ants without killing lady bugs, please let me know!  I’ve already read several natural ways of repelling ants, and most of those are designed for inside the house and only repel them rather than getting rid of them.

I’ve mentioned before that our resident robin moved out of her winter home, which was in the fake plant that hangs from our front porch.  Since she built a new home on the side of the house, Frank thought we could now take the empty eyesore hanging basket down.  

When Frank opened the front door, out of the basket flew a little bird.  Well, dang.  We decided it was warm enough that the new little bird could find herself somewhere else to make a nest.  We are trying to discourage sharing our house with every animal and bug in the area.

Well, lo and behold, too late.

Now we’ll have to wait until we see that the baby birds have left the nest, and try to go out the garage door to keep from getting dive-bombed by Momma bird if we go out the front door.  I mean, she’s right by the front door.  Dang.

One thing that isn’t trying to get in our house are all the rabbits running around our yard.  Why?  Well besides from being kind of shy, there’s this:

Right before the first mowing of Spring our back yard gets to be a regular smorgasbord for herbivore animals.  Right after this picture City Boy mowed it, and the rabbits came right back, undeterred by the shorter clover or the barking little dog chasing them.

Sometimes it’s tempting to just fling the door open and let the critters in, and then we can just sleep in peace outside.

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Storms, Birds, Cakes, Cologne, Bedspreads and Valentines — Whew!

11 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Being Frugal, Holidays/Seasons, Nature, Our Life and Times, Things To Eat, Tips and Tricks, Winter

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Beautiful, Bird, Cake, Cherry Vanilla, cologne, nature photography, photographs, Photography, rain, Robin, Valentine, Valentine's Day, Wind

As a storm approached, we battened down the hatches and tried to put our porch furniture where it wouldn’t blow around so much, and made sure the cover on the barbeque smoker was secure, all the usual stuff that is done when one is expecting wind and rain.  The skies slowly began to turn from very light blue to grey, to ominous gray.

Approaching Storm

Finally, after awhile of low thunder, the wind started lashing and the rain came pouring down in sheets, blowing all different directions.  We were thankful to all be in a warm house, since the temperature had also dropped.  We were going about our business in the house when I glanced out the front window, and to my dismay spotted something I had forgotten all about, high up in a tree.

Robin In Rainstorm

Our little resident robin had perched up there, apparently trying to ride out the storm.  And ride she did.  The chilling wind was whipping the branches all around with her on them while she kept a death grip on the branch she was on.  As she was being thrashed around by the wind she was being pummeled by the cold rain.  It still didn’t look horribly bad and I really wasn’t too concerned until I got the camera out and zoomed in closer on some of the pictures I was taking.

Robin In Rainstorm

It is apparent in the closer up pictures that the wind is really blowing her and the rain is falling off of her in sheets.  

Robin In Rainstorm

All that misty distortion on her in the picture is sheets of rain.  The robin began to try to shield herself after awhile:

Robin In Rainstorm

Robin In Rainstorm

Birds have been weathering storms since they first appeared on the earth, but it was still really hard to watch this.  There wasn’t a thing we could do, and I was feeling pretty guilty at this point for having removed my basket of fake plants from the porch that she had been taking shelter in.  Well, at the time I hadn’t seen her in it in awhile and thought she’d left, and I wanted to put up Christmas decorations.  I didn’t mean to be mean!

Anyway, Robin rode things out until the wind died down for a brief few moments and she was able to fly over to a neighbor’s balcony and take shelter in some dead plants in a planter.  My guess for why she didn’t take up residence over there in the first place is that there are young children over there.  But I really don’t know what goes through a bird’s mind when they pick out a home.

So, the robin was back when the sun came out, and we then knew for sure that she had weathered things out.  I guess I should put my fake plant basket back up, maybe.

Robin In Good Weather

On a lighter note (or heavier note, however you want to look at it), I really like rich cake.  The usual box mix made according to package directions and frosted with a tub of ready-made frosting is good, but just doesn’t quite do it for me as far as the rich factor.  

Cake

Semi-sweet chocolate chips

This is one of those cakes, made from a box mix with a tub of icing on it.  There is a difference, though.  A whole bag of chocolate chips mixed in.  Amazing it doesn’t look like it, but they’re there, and taste wonderful.

Actually, they are not exactly mixed in — When I first started using flavored chips in cake I used to stir a whole package of them in with the batter before I put it in the cake pan.  It was good that way, but the chips all went to the bottom and some of them burnt and stuck to the pan.

Melting chocolate chips.

So, I tried different things, and finally found what works the best.  Mix batter according to package directions (or recipe, if making cake from scratch).  Put the cake batter in the prepared cake pan as usual, then sprinkle half the bag of chips (any flavor desired) over the top. Then bake the cake as usual.  When the cake is done and you first pull it out of the oven, sprinkle the other half of the bag of chips over the top of the cake.  I usually put the cake back in the still-warm oven I’ve just turned-off for about 30 seconds or so, just enough to make the chips soft enough and then spread them over the top of the cake.  Let the cake cool completely, then frost.  I don’t usually use the whole tub of frosting on this because it makes it almost sickening rich, and a lot of frosting is wasted when people scrape it off of the cake and leave it on the plate after they finish their piece of cake.

The above cake was a mix I had kept stored in the freezer since Halloween and a tub of frosting I had gotten at the same time.  I used the whole tub of frosting, and shouldn’t have.  But this cake is so decadent and good when made with the baking chips.  It can also be made with cake and frosting that has been made from scratch.

My favorite combination of all time is chocolate fudge cake with milk chocolate chips and frosted with chocolate fudge frosting.  That cake is so decadent and rich you will think it’s sinful.  

For Christmas, Santa was good to me.  Why I’m mentioning that now, when it’s February, is because I wanted to talk about a few favorites of mine (the song from The Sound Of Music called “My Favorite Things” comes to mind).  I love to smell good.  Well, most people don’t want to smell bad, but I mean I like to smell extra good on occasion, and so I have a few favorite smelly things I enjoy using.

City Boy gifted me my all-time favorite cologne for Christmas.  We’re not rich, so he had to save up for this, and then this particular cologne had a deal going the same week he went in to buy me a bottle of it.  So I got all THIS!

Beautiful

Beautiful by Estee Lauder

Actually, the reed diffuser did not come with it, but the rest of it came with the promotion Estee Lauder was running at the time.  Also included was a little purse sample of another cologne, Precious, that they were promoting with it.  Anyway, this cologne smells really good, and is much better on than in the air.  So if you are looking for a different scent and haven’t tried this one yet, stop off at the Lauder counter and try some out!

If you’re one of those people (like me) who usually doesn’t want to spend that kind of money (I do have to admit that I would never buy Beautiful for myself because of it being so pricey), I have another favorite that I have used for years.  My mom got me some for Christmas and I use it a LOT.

Cherry Vanilla

It’s probably easy to tell by how dusty and dinged-up this bottle of Cherry Vanilla is from sitting out and being thrown around and dropped and by how empty it already is after less than two months, that I use this cologne quite a bit.  It’s a rich smelling, wonderful blend of two wonderful scents.  When I was a struggling single mother I used to buy this at Walmart and got a lot of compliments on it.

Mom told me one time that when she was young and single a lot of women wore cooking vanilla as cologne, and so mixing vanilla and other scents just seems natural.  I don’t remember how much this cologne is, but I am very sure it is still much more affordable than cologne from the perfume counter at the department stores.  The only problem with Walmart is that, many times, they don’t have samplers out so you can try this.  But it does smell like cherries and vanilla, so if you like those two things, you will probably like this.  It’s possible they also sell this in drug stores, so if you see some there, drug stores are usually better about keeping sample bottles out.

When City Boy and I first moved back here to Missouri from Texas a year ago, we bought a new quilt from Bed Bath and Beyond on a fantastic sale.  We’ve been doing so many other things since then that we’ve neglected really fixing up our bedroom much.  I don’t want to be matchy-matchy or anything, but I would like whatever decorating we (meaning I) do to coordinate with this quilt.  It actually turned out to be bigger than we expected, so we’re using it as a comforter.  If I can’t figure out what I want to do, I can just go back to the old comforter set we had, but I’d rather not.

Bedspread

So, really, don’t laugh — it really doesn’t look Granny-ish.  For now I’m just trying to decide what to do in the bedroom that will coordinate.  If I in all my decorating wisdom (cough) can’t figure something out, I’ll beseach all of you for helpful advice (I would show more of the problem areas of the room then), because you guys always have such good ideas for things and I don’t (whining sound).  You know by now that if I can’t do it on-the-cheap I will neglect doing it (be lazy) until I just have no other choice (no other easy way out).

Okay, so I’ve meandered around quite a bit in this post, and in posts lately — I really need to start getting more organized and posting with a general theme, even if it’s only about leg hair or something (not that I would post about that).  It would make it much easier for people to read, for sure.  So that’s my goal for the near future; to post in a more organized fashion.

This week’s reminder, for those of you who celebrate Valentine’s Day, or will be made to wish you had by your significant other (lol):

12027165_sMonday, Tuesday and Wednesday are your very last days to shop/plan/possibly ship, so make your special someone jump for joy and get ‘er done!

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An Ever-So-Slightly OCD Day

04 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Holidays/Seasons, Nature, Our Life and Times, Tips and Tricks, Winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

baby, baby picture, Bird, label maker, labeling, nature photograph, Obsessive–compulsive disorder, organizing, Photography, Robin, Valentine, Valentine Day, Valentine's Day

Finally, today was an absolutely beautiful day.  No gloomies, no rain, no freezing cold.  It was sunny, dry and cool.  

The little robin we thought had finally flown away and left us seems to have come back and has been foraging around, occasionally hanging out at her nest and wondering why I took my basket of fake plants away from her.  She’s still by herself, but at least she can get warm occasionally in the sun.  I got a few pictures of her wandering around in the grass under her tree, waiting for Lucy to come out and play.

Robin

Robin

Robin

She looks a darn site better than she did earlier in the winter!

Today was mostly packing day — not packing to move, but basically repacking some of the bins in the garage that are packed in a horrible way.  Too many contents get shuffled from one bin to the other and the bins don’t get remarked.  So, I repacked and remarked my twelve or so Christmas bins.  I’m a packrat with a slight touch of OCD, so needless to say it took me all day.

A sorter/packer’s best friend in times like this is a trusty label maker.

Label Maker

This has been my trusty friend through many a day of sorting, packing and organizing (you can tell it’s been around by all the evident wear and tear and dirt).  It can make a long job a lot shorter and easier.  This label maker prints out the label and then has a button to cut it off for you.  The label tape comes on a cartridge that just snaps in and has the ink already in the cartridge.  I urge any of you who try to stay organized to invest in a label maker — you’ll save loads of time and be more organized.  And it doesn’t have to be the most expensive fancy kind — a cheap one will get the job done.

Remember the label makers they had back in the day?  The label tape looked like it was made of shiny plastic and came in primary colors like shiny red, shiny blue and shiny green.  You had to manually punch each letter in separately by turning a big disk to reach each letter, and then press hard!  The backing on the label tape was hard to get off.  The lettering was always white — no color selection at all!  Ah, fun times.

So, anyway, that’s the problem with staying home in the house all day — it ends up leaving you with nothing to talk about except how nice it’s going to be to go to bed in a bit. But it’s been a good day, so if I’m boring to everyone else at least I’ll still have had a productive day!

Precious Baby is getting quite the personality already!  She absolutely must be in the bathroom with her mother — no playing elsewhere while Mom goes in the bathroom and gets ready.  So, Becca found a way to make it workable for both her and Precious Baby.

391848_10151470073126639_270332102_n - Copy

Whoever invented this little gem has made things better for every working mother whose baby doesn’t want to let her out of their sight!

For some reason, Precious Baby thinks her play mat is funny.

526585_10151476130536639_1304023626_n - Copy

And that is a very lucky thing — it would be a bummer for everybody if she hated it.  I always love it when a baby is good natured!

So, here’s today’s reminder:

5881200_sDon’t forget Valentine’s Day!  Only 9 shopping/creating/mailing days left!  If you like or love somebody and you haven’t started on your Valentine surprise for them yet, then get with the program!  Lol

Blessings to you as you go through this week!

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Perception

03 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Feeling Better, Our Life and Times, Tips and Tricks

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Bird, bird photogrph, body perception, Dog, Human physical appearance, Humor, lifestyle, Perception, physical appearance, Psychology, reality, Valentine reminder

If you take a psychology course there will probably be a whole section of your textbook covering how people perceive certain things in many different ways , and how it effects our way of life.  Aspects of this are also taught in Sociology.  What does any of that have to do with a Plain Jane housewife from Missouri?  

I’ll admit, perception doesn’t really run my life, but at the same time it can play a sizable part.  For instance, how does a Plain Jane housewife perceive her physical appearance?  Not many will perceive it the same as they perceive what they want it to be, and many will even perceive it differently than the way they think other people will see it.  It’s different for everybody, and I would say I am really weird different, but here’s how I usually fantasize think about physical appearance:

Fantasy figure and the fantasy style I'd like to pull off if I had the fantasy figure

Fantasy figure and the fantasy summertime style I’d like to pull off if I had the fantasy figure

Fantasy figure and the actual style I'd probably pull off if I had the fantasy figure

Fantasy figure and the actual summertime style I’d probably really pull off if I had the fantasy figure

Actual figure and style I pull of with actual figure

Actual figure and year-round style I do currently pull off with the actual figure I have

At least thinking that way is relatively harmless, right?  I mean, I can separate fantasy from reality (to some extent).  My son, whom I love beyond measure, perceives things in a totally different way than I do, and I often think he is not realistic.  But then I am told that this is typical between parents and offspring.  One thing we differ in completely as far as perception is his vehicle.  He is the proud owner of his first car, which he worked for and paid for on his own.  But we think very differently as far as the physical appearance of his car (yes, I guess I’m stuck on physical appearance — I’m so shallow) and even the way it runs.

The lad's perception of his car

The lad’s perception of his car

My perception of the lad's car

My perception of the lad’s car

The lad's actual car

The lad’s actual car

Okay, so maybe I can be a bit unrealistic too.  But this kind of thing could be fuel on the fire of family disagreements if not held in check.  We’ve had to step back many times and take a close look at how we were perceiving things and what the reality of a situation really was.  I felt that my son, for instance, was driving around in a death trap.  My son did not realize this because he thought his car was the greatest car on earth, when really neither one of us was seeing total reality on that.

City Boy and I perceive ourselves as being Lucy’s owners who care for her every need.  Lucy, however, perceives us as being her naughty slaves who don’t always do her bidding or give her snacks when she begs so she has to punish us by chewing up our Valentine decorations and jumping on the furniture.  That’s just a hypothetical example.

The great hunter dog Lucy stalks her dangerous deathly prey

The great hunter dog Lucy stalks her dangerous deathly prey

The dangerous deathly prey

The dangerous deathly prey

City Boy and I perceive the rabbits, birds, squirrels and other wildlife that teems into our backyard to be a natural wonder, while Lucy perceives them as playthings to chase down.  She wouldn’t know what to do with any of those creatures if she ever caught up with one of them.

Okay, so, we’re not expected to perceive things the same way animals do, but I did say I was being hypothetical.  You believe that, right?

11806688_s

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A Robin In Winter

10 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by becky6259 in Holidays/Seasons, Nature, Our Life and Times, Winter

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Bird, bird image, bird photogrph, migrate, migration, migratory birds, nest, photogrphy, Robin, winter, Winter birds, winter photograph

Not long ago, on one of those cold, dark, wintery, gloomy, wet evenings right around dusk, I stepped outside on the porch and spotted a robin.  It startled me, because I had always thought they flew south for the winter.  But there she was, all alone and in the bare tree with her nest.  I was wondering if she’d gotten left behind, or if she’d waited too late and wasn’t able to fly south.  

Robin and Nest

Then I wondered if maybe she was one of those birds that just looked like a robin, and was actually a bird that stayed in these parts through the winter.  But she was alone — there were no other birds anywhere around.

City Boy had been telling me for days before my bird sighting that he was sure a bird was nesting in our artificial plant basket that was hanging on the porch.  He said, “That thing flies out of there every time I open the front door and it always startles me!”

“Hmmm, right.  I’ve never seen it and I go out there all the time.”

“It’s there.  Right in your fake plant.  If you go look now, it will be there.”  He was starting to get indignant about me acting like I thought he was hallucinating. 

“Ok, I’ll go look.”  So, out the door I went.  Nothing.  I reached up and shook the basket.  Still nothing.  Finally I flipped it all the way over, then looked back at Frank.

“Well, that bird is just gone when you’re out here,” he insisted.  “Just wait — she’ll catch YOU off-guard one of these times and you’ll see.”

“Okie-doke.”

So, a few days later, the lone bird I discovered in our front Bradford Pear tree began to make me wonder if City Boy was actually spot-on about the bird in the basket.  After all, the poor bird was probably only looking for a place to get warm.

Winter Robin

When I no longer saw any sign of the robin in the tree and Frank had stopped being knocked over by the bird in the basket, I went out and took the basket down.  Sure enough, when I pulled the greenery out, it was really apparent that a bird had been staying there.  

Poor thing, I thought.  I wish I knew her story.

Here’s hoping she survived and found another bird, or else found a way to migrate to warmer climates safely.

Empty Nest

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becky6259

becky6259

My daddy married a city girl and put her in the country, and then I married a city boy and he put me in the city...for awhile anyway. We're now living in small-town Mid-Missouri and enjoying the best of both worlds!

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