We’re generally light on mothers around here come the second Sunday in May. Herself isn’t one, and neither is Miss Mia Sopaipilla.
But for this Mother’s Day we have a robin sitting on a clutch of eggs in a fine, strong nest built in the Chinese pistache outside the dining room.
We’ve had doves cobble together some half-assed homes under the front overhang that mostly turn into fly-thru eateries for the neighborhood raptors. Hummingbirds tuck their teensy little bide-a-wees into the pines out front. And a variety of little cheepers have grown up in a dead limb of the backyard maple, holed at top and bottom by a ladder-backed woodpecker. A tree dude accidentally sawed it off while pruning the maple a while back, but he reinstalled it and it’s been home to at least one more family since then, so, winning, etc.
None of these little mothers ever pays any rent, but we don’t care. We even provide free feeds at our BB&B (Bird Bed & Breakfast). From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs, as the fella says.
Mad Blog Media 
We also have a variety of birds around. We feed the hummers, and have water on the ground and in a bird bath for the others. We love watching all of them.
Nice change from watching the news, hey? I see the Tangerine Tyrant is toddling off to Beijing to get pantsed by Xi Jinping. Can’t be long before we’re making our own iPhones.
Word. We have five delusional and corrupt leaders with stockpiles of nukes and making more. One thinks he’s a god, and the others are mentally ill and living in some past fantasy world. Just to put icing on the cake, two countries think they should be monolithic theocracies, Israel and Iran, and are determined to destroy each other. None of them care a whit about the common man. And, the world is on fire. What could go wrong?
A few years back we had a pheasant nested in the yard, so we were careful to tip toe around that side of the yard. Then in the middle of the night one night I heard squawking and a damn raccoon had raided the nest and was chowing down on the eggs. I was swearing and throwing rocks at the guy, but too late.
Sad. Like my old friend, the late Vic Stenger used to say, Nature is all sex and violence.
Man, those raccoons don’t play. I kinda want to get another trail cam — the old one, which was slightly non-awesome, finally croaked — so we can see who all is popping round while we sleep.
I think having a dog on either side of us, both of them prone to bark at the drop of a leaf, has thinned the herd of visitors. For sure we’re not getting deer anymore. One of the mutts is a big ol’ Great Pyrenees-St. Bernard cross that sounds like the Gates of Hell opening. Deer be all like, “Fuck that noise, let’s try the next cul-de-sac over.”
Annie has a bark that can shake the house, but the raccoons know she is inside, so they sometimes sit outside the kitchen glass door and seemingly taunt her. Its funny, except that waking up at 3 a.m. to Annie barking at raccoons gets old.
I love having 3 acres backed up to a big wooded area and acres of wetlands and a river. But along with it comes a never ending parade of raccoons, possums, rabbits and groundhogs. I’ve worn out two live traps and already this spring deported 8 possums and 6 coons. That’s right… Herb has his own version of ICE ongoing. But their transfer is only 6 miles
When we were in the Greater Patty Jewett Yacht & Gun Club Neighborhood in B-burg I think we saw more critters than we did around our 43-acre mountain hideout in CrustyTucky.
The coyotes and foxes were embroiled in a turf battle over the PJ golf course, with the coyotes pushing west from Palmer Park and driving the foxes before them, hearing the lamentations of their females, etc. The skunks were like gang members, traveling in packs and blasting away. Some nights you couldn’t leave the windows open.
Other dogs got the usual treatment, but they always gave Mister Boo a pass, his black-and-white fur apparently making him an honorary member of the tribe.
And it goes without saying that no matter where you live, you’re gonna have some woodpecker going all Buddy Rich on any metal caps on your roof.