Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Houseguest

My Aunt Kathy came to visit this weekend. She spent Sunday night at our house. We love Aunt Kathy, and not just because she has a house in Ft Lauderdale with a guest room. When someone comes to visit, you want everything to go just right. I pictured us relaxing on the deck, observing the orioles, maybe using the bikes and boats. Of course it poured rain most of Sunday, the orioles have disappeared and our attempts at trying to use the bikes and boats were moments of terror for her.

But just like the things you can't control that seem to be going wrong, all sorts of unexpected occurrences pop up that result in true delight. Such as:



  • The Sandhill Cranes showing up to stand behind our house with their newborn baby (chick?)!

  • Buying s'mores ingredients with a bonfire in mind, and then getting invited to a "Today We Cut Down the Dead Tree" bonfire across the street and sharing with everyone.

  • Getting handed free flags on a stick at the Memorial Day ceremony and then waving them as we watched the parade go by.

  • Extra cousins we seldom see showing up at the family barbecue, and finally some sunshine.

  • Mrs. Magda getting to speak in Polish to the waitress in Hamtramck.

  • Aunt Chris treating for my lunch at Johnny Rockets, and getting to use a coupon for free french fries.

  • A housewarming gift of Pierniczki Alpejskie (chocolate covered gingerbread with strawberry filling)

  • Aunt Kathy attaching bells to her slippers, just to see what the kitties will do.

I couldn't have planned it any better.





3 comments:

Mindy said...

Jim wrote to me with this useful information about Cranes:

Young cranes are called Colts.

Also, they are omnivorous, watch your fingers and toes.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I LOVED the cranes! Is Jim a birder? More facts: Sandhill Cranes (Grus Canadensis) have been found from the Pliocene period, four million years ago. Both male & female incubate the egg, changing rolls 2 to 10 times per day. Incubation requires 28 to 36 days. During summer, cranes eat four to five hundred grasshoppers, crickets & worms daily.

Mindy said...

Thanks for the info! That explains some things such as how I thought they looked sort of prehistoric, and why there seemed to be ONE Crane standing around eating shortly after I observed them doing the "Dance of Springtime."
I don't know if Jim is a birder but he always knows useful information (or looks it up.)
Has it now been implied that my fingers and toes look like worms? Possibly, they do.