Lessons From A Cardinal

   Early this morning, I was greeted by the same male cardinal that comes every morning.  The bird seems to wait for me to bring out the birdseed before calling to its mate.  For the past month or so, the cardinal would even call to me if I was late with his breakfast.  Always as soon was the seed was scattered, he called for his ladylove.  She would come and they would dine together.

  For the past two days, she has not come.  In fact, his calling has even gotten less.  I worried at first then I realized that she is nesting and cannot come.  I decided to watch his actions.  The lovely bird flew down to the seed before I even had the lid back on the bucket.  He was highly anxious to get to the seeds before the other birds.  I watched as he picked up a few seeds, cracked and ate them.  Then, he picked up a seed, cracked it and flew off to the camellia bush with it.  It was only a few moments before he was back and repeated the process.  Ahh, Daddy Cardinals are the best!  He was actually taking seeds back to Mama Cardinal on the nest!  The sweet deed was repeated for quite some time.  

  I was astounded by this act of caring in the critter world.  If a mere bird can be so considerate, so loving and so generous, why can't people?  The more I watch the critters, the less I care to associate with most people.  Perhaps a cardinal could give life lessons to us all.

Time to Show A Little Kindness

  Along about midnight, I was awakened by a strange bonking noise.  Thinking that the screen doors were not latched, I roused myself to check.  It was then that I realized the wind had picked up and was slamming things around a bit.  Ok, so it was time to grab a flashlight and start taking down things that might cause problems.  I had already dropped the hanging plants but had gotten sidetracked before I took in the wind chimes and other decorative yard items. Well, my lapse in commonsense now saw me in the midst of tropical storm force winds trying to do what I should have earlier.  It is all good, however, as Son came to my rescue and gave a helping hand.  Ten minutes and I was back in bed enjoying the sound of rain pounding the rooftop and wind rattling the windows.  

  When I awoke this morning, it was well before sunrise so I had no idea if the outer bands of Hurricane Delta did any damage here on the Bayou.  I knew it would pale to the damage that the good folks in the path of the storm received but I was curious.  It was nigh on 7am before the sun lightened the sky enough for me to venture out.  Dark clouds still rolled around the sky and the winds, though calming, were still quite brisk.  I checked around the Little Bayou House and was happy to find that it held once again.  The pier, on the other hand, did not fare so well.  

  Entire sections of our pier are missing.  Usually, we have planks that are washed free but this small squall literally did major damage.  At some points, we have posts...just posts.  When Son came down to "survey" the damage, he simply replied, "No problems.  A little work but it can be fixed."  This man has the best attitude about things.  I have never seen anyone remain so calm in the face of calamity. 

  Once again, folks, be kind.  Reach out and help those in need.  Those in Louisiana and Texas are in dire need of help.  Even if you are miles away, do the neighborly thing and help.  Send a donation, lend a helping hand, say a prayer for those that are facing a massive cleanup.  Trust me when I say, their lives will never be the same.  Been there...done that...don't wish it upon anyone.  Be kind.  Just be kind.

  

Its A Neighborly Thing

   A while back, I mentioned how the color orange seems to be tied to a lot of things during fall.  Leaves, pumpkins, the moon, persimmons, etc. all are related to fall in one way or another.  This afternoon, I noticed yet another...orange...or oranges in this case.  The citrus trees are starting to show the ripening of the fruit.  In another week or so, we will have more citrus fruit than we can use. The excess will be carefully picked, wiped clean and boxed to bring to our elderly friends.  A lot of them remember growing citrus trees in their yards and a sampling of the fruit brings a lot of smiles...both theirs and ours.  Sharing the bounty from our gardens is something that I learned from growing up on the farm.  Pop sold his crops but if he found someone in need, he never hesitated to load up the old truck with bushels of produce and share it.  He often would bring enough for a family to can for the winter.  It was/is the neighborly thing to do. 

  Since the trees are so heavily laden with fruit, Son had to build props for under most of the limbs.  Had he not done so, there was a huge chance that the trees would have broken by this time.  Come January, all of the citrus trees will need to be deeply pruned to prevent this from happening again.  A good pruning helps the trees to remain healthy.  Pruning, fertilizing and carefully watching for mildew or black spot is all done before the next buds show.  

  Today, I started collecting boxes to be used in sharing the oranges and making my list of names so I will not forget anyone. Once again, folks, it is the neighborly thing to do.  In this day and time, it seems that greed and neglect has become the norm and helping others has gone the wayside.  Be generous, folks, be kind.