a mockingbird love story, protector of squirrels, and caterpillar jungle gym

so, i am being wooed by a two-winged, multi-tonal, sassing, plagiarizing feathered foul (i mean fowl). he has been completely unprovoked by any "home invasions", and for some reason for the past 6 weeks he has been coming to my door handle at work to mock me, taunt me, or is it just to woo? he'll come twice a day, peck at the glass, and then attempt to fly in. yesterday he did it six times. yes, six. mr. mockingbird, it is time to find something better to do (he didn't come back today; i guess i kinda miss him now).

yesterday after my morning exercise i was stretching silently on the porch and was disturbed suddenly by a ruckus coming from the bushes. squirrels usually do not make it on my list of cute fuzzy creatures to sympathize with, but this one was being ganged up on by 3 typically antagonistic felines. mercy kicked in. the squirrel hid right behind me as the hunters cornered their game. the cats circled around me but were too afraid to make a move. i armed myself with pecans (just to impede any attempts they might make), and another squirrel up in a tree sent down its threatening squirrely prayers in protection of its friend. the cats abandoned the hunt as my towering figure frightened them away, and the squirrel stayed scared stiff behind me for a while. when i offered him a pecan, he flew; i've never seen a squirrel jump like that. i hope one day he'll reconcile himself to me and we'll become the best of friends.

and lastly, i sat on my porch a couple of days ago talking on the phone (why can't we cellular companies get it right by allowing us to talk in our homes?) when i noticed a furry caterpillar climbing on my knee. i didn't feel him make it up my leg, but was none too happy to have this visitor on me. i gently flicked him off desiring not to harm him (but to give him a hope and a future), and i watched him land safely at the bottom of the stoop. two minutes later, guess who was staring me in the face? yes, he made it back up; so i flicked him gently once again. what a strange coincidence, i thought to myself. i continued to talk on the phone and chit chat when i looked down at my knee to a white blur. yes, once again. three times in a 10 minute span of time. this time i let him crawl to the other knee and make his way down.
well, yesterday i was sitting on the porch listening to a dear friend tell me a wonderful story of exciting news. sure enough, i looked down on my knee and guess who was there to greet me?

nature tales from my stoop in the burbs (correction; stoop in the city(?))

the peasant and the queen

I woke up early to start the beauty ritual, applied "straightening serum" and attempted to straighten my curly locks, put on make-up, ironed my newest shirt, and hoped my ten (no, twelve) year old pants could hold up their end of the bargain. I was late for work preparing for this day. I was meeting the First Lady. Wow. Could anything be so surreal?

The day completely flew by. I lost track of time as my mind was occupied elsewhere. I looked at the clock at 5pm and rushed to reapply make-up, brush my teeth, and to take a deep breath. The "soiree" was a private reception in an intimate setting with the wealthy and powerful, the benefactor, the publisher, the editor, an author or two, the artist, the President's wife, and me- the peasant.

It was held in a quaint house just a thousand or so square feet larger than mine though in a neighborhood where prices are five times that of the one I live in (location, location, location). Secret Service cased the premises. I stepped in the front door greeted by a woman I hold in high regard, the Executive Director of the Texas Book Festival, and then was escorted to the dining room.

Standing at the end of the table was a beautiful face I had seen many times before, but never this close. It was as if it was the most natural thing to see her and at the same time the most un-natural. She entertains queens and heads-of-state, makes decisions that affect the wealthiest nation on the planet, sleeps next to the man who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders (granted, the least popular man in the world as well), and this tiny, powerful woman is standing 4 feet in front of me. My boss asks the professional camera man to take a picture of me with the First Lady. There is a "receiving" line for her, and we are next. She knows my boss and asks how he is. He introduces me. I flatten my hand against my pants to make sure my palms aren't sweaty; yes, lets avoid a really embarrassing ordeal. I shake her hand and she repeats my name. I say, "It's very nice to meet you", though I wanted to say "it's an honor". So I throw that in there as well. Cameras flash in the background. My boss does all the talking, and the meeting lasts maybe 2 minutes. There is a line behind us and we are not the only people who desire an "audience with the queen". "It was nice to meet you." And we move on. I could have stared at her all night! Such a lovely lady in many ways.

Being greeted by Mary when we walked in did put me at greater ease, but it still was a very intimidating environment. I was aware that I was the poorest person in the room, but I was also aware that I was one of the tallest (literally heads above most). Several dead fish hand shakes met my naive, full one; there were a few strong ones as well. The Book Festival staff were friendly and helpful, and my boss is a very outgoing person-- so I was more relaxed than expected. I came out of hiding just a bit (like a timid turtle poking its head out), did utter one witty statement, and found good conversation with the computer tech and his girlfriend. We talked of literature and travel, two of my favorite subjects. By the end of the evening, my boss was dragging me away.

After my boss and I returned to the office, I met Deborah and Carla for tea. Yes, meeting the "queen" is exciting, an experience I won't soon forget. What a day, or rather evening, it was. I have to say though that ending the evening with friends and loved ones was truly the icing on the cake for me.

Follow this Statesman link on the event:

http://www.statesman.com/news/mplayer/news/26806

front row to minor tragedy

Jay Janner Austin American Statesman

So this morning I couldn't go straight to my office because of an accident. When I arrived at my office I found that the major part of the accident was caddy-corner to our building. There were multiple fire trucks, multiple police cars, multiple ambulances, and a non stop media frenzy. From everything I gather an SUV was at fault; my boss saw the driver walking around dripping wet with airbag liquid. His front end was folded in accordion style. And then there was a bus in the front lawn of the building across the way! I arrived after the crash when the first emergency vehicles had come. The bus pictured above swerved to miss the SUV crashing into a brick wall, crossing through 2 parking lots and then ending up slammed into the side of the building. The bus driver was pinned in because her leg was caught; reports say she broke the leg and her injury is one of two serious ones. A passenger on the bus suffers the other serious injury. It looked as if another bus was involved somehow as well. It was on the scene when I arrived and was here before the police arrived. The most accurate story I have read on the accident is in the Statesman.

There were no fatalities, no life-threatening injuries. They just cleared up the accident and the bus has been towed from the building, three hours later. How amazing that it wasn't more tragic; it could have been much worse. And talk about near misses. I could have been driving earlier down that road and been involved, the bus could have crashed into our building instead.

I can't imagine how fearful the passengers from that bus are now. They must be frightened to ride a bus again, and they must have a lot to process. As I pulled in my lot, I heard one of the passengers, a homeless man, shout "I'll never ride the bus again!" I wonder at how CapMetro is handling them; are they providing free rides and bus passes to compensate and ensure they still have these people as customers. It was minor compared to other accidents, but it still has a tragic air. It is amazing how fleeting and futile this life is. On a 2 lane road on a quiet and simplistic block in the laid-back city of Austin, a bus loaded with morning passengers smashes into a building. Though it is a mere trifle in comparison to recent events in sleepy towns far from this one, it leaves an impression.