Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

Winston Stupid

On my way out to the Apex parade, and I’m remembering something very funny. A few years ago, I was out at the Office Lounge (this – dare I say – "redneck" bar) in Bloomington, Indiana for karaoke. It was the night of July 3rd. At midnight, things got really patriotic with songs like "And I’m Proud to Be An American." We weren’t the only group of cocky grad students there that night. There was one other. And one of the guys, who was completely trashed, screamed out, "Booooo, Britain! Tony Blair SUCKS!" with the best line being, "Winston Churchill?! More like Winston STUPID!!"

My furniture was delivered on January 10th. A few weeks ago, they FINALLY brought the painting they accidentally left in the truck. About bloody time!! This was painted by Bill Hicks, the art teacher at Central High School in Memphis, Tennessee when my mom was teaching math. It has been on the walls of my parents home from before I was born until they sold the house they have been in for 25 years just a few years ago. It’s not my house without this painting. Now it’s my house!

Jeep is fine. The vet said she definitely needed to come in given the symptoms, but her feeling better this morning seems to be because she IS better. Yay. I hate having a sick pet. She was REALLY not feeling very well last night. The only bad news about this is that she peed all over the inside of the bag I brought her in (she doesn’t like cat carriers and is happiest in a little dark cave, e.g. a bag with only a little open above her head). I scrubbed the inside of the bag out when I got home, then inverted it to air dry on the porch. I haven’t spent any time out there since the whole bird situation, but I’m almost glad Jeep had her nervous accident.

When I got out on the porch, there were three birds tweeting and flying around overhead. It was clearly the three baby birds that remained from the nest. I had only seen two in my photograph, so finding three was a treat. What transpired was mostly captured on film. It’s a crazy, frenetic film, and I swear one longish clip didn’t make it on to the camera – probably because the batteries were dying. But I think you’ll like this, especially if you were reading about the ones that didn’t make it last weekend. I can’t believe how fast they grew! Mom said it was probably because of the spaghetti!

Baby Birds Leave the Nest and Go Off Into the World! from abbyladybug on Vimeo

Now the nest is empty!

And guess how much I’ve studied today. 🙁

This morning, I heard momma bird tweeting on the porch, so I peeked out and watched and saw her fly up to the light fixture in the ceiling, then disappear! I couldn’t figure out where she’d gone. Later, when I came back home from the gym, I inspected further and made a discovery:

There is little space above the light with a nest! If I’d known where to put them on Saturday, maybe they would have made it (or maybe not). I just had no idea that space was even there. I climbed up on the side of this piece of furniture I have out there and took a few fast pictures, one with a flash for detail. If you look closely, I think that it’s clear that there are two more baby birds. Maybe I should make some more spaghetti to ensure their healthy growth!

Closer view:

I just went outside and checked, bringing fresh spaghetti and water. I’m pretty sure they are dead. The top paper towel covers them, and I haven’t heard mom today. They are not moving, and there is poo below one of them. Again, 99% sure that both have died, but I am going to wait until tomorrow just to see if momma needs the spaghetti… in case there are others tweeting in a nest above. If they look like they do now tomorrow, then I will find a place to put them. Not sure if I want to toss them into the woods, throw them away, bury them. I’m thinking about option #1… best they serve a good purpose in nature. It isn’t as tragic as if they had been killed by my cats, or if I was 12 years old… It’s sad though.