Day 33: Nesting, Part II

It was a meandering and yet highly productive Sunday. It started with the usual nonsense: laundry, vacumming, etc, but went up from there. Fred and I headed to the Seed and Feed store on Route 1 in Walpole. I'd been wanting a bird feeder for the tree I see from my kitchen window. First we relocated the squirrel-proof one from the front yard to the back yard, then off for seed. The woman at the store was incredibly helpful (insert Fred groaning here) and set us up with the right seed mix to attract interesting birds as well as a good hanger with a seed block for it. Who knew bird seed was so intense? We got everything all set up and sure enough, the birds came a flocking. Soon I'll be a birding fool.

The birds actually put me in mind of my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Roberts. He was an old-school style teacher. He could have started each school day with that childhood chant:

Concentration has begun
No more laughing
No more fun
If you show your teeth or tongue
Out goes Y-O-U

Mr. Roberts put the tense in Attention. Anyway, it was his tradition to assign The Bird Project every year in the Spring. (The Leaf Project was in the fall.) I don't remember all the details, but I know each of us was responsible for identifying a minimum 40 if not 50 birds. There were rigorous and exact requirements for the project and woe unto you if you weren't able to complete it. That was the year my family went to Disney World for the first time. Disney had a huge bird sanctuary at that time. Jackpot, right? Wrong. I could use the birds I saw there as extra points, but I still was responsible for identifying 40 local birds.  I can still remember some of the birds I learned about because of that project. Every time I see a Red-Wing Blackbird or the Black-capped Chickadee I think of Mr. Roberts. The chickadess were in full force today in my backyard tree and Mr. Roberts was in my thoughts. It's funny the things we remember.

I then headed inside to finish putting together the dresser and nightstand from Ikea. I got it done and although I'd love to say I did it all by myself, I didn't. While Fred took Connor to ref his third lacrosse game of the day (he's been bitten by the money bug), I attacked the nightstand. I was so proud that I had most of it finished by the time he got back. Of course, the fact that I nailed the back panel to the wrong side, which I had put on backwards, was a minor point. He had the good grace (and sense) to make a joke of the whole thing. He loves when I play Lucy to his Ricky. It's a common theme in our marriage. (Note to Self: Write pilot for new Lucy show with Lucy as black woman and Ricky as typical sitcom husband. :D)  Once I got it taken apart, including taking out all 27 of the tiny nails), I got it put it back together the right way in record time. Guest bedroom redo getting closer to finish.

Now to sit, knit, and watch the Sox. Better grab my rally cap...I'm pretty sure I'm going to need it.