Lesson 418: Red

This Friday night blog post is dedicated to Red Robin,
my favorite mother bird I've ever watched here at the Lamp Post.



Her eggs hatched on Mother's Day weekend.

In seven days time, they went from this, 

to this!

There's four babies in there--

they are hard to capture at the same time.

The one who hogs the north side of the nest hatched first

and is the hungriest.

I love this bird family so much because the father bird is around--

a lot!

He brings worms faithfully every day at 4:30.

When Momma was threatened by a nearby Baltimore Oriel,

she knocked her babies down in the nest,

fluffed herself out extra fat,

and sat on top of them guarding them with the loudest cry.

Other bird news of this Red Week:

Found a Red-Winged Blackbird!

I hollered to Sam's team not to lay down in the outfield,

or these nearby vultures would make a bloody mess of them.

My ball players suffered puffy eyes thanks to nature's release of the seasonal 

white fuzzies!

Pollen can be a real bitch to some,

but in keeping with nature,

bitches are usually really pretty.

I found this rare red trillium at the Envirothon on Thursday.

It's a great learning activity for kids.

You get to handle cool things,

Put on some hip waders,

and when someone yells, "Snake!"

kids run toward it instead of away from it.

Speaking of running,

We have been red-cheeked here at the Lamp Post

from all of the outdoor exercise we've been getting.

We usually quench our thirst with straight H-2-Oh!

but once in awhile we grab one of these.

Love the Coca Cola marketing campaign this summer!

The familiar red labels have song lyrics!

Northwestern High School rolled out the red carpet for Natalie and her friends

for the Special Needs Formal.

At school we rolled out the red carpet for the incoming Kindergartners!

Mother Eloise was flushed red with emotion on Mother's Day,

with the displays of appreciation from some people I love.

A card just from the girls?

Sam insisted on getting his own card this year.

It's a musical card and the pig farts classical music.

I loved the awesome bracelet from my sister.

According to Alex and Ani,

the Keys to Life are:

Despite the unpredictability of May weather,

and May calendars,

the month has come with a comfortable familiarity.

Red morning skies,

Old, red trucks,

and Grandpa sitting by his red garage.

Happy moments--

blessings of fresh, new babies,

And the discovery of the thirteenth citizen of my Paper Town,

Hawkingville,

on Friday the 13th, nonetheless!

All of us here at the Lamp Post wish you a happy May weekend

It's goodnight for tonight.

Eloise is very, very tired.

XOXO

Good night kisses,

and say your prayers.

ELOISE