There Are Two!

I looked out this morning and saw a different, darker Red-tailed Hawk on the fence, then I noticed the light colored one on the trellis in the garden.  There are two hawks here!  (It's kind of hard to see the one in the lower left because its back was to the camera.)  I watched them for a long time wondering if the darker one might be the parent because the light one kept making the begging call (I looked it up).  When the darker one flew away I couldn't see the tail well enough to see if it was red but I don't think it was, which means I have two immature hawks hanging around.  The lighter one is very vocal, flying around the neighborhood calling "pwee, pwee," which in Red-tailed Hawk lingo translates to "feed me, feed me."  The light one pounced on something in the garden but I couldn't see what it was and it didn't fly off with anything in its talons.  I'm having a lot of fun watching these big birds.

And at the other end of the bird spectrum, the Hummingbird came to visit and stayed long enough for me to take non-blurry photos.  This one is a female (no red patch under the chin) so maybe she has a nest she's tending and just needed a break.

I had to go to get a prescription this morning so I treated myself to strawberries, blueberries, red grapes, and chicken breasts from the grocery where the pharmacy is.  I found instructions on the internet how to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the slow cooker and not have them turn out dry and rubbery so when I find them I've been cooking them up, dicing them up, and freezing them in 2-cup packages for recipes.  (This plate full made three 2-cup packages.)  So handy.  (The recipe is: lay the boneless, skinless breasts in a single layer [crammed together is okay] in the crockpot, add herbs, salt & pepper to taste [I make mine plain for chicken salad or casseroles], cook on Low for 3 hours. If you want to do two layers of chicken you have to cover it with broth because the top layer doesn't touch the heated bottom of the crockpot. Keep any juice in the pot for when you need chicken broth.)

The yellow Asiatic lilies are a-bloom in the front of the house



and Dad's roses are blooming right next to them.





15 June--Barbara Malcolm, Tropical Obsession. 

              Like a green arrow, the tall Caribbean pine pierced the bright blue sky. No clouds marred the blue as Jack drove toward the tree. Toward the tree, he thought, feeling like a foolish child on a scavenger hunt. The clues that Manning left for him were just like that, clues fit for a child’s game of pirates. Each time he followed one his pulse pounding, his palms sweaty, only to find another taunt at the end, he resolved to stop.

              He didn’t tell Mona where he was going when he went on one of Manning’s wild goose chases and she had stopped asking. Jack hated the way he felt not being in charge of things. In all his other dealings whether business or personal it was him, Jack, who called the tune. He was the one who sent people running from pillar to post, beads of sweat dusting their upper lips, to do things and get things for him. He was not sent ignominiously all over the place only to be laughed at. No one laughed at Jack. Mona had once right after he had acquired her. She was immediately made to understand how wrong that was. Mona was a fast learner.

The rental car rounded the curve where the road swung nearest the shore and the setting sun almost blinded Jack. Barely able to see, he eased the car into one of the wider places carved through the scrubby brush and parked. Once the engine was off, the only sound was the shush of the waves as they ran up on shore rearranging the broken coral pieces in the shallows with a sound like wind chimes. The rays of the sun quickly heated up the car's interior once the air conditioner was off, so he cranked down the window to try and catch a breeze. Wishing he had a camera he admired the way the clouds turned from white to pink to gold to iron gray as he watched. The silhouettes of the cactus on the horizon reminded him of hands reaching, clawing up from a fiery pit into the cool night air. A sudden step beside the car made him jump, but it was only a nanny goat and her twin kids crossing the road to feed on the leaves of the thorn bushes that had unfurled after that morning's rain.

I need to do something tomorrow.  Maybe I'll mow the lawn, but I have to do something.  I took a walk today but it wasn't enough.  I'm getting tired of myself.  Understandable in this odd time but still something has to change and that something needs to be me.
--Barbara