As I was attempting to finish the last job of the day, before I am allowed to re-enter the Homestead to enjoy some air conditioning, and hopefully have a meager bit of food, then being sent to bed, there was a bird telling me what he /she thought of my work. I was picking the black berries as this bird was presenting its entire vocabulary. As you should know, the mocking bird does not have just one song, and this bird was using all his /her vocabulary to tell me he /she was not happy with me picking the ripe berries.
I have seen these feathered thieves eating my berries. They eat a portion of a berry then go to the others. Why can’t they eat an entire berry, leaving the others for us?
Well this story is not about the black berry thieves, it is about a mocking bird that is very smart.
It was about 2:00pm on a non-typical June day. The temp for the last three days had maxed out at 99 degrees. Our area is 8 inches behind normal for rain this year, and I was attempting to provide some moister for the vegetation in the front yard. There was a single mocking bird watching my activities very intently.
I began spraying the Jasmine which is a vining plant that covers the ground completely and our Jasmine is about a foot deep. (I have called it Jasmine, there may be another name for the vines.) As I sprayed the plants there would be an occasional bug to fly up and out of the leaves. The mocking bird would then swoop in and catch the bug. This happen several times and each time the bird would get closer to me as he /she watched for the possibility of another bug.
At one point the bird was within three feet of me and my spraying. The bird was not fearful of me, and I was appreciative of its removal of the bugs. That is known as, “A team effort”!
Let us focus on something different. I have completed a study of the blooming floral here at the Ford’s Homestead, and I would have supposed that there would have been an equal amount of color distribution from the flowering plants. What I found is very upsetting and for some of us very hurtful!
Pink is the prevailing color as displayed in the following photo.
I reviewed the flora all around the homestead and pink, or variations of pink, is the prevailing color. I asked our CEO about the prevailing color and her comment was, “Pink is pretty”. I then asked, “Where is the Blue”, and her response was, “there was a blue bloom in the flower that is growing in a crack in the cement out back. I immediately proceeded out back to the cracked cement and the wild flower. There may have been a bloom at one time, but it was no longer there. With tears in my eyes, I walked aimlessly around the property wondering why only a female color was dominant here at the Homestead. I did see an orange colored bloom, but it did not provide any relief for my sadness. Click on the photo and you will see a pink bloom in the background.
Sadly, I write this article hoping you have more color in your world than I do, here at the Ford’s Ole Homestead.
Unhappiness continued, those people who were supposed to be here putting in our lawn sprinklers last week, and now this week are still not here. Failing to install this week will end the project as far as I am concerned.
Enjoy the day, and try not to be unhappy for me!
Don Ford
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