There's A Cricket In The Corner

Sunday, July 24, 2011

You Never Miss A Beat With A True Friend

I met Pam through my friend Belinda in 1990. Our mutual friend died suddenly in 1995 and with that, I lost touch with Pam. We had chance meetings, but maybe we avoided each other because we reminded each other of how we missed Belinda. Maybe it was her busy life with six children or my busy life with two children that at times seemed like six. It doesn't matter now. Pam and I will always be friends whether we see each other daily or yearly. And when we do see each other, it's a wonderful homecoming.

I saw Pam holding a "Vote for McCain" sign on the corner near the voting precinct. I had started a big vat of Pasta Putanesca that morning and brought bowls of tomatoey goodness to Pam and her fellow McCain supporters. She and I picked up where we left off, enjoying each others' company and friendship. Pam's oldest daughter barely 30, died a few weeks later in a car accident. I was there for her and it felt like God placed me in her path when she needed me. Life got busy and somehow we eased out of each other's lives again.

A year passed and on Friday morning I picked up the phone and left a message. "What's up? How are you? I miss you..." and I got a return call that very evening. Pam's daughter was getting married the next day and Pam was overwhelmed. Kym and Ben decided to get married just 3 weeks ago and the wedding was Saturday. Could I help? And so I picked up where I left off, helping clean the church, decorate, etc. for 80+ guests.

Pam's husband (also named Ben) is a minister and their church had to be decorated for a gothic, but very Christian, ceremony. The reception was in the same room. Black, burgandy, and gold were the colors. I made runs to US Toys and Dollar Tree for plastic table covers, party supplies. Do you know how difficult it is to make goth look not creepy? We did it! I bought cream colored candles, fresh apples, and clippings from our backyard boxwood hedge and made decorations for the food table, laden with dozens of covered dish meals.

The couple met on an online Christian dating site. Both like goth clothing and vampirey junk, not my favorite, but to each their own. So for their champagne (ginger ale) toast, I made a special hard candy glass dip, which they loved. It was a great day.

I love Pam and it was such a great day to enjoy her company and work with her.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Bye Bye Birdie!

Yesterday I drove from Apopka to Cocoa (an hour and a half) and handed over two adults, four eggs, and two adorable nearly 5-week old weened chicks. I only wanted one canary and now I own only one canary.

Let's back up a few weeks:
When the chicks were just 14 days old, we took our annual week vacation at Cocoa Beach. You can't exactly leave chicks with a neighbor at this stage, and so they got a vacation too. I was delighted to meet Mega Bird Store owner Donna when I drove into town for some birdie supplies. I was already feeling overwhelmed feeding and cleaning up after three chicks and two doting parent canaries, as I knew this scenario would repeat itself in just a few short weeks; Canaries typically have two clutches a year. Donna asked me if I'd consider selling. Well, YES! First I needed to wait for the babies to mature, so I left with her business card.

Knowing I only wanted to own one canary, I went home and pondered which bird to keep. Keep the adult male, a proven singer? I would have loved to, but this was not a possibility, as he is a great daddy bird and feeds mommy bird while she nests, then feeds the chicks almost single-handedly (beakedly?) from about 1 week until they are weened at around 4 weeks old. Although the chicks were weened, Jo already laid a second clutch and I could not separate him from Jo and the current nest of 4 eggs (due to hatch around June 27th) and so I chose the yellowest of the three babies, Chick #2, chosen not only for his color, but also because he seems the most laid back and I need a little bird that will roll with the punches, handle the changes in locale and care takers, as I travel a lot. He will either ride along or will be left behind with family or friends.

Chick #2 - no name yet

They say you cannot tell when a canary is a female until she lays an egg. And you cannot tell if a canary is male until eggs hatch! Other than a pricey blood test, there is no scientific way to tell the sex your bird as all the parts are hidden away inside. Non-scientific signs point to the three canaries I had as all male: longer middle toe than females have, hides in nest with head down and tail up when just feathering (girls sit there and stare at you), tries a few notes of a trill, and has vibrant colored feathers. All signs point to males. But then again, some females share the same physical traits and mimic males in song.

The deed is done, the birds are all gone but one and now I wait to see if this little yellow bird will sing as pretty as his father sings. This morning I played some YouTube canary songs (it's good training to give canaries something nice to imitate) and my lone bird listened intently, clung to the side of the cage and cheeped and chirped and strung a few notes. When I played his daddy canary's song, my lone birdie got very animated. It's a beginning, but nothing that would knock your socks off. Time will tell.

Chicks 1 and 3 - Parting Photos

Please forgive my fingernails. I had a manicure after these were taken. Also please forgive the difference in color intensity. Light/shadows/camera flash seem to make a big change in feather color. I took the pictures of the birds as I moved them from the big cage to a temporary little cage so I could clean the big cage before transporting them to the Mega Bird Store for sale.

Both of these two chicks have the same facial markings - white bandit masks. The older Chick #1 is a bit more yellow, stands erect, and has rounder eyes that appeared black upon hatching. Chick #3 has less yellow, has sleepy eyes (like his mom) that were pink upon hatching, and Chick #3 likes to puff up and sit low. This could be remnants of him being the baby. Both are alert and cheerful. Both showed positive non-scientific signs of being male, and both are vocal with cheeping and peeping. One of them actually stood erect at his food bowl, stretched tall and puffed out his neck while trying to string together a few notes several times, but by the time I got to the cage to figure out which bird it was, they swapped places several times. It was impossible to tell them apart from across the room.