Bye Bye, Birdie

Sad news on the Mourning Dove front. This morning, Mama was gone and so was the egg. :-( I looked all over the ground and couldn't see where the egg had fallen or broken. Maybe another animal raided the nest and took the little egg. Mama hasn't been back since. I took the nest out of plant and discarded it. I was perfectly willing to enjoy my front seat view of Nature while it happened naturally, but I've got a ton of plants that need regular tending. Having her nest there wouldn't allow me to water and prune without disturbing her. So I guess it all worked out for the best. Except for the missing egg.

So here ends the Mourning Dove saga.

Poor Mrs. Mourning Dove

A few developments in the bird watching.

First, I think Mrs. Mourning Dove is flying solo on this nest. The nest was pretty much abandoned all night (I know because I was up feeling ill), but Mama was back this morning. I read that if the mate is lost for any reason, the remaining bird will continue to try to incubate the eggs. Which is generally unsuccessful. That is bad news. :(

Second, Mrs. Mourning Dove is sitting on her nest currently ... in a downpour. And she didn't build the nest under cover, so she is getting wet and cold. I feel bad for her, but seriously?!? Who builds a nest exposed to the weather?!?

I'm getting the distinct feeling that this family isn't going to survive. Sad, but it's how Nature works, right?

A lot happens over night

I headed to Winston to hang out with The Boy on Saturday afternoon, leaving behind perfectly happy hanging baskets and potted herbs. I returned on Sunday afternoon to a developing new member of the Short family. :)

A mourning dove pair has taken over on of my hanging baskets and turned it into a nice little home for future generations. Overnight a pine straw nest was built and a perfect little egg appeared. Isn't this absolutely precious?!?! I don't even mind the loss of my flowering basket because now I get to watch Nature happen. Hopefully things will progress nicely and in two weeks I'll share some baby pictures!! I read that there are usually two eggs per clutch, so maybe Mama has yet to lay her second egg. I hope. :)

I also read somewhere that Mourning Doves are monogamous, and both Mama and Papa work to incubate and raise the young. In fact, after the squabs are born, they hang out with Papa until they are ready to live alone. And Mama and Papa can have up to six clutches per season! If that is the case, my flowering basket is gonna get A LOT of action in the coming months. :)

A new blog to read

I've finally restarted my teaching blog. Please take a moment to check it out. It's just begun so there isn't much there, but there will be! I promise!! :)

Change is gon' come ...

The Boy moves in on Wednesday. Gulp. He's only here through the end of the summer, but we haven't spent more than a week together in three years (?) so this could be challenging. I'll be working most of the summer as well as a little bit of traveling, so we'll definitely have time apart from each other. But having him in my space pretty much non-stop for two plus months will be ... interesting.

Don't get me wrong. I am SUPER excited to have him here. We've been surviving on weekends and the occasional week for the past three years, and it has definitely gotten old. It will be wonderful to come home in the evening and have him here. It will be great to be able to talk to him pretty much any time I want. It will be a relief to share the responsibilities of being a doggie parent. It will be pretty fantastic to have his cooking and cleaning skills at ready access. It will be good all around ... except for the adjustment of actually having him here. That may take a few weeks to adjust to.

I really have become a solitary creature. I like my space. No. Let me rephrase. I LOVE my space. And I don't like to share it. I don't mind people coming to visit and say with me for a few days or a week, but, beyond that, I get antsy and testy and a little frustrated. Even with people I love deeply. It's not my most endearing characteristic, but I'm pretty sure that it comes from living alone all this time. And I LOVE living alone. I like being able to dictate my own schedule, clean and cook when I feel like it, not worry about where I left my dirty socks ... I'm really too independent to live with other people. I absolutely love The Boy, so I hope that I can suppress my anxiety and make everything work out!

Days when teaching gets you down ...

... it's always nice to come home to things like this:

"In case you didn't know, it is teacher appreciation week. Thank you so much for helping me with my writing. You are my favorite teacher. Thank you so much for everything.

Sincerely,

Sebastian

P.S. Can you find out if you can teach 7th grade LA next year?"

Makes it all worth it. :)

Life update

School is pretty crazy right now. Actually, it's really up and down. There will be five days in a row where I don't even have time to breathe, and then there will be four days when I can't find enough work to keep me busy. I'm not sure where I am in that spectrum right now, but I'm sure I'll find out within the next day or so. All I can really say is that school is over in 27 days, and I am thrilled! I've had a wonderful year, but I am certainly ready for summer's recharging powers.