As the caffeine finally started kicking in, I realized that the loudest of the bunch was a chickadee. And there was another one singing back. One squawking and one singing. A cardinal calling from the north to one in the south. Then dead silence. That's not usual in my backyard. Definitely cranky.
The chickadees reminded me of my grandfather. He used to feed the birds. He built contraptions to keep the squirrels out of the feeders. He loved the small birds - finches and chickadees.
There's picture floating around somewhere of him with a peanut in his mouth and a chickadee taking it from him. He used his retirement time well. He taught my grandmother to do the peanut thing too. No easy task since her normal speed was GO, GO, GO. That same chickadee came back each spring for a couple of years. Pepere kept feeding it by mouth.
He taught me to play poker when I was about 2 years old. Of course I don't remember that but here's a picture and that's what I'm told was going on.
He also taught me to play cribbage when I was much older. We used to play all the time. We were a pretty even match. Then he had a stroke. It took a while before he was willing to try to play again. When he did, he got confused. Sometimes he'd miss points or he'd use my pegs to advance instead of his own. One day, I noticed that he only used my pegs when he was behind. I called him on it and he roared with laughter. He was back.
Besides games, he taught me to love the land, how to plant a flower garden, to be patient, to see the humor in a situation, and how to laugh at myself. His greatest gift was unconditional love.
Peace
