Daily Reminder # 686

Beautiful day here, though it could have been just a touch warmer to make me truly happy. Still, all in all, it was lovely.  I think that photo above is one of my favorite ever sparrow photos. I do feel like the chipmunk and sparrow photos are mostly just do-overs of previous shots of the same birds doing visiting the same porch and eating the same seeds most of the time. I'm always kind of thrilled when one of them poses in a way I haven't seen before. This little guy was a champ. But that reminds me... what have I done to the bird population that visits to my back yard and porch are limited almost exclusively to three chipmunks, two sparrows and one dove, with an occasional bunny or woodchuck?  I'm feeling deeply rejected.  Besides that, I think maybe there's an owl in the neighborhood. There's something out there at night making a sound I've never heard before. It could be something with four legs too, I guess. I have no idea and no idea how to find out.  Another mystery today - the two photos immediately below. I saw the bird with the wide open mouth and was trying to figure out what type of bird it is. Then a little sparrow came up and seemed to be feeding it. Surrogate parenting, I think. Anyway, it's an multi-level mystery... the kind that make me crazy because I know I will never solve them. Then there was the mystery of Rosalie's phone which would not hold a connection with mine. She thinks the problem is with my phone, but I think it's hers. Time will tell, I guess. Anyway, I don't have anything intelligent to say tonight - not even pretend intelligent. There are some really good Neale Donald Walsch reminders but I kind of hate to fall back on him every day, so I'm just going to post photos and gratitude and hope that I can string a few intelligent thoughts together tomorrow evening. 


UPDATE:  Thanks to Quilly - see comments - the mystery is solved. This is a baby cowbird. The adults lay their eggs in the nests of other birds who are left to feed and nurture them. They apparently keep an eye on the nests, though they don't nurture their own young and if the bird whose nest is is rejects the eggs, they kill off the other eggs. Their activities have endangered a number of smaller songbird species. Guess my snarky GOP comment doesn't hold up so well in this case. Sigh. 

Anyone have a guess what kind of bird this is?
It seems fairly large, especially for a youngster...

How sweet is that? The GOP could learn a thing or
two from this little sparrow. Sometimes you take care
of those in trouble even if they are not your own.

Some things I'm grateful for today: (Items in red are pre-gratitude. I am endeavoring to embrace my inner rich person, my inner lottery winner, my inner ... well, you get the idea. Also hoping to inspire the Creative Forces of the Universe to lavish me with large and small gifts.... especially cash.)

• Angel and Tara Grace
• coffee and Int'l Delight
• granola bars
• water
• my computer
• the internet
• email
• Google
• SKYPE
• that Blogger fixed their coding
• computer games
• electricity
• my Tibetan salt lamps
• Pandora radio
• my awesome Bose speakers
• the joy of listening
• the joy of singing
• the human voice
• celery
• cheese
• sight
• taste
• touch
• smell
• hearing
• litter box changed and garbage out
• the garbage man
• the US mail
• Janet the mail carrier
• the telephone (which hopefully isn't broken)
• Food Stamps
• Schwans
• my TV
• the remote control
• the mute button
• Comedy Central
• Jon Stewart
• Stephen Colbert
• PBS
• HGTV
• my camera
• the view from my front window
• my back yard
• my back porch
• chipmunks, sparrows, doves and mystery birds
• flowers
• the colors of the rainbow
• my rock collection
• a sunny day
• lavender
• all spice
• white sage
• grapefruit
• Dr. Bronner soaps
• Dr. Ihhiru probiotic soap
• my bathroom
• indoor plumbing
• my electric toothbrush
• Listerine
• an inexpensive safe way to connect my dryer
• winning lottery numbers
• $5,000/week for life from PCH or a million or any large sum of money
• a truckload of money (big bills)
• freshly painted living and bedroom walls
• a mattress for the guest bedroom
• new curtains
• blinds for the front window
• a sun room on the back of the house
• company/companionship
• Nintendo
• more flowers/landscaping for the back yard
• a reading and healing with Nancy DuTertre
• a gathering of those I love for my 65th birthday
• more paying reiki clients
• one or more whistling vessel gatherings
• a ceiling fan in the bedroom
• a new (Dutch) front door
• clean windows (getting really hard to take pictures past the dirt)
• zero balance on my credit cards
• lower interest rates
• a paid off mortgage
• a safe, good way to sell some jewelry I no longer wear 
• seeing the red list turn to black
• reiki
• angels
• miracles
• Dennis Puffett
• Healing with the Masters
• Netflix
• the ability to read and write
• the ability to type
• the capacity to think and change
• my microwave oven
• my kitchen
• my chair/walker
• my cane
• that my legs still wobble me around with help
• Advil
• my grabber
• Sam-e
• Omega-3
• IP-6
• Vitamin D-3
• Coconut Oil
• my alarm clock (early day on Thursday)
• the boom box by my bed
• my mattress
• blankets
• beauty
• kindness
• imagination
• ideas
• words
• literature
• poetry
• my nieces, my nephew and their families
• that they are happy, healthy and successful
• my friends
• my neighbors
• open windows
• my desk chair
• paper towels
• teeth
• a beating heart
• a reasonably functioning brain
• breath
• hope
• resilience
• determination
• possibilities
• love
• laughter
• life

I WISH YOU MIRACLES AND KINDNESS 

AND ALL GOOD THINGS