Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. A flock of crows have been hanging around the neighborhood lately. I've watched some of them fly through the backyard, coming to rest on the tall, leafy skinny tree (possibly a birch) next door.   Caw. Caw. Caw. Caw. I never paid attention to these birds until one Sunday afternoon in 1994. The First Husband and I lived in an apartment building on the northwest flank of Mt. Sutro in San Francisco. That afternoon I was home working while the First Husband was attending a powwow. While I was looking out the window, a crow landed on our balcony. I moved closer to the window. It didn't faze the crow. That crow and I gazed at each other for a long while. I felt the crow was assuring me all would be well with the First Husband who was diagnosed with cancer. Until a few weeks before he died, I saw and heard crows often. There were afternoons where I'd see a crow circling above the trees near our carport. Same crow? Maybe. Hearing or seeing a crow mell

"Slow down," shouted me, leaning out the passenger door window. "Elk!" The Husband obliged. Click, click. "There are buffalo, too," I exclaimed. The Husband took me for my word. His cataracts don't let him see the details in the far distance. The animals were probably a city block or so away. Of course, we weren't in a city, but on the back road behind Mt. Hamilton, in San Jose, on the way to Patterson, a Central Valley town next to Interstate 5.  That was last month on one of my birthday adventures in Sedgwick, the rental car. Today I enlarged and sharpened and did Photoshop voodoo on the digital shots until I got good enough photos. The buffalo were cattle. So much for my eyes. The other creature certainly was a gorgeous young elk buck. He looked as if he was posing for me. A tourist with her dagnabbit camera. Click, click. The dude was a tule elk, which supposedly is found only in the grassy and marshy areas of California. I read

Molly and I are joining forces today because of whatnot and this. Maybe it'll be a regular thing. We shall see.  Missy Girl wants you to know that today's post is also her Molly's Monday #15. Molly the Cat: Speaking of seeing, Missus Lady watched a hummingbird in the front yard yesterday. Szzzzz. Szzzzzz. I love watching hummingbirds, but I missed out because I was napping. "You snoozed, you lost," Missus Lady said when she wouldn't let me go out as she was coming in the front door. Speaking of snoozing, this is what I found when I got back to my desk yesterday evening. The Husband wondered why Missy Girl just didn't go under the table if the light was too much for her. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Did I Say You're a Troll? Molly the Cat: The other day I overheard Missus Lady telling Hero Man about a post she was following at a local Facebook group. There was one part that was miao, miao.  Human #1: Of course you won't believe me. You already think

This is one of the Barnyard Races at our county fair last month. The cute piggies soared around the track. If you blink, you miss them running by you.

  The caterpillar does all work but the butterfly gets all the publicity. ~ George Carlin

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." ~ Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

The Daddy and The Mama raised chickens in our backyard, as well as a cow, several goats, a couple of pigs, and a whole bunch of pigeons. All for food. We lived in a house on a decent size lot with a big field behind us, about two miles outside of city limits, so they could. The neighbors on either side of us didn't complain. Not that I knew of. During the summer, my job was to feed the chickens, which lived in a structure with two small rooms that The Daddy built. There was enough for the chickens to roam free. And wild, so I thought. When I opened the door, it seemed like they were waiting to attack me. Cackle, cackle, cackle. Flutter, flutter of wings. Bwak, bwak, bwak .  It freaked me out. I imagined them pecking me to death. My method of feeding them was to throw a handful of feed into a far away corner, step in, quickly fill their trough with feed, and get out the door as fast as possible. Shudder. The other evening we were over at the ranch of our good friends Missus and

Last week was the wedding of Winnie the Wallaby and Thomas the Tree Kangaroo. They hope you enjoyed the fun. They are honeymooning in Australia and New Zealand, by the way. Their reception was a blast. Sorry to say, pictures have yet to be processed. Judge Jennifer the photographer has been busy in court, and her assistant Zebediah the Zorilla Striped Polecat is no where to be found. Neither is Nalia the Napoleon mastiff of the Nfinity x 3 Security, for that matter. Some of the creatures say the two have taken off to Las Vegas. Fortunately, I have at least one more photo to show from the wedding. Winnie, Thomas, and some of us wedding attendants thought it would be fun to pose in a silly face-in-hole board. Crazy, huh? Us, animals, in human bodies. The wedding cake by Katja the Kookaburra was delicious. The music by Leticia and the Ladybugs was delightful. The decor by the Max Family, divine. And, when Hazel the Hammerhead Shark finished the Hawaiian Wedding Dance hula, there

"Agathe, welcome! Thank you for coming all this way," said Xuxa the Xantus's hummingbird, meeting her heavily breathing friend at the top of the high knoll outside of the Honalee Bay Aquarium and Garden. "Xuxa, dear, you look lovely as usual." Agathe the Aardvark blew kisses as she readjusted her red hat. "Oooh, the photos do not do justice to how chic and pert your hat is." Xuxa twirled as she would on a fashion show catwalk. Blowing kisses to Agathe, she said "Merci beaucoup for my red Parisian beret. I love, love, love it." Agathe and Xuxa sat in the shade where the Xantus's hummingbird had placed water and snacks. Agathe sighed contently, taking in the changing landscape from the canyon to the distant mountains. "I do love your view, Xuxa. I must come and visit you more often." "Anytime. You have carte blanche in our meadow," said Xuxa. She pointed to the mound by Agathe. "Fresh termites, Love?&qu

"Ladies, only two weeks more!" Winnie the Wallaby said, waltzing dreamily around the room in her wedding dress. Edwina the Egret , her best lady, sang, "Waltzing Mathilda..." Two of Winnie's better ladies joined in the song. As they sang, Judge Jennifer the Jack Rabbit hopped and pirouetted while Undine the Uakari twirled and swayed around the soon-to-be bride. "Glorious!" Winnie said out of breath. The four creatures clapped and hooted. "Too bad the other better ladies couldn't stay." "These dresses are gorgeous," cooed Edwina looking at herself in the mirror. "I feel so pretty." "That's because you are pretty, Edwina, dear," said Undine. "The dress has nothing to do with it." Edwina kissed the cheek of her favorite uakari. "Oooh, what do you think Iago will say when he sees her?" Winnie teased. Edwina blushed. "Enough of me," she huffed, pretending to inspect her right

"Oh, my," said Valentina the Vietnamese Elephant, touching her trunk to her heart. Tears of joy nearly blinded her vision. She smiled at her newly adopted son. "You are in for a surprise, my little Volare." "What did you see out there, Momma?" the little boy asked, stepping towards the opening among the trees. "Whoaaaa! Who are those animals coming down the hill?" "They are all your new family, Sweetheart. They've come to welcome you home." Volare jumped up and down. He ran to his new momma and melted into her body. He loved her the moment he saw her just a few hours ago. Mmmmm. Valentina scooped up her new son and carried him into the open field to meet her friends, the ABC Creatures , led by the soon-to-be-married couple Thomas and Winnie. "Momma,  Momma," said Volare. "They're singing my name!"   V is the theme for this week of ABC Wednesday . Check out the meme here and the l

"Sweet loveliness, I want you to take your boots off and lay yourself on that grass right now," said Undine the Uakari firmly, yet gently, to her friend, the wedding planner. "But," said Agathe the Aardvark . "No but's, Girl! You can hardly keep your eyes open and tail up." "I don't know how professional wedding planners do it." Agathe gratefully kicked off her red boots. "Just a few more things to sort out, then I can sleep through my days again." "Ha! That's what she said last month," said Bingo the Byrd from the branch above Agathe's head. "Hello, Bingo, I didn't see you there," Agathe said, turning her neck to look up. "That's a cute hat. Is that an umbrella?" Bingo tittered. "It's an umbrella hat! Undine made it." "I have one for you, too, Agathe." Undine opened a multi-colored umbrella hat, twirling it for the full effect. Agathe giggled and stomped h

"Hey, Best Man, look how sharp you are," said Thomas the Tree Kangaroo, jumping to the next branch to make room before the mirror. "I believe you," said Iago the Iguana , his eyes shut and sweat pouring down his brow. His nerves were frayed from being high up on the tree branch and not from being confined in a powder blue morning suit tailcoat, blue violet vest, and a powder blue top hat. "If it weren't for the vest, Iago would be completely powder blue," said Charlie the Camel from the ground.  All of Thomas' grooms animals laughed, including Iago. "Eh, mate, you going to be okay?" asked Thomas, looking at himself in the mirror again. Bubba Byrd perched on his shoulder while Ghandi the Giraffe hovered behind them. Iago opened one eye and glanced around at his friends. "We do look good in these wedding clothes."  Filemon the Flying Squirrel and Thomas did a high five. "Iago, remember to give Guy A. Gator his

"¡Hola, Señors, Señoras, y Señoritas! ¡Bienvenido!" said the colorfully dressed instructor perched on top of a very tall stool.  Welcome, One and All, to El Studio de Salsa, Samba, So Forth and So On." The snail spoke clearly, boldly, and charmingly for all the larger animals to hear. "Me llamo Stanley, the Salsa King.  In six weeks time, you all will be dancing the salsa, samba, rumba, cha cha cha, and merengue at Thomas' and Winnie's wedding reception." Lemon meringue pie?" Guy perked up, bringing Charlie the Camel out of his reverie to nearly stumble over the alligator. "Dude!" Edwina the Egret sighed while Agathe the Aardvark rolled her eyes. The other animals giggled and snickered. "You are all nervous, no?" asked Stanley the Snail. "Yes!" his students said in unison. "Good, good. Let us channel that nervousness. I want you all to close your eyes, listen to this Eddie Palmieri song, and simp

Cheers to Steve Arevalo, Big-hearted Teddy Bear of a community activist! May his spirit soar in joy and peace throughout the Universe! This story is for you, Steve. Agathe the Aardvark stood at the podium, looking out at the enormous room filling up quickly with Rhonda the Raccoon's family,  friends, and colleagues. All the bayside windows and doors were wide open for Rhonda's ocean friends to be part of the memorial. Agathe listened to snippets of conversation among sniffles and loving laughter: "We could always count on sweet  Rhonda." "I hope she bit him deep and hard, I do." "If only she didn't have such a temper." "That evil man deserved what he got. Rescinding environmental regulations, poo!" "The Humans should be thankful Rhonda's last words were for us to stand down and not seek revenge." "Brava, Rhonda!" Agathe turned to the portrait of Rhonda hanging over the stage. She will mis

"Tall and tan and young and handsome. . ." sang Quinn the Quokka. Quaid the Quoll cleared his throat mighty loudly. The quokka stopped singing and raised a questioning eyebrow at her fellow marsupial. She had to be careful what she said next to the carnivore. "This Honalee Bay Aquarium & Gardens place wants two animal per letter, right? We've got it made, Sheila," said Quaid. "All we gotta do is show up at the auditions. You're the cutest thing in the world. Who wouldn't want you? And who wouldn't want tough quagmire me." Quinn sighed. "One, I would rather be picked for my talent than my cuteness. Two, I have a name. Three, the talent scouts plan on stopping in Central America." "So, Quinn?"the quoll asked, emphasizing the quokka's name. "There's a chance they've already decided on that quirky quetzal bird. I'm sorry, Quaid, but I must be chosen. My mate Winnie's getting married

The orange cat looked down at me from his frozen perch on the neighbor's pergola. "What are you doing up there?" I asked, pulling my camera out of my pants pocket. You never know when a photo opp appears. The orange cat stared at me, seeming to say, "You don't see me here." Squawk! Squawk! Squawk! A blue jay flew from the neighbor's roof into the neighbor's tree. Oh. The cat was what that bird's problem is.  I wondered how long the cat had been up there. Squawk! Squawk! Squawk! "You're not going to get that bird from there," I said. "That's what you think," said the orange cat. "Be gone now." So, I went. Now that the April blogging challenge is over, I'm back to my regular stuff of nothingness. Thanks, Jane Austen, Action Doll, for taking over last month. If you want to read her doings, click here . Today, I'm hooking up with Our World Tuesday . Check it out here .  Thank