WhenWeAreQueen

I have the time but not the inclination to write about anything today. 

Except to note that we are being subjected to late September weather in mid-August, so by October we should have a foot of snow on the ground.  From what I understand though, a mild El Nino is developing in the Pacific, which bodes for a mild, wet winter for us.  Just what I was looking forward to:  cold, rainy weather from October to April. 

Are teenagers missing a synapse that allows them to understand the link between actions and consequences?  Charlie is on a “banking” system for free time during the school year, wherein he earns play time (including time for extracurricular choir activities) by depositing homework and study time.  If he fails to make a deposit, he can make no withdrawals—and this includes not being able to attend choir rehearsals and shows outside of school hours.  This last regulation led to much wailing and gnashing of teeth, with the inescapable, concomitant “Why are you doing this to me?”  I just looked at him owlishly and blinked. 

Our ornithological entitlement program proceeds apace.  I hung a feeder not three feet from the kitchen window, and the freeloaders were in a frenzy within an hour.  Still mostly brown birds, but an occasional goldfinch appears.  I also hung suet and peanut butter in the oak tree in the middle of the yard, hoping to get more visits from the pileated woodpecker we’ve seen a couple of times.  We don’t have any blue jays, which disappoints me; they are my favorite bird (if I were a bird, I’d be a blue jay or a mockingbird!).

Imagine my surprise when, on my run today and a good half-mile from home, I (literally) almost ran over Tiger.  He ranges far afield for a small domestic animal.  He stopped to let me greet him (I hope he doesn’t take candy from strangers), then jumped to the top of a six-foot fence and was gone.  He’d better be looking both ways before he crosses the street.