Lola, When it stops raining here and the stars come out again I will go out and "blow a wish" on a star for all the children. And one for you:) I see many beautiful sights here where I live. The other day I came home from running errands and got out of my car and looked up and saw a red tailed hawk flying low enough that I could see it in detail. It was flying straight toward me overhead and I saw it had a snake in its talons dangling. I thought "oh please don't drop that on my head:) As it flew over my head I saw the sunlight beaming so brightly through it that its "red tail" looked pink. When it flew directly over me in stead of continuing its line of flight it circled once over my head and then continued on its line of flight. For me it was a gift from God. Just a simple beautiful gift, a reminder to "stop and smell the roses" in the midst of a busy day or to stop and LOOK UP.
Val

In the park where my friend and I walk, there is a hawk's nest in a Eucalyptus tree. Every morning we stop to see how baby is doing. The parents are usually perched on a high branch while baby is on a lower branch just above the nest stretching and flapping his/her wings. It's quite a sight! This morning none of them were visible, so I guess baby finally learned to fly. There are so many birds in the park - we even saw a killdeer that was there for about a week, then was gone. There is so much to see here, even in town. I am constantly full of awe at how plants and animals have adapted to the desert, and how many of them there are! What a wonderful world we have been given.

We have a hawk nest in our back yard. Every year we wonder if they will return and so far they have.

Sometimes one will sit on a stump outside the diningroom window and gaze at us. Occasionally we seem one swoop down to grab a mouse or something then fly with it in their talons to their babies.

They are so beautiful. I also love the deer family that comes to the creek for water.

smile

Deer! Gosh. That takes me back to my parents house in Northern Duchess Country. Their retreat house upstate NY had a 10-minute walk drive and when I was in my teens we used to run into deer crossing the drive a whole lot. Never approached them because of deer ticks. And in the late Autumn, out of whack migratory geese would sometimes descend on the front lawn which my little sister would chase thinking she could coax them to fly back to Canada.

I have a conker tree in front of my house where birds perch for their morning songs. They share it with pigeons, blackbirds and magpies. Some of the pigeons are almost as huge as hens and those sometimes fly kamikaze onto my second floor front bedroom window. They survive the mishap but the mess they leave behind is not a pretty sight. The tree's reflection on the panes must play a lot of havoc with their flight path.

Val: Many thanks. I always blew a wish on a star since childhood for a cousin who had polio when she was 11. She made us promise to carry on for children so, it has been a tradition of my generation in the family (since 1962) and I pass it on when I can.

Wow, conkers. I remember playing conkers as a kid. Not sure if I could remember how now, but I think I remember it being fun! Talk about a blast from the past. Amazing how memories get triggered by the simplest of things. Thanks, Lola, for the reminder.

What is Conkers?

If I remember (and we're going back about 50 years here!) conkers are chestnuts (maybe a certain kind of chestnut?). We used to drill a hole through them, run a string through the hole, knot the end so it wouldn't slip out, and leave a few inches of string on the other end. We would then take turns swinging the conkers at someone else's conker to see whose would break first.

Thank you Yonuh. I must confess I have never played conkers or even heard if it. How about double dutch? Anyone play double dutch when they were young?

Val, I think conkers was a British thing. I was born and grew up there until coming to the US in the 1960s with my family.

Hi, Yonuh: Seems like we have traded places on either side of the pond. They have become very "scientific" now with conker smashing. Goggles when in serious competition, would you believe? Health and safety requirements by the PC brigade.

Hi, Val: Never could get my rhythm with double dutch! But, with a nudge, I might just be able to skip rope and cross. Now, with its revival, I despair losing the skill with hula hoops. Can't get the thing going now.