Top Ten Reasons to Celebrate Mother's Day

We had, as it turned out, an amazing weekend and a lot to be thankful for. So here’s my list:

1. A visit from the Husband’s Mother, otherwise known as MiL, who spent a happy weekend pulling weeds from the patio pavers.
2. Knowing that the Other Mother (mine), was safe, well, and reasonably happy at her home on the other side of the Great Divide.
3. An absolutely gorgeous weekend, sunny and seasonally warm on Saturday though cooler on Sunday. A weekend to be outside, and we were.
4. The arrival, Husband says, of the Bullock's Orioles, one pair streaking through the yard. Our (well, his) first sighting this year, though others have reported them back for several days.

5. Not one, but 3, male Black-headed Grosbeaks hanging about to provide company for the females who arrived earlier. We usually get to see the annual babies soon after they fledge.
6. A BRAND NEW BIRD in the yard, in fact two or more of them, which are reported below.
7. The digital camera, in the temporary absence of the bird book, with which to seek –and instantly get—a correct identification.
8. The discovery that our live-in feral cat, Morticia, who escaped on Friday (giving me great cause for alarm), was safe in the garage with Baldur, our current top-of-the-pecking-order male, and the attendant relief when we maneuvered her back into the house last night. (Now if we could just get her fixed!)
9. A great hike on Saturday, and making it to the top of North Table Mountain (and down again) in my inadequate condition, without excessive rebellion from my knees—and seeing lots of birds and flowers and no more than eight mountain bikers and (on top anyway) no leafy spurge! Coulda been worse.
10. Seeing that almost everything out there comes in pairs, from the bunnies in the yard, to the finches, sparrows, mourning doves, and orioles, to, memorably, the swooping, cavorting pair of Red-tailed Hawks we saw from the rim of North Table Mountain. It is, after all, the Lusty Month of May!

And, Number 11, if I may cheat a bit, ALL THE FLOWERS!! Even without an adequate supply of April showers, or even March snowstorms, we are blessed with blossoms. Our moisture will, at least, get them started—but we’ll need something more to keep them going.