Sat in the swing this morning and ate my bagel and cantaloupe. Actually stole one of Stew’s plain bagels. I love the blueberry ones but mine were all gone. Day started off with a pretty blue sky but the wind picked up and the sky clouded over. Did not go to grocery store so I’m in the last throes of double-mint gum withdrawal.

Saw my little downy woodpecker friend this morning eating from a suet feeder. Seeing him started me pondering on woodpeckers. Downy woodpeckers are the smallest of woodpeckers but so handsome in their checkered coats. I was watching him peck on the oak tree trunk before he flew over to the feeder. Knew it was a male because of the little patch of red on the back of its head.

I couldn’t help but wonder if they get a headache or crick in their necks or sawdust in their eyes after all their pecking. Course mother nature designed them with special membranes on their eyes and little bristle feathers on their beaks to keep the saw dust away. They peck 15 to 16 times a second! Took me three seconds to tap my finger to 15. If they are drilling holes they might peck 12,000 pecks day. Their little brains are safe from concussions, too. The red headed woodpecker’s beak hits the tree at 13 miles an hour!

The wind drove me and Penelope inside and I sat down in my lady den to drink a glass of tea and let two hours slide by while I watched watched Gunsmoke and Bonanza. I know I’ve watched all the episodes but I love a good western. Once the shows get started, I have a hard time turning them off. Kills me when the Cartwright boys call Lorne Greene, “Pop.” For some reason I think of the word Pop as a modern moniker.

Watched Bonanza for years. Think we all watched it together as a family. Never realized that the Cartwrights wore the same clothes on every episode. And all the Cartwrights wore hair pieces except Little Joe. Read Lorne Greene had a scene where he jumps in a lake and his hair piece floated up before he did. His hand shot up and snatched the hair piece and he slapped it back on his head. Gonna watch for that scene.

I’m always watching for Michael Landon’s cowboy boots, too, because he had four inch platforms on his boots. They never show them. AND why did they all have problems keeping a woman. Guess that would have ruined the story lines of the patriarch and his three sons.

Remember growing up when the whole family watched tv together. Most homes had only one television so they had to share their tv show choices. Now days there are televisions in every room in the house and cartoons are on 24 hours a day. My generation watched cartoons for several hours on Saturday morning. We called Saturday, Cartoon Day. When the cartoons were over it was back to bike riding and playing outside. Sunday morning was the Bull Winkle and Rocky Show but going to Sunday school cut into watching those cartoons. And Sunday night was the Wonderful World of Disney shows. Loved those movies! I’ll never forget watching my daddy cry when we watched Old Yeller.

As I get older I wish the world and life could be simplistic again. We need to find joy in the simple things — a bird on a branch, a baby’s sweet smile, a sun beam warming our cheek. Be content with quiet and savor all life’s blessings.