Spent most of the day outside sitting in the swings. The sky was perfectly beautiful, dark blue, full of fat fluffy clouds, some carrying rain in their bellies. No rain here but an occasional brisk wind battered the wind chimes, pounding out loud symphonies. Just a beautiful day all around. Lots of birds and butterflies. Watched this large yellow butterfly flit all over my yard this morning. It crossed the street and was flittering around in the yard over there and a mocking bird swooped down and gobbled it up! I honestly did not know birds ate butterflies. I was crushed to see it end up like that!

I walked Penelope at dusk and got mesmerized by a flock of geese flying high up in the clouds. I heard their squawking before they got close enough to see. The geese were flying in their traditional migrating V pattern. Actually the flock turned into two Vs as it passed over my house. I wonder how far they have travelled. A flock of geese on the ground is called a gaggle but when they are flying in formation they are called a skein. They are so noisy with their honking. It must be deafening up there flying with them.

I got so excited watching the geese I forgot about taking notes on the sunset. I saw a beautiful white crescent moon hanging in the sky before the night sky came to be but I didn’t watch the sun set. I did notice the horizon was bathed in a pale yellow light so I guess Mother Nature was subdued in her sunset painting tonight, choosing shades of yellows to color the horizon. Father Sky, on the other hand, waked up the sleeping crescent moon and decorated the night sky with countless bright stars. The moon was just gleaming in the clear blue sky. I’m so glad the man in moon has kicked his cloud covers away.

Finally got my photo taken by the Shady Oaks’ sign. If you’ve been reading my blogs the last year you know my youngest child threatens, in good fun, to pack me up and send me to Shady Oaks. On the Golden Girls tv show Dorothy ships her mother off to Shady Pines but I’m being shipped off to Shady Oaks. It’s a good place for birds and squirrels and chipmunks and crazy old ladies. It’s surrounded by lots of old oak trees. Guess that’s where the name came from.

The first time I got threaten to be packed off to Shady Oaks, I was under the bed in my room getting the new baby bed mattress out. I was going to try and ride it down the stairs to test it before I got the grandchildren to come over for a ride. I saw some kids riding down the stairs on the internet on a small mattress and it looked like great fun. They were riding down 6 steps and I have 13 steps to the first landing upstairs so I knew we’d get a good ride.

Anyway, my youngest son asked me, “WHAT are you doing?” I proceeded to tell him about the stairwell amusement park ride and he proceeded to tell me that the grandchildren would hit their heads on the mirrored dresser on the wall at the bottom of the stairs and “DIE!” Then I said, “I’ll try it first to see if it’s okay.” His words were, “Are you crazy? I’m calling Bro and we’re packing you up for Shady Oaks!” We just laughed and I sheepishly put the mattress back. I’m going to do it one day. My dearest friend said she’d ride with me. We’re not afraid!

Next time I did something stupid he says, “Have you had a stroke? Come on I’ll take you back to Shady Oaks. It’s Bingo Day. You love that!” I always reply, “I don’t like their Bingo prizes! I’ll just escape again!” Then he mumbles, “Bro is going to have to pay me to watch you!” We enjoy this bantering and laugh but I sometimes wonder if maybe I need to go. It’s a miracle I can drive to visit the grandchildren by myself! And I pass Shady Oaks on the way!

When we get to a certain age we all do dumb things and wonder are we loosing “it,” whatever it is. I was talking to my cousin on the phone and told her I had to go because I couldn’t find my phone. She burst out laughing and said, “You haven’t lost it. You’re talking on it!” Got to admit I felt pretty stupid.

Lost my breakfast bagel the other day. Looked everywhere for it. Even the trash! Later I hear, “Mother! I found your bagel in the freezer! I’m calling Bro. Start packing!” I know I did not put it there.

And how many of us look for our glasses when they are on our face (me) or resting on top of our heads. Oldest sister-in-law lost her glasses last week after having them repaired at the doctor’s office. She back tracked through all the stores she had shopped in and going into WalMart, to check for them there, she saw her shadow on the pavement and wondered what that was on top of her head. Yep, her glasses! We really got a chuckle from that. I actually invited her to live at Shady Oaks with me after that episode. Lost her glasses today and found them hanging by the nose piece on the china cabinet in her dining room. She almost called middle vet brother to see if he knew where they were. He would have probably told her to pack for Shady Oaks! She might be past the Shady Oaks’ stage.

I think we all carry our phones around while we’re looking for them. My friends do this frequently. One of them is looking for her medical bracelet, looked all over the house…I told her to check her wrist! She’s already signed up with me for Shady Oaks. My oldest and dearest friend is signed up too. She’s the youngest of us but she loses her phone, too. She lost something the other day and found it the next day in the freezer. Can’t remember what she lost, though, but she was delighted to find it!

One of the us is afraid of critters and knows I’m a critter magnet. She told me, “I hope there’s no python there.” She forgot it was my resident king snake, Balthazar, and not a python that sun bathes in my kitchen window. He is not invited to Shady Oaks. The raccoons are not invited, either!

We’re are requesting to be put together in the same room at Shady Oaks and we’re bringing our four dogs and one cat. And my friends have to bring a 20 pound bag of sunflower seeds for our bird feeders. Hope four beds can fit in one room. We’ll probably squabble about who gets a window by their bed. We’ll have a great time if we don’t lose each other! Guess I’ll start packing!

“A friend is like a good bra: hard to find, comfortable, supportive, always lifts you up, makes you look better, never lets you down or leaves you hanging, and always close to your heart.” — Jasinda Wilder