dual personalities

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope you were able to get out and about this weekend. We buzzed over to Washington, MO and walked around a bit and ate lunch, but it was a blustery, cold, overcast day and not really conducive to hanging out.

We went home and opened a bottle of rosé in the Florida Room. However, Mother Nature intruded traumatically on our wine time. A large hawk flew into the forsythia bushes bordering the south windows, pounced on some small creature (which screamed) and then crashed into the metal wall. We jumped up and saw the hawk on the ground as it collected itself and finished off the poor creature (a baby rabbit? a bird?). It then flew into the neighbor’s yard and tore into its victim as we watched. Homicide: Life in the Backyard.

Yikes. Nature red in tooth and claw indeed. Murder and mayhem is literally all around us. I suppose it is good to be reminded of this once in a while. I remember the boy being traumatized at age 6 or 7 when he watched his cat tease and torture a baby rabbit it had caught. He chased the cat away, but lesson learned. House pets are not that far removed from their jungle cousins.

That memory in turn reminded me of the time that same cat was languidly resting in a tree (lion style) on a branch that hung over the driveway. My children frolicked in the back yard. I was watching from an upstairs window when a large black lab trotted up the driveway. The cat went on alert and when the dog was directly below him, he pounced on its back, scaring the bejesus out of the dog, who took off running. The cat was all like, take that, you big dog, walking up my driveway and threatening my children. His behavior was a revelation to me. I had no idea that a cat would defend/protect its territory like that. Maybe he just felt like scaring a dog, but I liked and admired him a lot more after that.

Sunday was a beautiful day, clear and in the 70s with a light breeze. We went to our favorite winery in Hillsboro, Wild Sun, and sat in the sun, listened to live music and drank a bottle of wine. We packed a picnic and brought my new portable table. Perfect.

Meanwhile little Katiebelle is being appropriately indoctrinated.

Can’t wait to see her on Wednesday! Have a great day today and don’t forget why you have the day off.

P.S. Here’s a little something to take you reeling nostalgically back to middle school. RIP BJ Thomas: