I love how my family looks out for my mental well-being. And yes, I suppose I am!
My desk sits in front of the perfect bird-watching window with a new squirrel-proof bird feeder perfectly aligned for my viewing pleasure. This is thanks to the same child and husband concerned about my avian bird obsession.
My children learned well from us. Even though we told them that we didn’t want them playing video games all the time, ironically, it was still the first gift we bought them for just about every holiday.
So, for Christmas, my sons amusingly bought me a bird feeder with a video camera. With the phone app for the feeder, the whole family logs on and gets identification notifications and can watch, talk and even sound an alarm to scare off the furry little piggies that want to gorge themselves (you know exactly who I’m talking about).I think “I’ve hooked them!
Brandon in Michigan, Luke in Missouri, Kenny in New York, and us in NJ, now can bond as a weird bird FAMILY!”
I was convinced I had found the perfect place to mount the feeder on a tree near our deck. Wrong. Squirrel moved in immediately. The first time we sounded the alarm to scare it away, it twitched ever so slightly. That was it. It gave no finks. Then we gave a shout. Nothing!
So I’m in the house contemplating my next move, and I hear my Michigan son screaming at the squirrel, which throws me into hysterical laughter. Next, we get a text from my Missouri son saying he can hear me laughing, and then from my New York son, “No luck, Ma. No finks will be given.”
Then, the identification notifications began to alert us. Apparently, there is a Chinese Pond Heron, then a Great Horned Owl, and even an Emu… which NY son promptly texted that it could really be a thing because there had ACTUALLY been an emu on the loose in our town. Yes, really!
In all actuality, it was a squirrel butt… and after completely emptying the feeder, I wished it massive squirrel shoots from being such a gavone (Jersey for pig).
We figured out a workaround and put the feeder on a pole in an umbrella stand in the middle of our yard with no overhanging branches with a squirrel-proof baffle on the bottom. And now we can enjoy the feeder for what it is: my weird bird lady fix!
And p.s... when the men are home, I will often hear them engaging with the friends that visit the feeder. Mission accomplished!
Do you enjoy watching birds just as much as I do?
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