Sialia sialis

Today is the wonder chimp's birthday, and I'm embarrassed to say I don't know how old she is. Not that she'd want that information spread all over the internet, of course, but you'd think that after spending 2 weeks in Oz and every Sunday since 1995 with a person, I'd have a clue.

Marjorie got that nickname after I snapped a photo of her when she came down the stairs one New Year's Day at our house. I'd post the photo, but that wouldn't be cricket, would it? I sent her a nice gourmet basket to her condo on the Gold Coast in Chicago, which should be there when she gets home from work this evening.

While I was performing the floral transaction, I spied eastern bluebirds in the trees and on the bird bath right outside my office window. This is the third time I've spotted them here at druid labs east. Never once saw them at the midwestern abode, though I did sometimes see them in Lyman Woods, a forest preserve just at the end of our street. They never cease to surprise and delight me. hobbitt and I lost an entire afternoon in the spring of 2003, watching them in this same place. It was a rainy April afternoon, and we had stopped home in the middle of running errands, but the rest of the errands never got run. We are simple people.

In January of this year we had a long, bad freeze here, which is unusual. hobbitt and I decided to take a rare morning hot tub, complete with a carafe of fresh coffee. The water steamed when we opened the cover, and my hair froze quickly in the few places the water had splashed on it. Within a few minutes our yard was filled with birds, probably looking for a source of open water and attracted by the steam. Most notable were the six or seven eastern bluebirds that perched on the fence not 15 feet away from where we soaked. They must have been pretty desperate, as they were not the least bit shy.

So I know they're here, and I know they're here year-round. Maybe this winter we'll get it together to run the birdbath heaters and see who shows up. It's not exactly no-money fun, since it takes electricity to keep the heaters running, but it's pretty darned close.