Our Purple Tree, Spring 2012

There's a purple-flowering tree in our yard. I think, technically, it is called a Redbud. All I know is that each spring it goes through a purple phase before turning green.

'Tis the Season

We decorated our tree this evening. Though it was not a particularly cold evening, we had a roaring fire and a hearty homemade spaghetti dinner to put us in the mood. And we created a Christmas music station on Pandora; Tchaikovsky (snowflake waltz), Wyndham Hill artists, Laurence Juber, and the like.

We have more ornaments than we need, and fewer lights. We have balls made throughout pre-school by and for both of our daughters. We have reindeer made from popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. We have knit things and glued-on-paper things and hand-made ceramic things (made by very little hands).

There are Giraffe- and flute-themed ornaments for Karen. There are golf- and football-themed ornaments for me.

We have a lot of ornaments.

We generally put our tree up late in the season. But we also keep it up longer. Karen was raised in the Orthodox church that celebrates the religious holiday of Christmas on January 7 (little Christmas).

Every year I grumble that Christmas starts too soon. But when we get to this part of December, this is a holiday I really like.

These Birds Have Flown

The mourning dove who nested this spring in one of our hanging plants has left for the summer, taking her chick with her.

The dove appeared in the hanging basket back in May. She was well-hidden while the flowers were alive. When the flowers died -- I didn't want to water them with the nest in there -- she lost her camouflage. At that point, we could see that she had two eggs to hatch.

In the last week or so, a chick appeared and started to put on weight. We watched it carefully. It didn't take long before it was ready to head out. Now our birds are gone.

We found the second egg, unhatched, in the nest. We're not sure why this egg didn't make it. Maybe it wasn't properly fertilized? An unfortunate mutation? Whatever it is, we have to assume that nature knows what it is doing.

Mazeltov! Mama Bird!

We have a baby. The dove that has nested in one of the hanging plants outside our front door has at least one chick.

There were two eggs, though, and we're not sure what has become of the other. It could be that it hasn't hatched, or the chick is well-hidden by Mom. Or maybe that egg just didn't make it. Nature.