Birds of a Feather!

I went to visit my birthmother over spring break. We haven't seen each other in eight or nine years so it was overdue! She's like me, she has her romances with objects that catch her fancy. This time I noticed that a flock of birds seemed to have descended on her house, framed and hanging on the walls and interspersed among her books and other intersting things. The story gradually came out that her sister, Courtney, says Mom lives in a birdhouse because the vintage fourplex they have very successfully made into a single family home has lots of little rooms (8 bedroom and four of everything else to be exact!). From this, birds have grown on her and found their way to her and been given to her by observant friends. We even re-hung a couple of bird paintings so they could be nearer the rest of the flock!

One of the results of this visit was that I left her with my rather nasty cold. (Sorry Mom!) But I wasn't aware until this week that I had been exposed to something contagious too -- those birds! I think I got the better end of the deal!

When I started writing the explanation of this blog it all came out in bird metaphors! I didn't go looking for them, they just came to ME -- or should I say flocked to me! Now I see that she got my cold and I got her bird affinity!

I'm currently scouring all my regular junk-acquisition haunts for the perfect bird to go with the nest I had tucked away on a shelf in an old bowl (which is not to overlook the box of vintage ceramic birds that I just put away on moratorium). And I'm also at what I hope is the end of a two-year search for a wreath festooned with blown eggs (hopefully in a variety of pale shades of brown and blue and green -- very Martha Stewart!) and maybe a shadowbox with speckled eggs or robin's eggs in it -- or BOTH! All of this will somehow converge into some sort of artistic photograph for the header of this blog someday (hopefully soon!). I can see it in my mind's eye already!

Yikes! Yet another collection! I counted once -- have over 100 different collections (not different ITEMS in a collection but 100 COLLECTIONS!). It's TOO much fun but sometimes it threatens to take over my house!

The bird theme got something of a divine seal of approval in my sentimental, superstitious eyes last Saturday when we watched the Kentucky Derby.

Matt was always a big Derby fan. He started the Kentucky Derby tradition. It's particularly fun when you research it a couple of weeks in advance and watch the broadcast of the drawing of post positions so that, by the time the race starts, you have a good knowledge of the facts and stories and are well oriented to the whole thing. Matt has called the winner each of the last four years (don't ask me how he does it!).

This year we forgot to research so it was all fresh on Derby Day. I'd batted this wild, stray thought down a few times but finally, just before the race started, I said (aloud, thank goodness!), "One of the horses with 'bird' in the name will win." Some silly something in the back of my mind had whispered to me, "if a horse with 'bird' in the name wins it means your bird-brained blog idea will fly!" Yeah, right!

Summer Bird was at 42-1 odds and Mine That Bird was a 50-1 longshot. I lose every year so it didn't hurt to endorse an impossible favorite -- or two. Friesan Fire was supposed to win but Mine That Bird (and exactly WHAT does that name MEAN?) came from dead last to pass all the other horses like they were standing still and won it with many lengths to spare! Hooray for the underdog!

Cosmic blog confirmation? I don't know but I'll take the vote of confidence -- wherever it came from! Even if that's nowhere.