It's Father's Day again. Last year I wrote a lot of really good stuff about my dad. Not hard to do. Every day is Father's Day when it comes to how I feel about my dad.
I called him today and as usual, enjoyed catching up on what's going on with him. At 89 you'd think it might be boring to hear about his life. But somehow I continue to be fascinated by him. He's been "awful busy" this week. He had cleared some land just east of the house that has been nothing but tall weeds for years. This spring he cut it all down, disked it, and put in part of his garden there. I guess he's been planting grass seed on the rest. Now you have to understand that in order to do a lot of this work, he had to remove the giant snow blower attachment and the cab from his garden tractor, and attach God-knows-what else in order to work on the garden. This is not child's play. Attaching and detaching a snowblower from your garden tractor, and then attaching a set of disks is pretty strenuous work. (He is quick to remind me that my brother and his son helped him get the snowblower on at the beginning of the winter. But I'm pretty sure he took it off himself.)
He was very happy to report that his strawberries are coming on real good. I asked him if the robins were bothering them. "Oh no, I put a net over them." Now these robins, (known by their scientific name, "damn robins") as you may remember are the arch nemesis of my father. Year after year they've been eating every last cherry on his one and only cherry tree before they're ripe enough for Dad to even taste one. And sure enough, the "damn robins" are already feasting on the few barely pink fruit on that tree. But he did buy a whole bunch more netting at Wal Mart and this week he's really going to do the tee-pee thing over that tree. This should be good. I'm really rooting for him. If he wins the battle of the birds this year it will be a victory long in coming.
THIS JUST IN!!
I just did a little research to find out more about the robin and cherry thing, and found this bit of information in a web article called,
"Little Friends In Feathers":
"Thus, from March to June, the robin lives on ground beetles, larva, angle worms, spiders, snails and dry berries left over on winter on bushes He helps himself to orchard cherries in June. Late cherries he does not touch, ...... "
I have to let Dad know about this right away! If he can just get past June, he might have a fighting chance. I'll tell you one thing, he refuses to take this lying down. He's only just begun to fight. I really think the tee-pee is going to work. Go Dad!!
I don't think I'll share this next bit of the article with Dad. He might not agree with it:
"Birds are our little brothers of the air who help us keep the earth green and fruitful. They alone are able to keep the unseen armies of insect enemies in check. We need their help, and how willingly they work for us. Of all our little animal brothers they alone can sing and fly. They take up no useful room, and they earn their own living." (HA)
"At the same time they make the world a more beautiful place to live in."Yeah right. Tell that to Dad after the damn robins have eaten all his cherries, then deposited the after-effects in little polka dots all over his nice black driveway.
It's my birthday. I cannot think of any greater gift than that which I already have: the love of God, the love of my husband, the love of family and friends, and the knowledge that each day holds a thousand gifts hidden within it. The trick is to seek them out like treasure. Thank you God for my life. Thank you for Life.
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