DOVE UPDATE

I snapped a picture this morning but I can't tell whether this is mother or father.

Maybe some of my "dove experts" can tell me.

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Later: SWMBO wisely suggested I look on the Internet to answer some of my questions.  So I did.  And I learned this: Incubation takes two weeks.  Mom and Pop take turns on the nest, he usually in the morning and early afternoon, she in the afternoon and night.  Also: when one or the other is flushed from the nest, it will typically flop to the ground and flutter around as if it has a broken wing.  This is to lure the predator away from the nest.  That's exactly what happened when I took today's picture.  The camera makes a little beep when it takes a photo and that apparently frightened the bird, which exploded off the nest and then down to the ground about six feet away and began fluttering around on the ground, one wing sort of acting like it wasn't working well.  Horrified, I retreated to the house and when I checked later, the bird was back on its nest.  Fortunately the rowdy departure had not dislodged the egg(s).

DO DOVES CRY?

I have a small problem.  It's a dove mother.  Or mother dove.  It's in a tiny nest on the arbor in front of the house.  A week or so ago, I noticed a shattered egg on the tile.  I looked up and saw this rather raggedy nest.  And I saw a dove's tail end on top of it.  Uh-oh, says I.  They're breeding.  But it's been several days now and each time I pass under it I look up and there she sits.  She has reversed her position now so I'm looking right up into her face (?).  Her big dove eye stares back at me and never blinks.  Nor does she tremble or move even a millisec.  (Whatever that is.)  I had become concerned and asked SWMBO "do you suppose she's dead?"  I mean, she looks petrified.  But then she reversed her position so I know she's alive.  And that eye.  It haunts me.  It doesn't blink.  I wonder if doves CAN blink their eyes.  She doesn't seem to be afraid of me, though I stare at her from only a foot or so distance.  And she stays.  I mean, the temperature has been around 90 in the daytime and she's always on the damned nest!  I asked SWMBO tonight how long dove eggs take to hatch.  She said maybe as much as three weeks.  I said "But she doesn't ever seem to leave the nest.  What about food?  What about water?  I've even thought of somehow bringing her a tiny cup of water."  SWMBO laughed at me.  She said "she'll be okay, she probably leaves the nest to eat and drink . . (SOMEWHERE) . . in the early morning."

Well, we don't particularly like doves.  They cluster around and they're noisy with their "hoo-huh-hoo-hoo" sounds constantly.  But.  And it's a big but.  This is a mother dove.  So I'm stuck checking on her, worrying about her.  Gawd!  I feel so stupid.



If you're still reading, give some thought to my blogger buddy Joan, down in Charleston, South Carolina.  She seems to be right in the path of the new Hurricane Irene.  Tell her to keep her head down.

STUFF I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT

O.K.  Brace yourselves.  I'm finally gonna blog but I'm not sure where this is heading.  I may offend some, or all, of you.  But, what the hey, I'm old now so what do I care?

I'm watching the Iron Chef on the Food Channel.  I love this show.  But I think Morimoto might get beat tonight.  Wait.  Let's see.  Well, I'll be darned.  He won it again, in all categories.  But he cut his finger.  So it goes.

Libya.  The rebels (who don't want to be called rebels) apparently are winning a decisive battle in Tripoli tonight.  Two of Gadhafi's sons reportedly are in rebel hands.  Many, many residents have come out praising the turnover.  There is still shooting as I'm writing this and Colonel Gadhafi is still urging his supporters to continue fighting.  There is a BBC report that he is in Algeria but the daffy dude is unpredictable.

MY Arizona Diamondbacks have now lost five games in a row.  The Giants finally won today so they're only 1-1/2 games behind my guys.  We have a few more days out of town before the team returns home, which is usually much more friendly to them.

It is hotter than h--- here but, as I remind myself, it is only the third week of August.  It's Arizona.  It's supposed to be hot.  But we could use some of that monsoon rain that is slipping off to the east.

Speaking of which, another hurricane is heading toward Florida.  It may only be a tropical storm by the time it gets there but it may also gain strength.  No one can really tell, in spite of all the technical skill the weather forecasters now have.

We had a visit from a friend today who worked in television and radio for many years.  She, as she has told us on the last couple of visits, has become totally upset with "our" old t.v. channel in Phoenix.  She complains about their programs but mainly today about the use (or over-use) of the term "you guys" by the t.v. news reporters.  As in . . . reporter pitching back to the anchors "so that's it from here, guys . . ."  Never mind the fact that the anchors are a "guy" and a "gal".  She says everybody overuses that term and she hates it - "Can you imagine Walter Cronkhite ever saying that?"  Well, no, I can't.  But times change and so does language.

I have another friend who has been a lifelong liberal Democrat.  But he is just beside himself with the actions of President Obama in the past nearly three years.  But I say it's a different time and a different scene in Washington.  I think he's doing the best that he can and we need to just give him time to do what's best for the country.  My dad was a lifelong Republican.  But he always watched the presidential speeches on television because "he is our president."  In these times, people seem to forget that we have only one president and he represents all of us.

One other subject to rant about.  Education in the U.S.A.  I was shocked, as I can imagine many of you were, when I heard the news story about the teachers who cheated on their students' tests to pass them on.  One teacher said "what are we going to do when we have a student who comes to begin high school and they are reading at a third grade level."  Too often, students have been passed on and on and on without doing the work or learning ANYTHING.  I fear that we have a generation, perhaps two generations, of young people who are virtually illiterate, who have no job skills, no education.  They've been trained to pass "the test", not to know anything.  I can only wonder where this nation is going with all of these un- or under-educated children "taking over" for we older and dying people.  Where will it all end?  Is it Rome all over again?

O.K.  I think I'm through for now.  I'll get back to you.

LOOKING AROUND OUTSIDE

Let's see how observant you are today.  See anything?

O.K.  I'll make it easier for you.  How about now?

Oh, all right.  Let's get in nice and close.

You should now be able to see the tail end of a dove, nesting in the arbor in front of our house.  I don't know what she'd do if I turned on that string of Christmas lights beneath her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the yard, these things have taken bloom.  From the number of buds, it looks like it will be a good year for them.


They're pretty but there's one problem.  I can't remember what the darned things are called.  Any help out there?

Update:  The flower is called "Rose of Sharon".  My thanks to the lady who planted it - the Beautiful Rich Daughter.

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC!

O.K.  Here's a short introduction to music appreciation.  It came in an e-mail from a former colleague.


Music Styles




JAZZ


Five men on the same stage all playing different tunes.

 BLUES


Played exclusively by people who woke up this morning.

 WORLD MUSIC



A dozen different types of percussion all going at once.




OPERA


People singing when they should be talking.




RAP


People talking when they should be singing.




FOLK


Endless songs about shipwrecks in the 19th century.




BIG BAND


20 men who take turns to stand up plus a drummer.



HOUSE MUSIC


OK as long as it's not the house next door.

DOG(?) DAYS

So, people say "where's your blog?  Haven't seen a new post for awhile."

And the only response I can come up with is "It's the middle of August, I'm bored, and lazy.  It's the Dog Days."  Or as you might say in our neighborhood, the Cat Days.

ALL HAT - - NO CATTLE

I'll bet you thought this post was going to be about the presidential campaign announced today by Texas Governor Rick Perry, didn't you?

Sorry.  Fooled you again, just like the clouds over our part of Arizona.

Some promising clouds in the sky yesterday.  It's been mostly overcast much of the day today.  Rain?  Only a few drops.