A Disney Princess Sort of Day. :-)

It was my husband's birthday, and he wanted Domino's pizza for his birthday lunch, so into town we went. We got our pizzas, ate a bunch in the parking lot, hit Giant for some purchases for extra gas points, then headed home. He dropped me off by the Barrens for my walk.

I wasn't planning to make much of my walk, but it was a gorgeous day, just about a perfect temperature, with lovely soft breezes, and all of the creatures were out! There were flowers everywhere and the recent rains have helped a bit with the ponds, which had been dwindling.

The first pond was my first stop, and its reflections were green and lovely. And then, as I walked over to check out the second pond, two spotty fawns approached me. I spent about a minute snapping photos before their mom ran by at top speed, and they all scattered! I suspect they would have walked right up to me if she hadn't been there!

I turned around and came back to the first pond, and this time, I noticed motion on the far end. What was that? A little bird of some kind? Well, as it turns out, it was some kind of duckling or gosling, pretty much by itself. (My best guess is Canada goose gosling.) It was floating all around, nibbling on things, and generally having a great time.

I worried about it being alone, and probably flightless at this point. But I don't know its back-story. Where did the bird come from? How did it get here? Where are its family members and parents? I do not know. I hope it does okay.

And as I thought about it being alone, I noticed that it wasn't, actually. For there were three turtles on the far end on a log, and the bird seemed to be intentionally hanging out around them. The turtles, surprisingly, did not move.

If you look at the photo in the extras, you may see the wee bird and two of the three turtles, the smaller turtle being about the size of a Kennedy half-dollar, or maybe even just a quarter! All together now: AWWWwwwwWW!

I took my leave of the Barrens, and walked home, to find my husband - on his birthday - changing the oil in my car! He had the garage door open, the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and he was happily performing the task.

I sat down in a lawn chair and hung out in front of the garage while he did that, and I helped as I was able, for I am a girl who is not afraid to get a little grease on her hands.

As he went indoors to do something else, I'm not sure what, suddenly there was a ruckus in the yard! Three huge birds came through like gangbusters! HAWKS! Two big and one absolutely HUGE!!!!

They landed in some trees in our front yard, and of course, I, with camera, ran out after them, hoping to get some photos. As they all took off, I got some distant shots of all three, and then one fairly decent shot in the extras. My friend Debbi has confirmed my ID of a mature red-tailed hawk; she has suggested it was a family group, with the mother being the largest of the three.

No, this photo is not of the biggest bird, which was AMAZING. But I suddenly realized that our tiny hummingbirds, out flying around among the hawks, might not even be as big as the olive in the hawk's martini!

There was one more animal weirdity on this day: the squirrels were gamboling about in the woods, chasing each other and being silly. And then one of them came up and lay down flat on the deck bench, just absolutely flat; as flat as the rabbits! Wow, what an odd day!

Now, the next thing you expect me to tell you is that all of the animals showed up at my house with cleaning products and brooms, ready to clean my house like they do for ALL of the other Disney princesses.

For every single wild animal that COULD find its way to me on this day, did! But no, that actually did not happen; I cannot tell a lie. We did not receive free cleaning services to go along with the assorted animal entertainments. But it was a very good day, nevertheless! :-)

I have three photos, so here are three songs:
*For the two fawns, the Doors, with Love Me Two Times;
*For the little bird on my pond, Lynyrd Skynyrd, with Free Bird;
*And for the entire experience, including the three-hawk surprise visit, the song Colors of the Wind, from Pocahontas, some of whose lyrics appear below.

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon?
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?