Summertime visitors

My wife and I had two kids. Phil left after graduating from high school in 1995 and never really returned--he had summer jobs out of town while in college and took a job in the Detroit area just after graduating in 1999. David moved out last summer, and since then it's just been my wife and I at home.

But not any longer. At least for a while. We've got company!

Last Tuesday, after getting back from last weekend's trip, I was leaving home to walk to work when I noticed something in a corner of our open-air porch at the front of the house ...



The next day, its occupant was home.



But was the robin by herself? Or is there more to the story than we could see?

Today, curiosity got the better of us. We had decided to hold the first cookout of the summer, which meant we had to move the gas grill from its winter home on the front porch to the back porch, where it spends its summers.

As I went out there, I glanced up at the nest and saw that the robin was gone. Now's the time, I told my wife. I got on my knees on the side of the porch but decided that wasn't stable enough. Instead I got a chair from the kitchen, carried it outside, hopped up there--with camera in hand--to see what I could see.

I still wasn't high enough where I could look in directly. So I reached the camera up above my head, pointed it slightly down into the nest, got it focused and fired ...



That's what I expected to see: a robin egg. But what's that pink thing next to it? Then that light bulb flashed over my head. My wife has an old hand mirror in another room. Suppose we use that to see what's inside the nest.

My wife hopped up on the chair first, but she's too short to hold the mirror above the nest. So it was my turn. I reached up with the mirror in my left hand while holding the camera my the right hand. And the reflection revealed the rest of the story ...



Three eggs, not one! And that pink thing? Whatever it was, its mouth was wide open for a moment or two. Then then it fell down again. One hatched and three still to come.

Here's an enlarged version of the last picture.



So maybe we're going to have a big family sharing our summer with us. Including a very busy mother. Time will tell.

* * * * *

The spring sports season ended Saturday at the track finals. Some of our kids were running in the first race, at 9 a.m., so I had to get going by 7:30 to get there in time. But for once, I had planned things in advance and remembered to take along a fanny pack (in which to store extra batteries, notebooks and such) and some sunblock.

As you can see from the photo of the robin's nest, I need to use sunblock. That's the kind of skin I have.

Amazing, isn't it, how well that stuff works when you remember to put it on! There wasn't a cloud in the sky in the morning--it became partly cloudy in the afternoon, but the sun was out most of the time. A really beautiful day. Not too hot. Not too cool. Not too humid. Not too windy. By 10:30, it was time to give myself a good coating. Both arms, my neck, my cheeks and ears. I was wearing a wide-brimmed hat, but I remembered to take care of my nose, too.

Result: no sunburn. Several others at the meet borrowed it, and I hope it worked as well for them as it did for me.

Today, as I said earlier, it was time for our first cookout of the summer. I love brats (not bratty children; it's pronounced "brawts", Lady V) cooked in the gas grill, and we decided this would be a good supper for a Sunday evening by ourselves.

Dinner hour came. I got the grill hooked up to the tank, turned the valve and tried to light the grill. No go. No action at all. The tank felt light when I picked up, and now I knew why: no LP gas inside. So I unhooked it and drove to a gas station, where they handle cylinder exchanges. Drove back home, hooked up the new tank, turned the valve, pushed the button and heard a satisfying Whoosh! as the gas ignited. Fine. I let it sit for a few minutes, then put on the brats and let the grill do its thing. After a few minutes, I turned them. Then I turned them again. Odd. Maybe I turned the gas down too far. Not making much progress.

It took me 10 full minutes to realize I wasn't making ANY progress. It seems that in my haste to get started, I hadn't connected the valve on the new tank completely, and the gas was cut off to the grill. Grr.

So I tightened the valve, turned the knob, pushed the button and Whoosh! We're in business again. This time, the heat ripples kept coming, the brats started sizzling, and soon we had a nice supper.

First cookout of the summer. We made a mistake or two, but now that I remember how, future cookouts should go a lot more smoothly. Practice makes perfect.