songbird's crazy world

 Cory Booker must have watched a lot of Frank Capra movies … Go Cory! I’m still upset about the cat sanctuary fire.  I’d love to take a foster, but I can’t.  So I sent a donation.  They’re going to relocate the surviving cats to a farm upstate.  In fact, that was the plan even before the fire.  So sad … Another walk, more blooms … The forsythia are lovely, aren’t they?  My father loved forsythia.  He planted forsythia at the house we lived in when I was very little.  He also planted a pussy willow, and some hyacinths and tulips.  We moved out of that house when I was 8… our second house had a lot of trees, including dogwoods…we planted rhododendrons and azaleas and hydrangeas, but no forsythia…but the family next door planted forsythia, so we got to see the yellow blossoms. We’re going wine shopping today.  Wine is an important part of the Passover Seder, we are expected to drink four cups of wine during the course of the service. ...

 So it’s spring, and things are starting to bloom. Folks are starting to decorate for Easter Nothing too elaborate …well, except for this house  And … birds! I saw these guys  There were lots of other birds, but it’s hard to get a picture when they won’t stand still …but I heard sparrows, blue jays, cardinals, mourning doves and crows. The Merlin app is my new toy … I bought a small bird feeder and set it up in the back yard.  Maybe I’ll see even more birds now …

 The fire at the cat rescue is front page news.  Posts from every cat rescue group on Long Island have been popping up in my Facebook feed.  Can’t imagine why.  Yes, I sent a donation. How could I not? Shadow, as you know, was a private adoption.  But Duchess is a rescue from  North Shore Animal League .  I went with Drew when he chose Duchess .  She was only 3 months old, she was born at the shelter.  Not that you’d know it based on her attitude today; Duchess is aptly named. But Monday proved the value of apps like Ring and Neighbors. All of the surviving cats were rescued and placed in carriers simply because someone posted that carriers were needed. Bad storms Monday night. At least we didn’t have tornado warnings, like they did in New Jersey.   (And yes, I’m still playing with our Ring cameras.) And it’s baseball season.  I’ve been watching the Mets, and occasionally the Yankees.  And the Ducks will start their season late...

Whan that Aprille with his shour e s soot e , The droghte of March hath perc e d to the root e , And bath e d every veyne in swich licóur Of which vertú engendr e d is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his swet e  breeth Inspir e d hath in every holt and heeth The tendr e  cropp e s, and the yong e  sonn e Hath in the Ram his half e  cours y-ronn e , And smal e  fowel e s maken melody e , That slepen al the nyght with open y e , So priketh hem Natúre in hir corag e s, Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimag e s, And palmeres for to seken straung e  strond e s, To fern e  halw e s, kowthe in sondry lond e s; And specially, from every shir e s end e Of Eng e lond, to Caunterbury they wend e , The hooly blisful martir for to sek e , That hem hath holpen whan that they were seek e . Can't read Middle English?  Here it is in translation: When fair April with his showers sweet, Has pierced the drought of March to the root's feet And bathed each vein in ...

 I came to a decision last night.  I won’t be participating this year. It’s a great challenge and I had lots of fun.  But it’s also a lot of work.   And I couldn’t come up with a theme that inspired me,  Maybe next year.

 In today's news:   Cat Sanctuary Burns Down MEDFORD, Long Island (WABC) --  The owner of a cat sanctuary and at least 100 cats were killed in a fire on Monday morning. The blaze broke out around 7:15 a.m. at the Happy Cat Sanctuary on Dourland Road. Officials say the owner was killed as well as at least 100 cats. There were 300 cats inside at the time of the fire and officials say the owner went back into the home to rescue the animals. The investigation is ongoing into the cause of the fire. Few other details were released. You can see a video report with more detail  here . Apparently the man initially escaped the fire, but kept going back inside to rescue more cats … and then he didn’t come out … I heard about the fire several hours before the news at noon.  Why? Because of   John Debacker .  He’s somewhat of a local hero.  Anytime you’re on Facebook or Neighbors or Ring and someone mentions a stray or feral cat that needs to be rescued, inevi...