I am not...

...pregnant or berzerk. I just made the mistake of buying a gigantic jar of dill pickles, and every time I see it in my fridge, or try to fit something else into my fridge besides the pickles, I wonder what went through my mind when I bought them.

I can explain the circumstances surrounding the purchase, but it still doesn't make sense. I was in Costco (clue?) shopping for a barbecue we were giving at the house. I expected about 25 guests for hamburgers. So I spied this mammoth jar of sliced dill pickles for $5.69.

Look toward the top of the jar and notice how many pickles are missing. That's how many pickle chips 25 people put on 25 hamburgers. Now ask yourself how long it will take four people to eat the rest, as a garnish to the occasional sandwich.

Sometimes you just have to blog about what's on your mind, and I'm a bit preoccupied with this jar of pickles right now. I did create a pickle-jar still-life photograph that may just sell for millions. The Spouse could quit work. If you know any fine art collectors, send them my way:

Spring Review

Fowl

I'm still going to talk birds today. I'll leave the subject after this post, I promise.

You see, I always thought bird-watchers were dorky. I became very rigid in this opinion during college; one of my co-workers at Starbucks was a birder, and I thought she was very silly. She had another unfortunate hobby that didn't help, either. She was a member of the Society for Creative Anachronisms.

The SCA were big fans of the medieval era of history. They met at state parks and fairgrounds, and held fairs, in which they dressed in medieval costume, did medieval crafts, jousted, drank mead, and called one another "milord," and "milady." I wasted no time telling her how nerdy that was. This did not phase her at all.

Next, she began telling us all about her birding adventures. She would prance into the store, chirping and warbling about seeing a Western Meadowlark or a Pine Siskin. So I stopped calling her a nerd and started calling her a Tufted Titmouse. This delighted her.

Fast-forward fourteen years: I'm a mom with two active boys, and I notice that the cooing of doves in the neighbor's trees has a calming effect on the hurricane that is my mind. I decide to steal the neighbor's doves, and buy a bird feeder at the farm store.

Fast-forward three months: I'm daft. I'm a bird nut. I have a bird book. At the dinner table I chirp and warble when I see a new bird out the window.

I never knew a simple wooden feeder and a bag of seed could provide this much entertainment. Below, I'll list the birds I've seen at the feeder. To see pictures of many of these birds, try Northwest Bird Photography by Ron Green. He has photographed many of them, and done a great job.

Birds at the feeders:

• American Goldfinch
• Common Yellowthroat
• Yellow Warbler
• Evening Grosbeak
• Black-Headed Grosbeak
• Spotted Towhee
• House Finch
• Rufous Hummingbird (these guys fight with one another)
• Lazuli Bunting (very pretty)
• House Sparrow (pretty song)
• Dark-Eyed Junco
• Song Sparrow
• Red-Winged Blackbird (my favorite song)
• Brewer's Blackbird
• Mourning Dove
• Allen's Hummingbird
• European Starling (vermin)
• Chickadees - a couple different varieties
• Nuthatches - red and white-breasted (the cutest)

Birds seen near the house:

• Red-Tailed Hawk
• Barn Owl
• Cedar Waxwing
• American Robin
• Western Scrub-Jay
• Northern Flicker
• American Kestrel

Last, but not least:

• 2 Turkey Vultures (in the street in front of the house, eating roadkill)
• Bald Eagle (in the field across the street, eating a rabbit)