Our Brown Friend

We have a little brown friend who is the essence of hope springing eternal. We are not sure where she lives, and she may be the bird with the home in the hollow of the dead palm tree, but everyday she shows up at the empty birdfeeder. And she has something hanging out of her mouth--a little bug, a small worm, piece of plant. She perches on the fence, and on the wisteria and on the bird feeder, hoping that the bird seed will finally flow again. Sorry, little brown bird, but the keeper has sworn off the bird seed after the several thousand dollar rat invasion eradication this winter. But we hope you keep coming to tantalize us at the window when we are cooped up, or when we are on the porch. We like your company. You do not seem afraid of us--- fierce feline guardians that we are. That's ok. Just don't tell the rest of your family we are wooses.

On a zoological vein, the keeper is reading The Zookeeper's Wife, a true account of the wife of the Warsaw Zoo who, after all of the animals were shot or killed or shipped off to Germany by the Nazis, used the empty cages to hide Jews from the Nazis. The zookeepers learned about camouflage, survival, deception, mimicry from the animals they lived with and used those learnings to save so many. She says it's a book of courage and such tender respect for he animals and all creation, including those humans hunted by the Nazis. The true tales of torture of the animals are heart rending, and she had never heard them before, because the more familiar cruel stories of the torture and anihilation of the Jews is the story we know in all of their horror. It's a well written story which is difficult to read.

Tomorrow we understand that the new washer and dryer are coming along with the vent cleaners. We also suspect that we may be going in the cages to the vet. We heard the cages rattling in the garage. Stay tuned!