Recently, I walked out of the house with our parakeet, Mr. Misty Freeze, on my shoulder. Inside the house, the bird had been on my shoulder for much of the day and I had forgotten she was there. When the little kids experienced some kind of chicken feeding emergency in the back yard, I walked right out of the house to help them. I bent over the feeder and felt something hop across my back. I looked at Ruthie and asked, “Is there a bird on my back?” Ruthies eyes grew huge and she looked close to panic as she said, “It’s Misty!” I said, “It’s okay. She can’t fly.”

Lies! What I really meant was, “I hope she does not try to fly, catch some freak of nature gust and sail a hundred feet up in the air and glide half a mile away.”

I straightened up and the bird climbed back onto my shoulder. I walked calmly back into the house all the way distracting the bird by telling her how pretty she was. She never showed any sign of taking flight.

I am very glad we clip her wings.

Ruthie: "It's Me and Dad on the tandem. I'm smiling because I love riding on the tandem for the first time. You're smiling because it's such a beautiful day."

Saturday dawned gray and cold. We planned the ride the night before, and though it was 41 degrees when we left, my wife would not let us back out. We had planned a Saturday activity and we would have a Saturday activity. For me, it was the least of many evils. If I had not taken her and the family on a freezing ride, she might have made me paint the trim, or remodel the basement. I would rather risk hypothermia on a bicycle than work… with tools.

Young Cyclists taking a break at Riverside Park. My kids, a couple neighbor kids and two statues. (Not pictured: Lydia and Nikole and your author)

This next image has nothing to do with our ride, but it is very cute and must be shared with the world.

Ruthie: "That's me in high heels, and I'm walking Daisy around the block with Mom's earrings."

Thanks for checking in. May your bike rides be warm and your high heels be comfortable.

Edward Luke and his father in the act of stealing a leaf pile.

In my effort to be the strangest man in the neighborhood, I have taken to stealing leaf piles. It all stems from my addiction to gardening. (“Stems” from “gardening”– Ha Ha, that’s a funny pun, Ed). Anyway, I have decided to try deep mulch gardening next year. I need 18 to 24 inches of mulch, and my one maple tree cannot produce enough for me.

In our town of Harlingen people rake their leaves into big piles next to the street where they wait for the leaf sucker. The leaf sucker is an organism made up of three men, two rakes and an orange vacuum cleaner truck, the arrival of which causes home school children to leave their seats and run to the window shouting, “The Leaf Sucker is here! The Leaf Sucker is here!”

Now, there is an interval of time after the raking of the piles and before the arrival of the leaf sucker when deep mulch gardeners look at their neighbors’ leaf piles with covetousness.  It is during this interval that I and my offspring sneak out after dark and steal leaf piles. I take a kid or two with me (they don’t know how weird it is yet), and we rake the leaves onto a tarp, which we alternately drag and carry back to my garden. Stealing one leaf pile requires multiple trips. I have gotten caught twice by my normal neighbors. They have not moved out of the neighborhood yet.

Other Random Stuff

Nikole shot this video of Ruthie helping Helen with her piano song. The music is not great, but it is only 1:20 minutes long and you get to see Lydia being an 18-month-old.

The offender in temporary custody

Today I had had enough. With Ruthie and Bethany guarding the gate, Edward guarding a gap in the corner and Claire helping me chase, I cornered a little bunny intruder and pinned him to the ground with my gloved hand. We put him in a five-gallon pail with a loose fitting lid and drove him to a park on the edge of town and set him free.

He did not seem to enjoy his time in the pail. But he quickly revived when he was released, and he nonchalantly began nibbling the grass in the park. (By the way, the bunny in the drawing turned out smaller than the real thing, but his posture is pretty accurate.)

After relocating the offender, I am trying not to think about bunny mothers, bunny brothers and sisters, or scary things like homelessness, hawks, owls and foxes. I just keep thinking about half-eaten beans.

Reading to Ruthie and Bethany before nap time.

I have yelled

As I took time to appreciate the precious position of my Ruthie, I remembered having yelled at her earlier in the day. (I think it was the first time I have yelled at a child — very out of character [heavy sarcasm]. But seriously…) I could not even remember what I yelled about (But I bet it had something to do with bullying a younger sister). I came to two conclusions.

1. Pick your battles with more wisdom because the child will probably grow up to be a fine child like her older sisters.
2. Thank God for building into children a prodigious capacity to forgive!