I BETCHA…….

 

there is no one else on the planet who has experienced what I just experienced!!!

This past Saturday was a beautiful day!!!  Perfect for working outside in the yard.  Pete and I both had a list of jobs that needed attention and early that day we got started!!!  He was outside a little before me and warned me that a red Cardinal was in the yard, hurt.

This happens quite often at our house.  I don’t know why, but for some reason birds keep flying into the windows of our back porch.  There are bird feeders in the back corner of our yard, and it seems like every once in a while, a bird will leave the feeder and fly into our windows hard enough that they either knock themselves silly, or worst case, manage to break their necks. 

I looked around for the injured Cardinal, but didn’t see him anywhere, assuming that he had regained his senses and flew off.  I started up with my chores not thinking about it again. 

A couple of hours later I was walking in through the porch door, and there was the Cardinal on the step.  I didn’t see him at first and so when he fluttered up, I was startled, as was he.  Unfortunately, the outside porch door was open, so he scampered  into the porch. 

I saw that the sliding door into the dining room was open and tried to catch him, but he was too quick….so into our dining room he went.  I quickly followed, but again the little guy had his eye on me.  He made it into the kitchen!!  Then our bedroom!!!  I was on his heels and finally trapped him with my hands!

That was a mistake!!!

That little son-of-a-bitch latched onto my finger with his beak, and let me tell you, they have very sharp beaks!!  And he was hanging on for dear life.  I went back out the way we came in and yelled for Peter to come rescue me!!!  He was a little confused, didn’t have a clear understanding of what was going on.  When I explained the Cardinal was trying to eat me for lunch, (remember my previous experience where my friend’s dog tried to eat me for lunch!!!  Same thing!!  Almost!!) he approached.  But before he got close the bird let go of my finger and I moved it so he couldn’t reattach. 

I walked over to the bird feeder area of our yard and set him down on the ground.  He tried to fly away, but his injured wing only let him make a big jump. 

Yes, I have a wound, but it didn’t bleed.  I called my friend, Judy, my friend who knows everything about birds, and asked her if I needed to worry about rabies (kidding of course), she said “no”, but maybe Bird Flu (kidding of course).

So….my question to the universe is, “Have you ever been attacked by a Cardinal??” I’m guessing I’m the only person alive who ever has!!!!

GOTTA WONDER

The other day I was driving down the road, not really thinking about anything in particular when a memory came to mind that got me chuckling. 

I’m guessing, but in about October 1976, I was just home from Guam.  I was living in a little studio apartment near the campus of Univ. of Cincinnati and working on campus as a contract employee.  Having just returned from Guam I didn’t have a car yet, but one was on the horizon.  My dear friend Karen was driving down from Alaska going to Richmond, Indiana where she would pick up a new school bus to deliver to the Anchorage school district.  Since she couldn’t drive both her car and the bus back up, I was buying her car.  We had a great visit, I drove her over to Richmond, dropped her off and headed home with my new car.

It wasn’t actually a new car, it was an old, beat-up thing, I don’t even remember the make, but it made it all the way from Anchorage to Cincinnati, and for $400 I figured it would do just fine.

So, a few weeks later my long-time boyfriend, whom I had been in Guam with, returned also.  In celebration of our reuniting, we went out one night to the local bars.  They were close enough that we could walk, so after a night of some serious drinking we walked home, fell into bed instantly asleep and had a peaceful night.

The next morning, I woke up, a little hung over, but needed to get into my purse.  Looked everywhere, but could not find it.  I knew it had made it home with me cause I was in the apartment, and couldn’t do that without my keys and my keys were in the purse.  Kept looking, finally, for whatever reason, I looked outside the open kitchen window, and there was my purse, on the ground. 

I retrieved the purse and learned quickly that my keys and my wallet were missing.  My hangover was instantly gone when I realized that I had been robbed.  Evidentially someone followed us home, found the large kitchen window wide open, (which I did leave open for the fresh night air), climbed through the window, and stole the purse, wallet and keys.  Looked for my car out on the street, and guess what???  It was gone!!!!

So, we called the cops, reported the theft and minutes after the cops left my phone rang.  It was a young man telling me he had found my wallet in the middle of the street and would I like it back? Yes, I would, so Jerry and I drove over to Mt. Auburn, met up with the kid and got my wallet back.  Of course, the cash and credit cards were gone, but I got my drivers license back along with the rest of the contents. 

Luckily, Jerry had an extra key to the car.  So, we thought, maybe we should drive around the neighborhood on just the chance my car would be nearby.  Sure enough, a few blocks over, there was my car.  The Alaska license plates had been switched for Ohio plates, but the car was definitely mine. 

Jerry pulled up along side the car, I jumped out, got in, and drove home!!!  I was a nervous wreck.  Whoever took the car was much shorter than me as it took a second to get the seat back a bit, but I got home.  The house where my studio was located had garages in the back that you could rent, we thought that might be a good idea since the thief still had the car keys.  Our landlord changed the lock on the apt door.  The car stayed with me for over a year until I traded it in for something in better shape.

But I have to say, Geeze, I wish I had been a fly on a tree when that thief came out that morning to admire his new vehicle.  I bet he was sure surprised!!!!!

ONLY IN CINCINNATI!!

 So, last Monday all of the USA celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.  Annual event, everyone is Irish!!  I get it and enjoy the holiday.  However, I just have to share one event here in Cincinnati that I have to wonder, how, how, how!!!!

So, you know how Chicago colors their river green, and how every city has a parade, and how all the Irish pubs go super drunk….you know all that right???  I bet Cincinnati does something you could never guess in a zillion years!!!!

A little background…..Cincinnati has a very strong Irish and German heritage.  For example, in Mt. Adams, a very small neighborhood in Cincinnati, there is an Irish Catholic Church and a German Catholic Church, within a couple of blocks of each other.  Cincinnati also has a somewhat strong Greek cultural background.  One of the outgrowths of that culture is something called Skyline Chili.  Weird for Greek, right? 

Well, the chili actually is very tasty.  Their recipe is secret, but if you have good taste buds you can taste cinnamon in their chili.  I don’t have discerning taste buds so I can’t tell the rest.  They serve it multiple ways, a 3-Way, 4-Way 5-Way, or Chili Dog, you get the picture.  To keep it simple the 3-way is a bed of spaghetti noodles, with the chili on top and on top of that, shredded cheese.  Yummy!!

Now, since it was St. Patrick’s Day, a celebration I believe that has nothing to do with the Greek culture, nonetheless, Skyline got in on the celebration.  Below is a photo of their ad.  Do you see it?  Let me know!!!

 

Gotta love Cincinnati!!!!!

PS.  I've been told the color doesn't impact the taste....don't know, learned about it after the celebration!!!!