" Don't Look At Me,"

 

"Don't Do Like They Used To!"

Good " Don't Look At Me," Sunday Morning, all bodies.

Last night, after that LSU debacle, we settled in on a baseball game. I sensed that Tee didn't want me to return to the studio after dinner. All through the baseball game, our dawg was stalking Therese's left over potatoes.

He was told, way too many times, to go sit, but his "MO" is to wait a few minutes and jump off the sofa pretending to be thirsty. He'll take a perfunctory sip at his water bowl and then, as if no one is watching, plop himself at Tee's feet just under the table that holds the potatoes. I casually point to the sofa and he acquiesces, but five minutes later, he's thirsty again.

It reminded me of the game I played pitting wits between my mother and Pierre.

"Mom, don't feed the dawg," I'd say.

"I'm not!"

Naturally, the discussion has to end there otherwise we'd have a yell fest, which wouldn't help anyone's digestion! Even though mom knows I know she does feed the mutt, she tells me she doesn't. Pierre circles the table like a shark waiting for his chance to attack.

"Pierre, go away," I'd yell.

He uses his patented "thirsty pup routine" and then, moves in for the umpteenth time. In the corner of my eye, I see my mother lean over to stealthily drop the dog another tidbit, saying...

"Don't look at me, Murgatroyd! Benny told me not to feed you!

Mom always referred to that moniker with disdain, or when she couldn't remember a person's name.

Ah... such memories!

Finally, after the ballgame is over, Therese gets up and returns her plate, with the uneaten potatoes, to the kitchen counter. Taking his chances that I'll yell at him again, he slips off the sofa and follows Therese's every step. Then, he puts on the cocker spaniel charm and looks up to her longingly.

From across the room, Tee looks at me with a smirk and says to the dawg...

"Don't look at me, Pierre, Benny told me not to feed you!"

First cup...

Copyright 2023/Ben Bensen III

"Thud... and a "Cold Cocked Cardinal Is On Its Back!"

An attempted heart shaped couple.

 Good Saturday Morning, y'all.

St. Louis is jogging my memory a bit. It reminds me of a failed attempt to capture a cardinal adventure that happened months ago. There was a thud against the breakfast nook window unlike the familiar thump I occasionally hear around the early spring when fledgling birds try to test their independence only to bounce off the screened windows.

But this was a distinct THUD!

So, I left the kitchen and walked out near the bird bath to find a "cold cocked" cardinal on its back with its feet straight up in the air. I took a look at the bird's eye to notice it was not sunken in, which is a sign that blood is running through the cardinal's head.

I had a large wooden spoon with me and gave the bird a slight poke... There was no movement, so I waited.

I went back into the kitchen to check on the soup I was making, and wait a bit. About five minutes passed before I went back out to see if the bird left, but it was still belly up. I gave it another poke and attempted to flip it over on its chest and it gave me a rather aggravated screech like I had awakened it from a good dream.

I gave it one convincing poke under the wings and he flapped his wings and complained again... but, I bit louder. I went back inside to check on the soup and to give the bird another five minutes to compose itself. Finally, the colorful male took one look at me, freaked out and dizzily fluttered a few feet unto a branch of our maple tree. The whole process of shaken out the cobwebs and making it to the tree took all of about a half an hour.

But, strangest thing is seeing the female cardinal meet him as he entered the azalea bush a few feet away. She obviously was concerned, but decided to wait and see what transpired for she was nowhere to be found as I attempted to awaken her "beau."

A minute or so later, they both took off for the safety of the tree line probably to continue feeding their brood. Blue skies...

Copyright 2023/Ben Bensen III