Bob and Betty

One of the things I love about living in the country is the parade of wildlife. This afternoon we startled a deer in amongst our apple trees. Every afternoon when we're swimming, Marianna asks about "the skink." We saw the little blue-tailed fella one day and ever since we keep a watchful eye out for him. Then there is the bird life. The Phoebes have a nest in the rafters of the pool house and are having their second brood. They come and go and come and go. A baby catbird out front fell into the window well and Larry had to rescue the bitty birdy. Neither baby nor mama was happy, but there was no way that baby was going to fly out of the well on its own.

And then there are the baby bluebirds. They are growing and Marianna and I go out every day to peer into the birdhouse and say hello. Marianna even started singing a song to the tune of Frere Jacques. I had made up a song about her, but she changed it on her own, substituting "baby bluebirds" for Marianna. Here's how it goes.

Baby bluebirds, baby bluebirds, I love you, I love you

I love baby bluebirds, I love baby bluebirds, yes I do, yes I do.

But the most exciting wildlife story, at least from Marianna's point of view, was Bob...and later Betty.

A few weeks ago, Larry saw someone stop in the road and move something to the side and presumed it was a turtle. We all went over and rescued it and gave it a temporary home in a box where we fed it salad, a little turkey, veggies and fruit. Marianna named him Bob. She was a little afraid of him when I took him out of the box, but gradually warmed up. A few days later I was weeding the garden and took a wheelbarrow full of refuse to the woods. When I pushed it into the undergrowth there was another turtle. We named her Betty.

By this time Marianna was the fearless reptile hunter and had no problem handling the critters like a pro. I, on the other hand, was experiencing critter fatigue and we decided to send the two turtles off to find their families. Now every day we have to answer the compelling question, "Where Bob and Betty go?"

Home to their mommies!