News From the Old Neighborhood!

I've been AWOL on the blog this past week for no reason in particular.

I got my license plates and today I passed the test for my license and will receive it in the mail soon, I hope.  At the end of this week I will be travelling to Reno, NV, to visit and help my niece with her newborn, Theodore and his older brother, Sebastian.  Not sure how much help I will be, but I'm looking forward to seeing those babies, visiting with my niece and seeing what Reno looks like.

NEWS FROM ORLANDO

Courtesy of Center of Gravity, or CG, my good friend.

CG had an unexpected visitor this weekend in her house and managed to capture him on camera.  She's given me permission to share the pictures and her account of her time with the visitor.  Mostly her words:

Okay, about the picture.

Me:  Can you see him up there with the red eyes? 

Not a decoration!

  I was watching TV this morning about 7:15. T (her husband) had just left a few minutes before, when I heard a Styrofoam cup fall off my counter.  I thought that was odd.  Then I heard a metallic noise and I thought “oh no, I have a rodent in the house.”  I looked up and there on my curtain rod was a Screech Owl.  I was a bit surprised to say the least.  It was a really cute little bird only about 8 inches tall and very quiet.  Bird flew all over the house and kept landing on things like my living room chairs, the top support of the shower doors, the top of my kitchen door, top of my bulletin board, in some fake plants on top of my shelves in the family room and this branch on the wall above the fireplace. 

 I called T who was quite surprised by the news.  He came over with the camera and took pictures.  By that time the bird had pretty much settled in the family room.  So we closed that room off from the rest of the house and opened the outside doors.  The owl would not leave and even settled on a shelf next to the fireplace.  I tapped on the side of the shelf and bird looked that way to see what was going on but didn’t leave.  I was within inches of it and it didn’t seem frightened.  T finally decided to go back to work.  I closed the door closest to the driveway and kept the patio door open.  I went and sat outside and finally the owl flew out.  What was so funny was that Strider (family dog) didn’t get excited about it at all.  He goes nuts when there is a crazy fly in the house but not the owl probably because the owl was so quiet when it flew.  

It was a bit unnerving to have it fly so close to my head even when I was sitting on the sofa.  I would catch sight of it out of the corner of my eye and I could feel the air move around me but couldn’t hear it.  Anyway it was a fun morning.

Thanks CG for giving me a taste of home and letting me share it with my blogging buddies!

Let's all have a great week this week!

Keep your fingers crossed for The Maven!  She goes back for a followup interview later this week: employment seems possible!