Day Two-Thirteen - Our Tree

Today is Stephen F. Austin's 220th birthday...  That is, if he had lived past 1836 it would have been his 220th birthday.  So, if you listen to the Ticket, you would probably think, as I do, that he is a "born on this day now dead".  Yes, that is exactly what he is.  I'm going to the SFA football game tonight.  Maybe they'll have a ceremony or tribute at halftime.

I have a yaupon holly tree on my patio.  I love the tree but was planning to trim it back this spring and never did.  I will definitely do it next spring.  The only concern I have about doing it and the thing that has kept me from doing it for several years is the Mockingbird that calls it home.  He has lived in the tree for about 6 years.  I didn't even know that birds lived that long.  His mate certainly didn't live that long.  We have a connection, that Mockingbird and I.  You see, his mate is the bird that Jingle caught on the patio 6 years ago and brought into the house, through the living room, up the stairs, down the hall into my bedroom and dropped in the bathroom when I screamed.  Then the bird flew into the bathroom mirror during the state of hysteria that ensued by all three of us, Jingle, the bird and myself.  Once she was unconscious, you know, from repeatedly flying into the mirror, I picked her up and took her little body out and "disposed" of it.

I'm not sure if her mate thinks she just flew away that morning and will someday be back, or if he knows that she died there and so he remains in tribute or exactly what the situation is, but he now resides in the tree.  He roosts there every night.  He eats the berries that the tree produces year round and he waits.  Cardinals love the berries too, but the Mockingbird does his best to keep them out of his tree.  My cats watch him all the time.  He watches them too.  I hope that they have all reached an understanding.  I couldn't take it if Jingle brought him in the house one day.  I try to keep an eye on the situation.  If things start getting too cozy, I walk out and scare the bird back up higher in the tree.  But I can only do so much.

Several weeks ago when Mom and Dad were here for the garage sale, Dad had a close encounter with the Mockingbird.  While Dad sat out on the patio and read, the bird sat above him in the tree and had a little "accident" on Dad's shirt.  It didn't dawn on me to warn him that a bird sits in the tree almost constantly.  And it is, after all, the birds tree, I mean, I walk past it and hang stuff off of it.  But he actually lives in it!

I brought it up today because this morning he is very busy keeping all of the Cardinals and squirrels out of his tree while also keeping an eye on both of my cats.  I think he is up to the challenge but it is very noisy on my patio right now as a result.  An angry Mockingbird, a chattering squirrel and a multitude of hungry Cardinals are making nearly as much noise as people breaking concrete.  Okay, maybe I exaggerate slightly.  And even if it was as loud as the concrete breaking, I'd still pay to hear the birds and squirrels over the concrete guys.  So I'll stop complaining and go outside to finish my coffee and give the Mockingbird a little moral support.