Sunny Sunday

On Friday, late in the day, as I was walking into one of the buildings on the campus where I work, I heard a thump over my head and then catch sight of a leaf floating to the ground. But it wasn't a leaf. It was a bird! The bird landed right in front of the main door, and would have got caught in the door swing if someone walked out. It was raining.

I picked up the bird and could feel the warmth and heartbeat. It was not dead, but its eyes were rolled up in his head and one of his feet looked sort of backwards.

I let the little bird rest in my palm for a while, eventually coming around. The left foot grabbed my finger, then the right foot straightened out, even the one finger that looked broken. I put the little bird on a branch under a leaf on one of the bushes in the landscaped garden. It was still raining.

The bird was still there when I left for the day.

A beautiful sunny morning, we opted to park at Marriottsville because our horsey club was having a 'do' and the grounds were closed to non-participants. By happenstance, as things happen, a birder got out of his car, which was parked next to our trailer and asked about trails, particularly if you had to walk down the train tracks. I asked him what bird he was photographing and he said Warblers.

I don't know what a warbler looks like. He said his daughter leases a horse in Virginia; she recently bought a new truck. He showed me the picture of her with the new Chevrolet extra-cab white pick-up. Reminded me of the joke about the man seeking a wife, but in the ad asks for a picture of the truck.

He went on to tell me that she'd always loved horses, and got her love of horses from reading Rita Mae Brown books. I know who that is! Sneaky Pie Brown! He went on to say she had recently been in a tack store buying boots that were only sold at this one place in Virginia. Rita Mae Brown was in that store. His daughter was too shy to approach her, but afterwards asked the store staff if that was in fact Rita Mae Brown. They said it was, she is frequently in the store and gave his daughter an email address to get in touch. How cool is that!

She did email, explaining that she now has a horse because of the Sneaky Pie Brown books. Rita Mae Brown then invited her to go fox-hunting later in the year! I can't believe this story that I'm hearing!

A woman came, with an equally enormous camera, and they apparently knew each other, and after a brief discussion decided to go elsewhere to photograph the elusive birds.

We had a very nice ride, the trails were in fairly good shape, and ate Oysters at the Woodstock Inn.

Delicious! I haven't had an Oyster in years.

The Woodstock Inn is a magnet for cars, bikes, and horses. Sometimes you just hit the right time and see the most awesome specimens parked right out front. This 1927 Model A, beautifully restored, brought me instantly back to the car that my dear sweet husband's grandmother won in a local lottery, or raffle. She won the brand new car and soon after took her two daughters from Maine to Ottawa and back to visit her brother and his family and her own father. My mother-in-law was about 8 years old at the time. It was truly an adventure for her, and one that she loves to retell.

There was a custom built V-8, with nitro canister installed, and the body work looks like WWII fighter plane fuselage. This bike was incredible. The V-8 is bigger than most muscle cars. I was told it was a 551. Could that be right?