Dogfight Distractions

As I realize bump at a time just how much is now missing from my computer and slog through the restoration (emails that won't import back into Outlook Express, programs like Acrobat Reader I have to reinstall, Firefox source code is harder to read than it was in Explorer, autotext that isn't there any more in Word...you know). I did get a bit of relief this morning. It has been rainy and I sort of feel that my computer and I have inhabited a dismal well sunk into another universe for the past few days. Well, I DO make my living through it, okay? Anyway, this morning I peeked out the window by my computer desk which looks out onto my covered back deck. A bird feeder hangs in the apple tree just beyond it (where I can reach it from the pleasant cover of the deck instead of getting soaked every day) along with a hummingbird feeder. I leave it up all winter, thawing it on the few mornings it's cold enough to freeze the sugar solution. A lone Anna's has been hanging around, sucking up prodigious amounts of sugar water (those little critters must burn a whole lot of calories every minute). Anyway, this morning, a new Anna's had moved in and my Anna's was by golly not gonna share that feeder no way. So the two carried on a fierce little dog fight with all the intensity of a couple of WWII pilots and all the grace of a ballet. It was raining, so they did all this beneath the roof of my covered deck, right on the other side of the window. Face to face, inches apart, they dove, sidepassed, darted and threatened. As soon as one approached the feeder, the other attacked. Nobody got a sip and they finally noticed me and darted off.

That was a good start to the day. By golly there was a top to the well and I climbed out. Went down and sorted the four spookiest sheep into the paddock and Annie did marvelous job of dealing with the sneaky Cheviot cross ewe who takes off like a rocket if Annie takes her eyes off her. Picked fat fresh Brussels sprouts on the way up, noticed that my daffodil and crocuses are pushing up and decided I should remember there's a world out there, eh? I gather my fierce little Anna's were hungry enough that they sorted out a way to take turns.