The picture I have attached are from our short outing late this afternoon when the winds died down and our great neighbors came over to play. Max got to have his Meet N' Greet lesson. It has been a few days and Sandy said that she missed Max. He's got a suitor! It's always fun to have them over and Beeks got to show off his jumping ability. He even jumped through the hoop when Morgan held on to it and when it was 8 inches off the ground. What a great dog! Way to go Beeks!
What a windy day this has been. When we have these high sustainable winds it always makes my heart get racing and I feel just a little more anxious. Today was one of those days. The winds were up to 45 miles per hour all day and we had a power outage in the late afternoon that lasted until only a half hour ago. The wind advisory continues for another half hour but I think the winds are finally calming down. This relaxes all of us. Brad is out mowing the lawn in the last bit of sunshine. The last time he tried to mow the mower quit and we had to have it repaired. It really needed cutting.
The newly planted corn is up in the fields around town. Coming home from an errand today Beeks and I noticed that the farmers were all out in the fields working. I wish I understood all that they do. They work so diligently, tilling, plowing, planting. This is a busy time of year for farmers. I am surprised at how quickly the corn grows. Its up an inch already. It's visible if you look at the field at an angle. Looking at it straight down the rows it is nearly impossible to see but it is there. It will be more than a foot high by the fourth of July.
I was concerned for GeorgenGracie's nest today with the high winds. I hope that she was hunkered down and just "going with the flow". Her tree was really leaning and tossing left and right. Those eggs sure could be scrambled by now. I'm sure that she has been through high winds before. I did some reading on the behavior of Cooper's hawks today (before the electricity went out) and found some interesting facts:
Courtship is lengthy for Cooper's Hawks, and the male may feed the female for up to a month before she begins to lay eggs. They nest in a tree, 25-50 feet off the ground. The nest is often built on top of an old nest or clump of mistletoe. Both sexes help build the stick nest lined with pieces of bark. The female incubates the 3 to 5 eggs for 30 to 33 days. The male brings food and incubates the eggs when the female leaves the nest to eat. Once the 3 to 5 eggs hatch, the female broods for about two weeks. During this time, the male continues to bring food for the female and the young. He gives the food to the female, and she feeds it to the nestlings. The young start to climb about the nest at four weeks of age, and begin to make short flights soon after. The parents continue to feed the young for up to seven weeks. (wikipedia.com and whatbird.com)
In the News...
May 2-8th is Be Kind to Animals week. This is celebrated every year since 1915. Interesting since I haven't even heard about it. The American Humane Organization sponsors the week with events. you can find more information on www.americanhumane.org. Check it out.
Also, Have you seen the new Post Office stamps of dogs and cats? They are really cute and they go on sale April 30th, that's tomorrow. In association with the stamps, the goal of the campaign is to educate Americans about the millions of shelter pets that need good homes. Halo dog food is donating $1 million to shelters. You can buy stamps directly from your Post Office or by logging on to www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2010/pr10_026.htm for more information. Its for a great cause and the stamps are cute too.
I found some great games to play with your dog when I was looking on the Internet this afternoon so I will share them with you tomorrow. Hopefully by then I will be able to try some of them out with Beeks and Maxie. I'll let you know. Until then, hold on to your dog and don't get blown away!
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