Yesterday morning, before a huge thunderstorm, I ran into a nature guide and 20 willing students while walking Zoe. I’d been looking at the nature preserve through binoculars and knew a solitary Greater Sandhill Crane was feeding on the site. I mentioned the bird’s location to the guide and participants and let it slip that “Han” was out there.
Han Solo
Sandhills pair up at age two and mate for life. This bird is alone, and picked on by the little blackbirds, who peck at him. We nicknamed him Han Solo.
The barn swallows are another story, nesting in our dryer vent and their bathroom habits are far from neat. They’ve taken over the latest Olympic venue. You won’t see Michael Phelps here, but this is what the barn swallows are protecting now, and heaven forbid a human walk anywhere near, even though it’s adjacent to the driveway:
Olympic Lap Pool, Park City
So these are some of the avian neighbors. The geese seem to have mostly found their way back home to Canada. Cheers! Dee
Cooking with Dee 
I don’t know what the HOA is going to do about the big puddle. I do know that we’re on a curve that was where the snowplows dumped a huge pile of snow over the winter. It was about 7′ high when we moved in just two months ago and now it’s gone but grass is messed up and the bird bath remains. It hailed today, huge hail. I had to slow down Jim’s ascent up the mountain (an easy task given the four cylinder Honda!) We only have a one-car garage and we don’t need the poor, wonderful, reliable Honda to be hailed upon.
I like the Honda. I get to sit up front where I belong.