After Jimmy Kimmel, the night before my recent heart ablation, RonTom read my unread instructions the doctor gave two days earlier. “Bring a responsible adult to stay with you overnight at the hospital.”
Not knowing of a responsible adult sitting service (not a bad idea), an app on the phone came to mind. A fairly new dogsitter, with “five star” reviews, lives less than 3 miles from us, and she stays overnight. By 1 a.m., she had answered all my text questions and my credit card payment went through. We hid a key, and she arrived mid-morning while we were already at the hospital.
A KissMe photo and updates arrived on my iPhone before I was rolled away.
My little sister’s FaceBook post that morning, asking prayer for her big sister, brought a long string of expressions of care and prayer support, many from friends in our little city. What encouragement, reading those on my phone.
The sitter stayed another 4 nights with KissMe when we travelled to Bryan for the 2018 Texas Bluebird Season Kickoff, with preparation time beforehand and rest time afterwards. Still, we have not met the dogsitter.
At The Stella hotel, the gal who worked with me in obtaining a room block, gained stars in my review. In our room, she had waiting for us a framed photo of KissMe with a sweet note mentioning she knew we’d be missing KissMe.
Back home late Monday afternoon, the grass and trees and flowers and oregano shouted, “It’s spring!” Wow. What a difference four days makes at this time of year.
On Monday morning, as we ate breakfast on the hotel’s balcony in the fog in Bryan, we tried to identify a hawk atop a pole across the parking lot. RonTom and I even gave thought to using the Merlin app on my phone. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology app will attempt to identify a bird from a photo and general details. Before we got around to that, the fog lifted. We saw a mockingbird sitting atop the hawk’s head. Oops. A plastic decoy it was.
Ron labeled his Facebook post, “#patientbirder”.
We’ve seen Eastern Bluebirds going in and out of a nestbox in our front yard. Already in Texas, Eastern Bluebird eggs have been reported to NestWatch.org NestWatch collects observation reports on avian nests, and some data are available in real time.
Tiffany Curnutt is collecting fun prizes for the Loving Mountain City Easter Egg Hunt. Leave at 201 Live Oak Drive.
I collect tidbits from Mountain Cityians, and usually weave them into the next week’s column. Send tidbits to [email protected] (subject: tidbits) or phone 512 268 5678. Thanks! Love to you, Pauline
