The air doesn’t have that sticky feel this morning. It’s already hit the mid-80’s, but a breeze keeps blowing the worst of the heat away.

Everytime I notice a slow pattern in the traffic passing in front of my place, a speeding vehicle passes that blows my observation out of the water. Usually, it’s a Texas sports vehicle… you know the ones, you see them everywhere in the state. Full sized pickups with the duel rear tires.

Now just for reference, you need to know, the street in front of my house is a narrow blacktop with deep ditches on each side. It’s so narrow, most people drive over the center line unless they have oncoming traffic. And… when those above mentioned sport vehicles meet each other on this narrow road… it’s not uncommon for one of the outside tires to be hanging in air.

And late at night, when all respectable mailboxes are slumbering, dreaming of the next day’s offerings, the passing of one of those oversized ego boosters will slam into multiple poor boxes, leaving their sad remains lying in the ditch.

The pair of whistling ducks flew off under the trees shortly after I sat down. Right now a mockingbird is serenading me from high in one of the oaks. I never knew how much I missed it’s song until it became a once in awhile thong.

One of my favorite memories as a youngster was being in Orchard, Tx visiting my maternal grandparents and watching the dance of a mockingbird on the top of the high TV antenna at the peak of the house. Singing and throwing itself into the air… looping… swooping… exuberantly dancing to celebrate being alive.

I think my two strongest bird memories from that place and time are the mockingbirds and the scissor-tailed flycatchers that sat on the power lines. For being so close to where I live now, flycatchers are pretty rare here locally.

It’s late, my coffee’s gone… so I’m heading in. Y’all stay safe, stay healthy, and have a wonderful summers day. Catch you in the next muse… tomorrow.