Sid the Sloth, Sid the Dog

Before sharing more Sid talk, I should mention that my Cardinals turned out to be quite clever. They figured out that the bird feeder is the ultimate source of food and that's where they can perch and eat.Sid, the dog got his name from Sid, the sloth. Ice Age 3 released and I was watching it right before adopting the tailed one. When I met Sid, the dog, in the dog park he seemed to be a hit with the children. The rescuers called him Fatboy III...ironic, for he was really skinny at that time. I decided to rename him as Sid for his unconditional affection for kids.

Funny how an addition of a living being changes your life. Sid makes me feel like Tintin :)

Head to Tail

"About three feet, from head to tail", I told the trainer. My new dog, Sid, needs basic training. I got him last month, from a Beagle Rescue organization. He is slightly bigger for a Beagle. He is sweet and friendly. From what I gathered, he was rescued by the neighboring county police. I wonder if he was oppressed or simply abandoned, as the latter is happening to a lot of innocent animals during this recession. Whatever it has been, now he is safe and he knows that too.
Its been a month and I thought I should start documenting and sharing our adventure together.
As a kid, my idea about an ideal dog was Snowy, Tintin's pet. I guess I have acted a bit on impulse when I got him. Well, that Marley and Me movie was to blame.
July 11th, I drove home with this dog with whom I have spent about half an hour earlier. He trusted me, got into the car on my instructions and sat on the passenger seat. I felt obliged for being so trusted and pondered on the innocence of this animal. He got a bit nervous during the ride, but we made it safe. The next surprise was his inability to take the stairs. The dogs I have seen around here are pretty agile and have not shown any difficulty at taking stairs. Sid, however, refused to climb upstairs. I kind of dragged him up for at that time I thought he was just afraid of being in a new place.
He walked into the apartment, sniffed around. I had got some dog biscuits and a bone for him. I gave him the bone and he politely took it in his mouth. Then he just laid it on the floor. He had a very sad and confused look. He chose a spot under the coffee table and rested. I went to the store to get some dog food and a bed.
That night he slept on his new bed at the foot of mine. I woke up the morning after with a lick on my hand..time to go out it seemed. Well, it was too late, things have happened already. I cleaned up his mess, he looked sorry for what he had done. I did not say anything.
I had lifted him up and down the stairs to go out for walks but I knew he needs to learn how to climb. So my training began. I lifted him and midway, on the stairs, I placed him. He did not move. I placed his front paws on the steps ahead and then the hind ones after that. The practice went on. Within two days, Sid was finding his way up to his new home!
Week one went by, getting to know how Sid functions, his food fondness and his toy preferences.
By that time, he had settled down. I, on the other hand, struggled to keep up with my new schedule.

Fruit of labor

The fruit of labor is always sweet. So, after nurturing the flowering plants back to health, I was quite happy with the outcome.
But, I still had no birds come to feed. I have seen a few Mocking birds feeding on the ground along with that dove I mentioned before. Its worthwhile to mention that the Mocking bird is the state bird of Florida (Texas as well) and is protected under some Bird Act. So no mocking the Mocking bird :). Anyway, back to my story.
I started noticing the size of the birds and realized that the birdfeeder is appropriate for birds of much smaller size. The birds around my neighborhood were a couple of size bigger. That day I just got an old plastic lid, spread some birdfood (mixture of seeds) on it and left it on the railing.
Finally, one morning I heard some chirping. I peeped through the blind of my bedroom window and yes! Cardinals! A pair, the male bright red and a female greyish brown, feeding on the seeds. That was a joyful moment for me. Once, I have almost thought of getting rid of the sack of birdfood. But, patience brings rewards.
By now, the Cardinal couple are regular visitors and guess what? Today there was somebody else as well...I do not know his name, but got a picture! So here's my cardinal photo collection and the unknown visitor.

Flowers first, Birds second

I have never taken care of outdoor flowering plants before. So my knowledge of the subject has been limited. However, I knew something, plants need water, air and sunlight. So I gave the potted beauties plenty of the elements. The result, well, not so good. The leaves started drooping, the flowers behaved like snails recoiling into their shells.
Crystal ball to the rescue! This time 'How to water your plants?' Life teaches us lessons, so, we live and learn. I learnt that spraying water on the leaves and flowers is not a good idea after all, especially during the day time. Somehow this messes up with their transpiration process or something like that. Even if I would like a mist sprayed on me during a summer day, thats not meant for my plants.
So my attention now was diverted to proper plant growth. Meanwhile, I did hear the cardinal song from time to time. Check out this link to listen to the song.

Red Cardinal Quest

So that's how the Great cardinal Quest begun. I went to Walmart the next evening, got some birdfood and a hanging birdfeeder tube. Came home with great excitement. Without loosing a moment I was up on a chair with a hammer and a nail in my hands.
That's exactly when I realized that I cannot hang my birdfeeder here, because I would need to drill through the concrete beam. That was a moment of decision. Should I go and get a drilling machine which I would barely use again? I was too tired by that time and gave up on setting up the feeder.
The next day I came up with an idea. I knew that the birds love to perch on cables and clothelines. And I should mention at this point, that there is this cable and lamp-post setup right in front of the porch where a dove often roosts. So I hung a clotheline, wall to wall and with a tiny string tied the birdfeeder handle to it. But that seemed like a weak attatchment, so I duck-taped the arrangement and here's what it looked like.
With no visitors for a few days made me think that further improvements were required. I looked through my crsytal ball again ( I mean the google search page, of course). This time I asked 'How to attract birds to your patio, garden, backyard etc?' The most reasonable answer was to add flowers. Off to Lowes this time. Brought a bunch of annual flowers with vibrant colors.
The quest for the red bird has now bestowed upon me the additional responsibility of plant care.
By the way, here's a small cardinal poem I found.

Let nature be your teacher contd.

The Northern Red Cardinal

I missed seeing the bird I mentioned in the last post a couple of days and thought it must have been the rains that made him happy that he came out of his hiding. So I gathered my moments of the red bird and saved them in my memory folder.

A few days after that event, while I was viewing my favorite carrier, I heard that song again. He was back! Yes!
Today's world is clearer than that of the past. Type a few words on a screen, click a button and you get all the information about your quest in a second. So I took advantage of this magic machine, something the ancients would refer to as a crystal ball or magic mirror, whatever. With a few searches I found out that the captivating creature is a Northern Red Cardinal. I also found out that this species is a backyard visitor and has a thing for birdfeeders.
By then, I was obsessed with the Cardinal and decided to invite him into my backyard which in reality is a small porch.

Let nature be your teacher

A few weeks back
Bored by the student infested 42nd street, I decided last december (2008)that it was the right time to move into a new neighborhood. A place more peaceful and having less party-nights with smokes and liquor. The search for a new place led to the 50th street where I moved to in Feb'09. A month went by to set up the place in my way. I want my apartment to say that SG lives here, in all its arrangements and chaos, when that prevails.
Pleasant spring blended into summer. One day, finally the heat brought the email from the clouds. The message was instantly received by mother earth, sent directly through thunderbolts, nature's favorite carrier. It rained. The morning after, I went out to enjoy my porch, which my 42nd street apartment lacked (despite its high rent). As I sipped my green tea and honey mixture, a bright red dot captured my sight in the heart of the lush green right ahead. It was a song bird, drifting and gliding through branches and leaves with its friends. Its song and color brightened up my day and its 'music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more'.