Blooms and birds: Sights that soothe Covid chaos

Here we are several months into the pandemic, and Colorado seems to be faring relatively well. We’re one of the few states with falling or stable cases of Covid-19, thanks to (most) folks wearing face masks, adhering to social distancing rules, and refraining from congregating in large groups.

Stay-at-home orders have been gradually relaxed in my state, though not yet completely ceased, and staying home as much as possible is still recommended.

Which suits me just fine, considering the chaos far and wide on pretty much every front imaginable. I’m more than happy being confined to the home front, thanks to some photo-worthy happenings that have soothed my senses of late.

Those happenings? Blooms and birds, a few shots of which I’m happy to share with you.

First up, blooms. I’ve been fortunate to have several flowers survive my black thumb, some — the roses, mostly — that were planted by homeowners prior to us as well as plants I plopped in the ground a few months ago then recently rounded out with annuals.

They make me smile.

As does a robin’s nest in my patio rafters. Except for the fact finding the nest put a hold on the painters I had scheduled to spruce up our home exterior. Robins are apparently a protected species, and their nest “cannot be touched” until no longer occupied, per the Colorado State Parks and Wildlife rep I spoke to when I called to request advice on moving it for the paint job.

Alas, the nest will (I hope) be empty soon, and watching the progress toward it being vacated has has been fun.

Fun for me, that is, as Callie doesn’t agree with me on the “fun” part. That’s because once the robin babes began to fledge, Mama and Papa Robin marked Callie as a danger and aggressively swoop and shoo her away from, well, everywhere in the yard each time she wants to play outside.

Despite the robins razzing my poor dog, I still say there’s no place like home for waiting out Covid … and all the other craziness. I’m pretty sure Callie will come around to full agreement with me once the robins have grown and flown.