Culture Clash

E, talking to neighbor child: We were hoping to see some avocets on our family bird walk this week.

Neighbor child (clearly a Philistine): Huh? Did you say Avatar?

Fly Away Home

Imagine if you will:

You look out the back door of your house to check on your four lovely children. You see, to your amusement/dismay, four crawling forms, bottoms to you, two of those bottoms stark naked, crawling away from you into the neighbors' yard, stalking the elusive Mallard Ducks that have taken (contrary to their own best interests) to visiting our neighborhood in the morning and evening. This is what Marmot Dad saw tonight while I was busy putting sheets on our bed. I'm devastated that I didn't get to see it myself.

But it points to a larger trend/mania in our home: BIRDS. The kids are smitten with birds and birdwatching. I bring to wit two birdwatching notebooks, produced by M and E, entirely on their own and without any parental prodding or suggestion.

Here's E's Bird Notebook:

peacocks:

swallows:

black wing (she means red-winged blackbird):

Canada geese:

woodpecker:
yellow head (blackbird):

ducks:

kestral:

ospray [sic]:
killdeer:

ducks redux:

And M's notebook:

titled "A nonficten Book about ducks"