I watched the posts this week at J-Birds (start there and scroll up) about Eddgar's journey from New Orleans to Lansing, Michigan. I met little Eddgar, a male Solomon Island Eclectus, when we dropped Lucy with the Johnsons during our vacation.

Debra and Craig invest a lot of time and care and emotion in the birds they raise, and shipping them off must be a worry.

Lucy listening to reading deserves a picture. It is something to see. It reminds Lyman of the time he spent reading the encyclopedia to his two-year-old sister in the glider on the front porch. As long as he would read, he says, she would sit quietly, with a questioning look every once in a while.

Our technical problems with pictures, and other issues, can be traced to the router. Apparently the one we have has made something of a mess, and Lyman is deciding whether he wants to pay 35 bucks a call to the manufacturer or buy a new one. Advice is welcome.

I read the Sneetches story to Lucy today. She sat down on her tail on the edge of her cage and listened as though Dr. Seuss were a sage.

(Now you know why I am not blogging more, this constant rhyming can be quite a bore.)

Am I ever bored with cooking the same old things. Tonight I am trying the recipe for Goan Pork from one of Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks. Mustard seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, onion, ginger, garlic, cayenne, cider vinegar da da, da da. Bam.

Lucy likes rhythmic language. When I visited the library yesterday for this week's reading, I picked up several Dr. Seuss books for Lucy. You can drop in now and find me standing beside Lucy's cage reading "One Fish, Two Fish".

From James Joyner: Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan.

Now that Possum has separated spurting blood from food, I'll try the Thursday Three:

Three other places I might live in the South: Baton Rouge, LA, a college town; Lafayette, LA, a Cajun town; or Gulf Shores, AL, where there is low maintenance.

Three places that I've set foot in that I would never visit again: None. I haven't been to a great many places in the South, proper. But like godforsaken Gunter and other sites in north Texas, I am interested to see what has happened. I haven't been anywhere that someone has threatened me with a shotgun.

Three tourist traps in the South: The French Market in New Orleans, the city of Pensacola, FL (you read the map next time), and I'll agree with the Alamo. San Jacinto is a better monument.

The thing I have not seen talked about in the media is what would have happened if Uday or Qusay had ascended. For all his faults, Saddam is a political man. The children were spoiled.

I need a kick. I think that I'll drive to Afton Villa soon. Alone. Lyman's notions about a yard come from mowing. Best for it to be up and down, cross and sideways, for the most efficient run. Beds and trees are obstructions. Let it be known that it's been several years since Lyman mowed this lawn, though he did start in 1962.

Somewhere on that acreage there is a kitchen garden and a private lawn. There remains a caretaker's house. I don't have "column fever", but it wouldn't hurt this house in resale to carry tradition. (Even in 25 years.)

Lucy has one of these. This morning at about 10 I put five almonds in it and hung it from a branch of her Parrot Tower. The first three almonds were easy for her. The last two were too plump to pass through the bars. At 4:30 she was fussing and struggling with those two. So I moved the carousel from the branch to the tray of the tower. Lucy took the quick link off the chain, the chain off the lid, threw the chain and the lid on the floor, and got hold of the last two almonds.

Now we can't find the lid.

Took a tour with Lucy around the property today. The satsumas will bear, but I can't tell about the plums or the pear. The fig has come on another foot since I last looked at it. Lyman has let the poor cucumbers die, but the tomatoes look fine, if they have water tomorrow.

There are four days of work for me until the yard is ready for improvements, and I don't have a clue as to what they will be.

The ugly and expensive swimming pool is gone this year, so the architecture of the yard has changed on that score, and we expanded and covered a part of the patio a year or so ago, so that's changed, too. Now's the time for planning and enough execution to have some flowers this year.

I look at the set with some trepidation. I have literally busted a gut out there in the past.

LATER: Big Daddy tells us there will be lots of pears. I didn't look closely. Irrelevant, really, because the squirrels will take them all.

Michael Totten brought up a picture of Sadr. By my sights, he could have used the benefit of a strong mother.

My gosh. We joke about double wides here.

(Link via Obscure Store)

It has been a dreary and rainy Easter Sunday hereabouts, which brought to mind the ladies' Easter finery. It wasn't a good day for new dress shoes and pretty hats. So I think I'll buy this book, recommended by Virginia Postrel, to celebrate the ladies who celebrate Easter in great style.

Possumblog's Thursday Three:

Favorite Southern food: raw Gulf oysters with lemon, horseradish and ketchup

Least favorite Southern food: chitlins

Best Southern dish from my kitchen: breaded fried pork chops

True things are the most ridiculous.

Last time I vacuumed, I bumped the glass duck with the wounded beak. The glued end popped off and was immediately sucked into the Shop-Vac. On our hard floors, with Lucy and Lyman as permanent residents, a high-powered vacuum is a must.

We are adrift in dust in this house, and the vac needs to come out again. I need to remove the full bag, cut it in four directions, and sift through the cornbread crumbs, dried fruit and vegetable bits, seeds, leaves, dirt and everything else to find a bit of golden glass 1/2 inch long x 1/4 wide.

Done! 6 minutes max.

Ewww, dirt! My big project this year is the back yard.

The ads for diamonds seem early this year. I guess they're ramping up for Mother's Day. I prefer colored stones and pearls, but my lover tells me it wouldn't matter much.

"What would you do with diamonds? Diamonds are forever, and you're good for what, thirty or forty years?"

Egads!

"Speaking of supper, what are we going to have tonight?"

I don't know, Lyman. How about some cottage cheese and canned pineapple? Or what about tuna from the can with saltines? If you're feeling slim, what about a banana split from Dairy Queen? A crisp romaine salad with grape tomatoes and sliced cucumber with plain yogurt on the side? Wouldn't that be light and lovely?

No, you say. OK, then. You tell me.

What are these ads for "Real California Cheese"?

Full moon on a Louisiana Saturday night. The beer was icy cold and the crawfish were of a good size and tasty. Michael brought Sarah from Baton Rouge. Glenda's two boys and daughter were there with their others, along with about 20 more -- couples, widows, grandkids. 140 pounds of crawfish cooked and consumed around an outdoor fire.

Best of all, it wasn't at my house!