Big dragonfly and baby dove

My cold is definitely going away but nowhere near as fast as I'd like. I spent yesterday with a headache and a weird sense of nausea, probably from all the gross stuff ending up in my stomach. I was barely able to eat any lunch but thankfully managed to eat more for dinner.

Since we got both packages of toys yesterday, we couldn't resist breaking them open last night. I played with the dremel but not on anything consequential; just on a scrap piece of plastic to get familiar with the tool. Colin stayed up past his bedtime; he was having too much fun playing with his new blinking toy. It's actually a very tiny computer that is very versatile and can be made to do lots of different things. This morning, he showed me that it blinks the prime numbers - flash flash ... flash flash flash ... flash flash flash flash flash ... I don't know how he does it - I just sum it up to magic. Think about it - how is computer programming not like magic?

The early days of September are one of my favorite mini-seasons; when the leaves are still green but there's a crispness in the sunshine and breeze. This morning when I stepped out to water our container garden, I spotted a big beautiful dragonfly. I was afraid of scaring it off or it being gone when I ran back inside to get the camera, but it let me take lots of pictures and get pretty close to it, then I dared to try to get it to sit on my finger. And it did! Definitely made my day. A picture of the big beauty.

I had noticed a garage sale happening right across the street when I took the garbage out and so I went over there. Not much that I cared for, but I couldn't resist getting a sweater that just seemed to be "me." Blue stripes, hooded, no buttons or zipper but a belt, and verrrry long. Perfect for those days I just want to be extra comfy but still stylish. I usually wear my roomy dark grey sweatshirt with "KALAMAZOO COLLEGE" in big bright orange letters across the front on such days. Extra comfy days, not stylish days. Duh. I may not be a fashionista, but I am aware of how to match clothes and all that. Sometimes I just choose to purposely wear clashing colors.

On the way back, I peeked in with the mama dove who has been nesting in the tree right out front. Earlier this summer, we had a robin family there. That's another story, really, but we like to imagine that the two baby robins are enjoying the life of flying around and eating worms now. I'm not sure how long ago we noticed the dove sitting in the nest, which had been modified to fit the larger birds. I do remember seeing the papa once, bringing twigs to the mama. Colin likes to walk up and say hello to the mama before going to work and after coming home. He did so this morning, but it wasn't until I peeked in a few hours later that there was signs of another life in the nest. I tried to get good clear pictures but it's so hard to capture a mostly hidden ball of fuzz. Here's a couple of most successful shots.

Not entirely sure what the mama and the baby are doing ... seems to be that mama is holding the baby by its beak. If you look closely, you can see its little eye blearily looking back in both pictures. I would guess it had hatched sometime between 9 and 11 this morning. I didn't notice any signs of other babies. But it's very exciting.