Family Stuff

Brother and Sister*

Sandland Brother has been in the Toronto area over this weekend but today was our first chance for a brief visit before he boarded a plane for more business meetings in Newfoundland. He has been living in the United Arab Emirates for a few years now and has actually enjoyed the heavy rain we have been experiencing in Ontario. It has been almost three years since I last saw him.

The Becka and I picked him up at the hotel, stopped for lunch and then went to Toronto's Harbourfront for a stroll. The Becka had the audacity to take a rear view photo of the two of us as we took photos of the skyline with our almost identical Canon Powershot cameras. Family traits run deep. I couldn't help but notice how my brother talked and moved his hands like our father and our next brother, Philip.

Terminal One, Pearson Airport*

We drove him to the airport and headed home again. My husband had some backyard news for me when I returned. We had noticed a pair of Cardinals in the garden recently and they had been checking out our empty feeders. I have not been feeding the birds over the summer. Yesterday I bought some seed again and filled one small container.

Mama Cardinal with a tasty grub

Today he noticed a nest in the top of our lilac bush and four little heads poking out as they waited for their next meal. Mama and Papa Cardinal took turns bringing tasty grubs to their youngsters and then the adults would fly down to feeder for a little treat of their own. It was cloudy and rainy when I tried to get some pictures of the action but there was not enough light to get a shot of the nest.

Time for her...

Families are important. Life goes on from generation to generation. Sandland Brother is off to Spokane WA later this week to see his new grandson of whom he is very proud. Then he has to return to the Middle East. He was commenting on how the internet has made it easier for families keep in touch, even when they are far apart.

I will be keeping an eye on the Cardinal family and an eye on my family as some grow up and others get older. Cardinals don't migrate, but my family seems to. But life is always about change isn't it.

*Photos by The Becka