An Evening at Ravinia

Last night we had a delightful (a word I seldom use) evening at Ravinia. (Ravinia?? think Tanglewood, but outside Chicago.)

The weather was perfect, the music beautiful, the company inspiring and the food delicious. What more does a girl need?

This was the monthly gathering of our Mensa Gourmet Group. We brought the appetizers and the dessert. Sir James Galway and Lady Galway and the CSO provided the music. The cicadas were thankfully silent. (But just you wait another 17 years.)

Another Bird Photo

A week or so ago, we were having dinner outdoors at Moody's Pub. The patio is tree-shaded, a pleasant place for a burger. There are house sparrows who drop by to see what they can get from co-operative diners. We always co-operate.

We were seated near the fence, beyond which is old ivy. I put some scraps on the top of the fence and a few sparrows gathered there. One even landed on my arm. We both startled each other!

My camera has a long lag time, especially when the batteries are getting old. I was trying to get a snap of the birds checking out the food, instead I got what I call "An In-Flight Meal".

The Saga of the Pigeon

Saturday night, late, the phone rang, starting an avian adventure.

I am apparently known as the bird lady in our condo, so when a beautiful banded pigeon was found in the front yard a neighbor called me. The bird had no interest in flying away and was almost caught by a curious BIG dog.

It is a lovely bird and has a bright green band on its right leg that only seems to say "1 11".

My brother is a former vet and suggested that I let it rest for the night with plenty of food and water and try to release it in the morning.

Sunday morning I tried to release the pigeon, but it does not seem to want to leave. I took a picture of it standing in one of my flower boxes, enjoying the view.

There does seem to be an injury at the vent. Fred said to check if she is egg bound. Did not seem to be.

The band is the sort that a breeder would use to identify his own birds, not a registration. No help there. I had reached someone from the racing pigeon assoc. but because it was not a racer, he could offer no assistance.

On Monday the pigeon was released. We kept it one more day for rest and recuperation.

Before going to work we put the cage and a dish of food in the bathtub and the bird on the window sill. We watched for a while while it looked out the open window. We closed the door and let it decide. When we came home from work, it had "flown the coop" so to say.


It was a strong flyer and had a few days of gentle care.

The sweet bird cheered our world for a few days and it left in better shape than it arrived.