bluebird disrupts pink cake and candles on long (birthday) weekend day
“… and, Mom,” he said on the phone, “Leandra doesn’t get to eat birthday cake.”
“No cake? Where will be put the candle?” Nazy replied.
“No cake? What’s the point of the party?” I thought.
“No, Mom. We need a cake —perhaps pink cup cakes — but Leandra won’t have…”
“So I get her share?” I thought.
“Can we put a candle on a cupcake?” Nazy asked.
“I don’t think Leandra can blow out a candle, Mom.” Darius replied.
“I can help!” Tiger interrupted.
In the end it was the best of both worlds … pink cupcakes and a big pink cake that Leandra, or at least her parents, were happy to widely share.
The festivities began with an outdoor brunch at our home near the Santa Barbara Mission. Preparatory tasks were allocated by skill set: Nazy handled the food preparation, Darius installed the party decorations, Mitra set the table, Christiane dressed Leandra in birthday finery and I created appropriate California weather.
A local family of bluebirds crashed the celebration.
Veracity aside: We thought that the offending birds were bluejays. Darius, however, reminded us that bluejays have crowns. An internet search revealed the somewhat pedestrian moniker of bluebird. (If pedestrian is an appropriate descriptive adjective in reference to an avian denizen.)
The bird (and a couple of closely related family members) has become very bold. He picked almonds from the party table and even flew into the house to get a walnut. He has no fear…
“Perhaps, Dad,” Darius interrupts, “that’s because you’ve trained him to take bread from your hand.”
The Family at Leandra’s First Birthday 
Final bird comment: Although we can’t seem to scare the bluebirds, nearby nesting crows are effective.
During the party, Mitra asked me to speak with Tiger because he was convinced that weekend days were longer than days during the week. Mitra had explained that this was a matter of perception. I forgot the conversation until later in the week. We were driving home from Tiger’s swimming class when he brought up the subject.
“Mitra thinks that weekend days are same size as school days, Dan.” He asserted.
“I think they are too, Tiger.” I replied.
“No, Dan. That’s not right.”
“Why do you think weekend days are longer?”
“Well on the weekend, I woke up, I went to breakfast with Daddy. Then we went with Mommy and Arrow to the market. Then I went shopping with Mommy. Then we went to the park. Then Daddy took me to La Cumbre and we rode on a golf cart and then went swimming. Then we went and had pizza with Mommy and Arrow. Then we went home and brushed and flossed our teeth. Then Mommy read me a book before I went to bed.”
“So?”
“So, we never do that many things except on a weekend. Weekend days are longer.”
“All the days are the same size, Tiger.” I explained patiently.
“No Dan.” Tiger replied. “In the winter when we left swimming class it was dark. Now it is light. So the days are longer.”
“Fair point, Tiger.” I mumbled. Defeated.
(The Lovely) Leandra’s birthday
… with the full size cake …
We had a second party for Leandra later that afternoon. And, although Tiger blew a kiss toward the camera, there was a small disaster:
There was cake left over — and (surprisingly) Nazy had agreed that we could take it home. But, just before we left, the cake, which she had precariously balanced on a narrow arm chair, spontaneously slipped and splashed on the ground. Amazingly, it had time to flip over before hitting the ground. It might have been okay if someone hadn’t stepped on the box in a mad dash to ‘save’ the cake.As you’ve probably noticed, my regular publication schedule is a shambles this week. Accordingly, I’m going to end this edition somewhat prematurely… In particular, I won’t mention details about Darius and Christiane’s return to Washington Sate until next week. I can, however, give you a hint: It involved nonchalant TSA ‘workers’ and strict takeoff slot mandates.
For last week's letter, please click here
Please see a couple of photos below..
Arrow watering the plants
Darius, Christiane and Leandra