Shy Bird

I've been hearing a new bird all summer. Everytime I go outside to find out what it looks like, the bird stops making noise. This bird makes an incredible sound like nothing I've heard before. The sound comes in 11 parts. The first 10 parts are clacks. Clacks is a new word combining clucks and quacks. The bird clucks repititively like a chicken but sounds like a quack. After quickly clacking 10 times it makes a final elongated noise that sounds just like a door creaking in a haunted house. The bird sounds like this: quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack ssccchhhrrreeeeeeccccchhhhh! I can't imagine what kind of bird this is. I am hoping the bare trees will allow me to get a glimpse of it before it leaves for the winter. I heard it yesterday in the neighbor's yard but I just couldn't find it. It's a shy bird.

I'm off to a wedding. A little girl I knew has grown up and is getting married. This girl was like a growth on her mother's leg when she was young. She would grab onto her mother's thigh for dear life for about a year - probably when she was 3. Later she taught my Offspring #1 how to ride a bike. She used to come over to play with the kids but then ask if she could help me dust or put dishes away. I didn't mind at all. I liked the help with the housework. When her mother would come over to get her I'd tell her Mom how much help she was giving me. Her Mom would be exasperated because the girl wouldn't help at home with housework. This little girl even helped us move into the house we have now - she unpacked the kitchen. Today she is getting married. How time flies.