Feeding the Birds

Earlier this month, I was sitting in the lunch room trying to think of something to add to the usual lunch time banter. “Oh check this out! I had some yellow finches at my new feeder!” I excitedly showed the video from my phone of 4 birds happily enjoying the seeds out on my back deck. “So now you’re that person who takes movies of her bird feeder?” my friend jokingly asked. Wow, did I suddenly feel old. I don’t know why taking movies of my bird feeder classified me as the old guy in the room. I have always liked birds. My grandma was an avid bird watcher and had many feeders in her back yard, along with her “Pocket Guide to Birds” book and binoculars next to the window. I’m not that bad yet. But I have fond memories of my grandma telling me about birds and about how blue jays are the “bullies of the backyard feeder.” I always enjoyed watching her yell “Shoo!” at those pretty birds. For the last few years we’ve always had some sort of feeder in our yard. I half-heartedly filled them with whatever bird seed I found in the garage. It was usually the same stuff I threw in the chicken coop. However this year I developed an interest in getting more serious about my bird attracting. I ordered an oriole feeder and then read an article about how to attract them, (with oranges). And what not to feed them, (grape jelly-contrary to popular belief). I had already used a gift certificate to by a cute yellow finch feeder, to replace the thistle seed socks I hung around the yard last winter. I just love yellow finches. They are probably my favorite bird. That feeder is on my deck railing, hanging to the outside of the deck so that my cats won’t mistake it for a lunch buffet. This year I also decided I was going to make an effort to attract not only orioles and finches, but robins. Robins are so quintessential spring in Michigan, that I did some reading about what they like to eat. So our Saturday trip down to Traverse City resulted in a new eco-friendly feeder and some songbird mix, complete with raisins and dried mealworms. My new hobby seems to be paying off. Just tonight there were about 50 little birds that I have never seen before going crazy over my finch feeder. After a quick search on my computer, it turns out they are called common redpolls. I have never even heard of those, but they sure are pretty. So I guess what I am saying is that I’ve turned into my own grandma and if that makes me the old lady in the lunchroom, so be it. Just don’t be surprised if I whip out my phone and show you a video of the orioles when they finally make their way to my feeder.

Those Pesky Passwords

About a week ago, I found myself in a foul mood. Such a foul mood that I stopped at the gas station on my way home for a Little Debbie’s snack cake and some Pringles. When I got home I put my stuff down, played frisbee with my dog, fed the chickens and then went straight to the couch. I laid down under a double-folded weighted blanket, and watched JoJo make the world’s easiest meal, parmesan chicken alfredo, on an episode of Magnolia Table just so I could decompress. I have been doing a pretty good job these days of keeping my stress level in check. I pray, meditate, do yoga, and practice gratitude. So that day, the feeling of tight muscles, clenched teeth, and raw irritability, were something I hadn’t felt since the election. What had me rattled to the point of food soothing and weighted blankets? Passwords. Google Chrome has been on my last nerve lately with the constant updates and re-installing. And if you aren’t having that problem, please tell me how you have avoided the little red circle with the up-arrow, because I see it almost weekly, if not daily (it’s up there now, in fact). And just about every time I re-install it, my passwords go missing. When the whole password thing first started, I could use a password like 1234qwerty. Then I had to get a little more creative like, h4rL3y. And in those days, I could use them on multiple websites. Now that the internet is a virtual wasteland of people and bots trying to steal our information and identity, passwords have gone from easy to remember 6-8 letters and number combinations to 16+ letter, number, symbol combinations that in no possible way can ever be memorized. They look something like this: 7}%7FG^MuG'2u/3f. And forget trying to write them down in your little middle-aged password notebook, you will almost definitely write one character incorrectly and get the dreaded, “Oops! Incorrect username or password. Please try again.” But don’t try more than 3 times or they will lock you out of your account. With some of my accounts, I have stopped trying to figure out a way to remember these god-awful passwords (which shouldn’t even be called “words”). Now I just type in my username (if I can remember which one), and hit “forgot password?” because it is actually easier to go through the 3-step process to just make up a new one with my handy random password generator website and the copy & paste keys, than trying to find the sticky note I wrote the last one on. Where that doesn’t work is on apps like Pinterest where I am signed in on 4 different devices, so every time I change the password, I have to change it on multiple devices. You do not want to catch me on that day! Which was what happened on the day in question and brings me back to the couch, the pringles, and Magnolia Table. So if you happen to find me in a foul mood, it’s probably the passwords.