The rescue mission is over. Hannah and I finally arrived home last night, her first semester of college finished. It felt so good to be back after a whirlwind ten days away.

Sleeping in my own bed has never felt so good. Snape the cat was so happy to see me that he spent (what felt like) the entire night head-butting and nuzzling me. 5 am rolled blearily around with the arrival of our friendly neighborhood Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

While away, I received an email from Paul that said nothing more than, “f^*#ing bird.”

Paul rigged up some streamers and shiny flashing to try to dissuade the bird who did temporarily move to the other side of the house. The next morning Paul tells me that the bird chose to peck away on the tractor bucket. Ultimately, he decided that the make-shift mobile was no threat and he’s back outside our bedroom.

It’s wonderful to be home, but there’s no rest for the weary.