10:00 AM on Monday still

I ate my breakfast in the courtyard again. It is so quiet--only the sounds of the desert. Gable went out with me, of course. He wandered around among the plants and checked back every little while to see if I had dropped something or had a bite for him. I ate my sandwich of meat and cheese on high fiber bread and drank my coffee. When I finished the sandwich he decided that there would be nothing else forthcoming and went clear down to the end of the courtyard on the other side of the big tree. I sat and drank my coffee and watched the birds coming and going.

There are birds everywhere! When I first went out, there was nothing but as I sat there quietly they began to come back. There is, for sure, a Says Phoebe. I also saw a dusky flycatcher. I believe the phoebe has the nest over the door. I saw another mockingbird there on the western side of the house. This one seems to have a nest in the big-tree-that-I-don’t-know-the-name-of. The other two mockingbirds have their homes on the eastern side. The meadowlarks seem to come and go. There are several birds that I haven’t seen well enough to attach a name yet. What a way to have breakfast!

When I finished my coffee I called Gabe back by asking in a conversational tone if he would like a little bit of coffee. He KNOWS what coffee is. He used to steal mine all the time until I started using the narrow topped travel mugs with the lids. Now he doesn’t get nearly as much as he would like. Whenever I finish my coffee in a big open cup I always leave a teaspoonful or so and ask if he would like some. He didn’t need an second invitation but hustled right back down to me. Then we got up and came inside so the mama phoebe could get to her nestlings.