Flying Away: One Nest Empty, One to Go

Yesterday was Mother's Day. Each of my children told me they loved me in a different way. Bow's version was: "Don't go to Florida."

 "Why not Bow?"    -- כי דוד אוהב את אמא - "Because [a] guy loves Mommy." When Bow wants to make himself seem very grownup, he refers to himself as "a guy." It's an odd usage that he perfected himself.

"But I have to go, Bow, to fight for our rights."

Bow loves Lawrence, too, and he will be fine in my absence. But I do need to pay Lawrence for his time. so that is where your help comes in. Thank you to everybody who has chipped in so far! We have had lots of donations, but we still need more. So if you haven't donated, because you thought it was a lost cause, now is a good time to add a little to the pot. Every little bit helps!



The great news is that I am a confirmed delegate from the State of Missouri to the Libertarian National Convention! This means that I get  a real vote, not one out of billions, but one out of a little over a  thousand. The Libertarian Party is small, which means each delegate's vote counts a great deal. I am helping to choose the third party candidate who in the general election will be the only other real choice besides Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I want it to be Austin Petersen, I believe he would have the best chance to win, and what's more, I support him on principle. He is the only one who understands that the legitimate function of the government is to uphold our right to be left alone. Freedom of association means the right to say no.

On Friday, there was a choir concert in which my daughter participated. I baked brownies for the choir bake sale. Bow licked the bowl. And as I was baking, I was thinking about how personal the process of baking is, and how important it is that I not ever be forced to bake to support any cause that goes against my principles. In a free country, how could that happen? But as far as I know, Austin Petersen is the only candidate who understands this. Gary Johnson doesn't. Hillary Clinton doesn't. And I would not count on Trump to do anything but toot his own horn.

Baking is a personal choice. Whether you bake. Who gets to lick the bowl. #AustinPetersen2016 pic.twitter.com/pUlFKDe1lz

— Aya Katz (@AyaKatz) May 6, 2016

My daughter took me out to an early Mother's Day dinner on Saturday. But I had a light dinner with Bow beforehand. I asked Bow if he wanted me to get the food ready and he said: כן וגם שתיה "Yes, and also drink." So I fixed him a special pre-Mother's Day drink: Pomegranate juice mixed with club soda. He really enjoyed that!

My daughter drove me to Rolla for dinner. She is almost grown up and almost ready to leave the nest. That's what happened to the fledglings in the nest by the fence, you know. They flew away, and now the nest is empty. Here is the last picture I have of them still in that nest.

Fledgling in Nest by the Fence -- Last Time I Saw Him There

Note that not only is the mouth wide open, but so is the eye. They come into the world with eyes glued shut. But when the eyes are wide open, you know that soon they will fly away.

As I approached the empty nest by the fence on Saturday, I was greeted by what looked like a very young robin.

Do the two robins from the nest by the fence remember me? Are they tweeting to me, "Look, we are all grown up!"

In the nest by my door, the baby robins are growing feathers and starting to open their eyes. Soon they will fly away, too. And just as the robins are growing and changing, the rosebuds on the bush that holds the nest are also in full bloom.

Yesterday, the baby robins in the rose bush looked like this.

And this morning, this is the sight that greeted me.

Can you see that the eyes are starting to open? It won't be long before they all fly away! But I am so happy that I have gotten to see this, and when the last nest is empty, I will be getting ready to go to Florida to fight the good fight!