Just yesterday Michael and I were marvelling at the colors of the birds in our back yard: orange Orioles, red Cardinals and House Finches, and vivid yellow Goldfinches. 

But, no blue birds.  They must've been listening because Thurdsay when I stopped at the house for a bite of lunch on my way back from the police station, there were three blue birds!   Two on the ground and one on the thistle seed feeder!

I snapped the picture before he could fly away.  I don't remember ever seeing an Indigo Bunting before but I told Michael that is what I think it is, because the color looked indigo, and there was no white or red on the birds' breasts.

He looked them up in the bird book, and sure enough, Indigo Bunting looks just like these little beauties!

We put out an orange slice earlier this spring and... nothing.   Then suddenly last week, my husband Michael called me to the window, and there it was!  A  vibrant, orange Oriole! 

This morning there were three.  One was on the feeder eating the orange while these two kept watch in a nearby tree.

Barry Wortel came to take his shift calling numbers at Loyal MACS night Bingo.  What a fun group of people at a great event!  

I forgot that the Friday morning Mankato Department of Public Safety press briefing this week was being held on location as firefighters were getting trench rescue training.  I dutifully headed out, without a second thought, in my lovely black polka dot A-line dress and black patent leather dress shoes (with pretty little bows on them).

It was freezing cold and raining, and the trench training was being staged in the middle of a muddy farm field.  John Cross from the Mankato Free Press laughed with a blush in his cheeks as he trudged past me, while I stepped along, seeking the firmest mud for each step. 

The fire chief, Jeff Bengtson, Deputy Director of the Mankato Department of Public Safety Fire Department, suggested I should get rubber fire boots like his.  John cross was wearing rubber boots, I noticed.

I told Bengtson if they have fire boots in black patent leather, he can put me down for a pair.  We all laughed. 

On our way back out of the field, John Cross passed me by as my heel got stuck in the mud and my bare foot stepped forward into the mud while my shoe stayed behind.  He didn't even try to hold back his laugh.  

I couldn't help but laugh along as I retrieved my shoe.

Jeff Bengtson, Deputy Director of Mankato Department of Public Safety Fire Department speaking to press corps about the trench rescue training exercises.

One of my Mom's RV friends forwarded these photos... my folks have gone south every winter for ten years in their RV and made lots of friends all over the country.  Who would have thought a peacock could look so majestic and almost supranatural in flight! 

Photos from Kay T. 

If humans crossed the street like animals.

from http://imgur.com/gallery/LHQ4i