Building Day at T-Bone’s Place
After a good visit with his parents, Cletus asked Reba and Arthur if they would accompany him to the nesting authority to speak with Cranford about the cedar tree. Then he wanted Arthur to take them by Thistlewyn’s place to speak with her for a moment. Arthur agreed.
They arrived at Cranford’s and explained the problem with Tex and Rosa and asked him if he could drag his feet a few days so they could work this out, for they would one day like grands from all their sons.
Cranford saw the logic in their request and agreed. He explained that the Nesting Authority was undergoing internal restructuring and it would be that long before she could move in.
As the three were on their way back, they could see Thistlewyn tidying up her abode with a broom and Arthur motioned for them to make a stop there.
She came out to meet them, to see what the word of the day was. They told her it was ethnicity.
About that time Rosa stepped out of the house; you could see the light turn on in Reba’s face. She exclaimed with excitement, “Who is your new friend here, Thistlewyn?”
Thistlewyn replied, “This is Rosa. She’s from Central America, so she is, a tropical mockingbird.”
Reba stepped forward and extended her wing with sincere greetings. She looked at Cletus and said, “Look, Cletus, this is Rosa, isn’t she beautiful?” as she put her elbow into Cletus’s ribs.
Cletus, as trained, responded with agreement, then made small talk about how he had a top-notch son named Tex that he would like to introduce her to. “Would you and Thistlewyn please come over for dinner tonight? We would love to get to know more about the two of you.”
Rosa was nodding as she looked at Thistlewyn, and Thistlewyn agreed by saying, “You know me, I’m always game for a free meal, so I am.”
After that, Cletus and Reba went back home and Arthur said, “I am going to take a trip to the feeder at the corner of T-Bone’s yard. Mrs. Bone goes out occasionally and puts seed in it for the birds. She loves birds. Y’all want to join me?”
As they arrived at the feeder, they could hear noise coming from behind the house. The three of them were intrigued and flew over to the fence on the north border of the property.
There they could see T-Bone, working and sweating as he tried to build a structure. Looked like he was making headway, so they decided to watch for a bit.
Soon Tex and Preston showed up and lit on fence posts on both sides of them. Tex began making small talk, often catching a glimpse of Rosa. The girls began to talk smack.
Thistlewyn began giving Tex a hard time as she watched T-Bone’s pants sliding down into the sagging style. She said, “Tex, do ye wear drawers like T-Bone there? Ah, sure, I suppose not, seein’ as ye’ve been showin’ your tail quite a bit lately.”
Rosa looked away so Tex couldn’t see the amusement on her face. Tex smoothly looked at her unfazed, then replied, “What was that, Sparky?” They all laughed, and Tex seemed to relax after that.
Tex looked at Rosa, then made small talk with her, asking her about her home in Central America. They chatted for a while, and both seemed to enjoy themselves.
Arthur went on to mock T-Bone’s body language and Thistlewyn began mocking Mrs. Bone, saying phrases like, “Well, I do declare,” and “Aren’t you special.”
After a bit of that, Preston got the bejeebers startled out of him as Jamie, the female Tufted Titmouse, lit beside him. He went to greet her, but she was gone. He turned his head to look at T-Bone, and there she was again. Then she was gone.
Rosa looked at Preston and inquired about the stranger.
They all laughed and Tex took over before Preston could reply.
“We have known Jamie for quite a while, yet no one knows anything about her. She hops around so much, my brain can’t move fast enough to converse with her. They say she has HDHD. No pun intended.”
It all got silent as they sat around wondering what HDHD was.
