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I think you all owe me a huge debt of gratitude. It could be so huge that you can never repay me. You’re welcome to try, however.

You should all be on your knees and just trying to think of ways to thank me for bringing my good friend, Annie Oakley, into your lives. No, wait, don’t run away screaming! Get right back here and sit down! I promise you this does not involve rattlesnakes. Ok, I promise you this does not involve pictures of rattlesnakes. 

Annie Oakley is a lot like me, in that she regularly cracks me up. A recent email went something like this:

“The afternoon I laughed out loud and wondered about my sanity:

It was a warm hot Sunday afternoon and I was rushing to get a banana cream pie made before guests came. I darted out the back door and into the shade of the carport to grab fixings out of the back-up refrigerator. Before my eyes could quite adjust I caught something large sprawled out on the gravel. Taking refuge from the heat was Big Daddy Rattler. He was a healthy specimen, maybe 4'. Anyway, without even thinking I said, "Oh excuse me but I just have to grab something out of here and I'll be on my way. It sure is hot out here." So I carefully reached over and extracted goodies and carefully closed the door. He did not even bother to curl up. I yelled "thanks" as I headed for the house and then it hit me that I was chatting with a reptile. I did laugh out loud.

I had to go back out a few minutes later and he had vacated to less a trafficked area.”

It’s emails like this that make me laugh out loud – never mind those silly jokes that get forward ad infinitum.

And didn’t I promise you there would be no pictures of rattlesnakes? Just slap yourself upside your head and you’ll knock that mental image right out of there!

But forget about rattlers for the moment. You are really, really going to thank me for this next gem. When Annie sent me this latest set of story-telling photos, I wrote right back and asked for permission to post them on my blog. She graciously said, “Sure, do whatever you want with ‘em.” 

“Are you certain, because a couple of these shots are priceless?! Maybe you want me to use your real name? ”

Her reply was, “Just use them - I'm going to try and keep those pesky nature show people from calling all the time.” Did I mention she cracks me up?

Like so many of us in this neck of the woods, Annie has a pond. Ponds are lots of fun, but they are also lots of work. Annie’s chore at the present time was to whittle down her crop of cattails. They are highly invasive and can take over your pond in no time, especially if it’s not a huge, deep pond.

Annie did her research via Google, wrangled a sea-worthy boat from a neighbor, and set about tackling the cattails.

The S.S. Cattail

What she’d read on the internet was that you can cut down the cattails below the water line to kill them (they drown).

Annie Oakley tackles the cattails

While she kept at this job, the red-winged blackbirds were quite noisy and kept flying around her.

Red Winged Blackbird

She knew that they were nesting in the area and tried to steer clear of where she thought they had set up house-keeping. Then she stumbled upon a masterpiece among the reeds.

The amazing nest

How do they weave like that without any hands? I couldn’t do that if my life depended on it!

Then Annie Oakley floated closer to the nest.

Feed me!

So this is what all the fuss was about! No wonder they wanted the invading boater to stay away.

Two beautiful babies

It’s photos like these that keep us carrying our cameras wherever we go, even if it’s floating in a boat to cut down cattails. 

By the way, you’re welcome. You know you said, “Awwwwww …”

Bye bye, blackbirds! Have a wonderful life!

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