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Martini Glambassador's avatar

“Pass the berry” sounds dirtier than it is, but it does relate to romance, at least for cedar waxwings, your hed gif birds: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/pass-the-berry

Also, a meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/202bc82c-ff79-4bea-b6d2-9f0fdf7a7187?utm_source=share

Sallyfemina's avatar

When I was 6-7 a tree in the front yard of the house my family was renting was overrun with cedar waxwings. Said tree had a lot of berries. Which were fermenting.

Drunk birbs are cute.

We didn't mind, the whole block stopped by. It was some kind of fruit people can't eat. The cat went mad for a couple days before they moved on.

Nancy Naive's avatar

“Give it to Mikey! He’ll eat anything!”

Littorally Speaking's avatar

In back of my place we used to have two big Brazilian pepper trees, the berries of which would be ripe right around February and March when the waxwings would show up in their annual escape from winter elsewhere; always entertaining for the cat, as they would be noisily foraging just feet from the window.

Sadly we lost them both a couple years ago; the (salt) water table is very shallow here, so tree roots have to spread out instead of down, and eventually can’t support the weight, especially when the ground gets soaked by rain, so no more waxwings. 😿

ElderlyLoudCatWomyn's avatar

Cardinals (who mate for life) do more or less the same thing as a courtship ritual. A few years ago I watched a male cardinal fly from the feeder to fence with a seed and feed it to the female. This happened multiple times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMqSUd5mZxs

Richard S's avatar

By the way, Cedar Waxwings are NOT to be confused with Bohemian Waxwings. The Bohemians can usually be found nesting in garret and loft apartments, or hanging out at coffee shops discussing the Arts or "leftist" politics.

Tommymo's avatar

I’m your huckleberry!

helenasgarden's avatar

Aaaaahh, the golden birds of happiness. 💛

ames's avatar

Thank you! They are some of my favs!

Menotsure's avatar

Like my first wife except she never gave the berries back. Then she charged up the credit cards, left them on the dining room table and moved out on our fourth anniversary.

It turned out for the better. She was more whackwing than waxwing.

helenasgarden's avatar

LOL At first I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Menotsure's avatar

Laugh. She wasn't evil, but she was kinda nuts.

The worst part was that she took some really nice

woolen Turkish carpets that I had bought with her.

Nancy Naive's avatar

Small price to pay for a chance at a life of sanity.

CambridgeKnitter's avatar

It reminds me of a friend whose comment on her divorce was "It only cost me $5000 to get rid of him."

Opalescent Riddles's avatar

Beautiful.

They perch in birches at the water's edge, better to see the flying insects they chase, capture, and eat. A fun game it is to try to see the potential target before or soon after the bird takes off. It's like watching eagles or hawks hunt on a smaller scale.

If you moored your boat to the tree they're using as base, you should move it to another tree.

Teen Laqueefa's avatar

As a child I always wondered why they were so elusive having never seen one, and dreamed of seeing one someday and still haven't. Sort of like Wood ducks. except I eventually did see one of those in a shitty setting. (Ark river downtown Wichita)

helenasgarden's avatar

Oh. lucky you! Wood ducks are beautifuIly and so precisely painted.

I want to see the bluebird of happiness.

Tommymo's avatar

May the bird of paradise fly up your nose

May an elephant caress you with his toes

May your wife be plagued with runners in her hose

May the bird of paradise fly up your nose

helenasgarden's avatar

Bwah! Thanks for cheering me up!

ames's avatar

If you have a mulberry tree, you'll see them!

Holly - Lima Charlie's avatar

Waxwings are exquisite birds. Seeing them in the snow is otherworldly and that's an understatement.

Sherry's avatar

They are. I can hear them but they seem to be elusive in seeing and they are flocks of them at that.

Shocktreatment's avatar

Gorgeous creatures

"I passed a berry, she returned a pit..." and now you know!

Miss Grundy's avatar

Suitors plying the object of their affection with fruit makes for a healthy relationship. Go, birdies!

helenasgarden's avatar

In film, early on if I see a male lead quietly give food to the female lead at the dining table or help her with food (like breaking crab shells for her even though she doesn't ask) I melt. It's rare though.

TootsStansbury 🇺🇦's avatar

These are some of my favorite birbs because beautiful of course, but so gregarious and fun to watch. Also yellow-rumped warblers, which used to be all around my yard in NC.

Maureen's avatar

who could not love something called a yellow-rumped warbler?

Jen Is Journalisming's avatar

I was all excited that I actually remembered their name :D

Little pep me up for the morning

satch's avatar

So it's probably too late to start?

CambridgeKnitter's avatar

It's never too late to start.

TootsStansbury 🇺🇦's avatar

🎶 pass the berry ‘pon the left hand side 🎶

Edit to correct the lyric

Tom Carpenter's avatar

Nice news synopsis

Sherry Ellis's avatar

Robert's and Alison"s voices are so complementary. What a duo!

Rad's avatar

It has just been a long, slog of a day. I think it's time to relax and look at some artwork!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbTrMwhw47o

Queroloustwo's avatar

Of course want to cut out religious studies. Anyone who actually can and does read the bible will realize that MAGA is the devil!

theCryptofishist's avatar

August 21st--the FukuiSanYesOta memorial version of the monthly San Francisco meet up.

Teh usual details:

6PM

Eclipse restaurant and bar

In the Atrium of the Embarcadero Hyatt Regency

We sit behind the bar

Look for a woman in a wheelchair, taht's me.

We'd love to have you.

Kay Ducky's Booze Clues's avatar

All of the time TFG "jokes", like about not keeping money, he's not joking; he's just whining. And all of the trained seals pretend to laugh. This is grotesque.

Trux Mint In Box's avatar

Of course Trump is bragging about all the money people send him as he makes sure to keep eye contact with all the women around him because the horny asshole always be closing.

calliecallie, aka pollyanna's avatar

GRRR! I am so mad at myself. I am looking for a photo from the early 2000s (pre-digital). For my son's wedding. He requested it, has a photo he took of it on his phone, but it's a bit off as they tend to be, and he'd like a scan of the original. I found the photo envelope where that picture should be, but it is not in there. (In those days, the Meijers photo developers helpfully made a little summary card with tiny pics of all the photos on the film.) Did I keep the negatives? Fuck, no. Since it's missing, I am sure I hung it on the fridge at one point. WHAT DID I DO WITH THOSE FRIDGE PHOTOS?

Anyway, I am still searching. Going through my Mom's photos now, in case I sent her a copy. I might have. (She was so fucking organized. Every photo envelope of hers is labeled and dated. Dammit! Why didn't I get that gene?)

I have been at this for several hours already. WISH ME LUCK!

calliecallie, aka pollyanna's avatar

I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!

I remembered an album I made a couple of years ago, of photos of him from some school project poster boards that I kept. There it was. Mission Accomplished. I deserve ice cream.

Rags's avatar

Meijer, puhleeze!!!!!11!!

Littorally Speaking's avatar

Don’t you just LOVE that?

You just *know* you’ve got it *somewhere*, because you would never throw it away, but it’s not in any of the places amidst twenty plus years of accumulated stuff our poor old brains tell us it logically *should* be.

Then one day you come across it by accident while seaching for something completely different, and promptly forget where it was again.

calliecallie, aka pollyanna's avatar

Yes, and I’m quite certain I will come across it a month after the wedding.

Karen Scofield's avatar

Tuesday Tab's with Coffee ☕💯👍

beb's avatar

Even's tabs failed to the announce the one thing I hope for, Trump's obituary. Sigh. Back to bed for another 6 weeks....

Biff52 Lost Canadian's avatar

Right? Not even a requiem for a tortoise.

Zyxomma's avatar

Ta, Evan. Ta, Martini. We may not be passing the berry, but this morning's fruit bowls are topped with some wild raspberries; they're growing right at the corner of the pied-à-nuage. Darling husband Meccalopolis served our flowery green tea first, and I put the bowls together. Good day, beloved Wonketteers. We love and appreciate you all and we bless us all with love, health, peace, and grace.

Please, please stay safe. Wear a mask or two, wash your hands, sanitize when you cannot wash and let the sanitizer dry completely, stop touching your face, take Vitamin D, get a booster shot six months after your last and catch up on any other vaccines you need (and if there are children in your life, make sure they're vaccinated also, too), avoid indoor and crowded outdoor gatherings and when you must meet, remove masks only to eat, drink, and take quick photos, and stay the fuck away from us and anyone with whom you do not share a roof. Do this because you love yourself, and because we love you, too. Do this in memory of 27 Club member Treg and heroic Tony, Holly's pilot friend, among nearly eight million dead worldwide. Do this to honor the nurses and other frontline medical personnel (we adore you, all medicos of Wonkette, active and retired), especially ICU Hera Mrs Land Shark, RN. Stay safe. Jump through any voter registration hoops now, and help others to do the same if it's within your power. When we vote, we win!

Slava Ukraini. 🌻🇺🇦💙💛

Meccalopolis's avatar

I love you, darling. Have a great day, every Wonk!

Amy M Townsend's avatar

NYT soft interview with a trash nazi. They did not even ask if he really killed a dog with a shovel at a dinner party.

kckitty's avatar

Kaitlin is all smiles!

fuflans's avatar

will sommer makes me laugh and laugh. i was so sad when he left fever dreams and so glad he showed up somewhere even more useful.

Randy Bender's avatar

There never was show, and it was all a bribe/munnie laundering probably ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Daniel O'Riordan's avatar

He got a free vacation. That's it.

marcus816's avatar

I have the RP/AK album! Fact Check: TRUE!

marcus816's avatar

Her work with Union Station is outstanding also, too!