Out at the Lazy 'C' Ranch

We put cracked corn (why has no sharp-witted marketer sold this under the brand name "Jimmy's Cracked Corn?) and peanuts and the occasional leftover popcorn or grainy bread out on the deck for the dining and dancing pleasure of the squirrels, birds, chipmunks and other members of the animal kingdom who hang around our yard waiting for a handout.  At breakfast time, it's a lot of fun to see the cardinals, blue jays, grackles and other birds land on the deck and vie with the squirrels, several of whom seem to be all hopped up at that early hour, for the chow.

On Sunday morning, this little fellow kept coming back to filch another peanut.  I ID'ed him as a red-headed woodpecker:
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Melanerpes
Species: erythrocephalus and also checked him for wants and warrants.  He came back clean, or "negative," in the official parlance. 

But for those who find the myriad differences between me and my wonderful wife Peggy to be endlessly fascinating, here you go:  Peggy got out the many books she owns on the topic of animal symbolism and lore, and wove for me many tales of what it means to see a woodpecker peckin' away at one's tree, or peanuts, as it were.  She was totally in her element, gleefully turning page after page of book after book and relating to me many interesting stories of people and their interactions with Erythrocephalus. 

I sat around performing the Woody Woodpecker song in several ways...whistling, humming, tapping on hollow cheeks. (Of my face.)  For an hour or two, I happily paraded around the house in my curious gait, tapping my cane and cackling like Woody. 

I'm the way I am and Peggy is the way she is and we love each other for it.  If it's culture and taste you seek, call on Peggy.  But if you want the link to the video where Quagmire runs around doing the Woody theme, I'm your boy!