Hanging Out Together

I was hanging the clothes and attaching the pegs as quick as I could muster but Lorraine was relentless. It was a team effort but her competitive streak had taken over. She took joy in seeing me struggling to keep pace with all the items she threw upwards. The April sunshine had been just the excuse she needed to take out her pink sunglasses and she grinned up at me. If she had simply placed the items into my hand I would have made more speed but efficiency was the least of her concerns. She tugged my leg as her notice to me of an incoming item of underwear which ended up on my shoulder. I added slapstick groans and flailing arm lunges much to her amusement.

Afterwards we had cool drinks and sat on the garden bench watching patiently for the robin to make one of his courageous forays over beside us. Lorraine had left out crusts on the step near where we sat. The robin appeared on cue and as always, approached the food in stages. I’m not sure if was a male or female. My younger daughter Breena is convinced that the robin is a “she” and pregnant, something to do with it’s plump shape.

On this occasion he landed on the fence top. Then he swooped down onto the clothes line. He stopped to inspect the tidbits of bread from this closer viewpoint before finally prancing, a kind of mixture of a flutter and a playful jump, over to nibble the crumbs. Robin’s are friendly birds, they seem to look up and acknowledge your gift – not entirely trusting but yet calm and appreciative of the gesture to feed them.

“I’d love to hold him,” Lorraine said sucking through the straw. “Do you think he’ll ever come closer.”

“I think he might. How about we wait here a little longer to see what happens?”

She smiled up at me and I held her shoulder to cuddle her closer to me.