Hoopie Birds

Most of the birds around here are pretty ordinary, with the exception of the pure white egrets that come during the winter and...the most fascinating bird I've ever seen, the hoopie bird. I've been trying to take a picture of one for nearly three years now. The only time I had seen them are when I don't have my camera. Then last month I saw one in front of our house. Miraculously I was able to snap some pictures before one of us, Peaches or I, frightened it away.

The top of it's head looks fairly flat in the picture. At times it spreads whatever that thing is on top of it's head, much like a peacock spreads its tail. Then it's like a mohawk, an orange and black striped mohawk.

It's just the most interesting little bird I've ever seen. It's proper name is Hoopoe, but folks around here call it Hoopie. There doesn't seem to be many that live on our compound, so a sighting is like a lucky penny to me. I wonder if the Saudis know that it's the national bird of Israel?

Crooked Emblems

I can't sew straight to save my life. Seriously. Even when I use masking tape 270 degrees around an emblem and shift the tape as I go, it somehow ends up on the uniform crooked. If I've been drinking Kahlua and Cream while I'm sewing the emblem on, it's even worse.

Shortly after arriving in Dhahran I found out about the 16th Street Cleaners. For about $.50 they sew an emblem on for you. You tape the emblem on the uniform where you would like it to be placed, drop the whole thing off and come back one week later to a perfectly straight emblem sewn on the uniform. I thought I died and went to heaven.

However...there have been times (twice in the last two weeks as a matter of fact) when one of the boys earns an emblem and there hasn't been enough time to have the it sewn on by the 16th Street Cleaners because they need to wear their uniform to an event coming up quickly. If it's a minor emblem, I just tell them to lump it, wear the uniform without the emblem, and I'll get it in after the event.

Michael just recently completed the rigorous requirements for Second and First Class Scout in Boys Scouts. He's been working on both of them congruently since the beginning of last summer. I'm not going to list everything he had to do, know, perform and live in his everyday life in order to advance - you just have to believe me that this was a REALLY BIG DEAL for him. At the same time, he earned the merit badge for first aid, as well as CPR and AED certifications. And...last night he was elected to be a patrol leader for one of the new scout patrols. The boy has some really cool emblems that need to sewn on - pronto!

So I took the emblems into my buddies at the 16th Street Cleaners yesterday, with plans to pick the uniform up on Friday - the soonest they'd be done. Then to my horror I discovered this morning that Michael needs to wear his uniform on Thursday morning for the annual pancake breakfast. I was able to get it back quickly, but without the sewing done.

So what's worse at a high profile event:

• NOT wearing the emblems you worked so hard for and are so proud of?
• or...wearing the emblems, BUT they are as crooked as the day is long?

All I can hope is that everyone eating pancakes Thursday morning will only notice the pride and love I have for my son, and look past the crooked emblems.