#The Office of Disney Princess applications has called every spring and every time I tell them the same thing:

[breelandwalker]

I'm pleased to report a success. For the past several springs, I have made an effort to talk to the mockingbirds that live in the complex where I work. The first to answer back was a striking, flirtatious specimen I began calling Fella. The next year, another young male answered and was christened Buddy. We would regularly greet each other in the mornings and afternoons and I would sometimes leave birdseed out for them.

This morning, a female roosting in one of the shrubs, who I've been greeting every morning for a week now, answered me back. I approached with my usual, "Good morning! It's good to see you! Such a pretty bird, pretty bird!"

And the little lady answered back with a gorgeous chirrup of, "Pretty bird! Pretty bird! Pretty bird! Pretty bird!"

I think I'll call her Mama.

(Yes my co-workers do think I'm nuts...until the birds start answering.)