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Health Care

While Congress, or at least that part of Congress that has been annointed to work on ridding us of a health care bill that might provide health care, I have been thinking about the little beasties that come to our bird feeder hoping for a little something.

These things do hang together, you see.

We have a bird bath, in our back yard, but that is of use only to birds that can sail over the fence.  Gambel's Quail, now attending to the little feather balls they call kids, can fly, but mostly they walk, and the kids always walk.  Maybe they need water, too, I surmised.

That is what led to the feed store, and the little galvanized pan.  You cannot see it, but I shaped a chicken wire insert to give the little tads a way to struggle back up, and out, should they find themselves in deep water.  And there is a rock, holding the wire insert down, and providing a perch should they simply want to pick up a little tan.

So far, all of this is nothing but liberal do-good-ed-ness.  The Senate has none of the compunctions I have about a safety net being necessary.  There may have been a stealth sip or two by a stealthy White Winged Dove or two, but I have not seen it.

Of course the temperature of the water may have something to do with the little stream I have provided in the desert.  A pan of water, sitting in the 115 degree sun for a couple of hours cannot be much over 211 degrees.  I can see that it is not actually boiling, but I did see--or perhaps I imagined I saw--a raccoon washing its pants in the pan, hanging them on the Palo Verde branch to dry.

We Do-Gooders are not easily quailed--I can scarcely believe I said that--so if a coyote or two, or a herd or two of javelinas, appreciates the water, I shall attach a little drip hose to keep the pan provided.

I shall keep you posted.  Good news is hard to come by these days.  

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