Ready to See Mississippi Kites Again

For the past eight years, I’ve had Mississippi Kites nest near my home. In Jonesboro, the kites could be found in trees in my front yard and my neighbor’s back yard. In Little Rock, the kites can be found soaring leisurely above our house. Mississippi Kites are one of my favorite birds – and I look forward to seeing them again in a few months. Cool fact about Mississippi Kites: the oldest one was at least 11 years old. It was banded in Kansas in 1984 and was later found in Texas in 1995, according to AllAboutBirds.org.

PHOTOS: Broad-tailed Hummingbird

Earlier this month, I saw my first Broad-tailed Hummingbird in Wynne. The immature male is the fifth Broad-tailed Hummingbird to ever be reported in Arkansas. It is usually found further west.

The hummingbird was at the home of a woman I know (she works with my mom, her kids were in school with me). She was really nice, and let me show up at 7:30 a.m. to look for it. It was funny, as she was telling me it may take a while for it to appear, the hummingbird appeared. I didn’t even have a chance to put down my bag before it showed. I still ended up staying 45 minutes to get better pictures. It was a nice trip.

Home Sweet Home

I am finally back home in Wynne, Ark., after four months in DC completing an internship. I checked out of my Rockville, MD, apartment at 9:30 a.m. yesterday, and had just enough time yesterday to buy a pink ‘Washington, DC’ hoodie at Union Station as we passed through DC to get to BWI Airport.

Out of five suitcases, four suitcases were mine and they were heavy and a pain to get to the airport. Luckily, none of the suitcases were overweight. Well-one weighed in at 56 pounds, so the check-in attendant asked me if I wanted to just take out 5 pounds in items so I could avoid the $90 overweight fee. I took out both a blanket and my winter coat and still weighed in at 51 pounds. The attendant kindly said she would overlook the extra pound and let me go on without paying the extra fee. Thank goodness!

Security was another issue for mom and I. Mom’s carry-on was searched because she had an item that looked like a “fishbowl.” Turns out, it was a plastic green flower that was in a little bowl of fake water that mom gave me during her last visit.

I stupidly said as she pulled it out, “oh, it’s fake!” The security guard was sarcastic answering me, however, she still had to call her superviser over to check that it was okay to allow to pass. It was fake water for crying out loud! The superviser gave her approval so we were soon back on our way!

Cindy was on a separate flight than mom, Elizabeth and I so she made it to Little Rock 30 minutes after the rest of us landed. It was fine with me, however, since it gave us enough time to put our luggage in the car and talk to my dad-who met us at the airport.

Dad and I watched Cindy’s plane land on the real time flight tracker and it was pretty cool to track Cindy’s progress on the digital map and guess which plane-hers or a Houston plane-was landing first based on their altitude. While standing there, man waiting for the Houston plane said the plane, scheduled to land at 5 p.m. that day, had been delayed due to a malfunction in the landing gear-it would not go up once they started to leave the runway! The plane had to turn around and passengers had to board another plane. However, to further complicate the flight-they had to wait for weather to clear. I’m glad I was not on that flight!

Once Cindy’s plane landed, we were quickly on our way and only stopped once to grab some food. We arrived home around 11:30 p.m. and I had a pleasant surprise once there!

I am the new and proud owner of a Toyota Corolla S car!!! I am so excited. I was too out of it to do more than look at the car and accuse everyone of lying to me (jokingly of course).

This morning, however, was a different story! I drove it to church and everywhere. I love it!

I have a job!

Once I get back May 16, I will be starting my new job two days later on Monday, May 18, at the Wynne Progress. Yes, I’m moving home.

I am actually excited about the prospect of moving home since I will get to be closer to my family for at least  a year before I move on. Elizabeth is wanting me home for her 21st birthday on Nov. 2, and I as well. I have also already told grandma and mom that I expect some home-cooked meals from time to time!