I saw a Robin today

January 7, 2013, the first day of school after the holidaysin El Paso

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Earlier today I saw my first Robin of 2014 on the stone wall outside my office window.  The first thing I thought of was not the fact that Robins spend the winters in El Paso.  It was also not the fact that when I was a child growing up in western New York Robins were one of the first birds of spring.  It was of my grandmother, Frances LoBello, who lived across the street from me.

Like so many grandmas in the world my grandma was extra special.  She was a little Italian women who raised five boys and one girl not far from the shores of Lake Erie in the little town of Angola, New York.  By the time she passed away in 1986 she had nearly 30 grandchildren and great grandchildren.  I am pretty sure that I was one of her favorites.  Years after she passed I suddenly realized that we shared a love for writing and I still have copies of many of the letters and cards she wrote me over the years.  I am pretty sure that a part of her spirit lives in me including a part of my flesh.  You see she knew how much I loved her cooking and whenever I went across the street to her house she always fed me some of her amazing Italian food. There was always fresh bread, Italian home made pasta and sauce,  incredible apple pies, strawberry-short cake and tasty fig bars.  If she only knew when I got older I would have a hard time keeping off the pounds.  That's OK though, its cold outside and I may need that reserve in an emergency someday.  I love you grandma!

So what does my grandma's memory have to do with a Robin outside my office window at the Zoo?   Let me tell you.  On more than one occasion grandma would tell me stories of what life was like during the Great Depression. She said that times were so hard for the family in need of food that she would have to put bird seed on the window sill to catch song birds.  I remember clearly that she caught some pigeons and some of the birds we would see around the house.  I guess she must of said she caught a Robin because it was her story that first came to mind when I saw my first Robin of the year.   I only wish I could have a nice green lawn in El Paso and watch Robins pull worms up through the grass like I so often saw in my hometown.   Oh well, it comes with the territory living here in the desert.
I hope the Robin I saw today found something to eat here at the Zoo.  With all the food we put out for our animals, I bet it did.