A few weeks ago my mom called and asked me if I wanted one of the birdhouses that my dad built. She said it’s supposed to be an outhouse. Without really thinking I said yes, and then a minute later it hit me, “Wait, it’s an outhouse for birds!?! That’s perfect!”In case you think I’m crazy like my mom probably did, a while back in the play-doh post I quoted Amanda saying, “I'm building a toilet for the birds because I'm so sick of them pooping on my slide!” so it just made me all kinds of happy to think about this birdhouse.
As a kid, my dad spent a lot of time on his uncle’s farm and he had a thing for outhouses. He had a little collection of them (my favorite was the two-story outhouse - you never want to be on the bottom floor of a two-story outhouse) and when my parents retired to Hidden Valley Lake he started collecting and building birdhouses. He had a row of them up on posts circling their backyard that overlooks the lake. So the fact that he built a bird-size outhouse makes sense. And the fact that it has found a new home in our backyard makes even more sense. I don’t think this outhouse was meant for me at all, I like to think it was a gift for Amanda from her grandpa.
Grandma gave it a fresh coat of paint and we are searching for the perfect spot for it in our yard. Now if only somebody would have a word with those birds. Please tell them to stop pooping on Amanda's slide.
“I'm building a toilet for the birds because I'm so sick of them pooping on my slide!” Amanda's line has become a regular catch-phrase among the Nelson/Goods, up there with Giovanni becoming a "Real Nelson" when he ate the Swedish Gummi Bears and said "Wait a second, THIS CANDY is NASTY!!!" --we girls still roll with laughter when we think about his initial acceptance/disappointment--he must have been 4 yrs old. Welcome to being a Nelson, Amanda--sometimes it's a little weird, but it's a lot wonderful, too.
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