Girl, that was easy!

Used to be that having kids was a big deal, sometimes amounting to days of inconvenience while momma got her act together and caught up with the socks and shorts duty.
Then came grandkids - so much less intrusive - rather like grocery shopping compared to farming. A bunch of flowers, a bit of blubbering and life is back on track with scarcely a bump. Even better are grand nephews and nieces, especially when they are three thousand miles away. Technology has streamlined their arrival to a quick email from a smitten parent or grandparent and that's all she wrote. No anxious pacing, no required visits, no diaper danger - in short, no responsibility whatsoever. Feels just right.
So it was last Sunday. One of Marians nieces popped her first one, about which we are jubilant but otherwise wonderfully uncommitted. We may get to see the little varmint in a month or two by which time it will be cleaned and partly trained. Better yet, a few Oohs and Aahs later, we can take our leave and proceed on our hedonistic way. Of course, the backward Brits haven't yet figured out how to send a picture so we'll just have to imagine that small detail for the time being!
By the way, ever wondered how the stork got involved in this birthing thing? Turns out that there are numerous "authentic" sources of the various myths, including Ancient Egypt, the Hebrew language, Greek Mythology, Early Christianity and Norse Mythology. However, the one I like best is the Victorian English version. Here, the fabrication that newborn deliveries are made by a stork avoids potentially awkward questions connecting birthing with begetting. Pretty clever, eh?
Check out this paranoid stork family found on the net. They have cunningly turned technology to their advantage in protecting this oversize nest with a 32,000 volt, industrial strength, electric fence.