Love is colorblind

Ian Johnson and Chrissy Popadics were married on Saturday despite threats made against them. He proposed to her after a college bowl game on television. I don't know how I missed hearing about that, I'm a hopeless romantic. The threats of course were regarding him being black and her white. I'm not sure why people think it's any of their business to become involved in their lives. In their own mind, if they don't like it, then keep it to yourself and don't inter racially marry. Leave others alone that choose to do it. For the people that don't like it or are against it, they better get over it. It is happening more and more in our country. Interracial marriage is defined as people marrying outside of their own race. According to the 1990 census 17.6% of African American marriages were interracial. Within that number 239,477 were black men married to white women and 95,831 white women married to black men.* Since 1970 the number of black and white marriages have increased from 65,000 to 422,000 in 2005. The opposite is true for Asians marrying whites. There are more Asian women married to white men then Asian men married to white women.* I don't have a reason for this, just found it curious.

As for me, if my boys choose to marry outside of their race I would accept it. Their happiness is what I am most concerned about. As long as the person they fall in love with is kind to them, respects them , makes them happy and loves them for who they are then who am I to argue with that. Their life together will be more challenging as would their children's but I feel love is colorblind.

Both kids have friends from different cultures. Number one has a group that call themselves the "United Nations" with kids from Russia, South Africa, China, Pakistan and Korea. Number two's best friend is black. We need the world to be much more tolerant of each other.

*wikipedia.org/wiki/interracial_marriage

Someone I love was nine months pregnant with her first child and at a family picnic. After dinner she didn't feel well so she asked her husband to take her home. On the way home she said, "maybe you should take me to the doctor's office". At the office the doctor took one look and gave her shot of something to slow down her labor and said, "I'll meet you at the hospital in Fremont." (Ohio). So off they went and ended up with a police escort. The husband has always said that he would've gotten there sooner without the cops. Anyway, just 15 minutes after she arrived at said hospital, her impatient baby came into the world...
and that baby was me!

What about Harry?

Are you wild about Harry Potter? I'm not at all. While I enjoy the movies and the special effects, I'm not a fan of the books. They just aren't my cup of tea, not the genre of book I like. Both boys are H.P. fans. They say that the books are soooo much better than the movies but enjoy both. For books 3,4&5 we took them to Barnes and Noble for the midnight release of the books. Especially for the early books it was a special treat because they were much younger and to be out at midnight was the best thing ever. (at that time!) By the time book 6 rolled around Number one was driving so he and his brother went without us. (Oh darn! insert eye roll here).

For the release of the final book we were on Cape Cod. Number one found a B&N about 50 minutes away that was having the H.P. festivities and midnight release. At first we were going to let them go alone but me being the mother I am, decided that since it would be late coming home, the roads are very dark, twisty turny and unfamiliar that they better not go alone. SO, it turned into a family affair, all four of us went and made a day out of it, well afternoon and evening. We went to the book store, they got their wristbands, went to dinner, shopped around Hyannis and at 10:00 took them back to B&N. How lucky were we that at the other end of the mall from the bookstore there was a movie theater. We saw "Chuck and Larry" while they "partied" awaiting witching hour or should I way wizard hour. Long story short, as we were walking out of the movie they called at 12:08 and said they had their books.

The eight hour drive home the next day was very quiet since they both read the entire way.

I hope they always have these fun Harry Potter memories.

This was the line outside of Barnes & Noble when we left after getting the books.

How does your garden grow?

The gardens in Cape Cod are just beautiful, very lush and filled with brilliant colors. I'm not sure why that is because the cape is made of sand, not much good topsoil.

I think it must be the sea air or perhaps the foggy mist that keeps them looking so gorgeous.

Hydrangeas grow abundantly on Cape Cod. Everywhere you look you see colors ranging from pink to almost Burgundy to light blue to deep purple.

Strangely enough I enjoy walking through cemeteries, the older the better. There are many on Cape Cod. I found one in Chatham and spent some time there. The old headstones tell you a story and you can fill in the blanks, they will usually tell you how old the person was down to the day they died. Some tell you how they died. Many sea captains lost at sea, civil war casualties and I even found a man who served in the War of the Revolution as it was called on the stone. I didn't have my camera with me at that time and when I returned I'll be damned if I could find it again. I did find this pretty stone with just her name on it

Many stones had a few words about the person carved on them. One in particular that I liked was "Those who knew her the best, loved her the most"

Modern headstones just seem to have the name, year of birth and death and maybe wife or mother on it. I'm picking mine out before I go so I can see what it will look like!

The Beach

A wonderful vacation was had by all although I'm always glad to return home to my king size bed and my own bathroom. Plus I missed my dog terribly. The weather was warm all week, sunny just the first half. I've been to Cape Cod at least 15 times and this visit was the dampest most foggy its ever been. At least your skin doesn't dry out.

I'll now regale (read bore) you with some vacation pictures. This is the beach at the Chatham lighthouse.

These pictures were taken different days from from the same spot.

Ten family members rented a house in Chatham. We'd never been there before and soon realized that it's a pretty wealthy community. The houses are so gorgeous with manicured lawns and gardens. I felt under dressed walking down Main Street, most people were wearing designer clothes and carrying expensive bags. The shops were pretty upscale but nice.

We usually go to North Truro out at the end of the cape and that's where my heart is. It's very unpretentious and down to earth. Both towns are wealthy, you'd have to be to live there but there is a difference. In Chatham you see the money. I think it's new money. In North Truro; old money. The homes are not gigantic architectural marvels, just down to earth, no lawns, just sand, gardens and sea grass. The residents walk around in shorts and shirts that they've probably had for 20 years. There is no Main Street. On the outer cape there are no chain restaurants or stores just small individually owned places.

Friday night we went into Hyannis so the boys could get the newest Harry Potter book at midnight. On the way there as we got closer I could see it becoming more commercial especially when I saw a Walgreens. That's not the Cape Cod I know and love.

I'm leaving but not on a jet plane

I’ll be away for a while relaxing on the beautiful beaches of Cape Cod. For those of you not familiar with Cape Cod here are a few facts.

Cape Cod is the part of Massachusetts that reaches out into the Atlantic Ocean. Surrounded by water on three sides it resembles a bent arm. The upper arm is the upper cape, the lower arm is the lower cape then there is the wrist bent at the end and last is the fist. For many years we’ve gone camping out on the end at the wrist in North Truro. (If you ever saw Men in Black II Agent J finds retired Agent K working at the post office in North Truro.)

I love it out there; if you’re looking for an action packed vacation with theme parks and malls and people, don’t go there!! It’s quiet, rustic and beautiful. Nothing but beaches, lobsters and scrub pine trees but of course it has restaurants and hotels but not the typical resort type. There are hiking and bike trails, The National Seashore, whale watching and people watching. Visiting Provincetown is lots of fun unless you’re homophobic then I wouldn’t suggest that vacation spot for you. It attracts many, many gay and lesbian couples and singles. You never know what you will see, from the flamboyant to the reserved. I was raised in a non-judgmental and tolerant home and have been going there for about 30 years; it doesn’t phase me a bit.

For the first year ever we are not camping on Cape Cod but renting a house with 6 other family members. We will be staying on the elbow of the cape. It will be different; more thickly settled with people, more vegetation and less sand everywhere but I’m sure I will love it. Just point me to the beach and I’m happy.

Many people believe that the pilgrim’s first landing spot was in Plymouth, Massachusetts but au contare. The Mayflower first landed on November 11, 1620 in what is now Provincetown harbor and while there, the Mayflower Compact was signed. After trying to live there for 5 weeks and with winter coming they left Provincetown due to the lack of fresh water and farmable land. They found Plymouth and the rest as they say, is history. Eventually Portuguese fisherman settled Provincetown and today remains a fishing town with heavy Portuguese influence. We always hit the Portuguese bakery there or as the kids called it, pork and cheese, when they were little. I could go on and on about the history of the area but I’m sure this is enough for you.

The Mayflower

Catch you when I return with sand in my shoes and a sunburn.

I really dislike Wal-Mart for many reasons, some being that no matter when I go there the parking stinks, the store is always busy, it seems to attract rude people and it is taking over the world. There are more reasons why that I won't go into here. I broke down and moved one of my prescriptions there. I tried not to but its a drug that's on their $4 per refill list. How can I not? We do go grocery shopping there every other week or so. They are significantly cheaper than Wegmans. http://www.wegmans.com/ where I normally grocery shop.

Tonight I had to make a trip to Wal-Mart to pick up some meds before I leave on vacation Saturday. As I walked up the pharmacy counter, surprise, no line but no one behind the counter either. I see an bank envelope laying there. I pick it up, it's sealed, nothing written on the outside. I open it up and hello Andrew Jackson X 10. Inside, two hundred dollars and nothing else. My first thought; someone is going to be pissed that they lost this. My second fleeting thought; wow, vacation money! For 10 seconds I was in the money! Then I thought,"what if this is some old lady's life savings who has to eat cat food now that her money is gone.

I decide to write on the envelope where I found it, the date and time. After I pay for my prescription I tell the clerk that I had found this at the counter. It must belong to the last person she rang up. I asked her what will happen to this money if no one calls to ask about it. She didn't know. I then told her that I don't think it should go into Wal-Marts coffers. They make more than enough money. So what to do with it? Donate it to a charity, a good idea but I doubt that will happen. I certainly hope someone claims it as they're kicking themselves for being so careless. Oh well, who knows but this will bother me for a bit. I wish my kids were with me because this was a huge teachable moment on several levels. What would you do??

Television

Ice Road Truckers; the most boring show on TV. So they drive a truck across frozen water. How exciting can that be. To be honest I only watched it once for 30 minutes, that was enough. If I want to watch a bunch of unkempt guys in need of a shower and shave I'll go watch Deadliest Catch. I will say that I am addicted to this show. Yes, it seems to be the same thing over and over... throw in the pot, pull out the pot, sort the crab, try not to get washed overboard etc. But, at least there's some action like huge waves, big ugly crab and they all seem to have a personality as opposed to Ice Road Truckers. The little I saw, they just bitched and complained.
Another show I've found since The Soprano's has ended and Desperate Housewives is on hiatus is Gene Simmons Family Jewels. In case you don't know who he is Gene is the founding member of the 1970's group KISS. (My teenage decade) I stumbled upon this show by accident but was hooked immediately. I guess I was expecting something flamboyant but like Ozzie Osborne, Gene Simmons is remarkably low key at home.





Neither one of them are loud and for the most part calm. A far cry from their frenetic stage presence. That's where the similarity ends. More of Ozzie's hard rocker persona is evident in his home life from the way he dresses to how their home is decorated. Sharon runs the house and his empire. Gene Simmons runs every aspect of his business and is always looking for ways to make more money. Shannon Tweed his partner of 23 years and mother of their 2 children rules the roost but like any smart women lets Gene think he does. He's a very hands on dad, involved with his children, going to their activities and is a very protective (maybe too much so) father.

So that's my television review for today. Nothing else is new and exciting around here.

I can't wait for Peter Pan Peanut Butter to be back on the grocery store shelves.

I'll admit it, I'm not a choosy mom, I don't like Jiff or any other brand. I've tolerated them but they didn't convert me.

I have eaten P.P.P.B. my entire life, I'm not giving it up now.

Creamy only though.

4th of July

Happy Independence Day!

Despite the trials and tribulations that this country is

going through there is no place on this Earth that I

would rather live than in the United States of America.

Celebrate the day!

I couldn't decide which picture I liked the best so I put them all up.

This reminds me of Cape Cod where I'll be in two weeks.

The George Washington Bridge in another favorite place, New York City.

This looked like a birthday party.

Park City, Utah

You can't get more American than baseball. I prefer the baseball pants that come to the knee, they look more traditional. I'll be at a game tonight with fireworks after if Mother Nature cooperates. It looks iffy right now.

Finally fireworks in New York City, that's the Chrysler Building

Hope you have a great holiday.

FATE

Do you believe in Fate? I do, fate plays a factor in our lives everyday, sometimes good, sometimes bad and sometimes horrific.

A week ago this evening, five 2007 high school graduates ages 17 and 18 from the next town over, lost their lives in horrible car accident. A group of 9 girls traveling in two cars were on their way to a family cottage of one of the girls. They left later in the evening at 9:30 because they waited for one that had to work. About 10:08 the first car, actually an SUV passed a slower moving van. After the driver reentered her lane the SUV went back into oncoming traffic and slammed head-on into a tractor-trailer for reasons we may never know. Maybe she overcorrected, maybe went off onto the shoulder of the road and was trying to get back in the lane and lost control. Right now it is estimated that the two vehicles were both going about 55 mph when they collided. Upon impact the fuel lines in the SUV and the semi ruptured and burst into flames. The truck driver escaped and tried to help the girls but the heat was too intense. Flames reached 50 feet into the air, burning through telephone and cable TV wires. No one could be saved.

The five girls were a group of best friends; popular in their high school and 4 were members of the cheerleading squad. Their squad had placed first in a competition in Florida this school year. These girls were all active in service clubs at school, gave back to their community, some were active in their youth groups at church, some held 3 jobs, some were in the National Honor Society, one hoped to join the Peace Corps, one visited India volunteering during her spring break, one had a full scholarship at the college they were going to attend in the fall, one was scheduled for cheerleading tryouts at her soon to be college this past weekend and one was an only child. By all accounts they were kind, generous, well rounded, students, not the stuck up stereotyped cheerleader. They had their whole lives ahead of them.

I didn’t know these girls but I have children, one the age of these girls. This tragedy has taken hold and affected the entire surrounding communities. I don’t think they had time to even know what hit them but for the girls behind them that witnessed the crash and for their parents and families it must be unimaginably soul crushing. As a parent I would die for my children and I don’t know how I would be able to go on if this had happened to mine. Family, friends and even strangers will help them cope. I am heartbroken for them all.

Now reading back on this and if you could read the local articles about these young ladies, you can see they had everything going for them and seemed to have led a charmed life. Does that make their lives any more valuable than others? (I’ve pondered this question and child killers come to mind but that’s another blog topic.) No, any loss of life is sad. I would like to think that everyone has some redeeming qualities and everyone has potential. Some may have not chosen the right path in life or made poor decisions for themselves but everyone has loved ones left behind to mourn them.

Getting back to the title of this post, Fate. Fate is a funny thing and the “if only” can make you crazy. If only the one girl could have gotten out of work earlier or if they had hit several red lights or left 3 minutes later this may not have happened. Everything had to work in favor of this fiery crash happening, from the truck driver, to the slow moving van to the girl’s vehicle. Everyone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. As I said, I believe in Fate and that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes you just don’t understand why or know what the reason is. It’s hard to justify the loss of life especially in ones so young.

Quirks

Do you have any quirks? I don't think there's anyone who doesn't have any.

I know I have a few.

For instance, I like to have my clocks set 5 - 7 minutes ahead of the real time.

I don't know why. For some reason when my alarm goes off in the morning I like knowing

that it's really not as late as my clock says and I can close my eyes for a few more minutes.

Same thing in my vehicle. I like the clock set fast so when I have to be somewhere it looks like I'm going to be a few minutes late but get there on time.

I know, very strange. My husband doesn't get it. Just keep the clock at the correct time he says, what's the difference? Well, it must be some psychological thing for me. I don't know why but he's right, it is all in my head and I like it that way. He set the clock in our new car to the correct time. Next time I'm driving alone I'm moving it forward a few minutes.

Another quirk, maybe not so much a quirk as a ritual. I have to put my stockings or socks on starting with my left leg. If I don't for some reason, I have to start over. It just doesn't feel right if I go right side first. Same with putting my shoes on, left first then right.

One thing you might consider a quirk but I think goes back to the womb is that when my hands are at rest or especially when I'm sleeping, the thumb is always tucked into my hand with my fingers curled around it. My dad used to tell me if I ever need to defend myself, don't make a fist like that, keep your thumb on the outside. I think of little babies when they sleep with their butt up in the air, they must have been comfortable in the womb. For me, I must have liked my thumb curled in my hand.

Where do quirks come from? I think many quirks or certain things you like start in early childhood maybe even infancy. If I'm in bed and Sean rubs my butt, I'm asleep. My mother must have done that when I was a baby to calm me down and get me to sleep. I know that's how I got my babies to sleep. Forget the back rub, I'm all about the ass!

We are enjoying beautiful weather here in the northeast. For a while we were in the high 80's low 90's and humid. It has gotten cooler now, low 80's mid 70's. Perfect weather for me. I love to sit out in the garden, listen to the birds, read or do crossword puzzles. It was a long school year this year and I'm just chilling. Lucky me :)

I hope your summer is going just as well.

Can goldfish be mentally challenged? I think so. We've had a goldfish for about a year now. His name is Abe (named after the character Abe Vigoda played on Barney Miller, "Fish") Many times I walk into the kitchen where he lives in his bowl on the table and he's floating upside down. When I get near the bowl he rights himself and looks at me for food. Sometimes he swims around upside down. Maybe one of the times his bowl got cloudy his brain was oxygen deprived.

Cleaning up some financial stuff in our life and it feels good. Just refinanced our home, traded in my 2004 Explorer on a Honda CR-V. It gets about 23 miles per gallon up from 14 although I do miss the V6 in the Ford. We sold our Coleman pop up camper so we no longer needed a big vehicle to tow it. I will miss the camper. I've been camping for about 40 years. But now both kids have jobs so it's hard to fit everyone's schedule into a camping vacation. Last year Sean and I went by ourselves for a week and it was very nice but... I'm at the point where I only want to camp at a Hilton.

Speaking of a Hilton, is anyone else overdosed on that girl. If I have to hear her name one more time on TV I'm turning it off for good. I don't understand how a girl who does absolutely nothing with her life except party and forget to wear panties in public gets this much face time in the media. Her parents must be so pround.

It has been so hot here, in the 90's and we've already had half the amount of days over 90 that we average for an entire summer. I won't complain because I wished for this during the past winter. My perfect temperature is 75 degrees but as long as I have air conditioning I'll survive.

Some sad news in our town, 5 newly minted high school graduates were killed in a firey car crash last night. The girls were on their way to a cottage when they slammed head on into a tractor trailer. Another car behind them was travelling with them. When number one son and his friends started driving several years ago our rule was that he couldn't ride with anyone until they had their license for 6 months and he couldn't drive any friends for 6 months. Number two wondered why I would let him ride with his brother though. They think I'm overprotective and maybe I am but when they're parents themselves one day they will understand.

I was married previously many, many years ago. It wasn't a good marriage and I knew when I did it that I was making a mistake. We were very young. I can tell you that on our honeymoon he threw one of our suitcases at me. We had our problems and one of them being that we were both strong willed and stubborn. Soon our disagreements escalated into physical fights. I'm the type that will go down swinging. I hit back when I could. He was 6'4" 225 lbs. I am 5'4"and if you think I'm telling you my weight, forget it. I had many bruises and fat lips but never any broken bones. There were times when I thought we would kill each other. I realized that he would get any weapon away from me and use it himself as well as just the feeling that I could even think about doing that. It scared me terribly. We decided that this marriage had to end and it did after just three years. Funny thing was, once that decision was made, we got along fine. We had no children and at the time I thought if I did get pregnant it would be the worse thing ever. Another huge signal that this was not right. I refer this time period as my past life. Today I'm in my 25th year of marriage to Sean.

Where I'm going with this is here. In light of the man who was arrested for shooting and killing his wife and three children in their SUV in Illinois and the man in Ohio that allegedly killed his mistress and full term unborn baby; if the problems in your life are that bad and you can't walk away; kill yourself, not your wife, lover or children for God's sake. I was shocked to find out that the leading cause of death among pregnant women is homicide.

I don't really get along with computers and don't know how to link to something with one word so I have to type out the whole address. If someone can drop me a note and tell me how that would be wonderful. Read the above stories here:
www.examiner.com/a-796887~police_Charge_Husband_in_Family_s-Death.html and here
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070624/ap_on_re_us/missing_woman_123

On another note, in a post dated May 5 I wrote about snitching. A 38 year old woman in Arizona was branded on her face with the word snitch. This brand (yes, what they do to cattle) is 4-6 inches long on her left cheek from lip to earlobe. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070623/ap_on_re_us/woman_branded

As I read back on today's post I see that it's very depressing. The violence in the world against women and humanity in general is appalling. I'm going to have to stop reading the news.

I haven't posted in a while and I miss it. I have another blog that I have taken a break from since some jerk has been leaving death threats in the comments. I have a pretty thick skin about things but that is just over the top. I am leaving that blog alone for a while. In the mean time life just continues on.

My number one son got his first car, a 1999 Honda Civic. I worry slightly more when he's out now that he's not driving my Explorer or dad's Honda CR-V. He has two jobs this summer. One is at Ben & Jerry's (an ice cream shop) and he works with his brother who happens to be his boss. His summer nursing job in the cardiac care unit is going well although he hasn't had to deal with any death yet.

Son number two finished his junior year in high school. He is working more hours for Ben & Jerry's this summer as the shift leader and they just gave him his own key to the store so he can open and close for the owners.

We finally closed on the refinance of our house after a big mess with Countrywide Home Loans. DO NOT ever use them. We may take legal action against them. I'm sure going against this giant company will not be worth it so who knows.

Today was my last day of school with students. My fifth graders are now offically out of my hair and into someone else's in middle school! It was a tough year but in about 3 weeks I will start to miss them.

It is so relaxing to sit in the garden. These are coral bells.
A larger shot of the garden.

This is called black and blue salvia.

This little chipmunk and his two friends are enjoying the

buffet that is our bird feeder. They're funny when you get close

to them. They freeze like a statue thinking that if they

don't move you won't see them. We stood there for

10 minutes staring at each other. I finally moved first.

Purple columbine, I also have a maroon specimen.

Gazanias (above) close up in the evening or when it's very overcast outside. When my nephew was little (he is just finishing 3rd grade now so he thinks he's no longer "little") he called them sleeping flowers. He would call me to ask if my flowers were awake or sleeping.

I don't know what these are called. I bought them for the beautiful multi colors. My garden has no color theme. Just what ever looks good to me. As long as it's colorful.

I have spent some time thinking in the garden today. First some background. I have always been outspoken and opinionated. I used to think that if someone didn't do something or handle a situation the way I would, it must not be the right way. I wanted things my way. I worked long and hard to turn some of these traits around. If you believe all of the astrological stuff, I am a true Leo in almost every way. I can be demanding but I hate to disappoint people, hurt their feelings or make them feel bad about themselves.

I did that yesterday to two important people. First, yesterday was an "anniversary" of a life altering event in my life. I was devastated by it. Without going into detail, this event brings me a few days of stress and sadness every year. I have decided once and for all, I will get over it, focus on the positive and stop letting it control me. I had an idea, tried it and it backfired. Big time. All it did was make someone else unhappy and down more so then they may have already been. That was not my intention. My intention was to turn this day around. Focus on what good came out of it. It didn't work, in the end we both ended up feeling crappy.

Later that evening while chatting with a friend, my thoughts, opinions and mouth got me in trouble again. Everyone handles situations in their lives differently and just because it's not how I would handle it, that's the way they need to handle it. My intention was not to make my friend feel inadequate or overwhelmed. Things were said that made me feel bad too.

Life is complicated. I guess I'll keep my opinions to myself.

First let me say, I didn't take any of these pictures myself.

If a subject is moving at all I can't take a good picture.

One thing I love about visiting my parents in Florida

is all the different kinds of birds they have down south.

Maybe because I don't see them up here in the north

they seem more exotic.

As we were swinging in the swing out on the back patio tonight, Sean and I saw several different birds in the trees. It got me to thinking, hey we have some very beautiful birds here and we saw the most colorful tonight.

It got me thinking, (my mind never stops) why are the male birds

so much more colorful and better looking than the females? Take the cardinal

for example. The male is a brilliant red and is a stand out no matter where

he's perched. The female, well she's much more subdued. She blends in

where ever she goes. We have a bird feeder filled with black sunflower seeds.

The cardinals (and Chipmunks) love them. We have a pair of cardinals that

visit every morning and evening. The male always eats first, the female is no where

in sight. When he is done, the female flies in to eat. The male waits for her in

the tree by the feeder and shews away any other birds that wants to eat.

We have many goldfinches in the backyard. There's a niger seed mesh feeder that gets a lot of traffic. Sometimes there are 6 or 7 birds feeding with more waiting in the dogwood tree for their turn. The males are bright sunshine yellow while the females are somewhat of a putrid greenish brown color.

My favorite and the most elusive is the Baltimore Oriole. The male is a very flashy bird, bright orange and black. Tonight we had a male and female in the weeping cherry tree. I was thrilled.
The blue jay, another looker, is a rather mean and aggressive bird. They don't share well at all and chase other birds away from the feeder. I couldn't find a picture of a female but I'm sure she's quite drab compared to the male.

I did some checking about this subject and found that the females are the ones attracted to the bright colors. The males couldn't care less about the looks of the females. Very different from the human species. There are less female birds than males and the male has to really look good and stand out so a female will choose them for their mate. The colors make them easier to see also when it comes to territory. Other males can see them and know that this area is taken.

Also birds can see more colors than humans. While humans have 3 cones in their eyes, birds have 4.