I am always intrigued by the comments I receive after publishing a new blog, and it was no different after my story about Robby hit the web the other day.

I don’t publish all of the comments, because some folks don’t use the comment form.  They simply “reply” to my email alert.  If they do that, I assume they do not want their comment published for all the world to see.  I can respect that.  Not everyone is like me, putting their every thought forth without any filters.  Then, of course, not everyone wakes up in the middle of the night thinking, “Why did I say that?  Why did I blog about that?”

More than one person took it upon themselves to find the answer to my question about the lifespan of a wild robin.  Apparently robins live to be about 2 years old.  Ok.  Robby has made it to that, times two.  But what has me really worried is that both of the readers who researched the lifespan of robins found out that one robin had lived 14 years!  Holy cow!  Am I in trouble or what?

The lifespan of robins aside, I received one comment from Kirsten, who said: “Here is a delightful story of a robin that returned again and again to the garden of Frances Hodgson Burnett-- if you can, try to find the 1912 edition, the illustrations are lovely.”  She included a link to an on-line version of the story, but it did not include any illustrations.  The story is lovely.  I had to find it for you, complete with illustrations.  It didn’t take long with a little sleuthing on Google.

When you have the some quiet time make yourself a cup of tea, or coffee, and settle down with this delightful tale of a woman and her robin: My Robin.  Click on “download” on the right side of the page and you will get a PDF that will show you the original book, complete with illustrations.  ‘Tis a treasure, to be sure!

Now if only my robin would stay in my garden and stop bashing himself into my windows.  Maybe he’s trying to tell me I’m spending too much time inside and not enough time outside in the garden.  Robby has a point.  I’ll see you guys later.

rain-kissed mini daffodils