Harvey: a love story

Many of you Blippers have remarked on my bird blips, and I truly appreciate your comments. Today's blip is an attempt to give credit where credit is due.

This is Harvey with his little Yorkie, Kyle. Harvey deserves a lot of the credit for my bird pictures because he brings peanuts to the park almost every day and sprinkles them under the tree I have come to call the "Bird's Buffet".

Yesterday was very snowy, and Harvey didn't bring Kyle to the park, so today I brought some sunflower seeds to feed the birds, and who should show up, while I was standing by the tree blipping the birds, but Harvey. He climbed out of his van, arms filled with plastic containers of peanuts with and without shells. Walking gingerly across the ice, he made his way to the tree and began to pour the goodies on the ground, spreading the buffet for the birds and squirrels.

There are several things you should know about Harvey...

He is at least 85 years old, and he takes Kyle for walks each day the weather is fit, sometimes to two or three different parks. Because Kyle is also elderly and reluctant to walk very far, Harvey lovingly lifts him out of the van, places him on the ground, and then walks however far Kyle wants to walk. Many times I have seen Harvey just standing with Kyle at the edge of the parking lot. He has told me that he will walk only as far as Kyle wants to and stay there as long as Kyle wants to. Because he thought it was too slippery and cold for Kyle to walk today, he just lifted him out of the van and carried him over to say hello to me.

In today's picture, Harvey is throwing out his feast for the animals. Right behind him, just over his left shoulder, is a sign that announces, "Feeding Wildlife is Prohibited," but nothing stops Harvey from sharing his feast with the animals. As I walked with him back to his van, he asked me, "Have you seen any spies today? Are there any rangers around?" I swear I saw a grin on his face when I said, "No, Harvey, not today." As I drove out of the parking lot, Harvey and Kyle were still sitting there in the warm van, watching the birds and squirrels enjoy their feast.