I found out earlier today that on the evening of February 13 of this year, a bomb went off in my beloved German Bakery in Koregaon Park, Pune, India. A quick google search found reports of 17 people dead, and more than 50 people injured. The place was a home away from home for visiting foreigners, and a popular meeting place. I've spent a lot of time in there, drinking chai and conversing with friends and strangers alike.

My head reels, and my heart hurts, at this news.

(The photo is from my last visit to Pune, in December of 2005.)

Aberdeen has built-in pacifiers – yes, her kids both suck on her wattles when they aren't nursing. Her wattles are almost always wet.

And these tiny vultures (AKA four-week-old chicks) will soon be on their own in this big, bad world. Mama Leo is getting ready to stop mothering, probably within the next week. How do we know? The biggest tell-tale sign is that she is once again letting at least one rooster (or roosters?) mount her. She'll likely start laying again any day now, and stop mothering her babes a few days after that. This is our second batch of chicks hatched this year (out of three, so far).