Watch Ian’s face carefully when you show it to him.  I smell a teenage prank from an admirer or friend with a warped sense of humour. We received a few cards for Jewish holidays that were most puzzling to me, but they turned out to be from one of Stephanie’s friends.  It was kind of amusing once she let me in on the “joke”, but pretty weird until then! 

At least that’s what I hope it is.

Oh, and I really like the new bird layout.  Really, really like it.

Well, you know, the thought occurred to me that it might be from a certain young lady. The thought also occurred to me that it might have been a way for her to say “I love you” without saying “I love you.” I’m not aware that she has any particular religious fervor, though. The alternating red and green colors on the envelope address and the little round smiley face and the smiley face within the heart do seem a little young-ish. Not something I’d expect from a parent, who would most likely have signed a name. But you never know. I will be most curious to see his reaction.

Ya, if it wasn’t for the child like smiley/heart I was thinking the stepmom lol. Then again! It will be funny to see if the lad knows!

Thanks, Eleanor. The woodpeckers in the upper left are supposed to be Red Cockaded woodpeckers which are endangered and are found mostly in the southeast US. But, in the black and white illustration, they strongly resemble the Red Bellied Woodpecker. The black cap on the illustrated bird is actually bright red on the red bellied wp. The Red Bellied WP holds a special place in my heart. Several of them lived in and around the very old and tall fir trees at my home on the crest of that hill overlooking the valley...that inspired this blog’s name. The place was on a migratory path so we had some of the most interesting birds stop by every spring and autumn. But the Red bellies were my favorites and they stayed all year ‘round. A birder’s paradise.

Jennifer, we’re talking about a common old business envelope here. ;)

It’s kind of creepy, though. Isn’t it?

Yes it is, Kim. It bothered me. And probably will bother me a lot more if he has no idea who it’s from. It’s from someone who was at the award ceremony. But why the stealth? That’s why I really hope it’s from the young lady who has a wicked crush on the lad.

So I handed the envelope to the lad when he came home. I asked him to examine the outside closely first. Before he even opened it to see what was inside, he groaned.

When he saw the heart attached to the first photograph and the sentiments enclosed, he was visibly disturbed. Upset. Not happy. It was directed to him, and he knows who sent it.

She has been writing him love poetry almost every day and stuffing it in his locker. That I didn’t know about until today.

She has called here so many times she’s filled up the answering machine. She follows him and has her friends spy on him.

He’s getting a little freaked out.

We were both trying to figure out why she sent it to “The Family” rather than to him. What’s that all about??

Dunno. He’s out with his Dad now. He took the envelope and contents with him, hoping his Dad might have a few words of advice on what he should do.

Ah, so the poor lad has a stalker. :( Obviously this girl needs a reality check, in a big way.  Bugging Ian in unwanted ways at school is bad enough, but it’s getting way out of hand when she includes you in her attention-seeking act.  So, was the religious bit to earn brownie points with Mom, thinking that you’d force the issue with Ian if she impressed you?  Nice try, darlin’ . 

I know that Ian doesn’t get his kicks from hurting other people, but he’s going to have to be a tad blunt with her, I think.  As blunt as it takes for her to get the idea.  If that doesn’t work then he has to do whatever else it takes.  We went through this for a short while with Stephanie a year and a bit ago.  She couldn’t get the kid to take a hint, so we parents kept him from contacting her here at home and her friends closed ranks around her at school, keeping him at bay.  When he still persisted, it took one education session from me about stalking laws and our proximity to the police station to get the point across.  End of story.  I think that he was just smitten and didn’t mean any real harm, but when the attention is excessive and unwanted, it’s breaking the law.  He didn’t realize that, as probably many don’t.

We live in interesting times, don’t we?

The lad’s Dad is not one who usually is disturbed or upset by much. But he was quite adamant that the lad must tell her straight out to leave him alone and then he must avoid her. And if she doesn’t leave him alone, he and I will contact her parents. I think he’s right. She’s crossed a line. And I still have no idea what the purpose of including ‘the family’ in her mail was about, but I don’t like it. On the other hand, at least we now know the extent of her attentions, which we didn’t before. It will stop.

I am glad he at least knows who it is from. And ya, plain common envelope she would never use lol. I was just giving her a jab!

Yeah, and so was I. My bad.