We named the little red cardinal that visits the feeder Carlito (I don’t know why but it seems to fit). He and Mrs. Carlito visit several times a day and feast on the black sunflower that we put out. They are joined by a few woodpeckers - 2 different sizes - many chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinches, red sparrows, bluejays, mourning doves, and goodness knows what else. They nosh thru the seeds in a couple of days. The woodpeckers have made notches in the tree that they wedge the seed into so they can peck the goodness out of it.
The feeder hangs on a tree outside the kitchen window… the window with the cutting board… I have to make myself pay attention to the knife or I’ll cut a finger off while I’m gawking at the birds.
The wind howled the rest of the day yesterday and into the night but we didn’t lose power. Perhaps because we have a generator now ;-) Isn’t that a sort of insurance: if you are prepared the disaster seems to avert.
Here’s a few photos from a cold winter day in 2001 (could that have possibly been 18 years ago!!!!!):
Those were the days! I’d bundle up into a grotty down coat and big green barn boots and then trudge through snowbanks to the barn. The ponies would be waiting for me to had out their breakfast of hay. First I’d shoo them out of the barn so I could pick up a few muck buckets of frozen poop. Then, if it was windy out, I’d spread the hay out inside the barn and everyone would crowd in to start eating. The sound of contented munching was a balm against a stressful commute to a job that I loved, yet hated. I’d lean my face against their soft necks, breathing in a fragrance more beautiful than the most expensive French perfume.
Gosh, I miss those days.
What started to be a fun trip down memory lane is turning into a journey to depression. It is a cruel reminder of what I had to give up when I got sick… I guess I’d better stop going through those old photos, at least until the dogs birthdays, when I’ll dig out some puppy pics.
Ham and green beans in my evening rice, with a glass of that good blackcherry wine on the side. Hibernation is a fine art!
~David J. Beard
1 comment:
Your quotation from David J. Beard caused me to look him up online, and I found a curious coincidence. There is a man of that name who is a professor at Oxford university in England, and another who is a professor at Miami university in Oxford, Ohio. What is it about universities in towns named Oxford, that attracts men named David J. Beard? 🙂
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