birds — Page 32

Patience Needed

March 17, 2019 at 11:14 am by Claudia

Breezy, a bit cold, wind chimes doing their thing. In short, a morning in March.

But it’s sunny. So I’m okay with it.

We’ve had a fairly low-key weekend. I didn’t end up going to Michael’s yesterday. But I was restless. What for, I’m not sure. I think it mostly has to do with the fact that winter is getting ready to depart, yet I can’t really do anything outside. I’m in a sort of limbo. I imagine I’m no different from many of you. So, I just have to patient. I usually am, but yesterday? I wasn’t.

I did finish Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and loved it. I’m still thinking about it today. I remember the NYC of the eighties, the NYC in which 85 year old Lillian takes her walk. As someone who is in the city fairly frequently, I also know how the landscape of the city at that time would change during the next thirty years. The old National Biscuit Company factory, where squatters live in the novel, would become Chelsea Market. The Twin Towers would collapse on 9/11. The areas of the city that were dangerous at night would become much safer. I found the story fascinating on so many levels.

I’m about to start In Miniature – How Small Things Illuminate the World and I’m also about to review (tomorrow) How to Know the Birds, published by the National Geographic Society.

We’ve recently changed our diet and have cut way down on sweets, too much cooking oil and fat, as well as salt. We feel good about making that change.

But, Don was also restless yesterday. We were both a bit down. We strayed a bit from our diet, which, I think, is fine as long as it happens rarely. We drove a mile to one our of local orchards and bought one of their apple pies. After all, it was Pi day last week and we missed it, so we had to atone, right? But I’m already thinking I might have one more piece today and then leave it. Or I might not have that piece. I feel better without sugar in my system.

Now, to get some exercise. This week, I’m going to start hitting our rail trail again. We need to walk, something that is not easy to do around here in the winter.

Music, reading, watching films, listening to Don play his guitar and ukulele, dreaming of my gardens. It’s all good.

Happy Sunday.

Shaft of Sunlight

March 14, 2019 at 10:30 am by Claudia

Morning sunlight.

Goodness, do I hear lots of bird song this morning! So beautiful. Such a harbinger of Spring.

When I hear it, my shoulders drop. I smile. I feel like I’m being let out of prison. I’m not exaggerating. Though I love being in my house, the absence of bird song, of working outdoors (other than shoveling snow), of the kind of connection I feel when both indoors and outdoors are part of my life, really wears me down. I feel hopeful again.

Spring means more to me with each passing year. Yes, I know that it will rain a lot. The ground will be muddy. I don’t care. I’ll begin to see the rebirth of my gardens and of our woods. I’ll be able to walk around, noting signs of life. I’ll start to get my porch back together for another three seasons of outdoor living. No seed sowing until May 1st, but I’ll be planting my impatiens and my hanging pots in the meantime.

Oh, it will be heaven.

This is that strange time in our landscape when there are big swaths of brown – and even green – grass showing. When the garden is no longer covered in snow. At the same time, there are big piles of snow along the driveway and in all those spots which became deposit zones for freshly shoveled snow. It’s a graphic display of season-straddling.

I have some errands to run today and some chores to do inside. But I can open the windows and air out the house while I’m doing them.

How is the weather in your neck of the woods?

Happy Thursday.

Small Things

March 13, 2019 at 10:45 am by Claudia

My little row of butter pats. I think I have about 14 or 15 now, most of them ironstone. Most of them, in fact, are from the same dealer where I found the egg cup cubby. I love small things.

Another Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs egg cup came up for auction. Unfortunately, it was Doc. Doc frequently comes up for auction, much more than any other egg cup in that collection. I’ll keep hoping for Sleepy.

This morning there was such lovely bird song! Tiny little birds were in the tree outside the den window. I tried to identify them but I’m not sure; sparrows? chickadees? I couldn’t get a good look at them. Several of them were in the tree and they kept flitting from branch to branch. Now that I look at my bird book, I’m thinking they were sparrows. Hearing their song was such a nice way to start the day.

The sun is shining and the snow is melting. That’s all I need today.

I ordered this book, originally published in Great Britain. It just came out this week here in the States. I reviewed one of Garfield’s other books, Just My Type, several years ago. In Miniature is all about our fascination with small things. Guilty as charged. Of course, I had to get it.

Today I have to sort through our many W2s – you have no idea – and send them off to our accountant in Los Angeles, so that we can file an extension. Since we have to wait for all of the W2s to arrive here, we almost never file our taxes by April 15th. And often, though not this year, one of us is away working. Then I’m going to clean the pew with some Murphy’s Oil Soap. And read, of course. I’m currently reading a book I’m going to review on Monday – all about birds! Stay tuned.

Happy Wednesday.

Patience Needed

Shaft of Sunlight

Small Things

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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