A Good Day to Stay Home

One of the great things about retirement is staying home without guilt when the weather is bad. If you've been watching the Weather Channel today, you know that Louisville is covered with about half an inch of ice. The temperature is 32, not too bad, but it won't warm up substantially. It's a good day to stay in, drink hot coffee, and watch Christmas movies while wrapping gifts. I'm hoping the roads will clear by 3 p.m. when I have to go to the Raptor Center. It's like being a dairy farmer--you must take care of them no matter what. I bought some salt to leave there, and am crossing my fingers that someone has spread it before I arrive today!

When I went out to salt our own sidewalks, I decided to walk in the grass and flower gardens to reach the garage. The sidewalks were just tooooo treacherous to risk. Dick broke a rib last winter, and I don't want to go through that too.

The squirrels and birds are looking for seeds. They have faith in me.

The ice is beautiful though when it coats the branches and berries. As long as it doesn't bring down any tree limbs! And, thank goodness this is nowhere as bad as the last ice storm we had!

Good Morning Sunshine

Good morning sunshine
The earth says hello
You shine bright above us
We squint far below

Good morning sunshine
You lead us along
My love and me as we sing
Our early morning singin' song

Gliddy glub gloopy
Nibby nabby noopy
La la la lo lo
Sabba sibby sabba
Nooby abba nabba
Le le lo lo
Tooby ooby walla
Nooby abba naba
Early morning singing song

With respect to the musical "Hair", have you ever read the lyrics to that Starshine song? Goodness, the things we did in our youth! In any event, isn't the sunshine lovely this morning? The ice just sparkles, and I hope some more of it will melt on the pavement and trees this afternoon.

Slate colored Junco

Table for three please.

The things I do for a little sunflower seed. The Birdcage Saloon!

It's time to search around for the next birding trip we can make, since we enjoyed Arizona so much. Jekyll Island has a festival in October. Crane Creek in Ohio is closer. They have a big to-do in May, but May is already so full here in Kentucky. Of course, South Texas has their big festival at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest in November. I still want to go to the Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan. Dick got the schedules for his two main volunteer jobs, and is feeling a little overwhelmed. "Remember," I remind him, "Volunteer means you go when you want to, not just because they have something going on." My own retirement gets closer every day, and we'll be able to make some of these trips during the week instead of trying to find a free weekend very soon. WooHoo!

Not Nice Ice

I should have stayed in Arizona!

CRACK! Another tree limb succumbs to the icy weight and crashes to the ground. The Ohio Valley is covered with ice, and now snow is falling on top of it. The office opens at 10:00 today, and a co-worker with 4WD who lives nearby will come to get me. I hope we get brownie points for making the effort. Over 75,000 people in the metro area are without power, and I hold my breath each time the lights flicker. Before we get too far, we get word that the firm has closed for the day, and we should all stay home.

All three pines in the back yard have been topped by the ice. I reassure my husband - now we can have more woodpecker condos. One limb fell on our nice swing smashing it.

Our son has no power at his apartment, so we invite him to bring the cat and come stay with us, if he can get his car out. We are short on disaster supplies though. The thistle feeder is down to the last inch of seed, and the empty seed jug sits by the door to remind us to get more. When the snowplows scrape the street in our subdivision, they pile it up in front of the driveway so you can not get past that big barrier. We shoveled just the ends of the driveway so son/daughter can at least find it if they come to stay. Don't we have some salt in the garage? Maybe in the shed, but it's iced closed. Same for extra firewood, which would be good for heating the basement should our power go out. The basement has no windows and holds the heat pretty well from a fire. The Ohio Valley tends to move weather systems either north or south of us, and despite the storm warnings it isn't so bad here in Louisville. People rush to the store for milk and bread, and then the storm doesn't really affect us that much. This time the weather man was not crying Wolf!

Let's take a walk around the block, now that it's light enough for pictures. Here's an example of why the conifers in the mountains are tall and skinny - it helps them survive all that snow, while broad branched pine branches break from the weight.

Heard a story this morning of a house that caught fire when branches fell on a transformer, which then burst into flames, catching the house on fire too.

Small icicles can be very pretty, but let's keep them small. Hope all of you are safe and warm.