Posted tagged ‘Bird bath’

« home page

“The afternoon knows what the morning never suspected.”

April 19, 2015

It’s cold, but I don’t care because it’s sunny. The day is a pretty one. Earlier I was on the deck cleaning and filling the bird bath, and the birds flew by my head to the feeders and one nearly got me. I ducked. If birds can laugh, that one did.

My body aches and my bones crack. Lifting heavy stuff hurts my back. I like naps. I’m older than I used to imagine I’d ever be when I was young but being older is far different from I thought it would be. I’m not sitting in a rocking chair on a porch. I don’t wear a house dress or shoes with clunky heels or an apron if I’m working in the kitchen, though I probably should as I’m messy. I don’t even have a hat with flowers. I’m not thrilled with all those aches and pains, but with aging came an epiphany. I realized how much I’ve gained as I’ve grown older. I think everybody does.

I never really noticed all the best parts of spring. When I was a kid, I just figured it was time to ditch the winter coat and haul the bike out of the cellar. Now I see so much more. Every morning I notice the new flowers blooming in my garden. There are five or six hyacinths, all different colors spaced as if on a palette. The yellow dafs are so bright I almost want to shade my eyes. The tulips are beginning to make an appearance. I never tire of watching the birds. I love the smell of a spring morning. I can sit on the deck for hours reading books and watching the world.

I am slower now, and that has made all the difference. I get to see what is happening around me. I get to watch spring unfold a flower at a time.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Comments: 10 Comments

“Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. ”

November 10, 2013

Today is finch day at the feeders. I saw several goldfinches sporting their drab winter colors and a few house finches with their red chests. A couple of doves were at the bird bath drinking. It had been cleaned earlier but has leaves again. Soon I’ll have to hunt down and plug in the heater for the bird bath. The birds love finding water in the winter.

I have nothing much to say today. I haven’t been out to see the world or spend time with people. Mind you, I’m not complaining as I have been reading and watching Christmas movies. The movies are on the schmaltzy Hallmark Channel so I know all will be well before the endings. That lonely business executive will realize she loves her hometown and her old boyfriend who still has a crush. Santa, the real one, will get his memory back in time to make his rounds. The orphans will find families, and the Scrooge-like characters will love Christmas again. Everyone will joyfully celebrate the season.

I went Christmas shopping yesterday in the catalogues and found several gifts I need to order. Some are for stockings, one of my favorite parts of Christmas. My mother was the best stocking stuffer, and we all, my sisters and I, inherited that gene. I only do stockings for my friends Clare and Tony now. I used to do them for my sisters but not anymore, and I really miss the fun of finding neat little things for their stockings. I had traditions. They always got a pair of earrings and my sister Moe got a Life Saver book. I used to find the worst Christmas movie I could for her. It was a contest we had every year. I think I won the last Christmas movie stocking battle when I found a movie made in Mexico about Santa, his wizard and the devil. I always prided myself on the odd and the strange. One year I gave my sister a killer clown puppet. We both loved the horrible Killer Klowns from Outer Space movie, and that puppet was perfectly alien and scary. I used to e-bay for stuff and enjoyed the hunt. I still do for Tony and Clare.

Well, the happy ending is close so back to my movie.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Comments: 12 Comments

“The snow itself is lonely or, if you prefer, self-sufficient. There is no other time when the whole world seems composed of one thing and one thing only.”

December 29, 2011

Winter is here today. It’s mighty cold; it’s bundle up to keep warm weather. From my perch inside here at the computer, I can look out the window and see the sunshine, but I know it’s not the sort with any warmth. It brings only light. I can also see the bird feeders. The birds seem to be taking turns. Yesterday it was the goldfinches. Today nuthatches are at one feeder and chickadees at another. Three flickers dropped by the other day and ate the suet which I’ve since replaced, but they haven’t been back yet. The bird bath is frozen. I’m going to have to look again in the cellar to find the heater for it. Every spring I put the heater away, and the next winter I forget where I put it so I buy another one then I find the old one. This year, again, I found none of them. I am really good at putting things away.

I don’t ever remember feeling cold when I was a kid no matter how long I was outside. I wore ski pants, a sweater topped by a jacket, mittens and a hat. If there was snow, I wore heavy socks and shoes stuffed into my boots. One year we had so much snow the plow left six-foot high piles along the sides of the street. That was the year of our snow cave. We used shovels to dig out rooms and water to make the sides of the cave icy and strong. We went from room to room on our knees as the cave was wide, not tall. We even ate our lunches inside the cave. It kept our interest for days. When the weather got warm enough to melt the snow, our ice cave lasted the longest of any of the snow piles along the road. The top melted first so we could see all the rooms then the walls got smaller and smaller and soon enough nothing was left. I think that one was the best snow cave we ever made.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , ,

Comments: 10 Comments