Angels in the Snow

We used to play in winter's snow
By making angel wings you know.
We'd lie so still with arms up high,
In snow that was so smooth and dry.

Then through the snow, all white and deep,
Our arms so carefully we sweep
Until our hands o'erhead we bring,
Each arm has made an angel's wing.

Then up we rise with greatest care,
Not to disturb the images there,
And gaze with wonder at the row
Of angels in the snow.
(Irma Sanborn)



They say you're as young as you feel and yesterday I felt like a kid that needed to make a snow angel in all that fresh snow. Of course, being young in spirit is different than being young in body...my angel was much wider and deeper than I remembered from days gone by and getting up from that position without disturbing the angel was alot harder than I remembered too :-) I couldn't get the the dogs to play "fox and goose" but they sure did enjoy running through the deep snow. In fact, to quote Jeff, I would say they are "the fastest runners in the sixth grade".

Snow Storm

All day the old earth waited;
The clouds hung gray and low;
Then in the brief and sudden dusk
It began to snow -

Flake by soft, white, feathery flake,
Until the rusty, brown
Hedgerows and the apple trees
Were swathed in eiderdown.

And all the bare fields round about,
And every rounded hill -
It snowed that night, it snowed the next day,
It snowed until the countryside,
As far as the eye could see,
Were no familiar landmarks, where
A fence or bush should be.
(Ethel Fuller)

Our winter of no snow is no more! We finally got a good old fashioned snowstorm complete with sleet, snow, blowing and drifting. It left in its wake, beautiful snow covered trees, slippery roads and driveways & yards to be cleared. Jeff fired up the payloader to start the snow removal and Gabi, Ruger & I took a walk to enjoy the crisp air and enjoy the beauty. This from a woman that normally hates snow but after not having any for so long it really is a pretty site.

My take on "Where's Waldo?" In this scene of black & white - where's Ruger?

Precious Memories...

"Good mornin' little girl,"

and she smiles her precious smile...

"I have come to see you

and love you for a while."

Tiny little fingers

clutch my fingers too...

as we play and rock and cuddle,

my day is full of precious YOU!

(adapted from a C Ellefson poem)

Bookwork, cleaning and laundry can wait because little Alexis is visiting again today. We spent the morning playing the usual "babies" with numerous diaper and wardrobe changes but today we also played "office" like mommy does. There were stickers to place, important things to write and calculations to make. What a busy morning it was....

After all that work and play it was time to relax and watch a little Curious George. Alexis showed me that you don't need a recliner to veg out in front of the tv :-)

Mr. Owl

Said Mr. Owl, sitting in a tree,
"How would you like
To be like me?
I sleep all day
In the bright sunlight,
And look for my dinner
In the middle of the night!"

What fun it was to discover an owl roosting in an old wood duck house today. Looking at my trusty bird book (Thanks, Scott!), I think he might be an eastern screech owl. He was so cute he actually got me outside a second time today for photographs and it is only 6 degrees at noon. Hopefully, he sticks around the garden and we get to see him more in the days to come.

Nature's Valentine...

Frost flowers on the window glass,
Hopping chickadees that pass,
Bare old elms that bend and sway,
Pussy willows soft and gray.
Silver clouds across the sky,
Lacy snow flakes flitting by,
Icicles like fringe in line
That is outdoor's Valentine.

(author unknown)

Happy Valentine's Day! I found some frost flowers, chickadees, silver clouds and icicles out in the garden just for you. Heck, I even found a woodpecker kissing a tree and some hydrangeas that have held up from last fall. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Sadly, the frigid temperatures and long cold spell we had last week took it's toll. We found my beautiful red bellied woodpecker dead on Sunday.

Frozen...

Frozen fingers,
Frozen toes,
HELP...
I can't feel my nose!


-18F, -11F, -15F -17F
Yes, those are the actual temperatures the last 4 mornings, factor in the wind chill and it is unbelievably cold outside!

I don't know if this little junco was trying to keep his head warm or what?




The feeders are extremely busy places these days as the birds eat more to stay warm. I added some seed to various spots on the ground which led to some competetive bluejay encounters over their favorite spot to feed.
Think Warm! Back in July when the temperature was 90 some degrees we came across these cows trying to stay cool in the creek.

You scratch my...

You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours...
"A favor should be reciprocated: you do a favor for me, and I'll do one for you. The proverb has been traced back to Montaigne (1605), and is first attested in the United States in 'Artemus Ward, His Book' (1865) by Artemus Ward, the pen name of Charles Farrar Browne (1834-76)." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).

Okay, I couldn't help it - it almost did look like the nuthatch was scratching the downy's back :-)
This little downy woodpecker and red bellied woodpecker were nice enough to sit and pose for me at the feeder.
I used these shots as models for the upside down suet feeder I just painted.

Groundhogs & Moon dogs...

Old Groundhog stretched in his leafy bed.
He turned over slowly and then he said,
"I wonder if spring is on the way,
I'll go and check the weather today.
If I see my shadow between eleven and noon,
I then will know that I'm out too soon.
I'll crawl back in bed for six weeks more,
Pull up the warm covers and snore and snore.
But if no shadow gives me a scare,
I know that spring is in the air,
I'll wake my friends and wish them cheer,
With glorious news that spring is here."
(unknown author)

I don't have any groundhog photos for you but if one was around he definitely wouldn't have even came out of the ground today! We have windchill advisories for -20 to -30 degrees. These shadows of summer are much "warmer" to think about.


With this cold weather we have seen "sun dogs" around the sun several times this week but last night was my first time I ever saw "moon dogs". What is a moon dog? Wikipedia defines it as "A paraselene, or moon dog, is a halo caused by the refraction of moonlight by hexagonal plate shaped ice crystals in high-atmosphere cirrus clouds. Moon dogs appear to the right and left of the moon approximately 22° away. They are exactly analogous to a sun dog. Moon dogs are somewhat rarer than sun dogs, because in order to produce moon dogs or other types of halos, the moon must be bright and therefore full or near full."

Roadtrips...

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. (Lao Tzu)
My idea of a great definition of a roadtrip!

Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. (Charles Kuralt, On the Road With Charles Kuralt)



Arco, MN - in 1936 H. Pedersen bought the Texaco gas station in this tiny town and began to cover it with his rock collection (notice the Texaco stars). When he passed away in 1942 his son took over and created many smaller pieces including the Statue of Liberty. The gas station is now a private home and some of the smaller pieces are displayed in a local park.

Voyaguer along the MN/Canadian border and a Smokey the fishing Bear also in one of the small towns up there. Jeff is such a good sport to pose for me :-)

Funny you should ask...

Why do we say something is out of whack?
What is a whack?

Why is it called "after dark" when it is really "after light"?

If a word is mispelled in the dictionary,
how would we ever know?

If the #2 pencil is the most popular,
why is it still #2?
(Bernard Brunsting)





It's January, the garden is frozen and there are only so many photos of the backyard birds I can show you so it's time to break out the archives...we stop and check out many things on our motorcycle roadtrips so I thought I would start to share a few of them with you.


Giant loon at Vergas, giant turkey at Frazee and giant pelican at Pelican Rapids.

a little bird...

Once I saw a little bird
Come hop, hop, hop,
And I cried, “Little bird,
Will you stop, stop, stop?”

I was going to the window
To say, “How do you do?”
But he shook his little tail
And away he flew.
(Mother Goose)




I have been enjoying the winter birds viewed from the warmth of my windows as they go about feeding in the backyard. We have many downy woodpeckers as well as the almost identical but larger hairy woodpeckers feeding on the suet and peanut feeders. The first photo is a male hairy woodpecker and the second is a female downy.
Even though I am not a fan of the messy sparrows these 2 did look awfully cute as they warmed themselves in the sun.

Changes?

Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family.
(Anthony Brandt)




Sunrise one morning this week...Sunset highlighting an unusual cloud formation last summer.

28 years ago we were blessed with our firstborn - it changed everything. We were no longer a couple but a family and what a joy it has been. Sunrises came and went, calendars flipped through the years, gray hairs grew in, technology changed, others entered our lives and sadly others left but we are a family and always will be. People warned me about childbirth but no one told us we would be the happiest over your accomplishments, the saddest over your hurts and the proudest to claim you as our own. Happy Birthday Nathan!

Follow me...

Follow me where I go what I do and who I know
Make it part of you to be a part of me
Follow me up and down all the way
Take my hand and I will follow you
(lyrics by John Denver)

Gabi went out to help me feed the birds this am and was quickly on the trail of all the bird tracks everywhere. Her nose was to the ground and away she went - down the path, up on the cabin porch, across the frozen pond, back to the garage and through the whole circuit again and again. She definitely was following up and down! At one point I saw the footprints of a bird, Gabi and myself and the "Follow Me" song popped into my head and I've been hearing John Denver ever since :-)
We had a dusting of snow last night but still not enough to cover the brown lawn. This lack of snow is setting records as the first snowless winter this late into January in decades. I don't really care for the mess, the hazardous roads and everything else snowstorms bring but now it might be time to worry about the lack of preciptation for the area farms and gardens.

Sunset Symphony

It comes...
every evening
without fanfare or drums
it comes...

it comes softly as a lullaby
beginning with a golden glow
encircling a cloud...
and then the glow begins to grow...
pinks and violets fill the sky
a ball of orange delights the eye
then cymbals crash, the trumpets blare
a symphony has filled the air,
a silent symphony!
Applause! Applause!
a spectacular show!
then the ball of orange, ablaze, aglow,
sinks slowly out of sight...

God has tucked away a day
and ushered in the night!
(Alice Joyce Davidson)

I love a good sunset and last nights (Jan. 9th) was no exception!

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

I spent some time storing photos from my computer to CD's this weekend and thought you would enjoy these eagle shots taken along the north shore of Lake Superior last February. On this particular day we were lucky to see 6 eagles along Hwy 61 and this guy posed in a tree right above our car. What majestic birds they are and I am thankful I was able to have this up close and personal view of one of them.

Slippery Sam

Slippery Sam was a slippery seal
And a slippery seal was he;
He slithered and slid to the sandy shore
Then he slipped back into the sea.
(author unknown)
Usually in January most Minnesotans are dreaming of a warm winter get-a-way to escape the cold, snow and ice. Thus was the case of winter 2006 when we had the warm beaches of LaJolla, CA to look forward too during the doldrums of winter. What a wonderful get away it turned out to be...good times, good weather and good memories. However, this winter nothing warm is planned but I don't seem to mind as even though it is January 6th it doesn't seem like winter has arrived yet. I'm sure I'll be changing my tune in another month or so and wishing for warm ocean beaches.




What's wrong with this picture?
No snow and temps in the 40's. . .who moved Minnesota?