Winter Solstice (without the end of the world)

I had today off and could think about the Solstice a few times during the day.  I thought of the beginning of the the winter season (though we had snow and cold winds for a few days already) as I split poplar and cedar for the wood stove.  I thought of the shortest day as I shoveled out of our snow drifted yard.  I thought of how the sun begins it migration back north as I looked at how low it was in the sky.

No catastrophes today; I wasn't expecting any.  The wind blew cold enough for us.

I have the yearning to look at seed catalogs!

Our Winter Guests

One of the fun things we do is feed birds throughout the year.   They frantically enjoy our seeds during the winter months...

We have sparrows (yet to be identified), junkos, finches. scrub jays and these pinion jays (eating machines!), doves, chickadees, and occasionally quail.

I do wonder how dependent these birds become on our feeder.  It may be a tiny model of government entitlement programs... but being a liberal, I still put out the bird seed every morning, hoping that I am not doing harm.

I enjoy watching the birds throughout the day.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

A winter storm finally gave us some snow!  We get the fun of driving in it, shoveling it, walking through it, and sitting by the window and looking out at it.

Now, I just need a couple of seed catalogs.

Hints a Change

This afternoon,

shaded by monsoonal 

thunderheads over the mountains, 

there are hints in the sky, 

in the air, 

and in the leaves.

Hey! It's my birthday!

I'm 58... and still here!  :)

Happy Birthday Kevin!

in binary code!

01001000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01111001 00100000 01000010 01101001 01110010 01110100 01101000 01100100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01001011 01100101 01110110 01101001 01101110 00100001 00100000 00100000 01010111 01100101 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00101110 00100000 00100000 01001101 01101111 01101101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01000100 01100001 01100100 00101110

Life is Simple!

Our 36th Anniversary

Today is our 36th Anniversary!  I took the day off work and spent it with Jean.  We had a beautiful mini-vacation here at home.  We did a bit of gardening, but the south wind kept us in most of the afternoon.  It was fun just talking to each other and making plans for the next few years.  I looked over at the school a couple of times, but it seemed a million miles away today.  There was just Jean and me.

I am so lucky that I found Jean 36 years ago.  She has made the biggest difference in my life.  

Thank you, Jean for being my wife, my lover, and my best friend.

I published two books this week!

This
You can find A Suburban Thoreau - Bringing the Spirit of Walden Home on Amazon's Kindle Store... it is my response to Henry David Thoreau's classic work, Walden. What if he lived in your neighborhood? How would he find simplicity, solitude, and his practical philosophy? I give over 90 ideas!

Then this little book of poetry was a limited edition to my family a couple of years ago. I included some of my favorite poems. I now offer it to the world... it should be available in 24-48 hours.