Soaking up nature all over the place

I thought the bear at the picnic table was so cute, but I watched an Animal Planet show about people who feed wild animals. This elderly woman had fed bears until she had hordes of them coming to her wilderness home. Finally, one of them killed and ate her--so don't start feeding your neighborhood bears!

I also watched a PBS Nature show about crows last night. I knew they were intelligent, but was still surprised at all the things they can figure out. They are watching us and can even recognize individuals. I had once jokingly told a friend that all the crows chattering in the trees in the block around us were talking about her--now I'm not so sure they weren't!

The robin migration seems to have ended. I haven't seen any for a few days. In fact, it's eerily silent outside.
Even the squirrels have slowed down in their fall harvest. All the black walnuts are gone from the tree and they've gone back to raiding the neighbor's garbage pail.

There's a church several miles from here that sells pumpkins in their parking lot every year. After Halloween, there are always some broken ones remaining. We stop and pick up a few to toss into the wooded lot for our resident squirrels. (We used to feed them on our patio but the Condo Assn fined us for it.)  I'm just so grateful for that lovely lot in so many different ways.

I snitched this picture from a blog last year because it was so cute. Crows and squirrels are fairly tolerant of each other, but the crow in the picture is a fake.

Stoking up for winter

Could I have some service please?

I haven't turned the heat on yet but the days are definitely getting colder. The squirrels are dashing madly about burying and reburying their little treasures. We haven't had any wild turkeys hanging around and there's been only one possum so far. (Happily, no bears!)

Flocks of migrating robins stop by to plunder the tiny crabapples on the trees by my patio. Most of them seem to be young ones on their first migration. They're giddy with the adventure of traveling to new places.  They flutter back and forth playfully chirping about all the fruit and fun.

My favorite bird, the cedar waxwing, has also arrived, but the flock is smaller than usual this fall. They descend on the trees timidly since they are smaller than the robins. I often hear them before I see them--they make a high-pitched keening sound that alerts me. With their muted colors they'd be easy to miss otherwise.

We had a kestrel (aka sparrow hawk) haunting the wooded lot next door this summer. I had seen it once, but really took notice when it killed a sparrow right outside my "office" window. I heard a strange bird sound and looked out to see a flurry of sparrow feathers from beneath the larger bird. It was gone in a flash. That explained why there aren't a huge number of sparrows around. There's a pair of prolific sparrows who are brooding in a nest under the overhang of the garage roof all summer long. It's kinda sad that they're going to all that trouble just to produce offspring for the kestrel to eat.

Of course, we'd be overrun with sparrows if the weren't eaten. I'm just thankful there aren't any human "sparrow hawks" to prey on plump bloggers like me! LOL

Of laughing and loving

I lost my mojo several months ago and have been slogging along trying to get it back. Thanks for all your inquiries and good wishes. It means a lot to me.

In this morning's Sunday paper, I read a quote from Ricky Martin (boy singer). He said that his mother thinks LOL means "Lots of Love". She tweeted him recently that his grandmother had died--lol.

It made me laugh.

Now that I've got 'um, what do I do with 'um?

I'm talking about birthday cards! I got a lot of cute, funny or schmaltzy birthday cards in the last few weeks. But, I'm always stumped about what to do with them after the event has passed.

Should I save them for posterity?
OK, let's be reasonable--who is going to want them? I mean really!

Will I spend my declining years rereading them and reliving the past?
I sincerely hope that I don't turn into a sentimental old fool with nothing better to do!

Should I save them, just in case?
I am the kind of person who does that. I'm excessively burdened with boxes of stuff I saved "just in case". In fact, I have an email folder with that label. When does a person actually have a reason to use stuff they saved "just in case"? It is probably a fraction of 1%, if that!

Should I throw all of them away?
I can do that! I've done it before..., and I can do it again..., I guess. After all, I can't imagine a situation where someone will ask me it I still have the card they gave me for my 70th birthday.

So, why do I feel so darn guilty about it?

And now for something completely different...

There are so many happy, lovely and funny things going on around us. It's great to get out and see all the little creatures who populate the real world. I sometimes wonder how the birds and animals are able to grow up so fast and survive without help. I always want to feed them, or provide nesting materials or watering places.

And yet, these animals are amazingly adapted to survival. When I see squirrels leaping from branch to branch in rapid succession, I'm realize that their tiny little brains can plot a trajectory in split seconds.

A young neighbor boy got a small remote-controlled helicopter for his birthday. We all watched as he flew it around the backyard. A large dragonfly suddenly came flying toward it and circled around inspecting it in midair. It flew away but came back a little while later. Who knew that dragonflies were territorial?

Another neighbor has a big garden next door. She planted squash so there are lots of big yellow blossoms brightening  the area. A gal at my Curves was talking about how she had so many squash blossoms that she picked and fried them! This was another revelation.

The old saying, "You learn something new every day" is so true!

Yesterday, I made it to 70!

When I was a little kid, I used to contemplate the year 2000 when I would be 60. I wondered if I would even reach such an advanced old age. (I would also stand on a chair and contemplate what it would be like to be tall like a grownup.) As it turned out, I needn't have been concerned--I didn't grow to be that tall, and turning 60 was great!

However, turning 70 gives me pause. I see my image in the mirror and wonder, am I really as old as I look? I wince when I'm treated as elderly but there's no denying it now...I am over 70!

Don't get me wrong, I am content with my life. I have four great kids of whom I am tremendously proud, not to mention the grandkids and great-grandkids. But there is more to life than producing descendants. So, I now contemplate Grandma Moses and others who managed to flourish in their later years. It's time I gave myself a kick in the butt and got back to my writing.

I just hope that old lady in the mirror doesn't take the wind out of my sails!

August and time for fresh fruit

I am a Leo. I don't take that very seriously, however. The one thing in this August graphic that actually applies to me is that I tend to overthink everything. As a result, I often can't make a decision because I don't have enough facts. I dither and sigh as I try to get my brain to muddle its way through the confusion.

Whenever I read a Horoscope for Leos, it is laughably wrong.  So, do you read your Horoscope? Do you ever think it applies to you and your life?