Waiting For…

Posted on January 25, 2019 by

21 Comments

Hello everyone! The days are getting longer. And colder.  But that’s the way it always works.  In this part of the country at least.  Hard to believe that 1700 miles north it is warmer than here.  Out west they are basking in beautifully warm temps.  We freeze.

cold chickadee
A cold little chickadee, the breeze ruffling his feathers a bit.

Sigh.  But it will likely warm up soon.  In a couple months.  At least then we can look forward to warmer weather coming soon.  I hope.

Ice Crystals

This morning it was very foggy.  But it left the trees covered in frost.  Looked absolutely beautiful.  And as the sun rose and shone on the trees, the frost began falling.  Millions of very tiny crystals of ice, sparkling like diamonds as they floated to the ground.  Or rather, to the snow.  If it wasn’t so cold I could have enjoyed it more.  And perhaps gotten some nice pics.

Poor Birds

They don’t seem to be enjoying this cold.  Don’t blame them.  Poor little critters.  The nuthatches keep taking breaks to warm their little feet.  Then back to eating.cold nuthatch  Didn’t seem to be as many birds around today.  Odd.  They sure ate a lot yesterday.  There wasn’t as many blue jays either which is really odd.  Fortunately the shrike didn’t show up.  Those little birds need all the time they can get to eat in this cold.

Waiting…

Muffin and I were in bed the other night.  It was snowing.  About 3 inches on the deck by that time.  Then I heard someone come walking up the stairs and onto the deck, stopping at the door.  Muffin heard this too.  And followed the walking sound right to the door.  It stopped.  Muffin stared at the door.  I was waiting for someone to knock.  I don’t get visitors at 10:30 pm.  I’m usually sleeping by that time.  But not that night.  Nothing happened.  No one left.  I got curious.  Muffin just stared.  I had my ‘friend’ handy.  Turned on the deck light and looked out.  No one there.  Not even footprints of any kind in the new snow.  The snow had stopped by then.  I looked down my path.  No footprints there either.  I get curious.  So out I go.  Nothing.  No fresh footprints anywhere.  Odd.  Very odd.  I don’t like things I can’t explain.  Sigh.

Swinging

I am looking out the window this afternoon.  It’s late.  The birds have gone to bed.  But it’s still light.  Not any breeze out there.  It’s quiet.  I have 4 hanging feeders out there.  Two for suet, 2 with sunflower seeds, tube type feeders.  Nothing is moving.  I’m looking at one of them.  Suddenly it starts to move.  Slowly at first.  Then it really starts to swing back and forth.  There is nothing around.  There is not the slightest breeze.  Finally it slows down and stops again as before.  I know there is a logical explanation for it.  But I guess I’m not logical, because I can’t figure it out.  If you have an answer, please share it with me, I would love to know.

Phone Calls

I have been getting odd phone calls lately.  The person always seems to be surprised when I answer and asks to speak with someone.  He gives a different name each time. It is the same person, easy enough voice to recognize.  Makes me curious.  I’m always curious about odd things.  Ever since someone threatened to kill me last summer.  Oh well.

Before I Forget…

Muffin has a new post if you haven’t already read it.  Some people say it’s stupid saying Muffin writes something.  Hey, I have seen books written from the viewpoint of an animal.  I just consider it a different way of writing something.  She will try to write something new every Wednesday.  There is also a new poem in Steve’s Country Extras. I will be adding some other items in there over the next week.  And something new starting over the next few days as well, actually two things.  Stay tuned.

Hmm…

This ended up being longer than I thought, wasn’t planning to write anything today. Technical difficulties.  This cold weather causes things to go down.  Me included.  Don’t forget, it’s almost here! I hope you all enjoy your weekend, please come back next week and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2019 Steve McLeod

Category: Birds, Cold, Country, Country Living, Snow, Uncategorized, WinterTags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

21 Comments on “Waiting For…”

  1. Praying you through the cold weather. By the way, I only had one other member show up for the Guam Writers Club but it turned into a freewheeling 2 hour conversation and I sensed that he was hungry for more than just conversations about writing. I invited him to read my blog and invited him to church so we will see how it goes. Interesting that it happening on the evening we started a prayer vigil for the islands of Micronesia. See my good night and prayer postings from last night and this morning

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  4. Sleep Tight, Steve! Not sure what that means really… My mom used to tell me that all the time… Never made much sense…Hmmmm Still doesn’t really, anyway warm thoughts!

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    • The saying came from long ago when people would tuck blankets under the mattress to prevent drafts that were quite common in a lot of old houses, and the blankets would be tucked in tight, hence the phrase, sleep tight! I read that somewhere, can’t remember where though, but it does make sense.

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      • Well that makes sense. I grew up in an 11 room farm house with one oil burning space heater and a wood burning kitchen stove. Thanks for explaining.

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      • I will post a picture of my house I grew up in. Then the saying will really make sense. My Mom was pretty smart..

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  6. Hi Steve, how long is it before you’ll be able to venture out without it being so dreadfully cold? I know where I used to live it took until April at least before I felt I could go out and move around. Keep those little birds happy and fed. They will need lots of attention during the cold snaps. Why is it called a snap anyway? Because cold by itself can’t snap anything… Another strange saying my mom used. She had a bunch of them..

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    • April is about right, most years, though the last couple years it has been May. Yes, cold certainly can snap! It will snap wood, metal, ice with a very loud snap! Or boom sometimes! It can make me and Muffin 🐈 jump right off the chair at times. Doesn’t normally break anything, but it can. That’s where the snap idea comes from.

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      • April doesn’t sound un-doable. Just need to be able to keep in touch with others so you keep the cabin fever at bay. Another term I don’t really understand. Oh well… so much I don’t know about sayings. Thanks for helping to relieve some worry about you

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