Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Musings For Monday. #4
Good morning everyone! Another cold start to the day. Speaking of the start of the day, which I was doing, let’s go in the other direction and talk about the end of the day. The end of Friday to be exact. Muffin was sleeping with me on the chair, to clarify she was sleeping, I was awake. I think it was around 8pm, or close to it. Anyway, Muffin woke up and ran to the window, which she could actually see out partially at the time and was looking off to the left. But she was scared. Like she had seen a bear, that kind of scared.
And she never settled down until we went to bed. I looked out the window, but because Muffin would not move out of the way, I could not see anything. But since whatever she was watching was off to the left, I went to the bedroom window which doesn’t frost over, figuring I could see what was happening out there. Wrong. I could not see a thing. I watched, but nothing. I looked and Muffin was still watching. Now, I could have opened the door to look outside, but I have learned that if Muffin is scared, there must be a reason for it.
So opening the door probably would not be a good idea. It could be a human type out there looking to get inside. So opening the door was out. So I kept looking out the bedroom window. But I never did see anything. And Muffin remained scared, following me around very closely and constantly looking toward the window, but she never went back to the window. Very strange indeed. There are only 4 things I have discovered that will scare Muffin like that. One is people, especially large men with beards. Two is bears, which are hibernating this time of the year.
Three is lynx/bobcats, which have been on my deck as well, though I am not sure if it was a lynx or bobcat at the time, I did not get a chance to see it well enough. Four is wolves, which do not hibernate, are big and nasty. Contrary to popular belief, wolves are not scared of people, except perhaps wolves that live far from people. The wolves here come into town all the time and have lost their fear of people. They have been on my deck several times since I have lived here, winter mostly, but also summer.
They started coming into town a few years ago looking for food and often kill cats and small dogs that people let run loose at night, even though the town has warned people not to let their pets out at night because of the wolves. I did see some very large tracks the next morning, larger than my neighbors dog tracks, so I will say it was a wolf. Hmm, this has gotten longer than I expected, but it is early and the birds are not awake yet and I will be going out shopping soon, so I needed something to write about. Have a wonderful Monday everyone, thank you for reading and God bless!
Steve and Muffin. (top image is another view from along the path)
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Sunny Sunday. #4
Good morning everyone! It is another cold morning, with the temperature hovering around -40, which is the same for F and C. Stepping outside this morning with that stunning cold is quite an experience. Even though I have felt that several times this winter, and many times throughout my life, it is still hard to believe. People often think I should be used to these temps by now. I do not think a person ever gets used to such cold weather. It is there, we live through it, but we do not get used to it. It is just something we live with because it is part of where we live.
Please do not think I am complaining a lot because I talk about our weather. I am just trying to convey what it is like to live in the type of climate we have in this part of the world. The sun is just beginning to shine on the tops of the trees, the sky is maily blue with small wisps of clouds visible from my window. At least I can see out of one window, which is somewhat odd, because other winters this window beside my chair is usually frosted solid from top to bottom.
Unfortunately I cannot see the bird feeders from this window, but I can see the birds as they sit in the trees which are only about 7 feet (about 2 meters) away from the window. They are young trees, about 15 feet (about 4.5 meters) tall. There is a birch, two black walnut, and a black ash tree. And right across the fence from them is the neighbors cherry tree. The birds use them a lot since they are the closest trees to the feeders.
Watching those tiny birds on days like this is quite amazing. I think they are the toughest critters around. Forget bears, they hide away and hibernate all winter, and I am very thankful for that too. But these tiny birds do something the bears cannot, they survive outdoors in the most terrible of weather conditions. And they will still chirp and sing like they are quite happy.
There is a good lesson for us people. When things get tough for us, we grumble and complain. Be honest, it happens. And I’m not talking about the weather, but about problems that come into our lives. These little birds, like chickadees, go through amazingly hard problems of winter and still keep on, and will even sing through it all. We can learn a lot from birds and other animals. Thank you so much for joining Muffin and I this morning, have a great day, enjoy another cup of coffee and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2022 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 