Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Daily Pics #275.
Good morning everyone! It’s almost time to say good afternoon instead of morning. I’m late. But my laptop wanted to do some updates this morning, so I had to wait. But it’s a beautiful sunny day so far, the sun is shining so bright on the few remaining yellow leaves. The walnut tree out back here looks so nice with it’s golden leaves, especially since the other trees have lost their leaves, so this one really stands out nicely. Yesterday was an absolutely lovely day, it stayed sunny the whole day, though it was kind of windy. But it wasn’t a real cold wind so I was able to be outside for awhile and Coffee showed up again so I sat there feeding him peanuts. Jasper had been around earlier but he never came while Coffee was here so I think Coffee was happy about that. Last night I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep, so after close to 2 hours I finally dropped into dreamland.
I had barely gotten so sleep when there was a large boom on the deck. Muffin jumped straight up and puffed herself out. Then another big boom and Muffin ran to the living room window with me following. I looked outside and I could tell a bear was out there, so I turned the light on figuring that would scare it away. I was wrong. I looked again. It wasn’t that little bear from a few nights ago, this one was big, I would say at least 400 pounds, possibly larger. I decided it would likely not be a good idea to go out and try to chase it away. I don’t mind chasing the small ones away, but once they hit that size, well, I prefer not to. I have a step outside the door which just sits on the deck, not fastened firmly. The bear picked it up and dropped it, twice, that was the boom. He did it again while I was watching, it wasn’t hard for him, just lifted it on edge and dropped it. There was a few peanuts and sunflower seeds under that thing that he wanted. Who doesn’t like peanuts? I almost killed myself moving that heavy thing back into place. Sigh. Nice looking bear though, I tried for a pic but it didn’t turn out, just not enough light taking the pic through the window. Maybe if he comes around again I could try and open the door quickly and snap a pic…
Anyway, the featured pic above is a hollyhock flower. Then I had turkey for dinner yesterday so just had to take a pic to share with you. It was a live turkey, which I have named Theodore. He came flying in from wherever and landed on the bird feeder and feasted on the sunflower seeds. This is the first year I have even seen a wild turkey and another first is having him sit on my bird feeder! I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
It’s Thanksgiving Day!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I know for most of you it’s not Thanksgiving Day today, but it is here in Canada, so I thought it’s time to sit back and be thankful for all the beauty and bounty that we enjoy. I truly do thank God for all the wondrous beauty he has given to me. Not everyone in this big world can enjoy the many things that we just take for granted every day, that’s why we need to stop and consider all that we have to enjoy. And not just once a year. It’s good to do this on a regular basis.
That way things don’t become commonplace and we tend to then take things for granted. As people we tend to complain a lot. I noticed that so much when this pandemic showed up. People will just sit and complain about it for hours on end. Complaining doesn’t do anyone any good. But it does do a lot of harm. It puts us in a bad mood. Raises blood pressure. Increases stress. I mean, how many of us really wants more stress in our lives? It’s time to look on the positive side of things and stop complaining. As I said, we have so much to be thankful for these days.
There are a lot of things in life that can be hard, but we can still be thankful. I have a lot of different health problems which basically started when I got polio at the age of 5. That gave me scoliosis, which is now very severe causing constant pain 24 hours a day for the last 30 years. Getting Covid this year has caused continuing problems for 5 months now. But why sit and complain? So much better to be thankful, after all, things could be worse.
Thankfulness will change our mood for the better. It will actually reduce stress and improve our overall health, mentally and physically. Here is a short list of things I am thankful for, I have already mentioned health. Muffin is one of the main things I am thankful for today. She brings so much joy into my life. Having a little chipmunk on my knee, and usually all over me, one even climbed on top of my head about 3 weeks ago. Jasper the squirrel is also so much fun to watch every day, all the crazy things he does!
Watching big puffy clouds against a vibrant blue sky certainly brings a calming effect and I am thankful for something so simple and so common we often don’t even notice them. Walking down to the river is a real pleasure, but coming up to a duck sleeping on the river is an added pleasure. Especially when he just lifts his head, looks at me and goes right back to sleep knowing that I’m no danger to him.
And there are so many other birds that I come in contact with on a daily basis that it always causes me to be thankful. From tiny birds like the little hummingbird up to the larger birds like eagles and pelicans, they are so beautiful and I am so thankful for them. Sitting by the river on a hot day, having a nice picnic, enjoying the beautiful natural surroundings, the trees, so many different wildflowers to enjoy.
I am thankful for the beauty of so many different garden flowers as well, they bring wonderful joy every time I see one. And while walking along the forest path coming across a beautiful butterfly sitting on a flower, and even on my knee! Also coming across delicious wild berries as they are starting to ripen. And don’t forget the beauty of the moon spreading it’s beams of light on a warm summer night.
Oh my, like I said, this is just a short list of things which make me so thankful, but I don’t want this post to get too long so I better stop here. I am also so very thankful for all of you who take the time to stop by and read these posts each day!! So, from Muffin (that me!😸), and I, thank you so very much for being here and Happy Thanksgiving Day to everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
