I get confused when the temperature drops below freezing for the first time, after Christmas. To me this is Christmas weather and to realize that Christmas has already passed upon its arrival baffles me.
Remembering I’m Only A Cog In Nature’s Wheel
My backyard has some “trees” that I’ve cut back once and had planned to cut back again, mostly because they sprout so quickly that they touch my house’s roofline.
However, the last time I cut them way back is when my house was burgled. The fuckheads had clear passage to the window the shattered to gain entry. So I was hesitant to tempt fate.
A week or so ago I noticed that these “trees” were ripe with spherical, dark purple berries. However, no animals seemed interested in these — until yesterday. When I was leaving for work yesterday the “trees” were bombarded by beautiful birds (to my eyes at least), Cedar Waxwings as I came to learn via Google. The birds would swoop in, land on a branch, pluck off a few berries, and then fly away.
It was spectacular to watch, and made me wonder what these birds would do for food if these berries weren’t available.
We humans must remember that we are but a cog in Nature’s wheel, that our actions affect more than what we may immediately conceive. It’s awe inspiring and more than a little daunting for me to think about this.
I Light Up My Life, And My Neighbor’s Too
When I arrived home on Monday night I noticed that the lightbulb outside my kitchen door had given up the ghost.
I stopped at Target yesterday and bought replacement bulbs, and old-school incandescent 15W bulb, and a new-fangled compact-fluorescent 10W bulb. I had noticed that my rental neighbors have put up a blind to try and block the light so I was trying to be cognizant of this when I put the new bulb in.
Last night I installed the CF bulb, which at first looked fine, but as it warmed up became incredibly bright, even for a 40W bulb equivalent. So this morning I am going to install the 15W incandescent bulb, which according to the packaging is about one-fifth the brightness, in an attempt to be a little more neighborly.
Okay, time for me to get more work done.
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
The brighter light will possibly keep the burglers away.
I went back to yoga last night after not going for a year. I need to get back in the habit, as it really did/does help my back. The class I go to is yin, its long stretches, all on the floor.
Allan has decided to build some firewood racks out near the new shed, in the back of the carport. So, we get to move firewood! what fun! hopefully this will be the last time it has to be moved.
Purple berries? Hard or “squishy”? I think what you might have is privet, which is as fast growing and invasive as they come.
Debbie cooked a delicious meal of shrimp and scallops to celebrate my lap of the sun. Zelda has a bad case of the trots, and we did a lot of cleaning up after her last night. She spent most of the night in her box in the dining room with Maggie. When I left this morning, she gave me a sweet look and then fell right back to sleep. Maggie didn’t budge- she could sleep through anything.
It was 38 in the mancave as I rode last night. Tights and a long sleeve T-shirt were enough, but it was chilly to start.
And Barb, the next move will hopefully be into the fire!
-FP
I always feel the same way about Christmas weather until I sit back and realize that our Decembers here ARE typically “warm.” I usually notice by looking at years’ past photos: plenty from Decembers just walking around in a fleece for warmth. When the season ends (btw – it’s the 12th Day of Christmas today) I have to remind myself that the worst is yet to come yet. Dreading February.
From your pictures on FB, the wood piles are looking good, Barb! When are we all coming over for a fire pit/fireplace party? 🙂
You can always put out a bird feeder if you cut down the branches. I miss mine. I had a bird feeder and a cute little bird house at other abodes, but mine now doesn’t really lend to one. (I could put one in the backyard, but what’s the point if you can’t watch ’em?) Unless I found a suction-cup one that can stick to the window outside. That actually might be nice.
I’m assuming the man cave is not attached to the house, Steve? Because YIKES that’s cold!
Correct- a separate, unheated 40×40 metal building. I think a space heater would help, but there isn’t much to hold the heat in.
we can have a firepit party at any time – we have enough wood for the next 100 years right now (since we don’t burn much)
it is 3 Kings Day over in Spain, they celebrate it as much or even more than Christmas. The 12th Day of Christmas – now it is finally over.
We got all the lights down this weekend – so we are not the crazies that leave then up all year.
Steve, privet sounds correct. I can’t tell you more about the berries because I noticed this morning that they were all gone!
And I thought 64° F in the basement was chilly. 🙂
What’s even more fun is when the birds poop the privet berries back out all over your deck. 😉