For the Birds

Good grief! It's been nearly six months since my last post. Actually, I was so pleased with my "Why I love October" post that I intimidated myself! Since then I haven't been able to think of anything that would match up to that last post, so I havent' posted at all. Fortunately, I know of only 3 people who ever look at my blog, so I haven't left too many people waiting anxiously for my next installment on the blog page! Pictures make the thing so much more interesting and I really can't think of any pictures to post. David has been going wild taking pictures of the birds at our feeders, I suppose I could post a couple of those. That's it! This post is "for the birds."

The weather has been for the birds lately. Here we are in mid-April and still dealing with a fair amount of snow. We had about 10 days of glorious spring weather in the 60s and 70s. Just long enough for the daffodils and forsythia to get the idea that it was time to wake up. Then - BAM! - major ice and snow that we can't seem to shake. By the way, during the ice phase of this rotten weather, I realized that I have absolutely nothing in common with Michelle Kwan or Kristy Yamaguchi. I slipped on the ice and broke my left leg. Oh yeah...the three people that read my blog already know that. Anyway, I've decided bird-watching is a much safer pastime than ice skating.

About the only sign of spring around here now, other than the aforementioned frozen daffodils, are the birds. In spite of the persistant April snow, they are happily chirping and "twitterpating" as if it were 65 degrees out there. So, here are a few of the recent visitors to our avian smorgasborg.

In spite of the snow this little guy had donned his bright yellow spring finery.

A perplexed cardinal wonders what happened to spring




The red-bellied woodpecker was very accomodating while David took his picture.

Hello everybody (meaning Elizabeth, since she's the only one who reads my blog)

Elizabeth's post about October finally got me inspired to write in my blog. Like her, I love the smell and feel of October. There is nothing like gazing at the intense blue of an October sky through a screen of translucent golden leaves. I love kicking my way through crackling leaves as I cross campus. Sometimes I do it without thinking. The other day I was cutting across the grass on my way to the parking lot, scuffing my feet through the crunchy, dry leaves when suddenly I heard a voice say, "I never outgrew it either." I looked up to see an elderly woman standing ankle-deep in leaves with a delighted grin on her face - a leaf-crunching soul mate!

There's nothing quite like October. I almost said nothing quite like a Michigan October, but I really cannot be that exclusive. One of our favorite places to visit in October is Brown County, Indiana. It's glorious! Last fall we visited Elizabeth in Nashville, Tennessee and it was beautiful too. I would highly recommend a sunny fall afternoon stroll through the Belle Meade Plantation grounds.

A couple of weeks ago, we took a few days off and escaped to Brown County for a mini-vacation. The town of Nashville, Indiana is adorable and the State Park is the biggest in the state. Between the two we had plenty of trails to hike, glorious views to take in and lots of great shopping in the hundreds of quaint shops in the area. Even though we have a plethora (great word, huh?) of pictures of the Brown County area, David and I couldn't resist snapping photo after photo. With so many to choose from, it will be hard to narrow it down to a few to share with you. But, maybe these will be enough to convey to you why I so love October.

Lana looks like a little Fawn. She loves to be held.

Okay. It's taken me almost two months to figure out how to get back into this crazy blog so I can post something. I work at a computer all day-you'd think I'd be able to figure it out!

I got a new pup and I want to post pics, but I'm not sure how that works either. Hmmm...it says add images. Maybe that's it......

Hey I got it! Maybe I'll get the hang of this thing after all.

So, let me tell you a little about our new addition. Lana is a mini pin (miniature pinscher), about a year old, cinnamon colored and very friendly. She's an extreme cuddle bug, which is sweet and fun now, but might be a bit all-consuming if it continues. Actually, I think it's a bit overdone at the moment because she's feeling insecure and is afraid she'll be left again. We got her from a rescue operation where she went after she was abandoned by her first owners. She's been passed around a bit for the last couple of weeks, so I guess a bit of clinginess is understandable. She's going to be a wonderful pet. She's very smart and alert and has a super sweet disposition.

So, what do you think of her?