Distractions please

I looked at the calendar today and thought, ‘Gee I should do a blog post. It’s past the middle of March and I haven’t done one since February.’ Then I looked at the blog and discovered that I haven’t done one since January. I started a couple and decided not to go any farther with them. Part of the reason is that I’ve spent a lot of time thoroughly annoyed at the stupidity of our species, some members of which act like each one of them is the only one on the planet who matters and there is no such thing as responsibility to or for others. I see evidence of this all the way from protestors who have forgotten what they are protesting to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. As humans we keep thinking there has to be a better way and then we return to bashing each other over the head. If we are smart we do a less than stellar job in demonstrating smarts where they count. And that’s enough of that. I’m not going to help solve anything by ranting about it so I’ll take some of my own advice and choose to look up rather than looking down at my feet.

Friends gave us a bird-seed cake for Christmas and we hung it up in the tree outside the living room window. I had a blast watching the birds that came to get the seeds and watching the squirrels try to get it before the birds did. The squirrels were pretty clever and I’m not sure how much they got and how much the birds got. When there was nothing left, I decided to go and buy a bird feeder. Of course there are lots of disadvantages to feeding the birds, poop on the brand new deck, a build up of seed hulls that seems gargantuan compared to the critters who dumped them on the lawn, and the possibility of encouraging mice which we’ve tried so hard to eradicate. I have nothing against mice as long as they stay out of my house.

Despite these drawbacks I’m delighted with the feeder. We’ve seen redpoles, many, many, house finches, downy woodpeckers, mountain chickadees, and nuthatches. I thought house sparrows were the only small birds that hung around here during the winter. I have a pair of binoculars and my camera sitting by the front window and have gotten some more practice with the camera and the telephoto lens. This will come in handy when (if) we get to go on the Arctic cruise that we booked in 2019.

The birds manage to empty the feeder about once a week. We went through the first bag of seed and had to return to buy an even bigger one. We also bought a packet of seeds of native perennial wildflowers meant to attract birds. I still like the idea of planting zucchini in one of the planter boxes at the front and the wildflowers can have the second box. Some of the seeds need to lie dormant over a winter before they will sprout so we won’t know the true variety of the flowers until next summer.

We’ve been trying to get out for walks and today we saw a bluejay in the bush just as we were returning to the house. I often hear them but I don’t often see them. There were a couple of other sightings of note today. We found a tree with pussywillows on it and when I looked out the window earlier in the evening, there was a hare eating grass. The hares are around all winter but this guy was sprouting the beginning of his summer coat. His face was predominantly brown and there was a distinct brown cast to his hindquarters and his shoulders. It’s those little details that delight me and haul me out of my general grumpiness at the state of the world. So here are some photos of birds, hares, and pussywillows that may provide a small diversion for you as well. These days we need all the diversions we can get.