Random Thoughts…

1)  Because it is 3.14, today is National Pi Day, as I’m sure you know if you hang out on Facebook at all.  Me, I would prefer it to be National Pie Day.  But nobody asked me.  Actually, a friend on Facebook informed me that there is a National Pie Day and it was on January 23.  Personally, I think that pie is good enough to have two celebratory days in a year.  If today was pie day instead of pi day, what kind of pie would you go for?  Me…I like my donuts plain, my coffee black and I go for that old standard, the American Apple Pie.  In honor of the day, we are having vegetarian pot pie for dinner.

I took this picture of pi in 2007 on a visit to the San Juan Islands in Washington state.  It's cool, but you can't eat it.

2)  We got more snow here in Massachusetts yesterday.  Wasn’t much, but it did neaten things up around the edges temporarily.

A little snow never stops the intrepid Chickadee for long.

4)  If you live in a cold climate, you’ve probably heard a lot of complaining about the weather this winter.  To me, it seems like a big waste of energy to complain about things over which you have no power to change.  I think that the people who celebrate winter deserve big kudos…like our neighbors who have an actual igloo in their front yard.  I think that is just cool!  Absolutely no pun intended.

5)  I’m on Day 263 of my Flickr 365 that I started on my birthday.  I haven’t missed a day so far.  Today’s entry was one of a series of “self-portraits” that I am doing using the ABCs.  I am on the letter K.  It wasn’t easy coming up with something for K but I did it.  K is for key and here it is, the key to my Toyota Prius.  I love that darn car.

5)  I will leave you with a random poem from one of my favorite poets of all time, Shel Silverstein.  It seems like it’s been a Shel Silverstein kind of week.

THE VOICE

There is a voice inside of you

That whispers all day long,

“I feel that this is right for me,

I know that this is wrong.”

No teacher, preacher, parent, friend

Or wise man can decide

What’s right for you – just listen to

The voice that speaks inside.

Here's a raggedy Welcome to the weekend.  Have a good one, you all!

LINKING TO A RURAL JOURNAL'S

RANDOM FIVE FRIDAY!

Variety is the spice of life...

It’s cold here.  Not as cold as in the upper Midwest, but pretty darn cold.  It is also very bright and beautiful out.  It seems like the birds are extra active in weather like this.  They have been coming and going with great frequency to the feeder.  Now and then they have to rest though and when they do, I have been trying to grab my camera.  Here are the birds who have visited us lately.

The official state bird of Massachusetts:  the Black-capped Chickadee.  He looks official, doesn't he?

The cardinals are not as apt to hang around near the house.  If you look closely in this photo, you will see this dashing male's wife sitting on a branch behind him.

This little Junco looks curious, but the Juncos are very skittish so I don't think he knows I'm there.

Of course, the Wild Turkeys have to stop in the yard on their way through the neighborhood.  I got a kick out of watching them jump off the ground trying to grab the leftover crab apples off the tree.  Sort of the opposite of bobbing for apples.

This morning, there are American Robins in the yard.  We've noticed that they  have been sticking around during the winter the last few years.  So much for them being the heralds of spring.

Sharing the birds…

I had a busy weekend.  But it was blah and uneventful as far as my camera was concerned.  I took fewer than 100 photos, which may be an all time low for me.  But I manage to eke out two rather boring shots for my Flickr 365 so I was happy about that.

Yesterday afternoon I was involved in photography in a different way.  I helped my daughter Carrie frame her photos for an upcoming exhibit in Northampton, Massachusetts.  She and her fellow photographers from the Northampton Camera Club will have photos displayed at Historic Northampton in an exhibit called “Northampton as We See It” from December 12, 2013 to January 25, 2014.  Carrie’s photos are very good and I’m not saying that just because I’m her mother.  I think I will ask her to email me a couple to share with you all and you will see for yourselves what a talented daughter I have.

Meanwhile, the birds were super busy at the feeders today.  I think they were trying to keep themselves warm.  But I managed to shoot a few and will share them today.

It’s always nice when the Juncos come back for the winter and one sat in the bush and cooperated so nicely.

Personally, I think the beauty and understated elegance of the female cardinal is second to none.

And the chickadee is always fun to watch even if he is everywhere.

Outsquirrelling the squirrel…

I am so pleased to report that the squirrels have still not figured out a way to get to the birdfeeder I hung up earlier this year.  For a while there, I thought that having a squirrel free birdfeeder was an impossible dream but I am here to tell you that it can be done. 

So without the squirrels eating us out of house and home, we have gotten a nice array of birds back to the feeder and in our yard.  But I have to admit that I bang on the window whenever I see a blue jay on the feeder.  They can wipe the food out almost as quickly as a squirrel can and the other birds don’t seem to want to be in the same neighborhood as they are.

 

Yesterday I put the long lens on my camera and took a few shots of our visitors.  Here they are:

Black-capped Chickadee 

Grackle.  He is the king of all he surveys.  And yes, we still haven't taken down those blasted Christmas lights that don't work.

The American Robin.

The lovely female Cardinal.

Mr. Goldfinch almost has all his summer clothing on.

The Juncos are still here.