Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....yes, 18 more inches today. Well, there is at least 18 inches of new snow out there; wet, dripping, soaked, heavy snow, really burdensome snow. Everything dripped all day long. The eaves dripped, the handrails dripped, the windows had running water down their surface, icles formed along the roof edges...yet it continued to snow.
Last night around 8pm we heard a huge boom, the house shook, the earth shook. It felt like an earthquake. Four of us were sitting in the kitchen visiting and chatting. We heard the noise and we all froze and just looked at each other. Slowly we rose to the ocassion. When we looked out the windows and door, down the walkway in the direction of the noise, all we could see was dark and snow.
It was a difficult night, lots of frightening noises, lots of hard hitting wind, a three and a half hour power outage in the middle of the night, and plenty of cold. The heat does not work without electricity to keep the furnace charged, so it was frightening to be without power in the middle of a blizzard. Upon awakening in the morning, I looked out the window towards the water. A huge branch was broken off the beautiful cedar tree along the waters edge. I guess the high speed winds snapped it off while whipping it around. I thought to myself, this is the beginning of the messes to come. Arriving in the kitchen in the morning, I looked out the window in the direction of the earthquake sounds the night before. I saw a huge white pine limb cracked and laying on the ground, hanging from the trunk. The limb was nearly as long as the rest of the tree is high, that must have made it more vulnerable to the winds. It is so sad, though. The white pine was a beautiful sculptural tree, and now it is misshapen.
My bird feeders were a busy island of repast today. I saw the Juncos scavanging under the bushes and out on the snow, so I dressed appropriately and refilled all of the feeders. The little aviators were so hungry that they came to eat while I was still standing there filling the feeders. They were pretty darn busy eating and battling for position for the whole day. It provided me with the only interesting entertainment of the day. A beautiful Carolina Wren had the suet cake all to himself, well virtually to himself. There is a gray Nuthatch who also enjoys nibbling at it from time to time. Interestingly none of the other birds, Goldfinches, Chickadees, Cardinals, Juncos, Sparrows, were too interested in the suet. There were a couple of pairs of Red Wing Blackbirds. It would seem they shouldn't be here yet. They migrate south so it seems too early for their return. With all of this snow I bet they feel the same way! My feed in storage was pretty slim picking so I had to put some cracked corn in a feeder that usually has sunflowers in it, but it had an interesting consequence. The goldfinches, purple finches, and wren, who usually don't like that feeder, were heavily feeding at the feeder once I changed the type of feed in it. It just proved to me that there is a real science to feeding the birds. You must have the right combination of feeder style and feed to have an interesting successful bird feeding experience. I have black metal feeder the Goldfinches just love. It looks like a pipe with large drill holes all over it. They just love this feeder. They fight for the right place on it, they hang upside down and sideways. It is always filled with only sunflower seeds. They love it. I have another feeder made of brass, it kind of looks like mesh made of small anchor fencing, but in brass. It is the shape of a bell with a ring pearch around the base, and you fill it from the top. When filled with sunflower seeds the Goldfinches have some interest in this feeder. Purple Finches have a lot of interest in this feeder no matter what is in it. The cedar house shape feeder with a large platform, is pleasing to the larger birds and to the Juncos. Usually there is corn in that feeder, and the corn is attractive to Cardinals, Blackbirds, and Juncos just to name a few. Anyway, you live and learn when it comes to the right food in the right feeder.
Well, not much was accomplished today, but hanging out, bird watching and cooking. Cooking turned out well, Mr gave me a compliment on the Beef Bourguignon. Mr never compliments anything.
One other interesting even today. We had a brave guest who weathered the snow and walked over for a visit. That was a nice surprise. The guest commented on the movement of our curtains in reaction to the wind migrating through the window. It was as if the curtains were dancing to the music of the wind. How poetic!
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