Live in the moment

It's another beautiful day. All the squirrels are out; Pesky on the back deck, Peeker came up the side of the house and sat on the eave and stared at me for a while as I made conversation at him. Then he ran up on the roof. Gutsy is hogging all the food out front in the pan and running the birds off so they are coming to the feeder. I saw a Jackrabbit across the road, the first I've seen in a long time. Shredder, the squirrel with the torn ear, has shown up on the back deck and is keeping Pesky busy chasing him off, and then managing to get a share of the food in the meantime. My yard and my world are certainly full of activity.

I took a short walk and threw some sunflower seeds up on my hill so that the birds and small brown squirrels and maybe even the quail and rabbits can come to feed. The black lab that wanders the hill across the road warned me not to come further in my walk, at least not in his direction.

The small Mickey squirrels, which live in the wood piles in the forest area, came out chirping, at least one chirped and one just looked. These are the piles my son was sure were inhabited by rats and wanted to destroy. These are the homes or nests of many small, shy, darting brown squirrels and I'm sure it took much work and time to build their shelters.

Something has been eating heartily on the wooden balcony and the bottom edges of my back deck. I haven't heard a woodpecker so I am curious what it is and how to prevent further damage. I will have to inquire of others. In the meantime, I will have to keep a better look out.

The old lady cat, lately, has taken to sleeping the night upstairs while the other two cats who often slept together upstairs now come down to be with me. I wonder if they have come to some agreement on this. They certainly haven't become any friendlier in the over three months they have not lived separate lives.

It is good to be able to drive into the village for the second day in a row and to have my independence. I took my camera along to capture the ambiance on film. The golf course covered with snow and the warning of "thin ice" captivates me, as does the post office, which has become a gathering spot as well as a place of news to all who live up here.

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