March 2025 SOLC–Day 29
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I like winter, really I do, but I’ve been having to remind myself of that lately. I haven’t been too convincing either, so this weekend’s Winter Weather Advisory was uninvited and unwelcome. Sort of like when someone announces they’re stopping by your house to visit. There’s no graceful way to bow out. No escape. Ready or not, here they come! (This, of course, is a purely hypothetical example.)

So, I grumbled and complained more than once on Friday, along with most of my colleagues (except for one, who offered to send me happy photos of her skiing with her family. I declined). But as I left work, chatting with a different colleague, she made a good point. She noted that it was probably one of the last weekends of enforced down time –which is one of my favorite things about winter. Any pressing yard work that had been uncovered during the recent thaw would just have to wait, she said. That thought stuck.

This morning, when I woke up around 4 am, I knew I couldn’t go out and about sunrise-wandering, so I rolled over and fell back asleep. At 5 am, I did it again. And then again at 5:30. Ultimately, I finally slid out of bed around 6 am (crazy late for me!) and meandered downstairs to start the day.

In my pre-storm grumpiness, I’d forgotten that the birds always make a showing at the feeders during snowstorms: During spring-ish snow storms, there’s even a wider variety of visitors. By the time I’d had a couple of cups of coffee and filled the feeders, the birds were out in full force in a constant flutter and flash outside the windows. There were juncos, nuthatches, titmice, mourning doves, cardinals, my beloved Carolina wren, blue jays, house finches, goldfinches, chickadees, and downy woodpeckers. There were fox sparrows, song sparrows and other sparrows I can’t even begin to identify. (My husband and I call them LBJs, or little brown jobs.) Then a flock of red-winged blackbirds flew in, and a few starlings came by as well. Oh! The male and female bluebirds kept stopping by, too. Every time I started to get something done (like writing a slice!), the avian show enticed me away from productivity and into presence.

Here are a few photos from this morning. Most of them were taken through the windows. The birds don’t love it when I linger outside, and, for some reason, my husband doesn’t love it when I open the windows in winter to take pictures. Go figure! (I try to wait until he leaves the room, but he’s been annoyingly present this morning. lol )

All in all, It’s been a lovely, leisurely morning. Sometimes, I guess, uninvited guests (of any variety) can turn out to be exactly what you need. The show is still going on here, and my attention keeps getting pulled outside. What was that? What was that? What was that? lol Soon I’ll make some lunch and brew up a cappuccino, and then I’ll settle in with a book. I’m sure the birds will continue to entertain me throughout the day.

Ahhhhh….Why was I even complaining?