Good News and Not So Great News

On my way to work this morning, I was dreading the possibility of finding that darn Bluebird still flying around the lobby. After dropping my stuff in the office, I didn't waste time to take a tour of the building and found there were no birds flying in the lobby or elsewhere. Hurray! I went to a local pet store early and bought a small container of mealworms that I put in the frig at the office in case I would need them later. This is good news but I think it may happen again...

I learned from a lady janitor who works on weekends that there were two birds flying inside on Saturday morning, and one of them led the other outside. That was probably Millie rescuing Johnny. You can always count on a woman to lead the way! In response to Laura in NJ’s comment yesterday, asking if I look for Bluebirds, the answer is, "No, I don't look for them. They fly in front of my face!"

Until I arrived at work this morning, I was feeling great but very soon I noticed my backside felt like I had gone bowling for the first time in twenty years and I commented to a co-worker about it. Soon after that, I got up from my desk chair and nearly fell over in response to an intense pain below the bottom of my spine - very lower back. The only way I felt less pain was to walk around. How can you do damage that quickly? So I spent the rest of the day walking around every thirty minutes, looking like I had a loaded diaper. Trail walking was out of the question today.

This afternoon, I had business to take care of in uptown Charlotte and I left the office a tad early to do it. On my way home, I stopped at a community park near home that I had never seen and passed thoroughbred horses, beautiful ponds, and cows. On these small, country, winding roads, there is nowhere to pull over unless you want to park your car in a ditch. Driveways were blocked with trash bins. Sighing, I drove by these beautiful places, intent on chasing hawks, with no luck at all. The day was becoming quite a drag. I rarely have time to explore different places of beauty and I was bummed out.

Well, look what I found when I opened the sunroom door to let Chloe & Bella out after arriving home! The finch sock I hung two days ago was crawling with gold finches! Because of my beloved dogs being in the yard and who love to make noise with toys, I was only able to get one decent photograph. Oh, I am so happy. See? There is beauty in your own back yard, if you are willing to wait and look for it.


Then I noticed my pond was fishless! The fish weren’t in the deep end where they normally sleep during severe cold! My heart pounded until I saw them nuzzled behind rock. Cursing that Stinker, I saw no signs of heron tracks on the ledge of the pond…but I’ll be watching!





There is something about a female Cardinal I love. She is subtle in color, yet so majestic.

It’s so cold. Expecting teens in the morning and single digits nearby in the mountains. This kind of cold is hard to handle for us southern folk.






The feeders needed topping off tonight. On my way, this is what I found. What happened while I wasn't looking??? Sigh...

I've been wanting to write a very thoughtful post. It's been a while since I have done that but it will have to wait. Right now, I'm going to hug Chloe and Bella, play with them, while drawing a hot bath for my sore butt.