Inevitably Blessed

Today we are finally receiving proof that snow exists. I feel like I’ve heard the Sky is Falling a number of times this season so far, only to receive nary a flake. Booooo!

I do not enjoy being cold. I enjoy even less, being hot. By default, bring down the mercury!

I do love the cozy, hunker down feeling of a snowstorm. We had an amazing Christmas day yesterday…the very holiday we’d been dreading simply because it has been a rough health season for the Honey, leaving us to mainly rely on my paycheck for a family of three in a very expensive town. We managed to buy a few gifts for our families, but our main concern was to give Humanling a kid’s Christmas. Straight from the Humanling’s mouth, “This is the best Christmas Ever!”. That in itself made us happy.

As the snow comes down today, we stare at the full birdfeeder. This is another joy of ours….to see the pine grosbeaks, doves, blue jays (well…Honey is not enjoying the bluejays but to me they aren’t simply Bird Bullies of the feeder, they are still birds), chickadees, tufted titmice (not even sure if the plural would be that but it seems to make sense!) and nuthatches. What a wonderful cast of our daily Bird Show. We had run out of bird food a month or more ago and could hardly stand to watch the birds mainly disappear. Even worse was watching them show up desperately, pecking inside the empty holes, looking for anything at all. I’m almost positive they’d even have settled for a gobstopper.

But now, it is full. The birds have telegraphed the other birds that there is one place nearby that is serving in this weather.

Our other animals seem content and happy…guinea pigs have carrots from grandma’s yesterday. Cats and dog are all curled up on various pieces of furniture.

We travelled down the hill to the market for Snowed In type food. Which is anything you can get your hands on at this point. Say honey, doesn’t motor oil make a good buttery sauce?

The shelves were becoming more and more bare from the organized, under frenzied but over annoyed crowd. A sense of humour was not to be found. What WAS found though were people who may have been out of The Happening. It isn’t sound that they were REALLY trying to off themselves, but debatable when more than one person walks/drives/sleds aimlessly in a parking lot without much regard to the fact that it really isn’t a ghost town. Those aren’t mirages…they are actual CARS coming at your back. Thankfully with people behind the wheel who want to enjoy their Christmas wares without the slap of manslaughter on their record.
But now, with the beautiful gift of wood for the fireplace, a fire burns and the three of pursue after Christmas enjoyment. Art to be made, posts to be writ, football to be watched, beer bottles to be kissed by the Honey.

The most beautiful gifts of all, were every single one of them. We were far blessed! I am swimming in giftcards to Borders. My heaven, my sanctuary, my All That Is Right with this World. Beautiful, beautiful Borders. Of course I fantasize about reading more than I actually wish to be reading!

But the top gift of all, the Mother of all Gifts, is that my older girl, Miz Eye and her boyfriend of 5 years, are gifting the world with a blessed new being! As life keeps opening up new days, new lessons and new passions, I am inevitably regenerating again...I am going to be a 41 year old Grandma! So for now, lots of sweet dreams of books and the time to read them as well as that fresh new baby smell and a cross country trip to Arizona next year to get to enjoy it!

Happy Christmas Eve!

The wind is blowing so loud I’m looking for a film crew and maybe Mark Wahlberg to be outside. It’s one of those happy days to do any and everything in flannel sweats.

The birdfeeder swings like a pendulum, hummingbird feeder in sync. I wonder why we even having the hummingbird feeder out there in late December, in a climate where snowmen hit up the Starbucks Drive Through for something hot to sup!

The bird feeder has become a symbol of failure and guilt around here. All summer long we kept it full of a mix of seed and the gourmet stuff with nuts in it. I watched as a woodpecker came along, casually tossed stuff out of the feeder to the ground until finally finding the holy grail of a coveted nut. The seed on the ground usually is eaten by the gray doves that never try to perch there miniature hen like bodies on the feeder. Of course, I’m guessing that the seed on the ground is also the first step onto the bridge of doom for many birds, as my cat Azrael is quite the hunter. It’s possible that she catches, kills, then displays these birds near the door so that the dog can be taken down a rung or two as he loves to catch and kill things but doesn’t have nearly the access to the playground that Azrael does.

Tick Tock Tick Tock back forth back forth….like the guilt of the telltale heart. Once in a while a chickadee or a Tufted Titmouse shows up and sits on the rung, peeking hopefully into the cavern where food used to be plentiful.

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK! Even the tiny stomachs of those feathered, echoes loud.

After one more pleading of “Awww…honey look! They’re so hungry!”, he brought home bird food.

On this Christmas Eve, watching the birds have plenty to eat in the cold is indeed a welcome sight!

With the small exception that Azrael seems to take the full birdfeeder as functioning bait as she lurks on the deck stairs! No birdies for Christmas, Az! Not for you!

But all of you dear readers, have a magical and sparkly Christmas! To each and every feathered, gilled, furry and uprighted!