I'm back!

Well its been just over a year since my last post. It's not like I haven't been collecting experiences to share, I just haven't found the time to share them. Maybe this year I'll make time to keep blogging.

I'm starting off this year with the news for January 2011. That would be snow, lot's of it here on the Eastern shoreline. Its a record snowfall here in CT for January. And we are 25" shy of passing the record for snow for the year!

Check out what greeted us this morning as my husband ventured out to try and make it to work this morning.


This is at least our 5 snow storm. They started just after Christmas 2010. We had to take our son back to his home in Brooklyn but the weather was predicted to be blizzard conditions...so we waited. We didn't have much to deliver to his 4th floor walk-up, but the streets were narrowed down by mounds of snow on each side and we had to double-park for a while to unload. Since then its been at least a storm a week. We have piles of 4 feet of snow or more on the side of roads and in our driveway. Been burning wood in the fireplace every evening.

This takes me back to my childhood in the midwest, Wisconsin to be exact. As an elementary school kid I loved playing in the snow. The kids in the subdivision built forts out of snow and had snowball wars. I have different classifications for all the different types of snow: sledding snow, fort snow, and several kinds of slushy snow. The puddles we had to jump over full of slush were amazing! You could stay outside for hours in the snow as a kid
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Well I have to start back to work at the university next week. Classes just started (or tried to start-the university closed today for snow) this week and I start teaching next week. Wouldn't you know the weather predicts a storm for Tuesday, just in time for my first class.

Mayor Bloomberg was on television this morning fielding more than a few questions from reporters wondering how he would view the Groundhog's prediction on winter's duration this year. Bloomberg intimated that he could use all the help he could get...even from a Groundhog!

Flickers Feast on Sumac

Its snowing here today. Back to white outside. There goes the gym for today. We'll leave it as a New Year's Resolution. Looking out my side window at the sumac trees on the side of the house I saw at least 4 Yellow Shafted Flickers eating berries this morning. One sat very close to the window so I could get a good shot of it through the window. At one point the Flickers were joined by a Robin and I could see a few other birds flying by in the background. This summer I was cursing the sumacs since they seem to be invading the yard from the forest next door and I have to pay to get one large one removed. But now I am saving on birdseed and get a much better view of the feathered visitors as they come into my yard to feed.

Definitely NOT Spring

Well I wrote about seeing Robins and how this might be a harbinger of Spring...not quite. It's been snowing all day. We have about 6-7 inches by now I'd guess and it is still snowing. Things are being canceled: school, choir rehearsal. I've decided not to go out.... unless I do so to go cross county skiing. I haven't put the skis away yet from a few snows ago. I'll have to do it soon though as it will get colder and dark. Probably not.

This weekend I was surprised on the way home from downtown by the sight of a wild turkey "in flight." The turkeys are about the size of a medium breed dog so the fact that it got quite a bit of height was impressive. Seeing wild turkeys is one of my favorite things about where I live on the Shoreline. Being situated in a wooded area with nature preserve land near by we have a lot of wildlife roaming our neighborhood. The turkeys are so interesting. They travel in groups with a lookout bird watching as the rest of the group forages for food. Sometimes the males will display their feathers. They puff up to look like the familiar Thanksgiving Day picture of a turkey with it's tail feathers in a fan. In the spring your in its luck to come upon a brood of chicks (young turkeys) following their mother along the road. Only once have I come upon a turkey road kill, making me pretty sad since they are such interesting birds to watch. They are not very quick-you have to slow or stop to let them cross the road and it takes a while because they are in a group-and most always travel in a group. Well I hope they are hunkering down in this weather.