Icewind's Ramblings

I woke up this morning to head out to my Saturday breakfast at Village Inn but before I left the house I took Gus out for his morning nature break and walk. While I was enjoying my first cup of coffee I put more peanuts in the bird feeder when the 4 Jays came swooping down into the tree limbs just off my deck and on the hand rails. They landed within a few feet of me and made their ‘good morning’ noises to greet me. I can tell they really know when I put out the food and nuts as they are looking for me several times a day. I picked up one of the peanuts and held it out toward the limb where one was impatiently waiting to see what was going on. Gus usually barks and makes every attempt to scare the birds. The hand is held out and slowly the one Jay hops up to within a few inches from the nut and quickly grabs it and moves about 4 feet away. I had him take two peanuts before I went to breakfast and several hours later when I returned he took another one. It was pret...

I had the distinct joy of watching Big Brother on television tonight and it was not entertaining listening to all of the chaos going on within the house. I started thinking about these young people who are our youth in America and how they approach things, problem solve, and deal with the inner workings of relationships with themselves and those around them. It was a pretty sad thing to watch the last three weeks as they have no clue what it is like to engage each other with respect, gamesmanship, and trust. If this program was viewed as a job interview for most of these housemates they would be lucky to get any job whatsoever. They could not check the box that says: “plays well with others”. The “How do you establish a working relationship with new people” question could set off an nasty tirade of swearing and first impressions about those they walked by on the way to the interview. If the question comes out as to “what have you been most frequently critic...

Some mistakes are too much fun . . . to only make once. Ice

Spending time home this weekend brought several reminders that summer is almost over and the seasons are quickly changing once again. The days are growing shorter now as we head back into the darker months as we are losing over five minutes of light each day bringing with it real darkness once again. That thirty minutes of less light each week is noticeable now as there are signs within nature calling out to you if one pays attention. The birds are once again hitting the bird feeders all day long eating much to bulk up before they fly south to warmer climates for their migratory trek each year. The local birds which remain during the winter months are starting to hoard the food making many trips back and forth between their nest and the feeders. The finch type birds are everywhere preparing for warmer weather and will be missed once they start making the exodus. Blue Jays are getting bolder now wanting more peanuts for the winter as they fly up first thing in ...