Sarah's Morning, More Interesting Than Mine

This morning on her way out the door, daughter Sarah heard a barred owl.  And that was pretty nice.

Then when she pulled up at the trailhead where she and a coworker were going running, a barred owl flew past her windshield.  Still very nice, a barred owl can represent wisdom, mystery, or a need for reflection.

But then, on the trail, a barred owl flew at her and hit her in the head and ear.  She has little talon scratches.  It was bad luck for Sarah that she had just pushed back the hood on her hoodie.  

The owl wouldn't let her and her running partner pass on the trail.  There was probably a nest with eggs nearby.

I know, who goes trail running in the early morning darkness - they start work at 7 am -  but I'm sure they had head lamps.

Isn't that just crazy?  I'm wondering, since there were thousands of trees in that forest downed by Helene, whether wildlife is very out of sorts that their habitat has changed.

Things I'm Happy About Today

 

Things I'm happy about today:

After the December/January break, we knotted a comforter at my church yesterday.  Just one, but it was lovely to just sit and knot and chat.

The snow is melting and three of the four front yard solar lights are uncovered -  and shining.  I'd been wondering whether they would.

It's one of my favorite weeks of the year - pitchers and catchers are starting spring training.

One of my friends has asked whether I would make a baby quilt for her granddaughter arriving next month.  And baby quilts are my favorite project.

A young lady knocked on my friend's door today, handed her her wallet, said she had found it at Walgreens, and skipped back down the steps.  And everything was still in the wallet.

Still Pretty

 

The carnations from Nora's bouquet are still lovely.  But the new snow outside, not so much.

I'd timed the grocery pick up early, but by the time I got home it was snowing hard.  And by the time I got the groeries from the car, my feet were wet.

And yet . . .the year my husband and I moved to Detroit, at the end of Janulary following college graduation, there was serious snow on the ground.  There had been a big snow every weekend since Thanksgiving, and that continued.  By March there was barely a one-way path down the residential street - there was just nowhere for the snow to go.  Getting into the driveway was an adventure.

I'm reminded that I need to stop whining.

 

Hash Brown Casserole.

 

There was a pretty little snow this morning.  Every day is starting to look like every other day.  Tomorrow it's supposed to snow again, more than today.

It's getting hard to find something different to cook.  Last night I tried a breakfast casserole with veggie sausage, mushrooms, and bread cubes, plus the usual suspects - eggs, milk, cheese.  

I'll make it again when my daughter comes, subbing hash browns instead of bread cubes to make it gluten free.

And that's as exciting as it gets.

I'm almost finished reading Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler.  Definitely a good read.

Lights On

 

Darn groundhog!  Yesterday the sun shone and the back porch solar lights shone well into the evening.  Today it is snowing and I'm not expecting much evening light.

I was set to go to the Y this morning, I was really going to do it, probably just the treadmill.  But then the snow started earlier than expected, the car was already covered.  I made a quick trip to the library to return a book due tomorrow, and turned back home.  

The next person on the list for The Correspondent will be happy to get a notification that the book will now be theirs.

Instead I put in a DVD - Leslie's Sansone's Older Adults Walk and Firm.  A while ago - years? -  I thought it would be about right for me.  It wasn't.  I didn't finish it.  I've done a lot of exercises since then and finished this time.

I'll do a few more sessions of the DVD, maybe a Silver Sneakers online class or two, and then my goal is to sign up for the Silver Sneakers class at the Y.  I don't know why I find the idea so intimidating, but it is. 

It must be a throwback to high school gym class, when I was SO uncordinated.

Snowy Trolls

 

Yesterday when my daughter was plowing snow at The North Carolina Arboretum she took pictures of the Thomas Dambo trolls.  You can find more of her snowly troll pictures on the Arboretum's website  I chose this one because I like the hair covered wiht snow.

They are visiting until February 17, when they leave for California.  Hopefully they can enjoy warmer weather there.

No trolls here, just snow, and we may get more on Tuesday.

It's a strange Sunday with no NFL games.  We have a week to get our Super Bowl snacks ready.

 

Not My Pcture

 
Not my picture.  It's from my North Carolina daughter.  She got a little snow, but mostly ice.

We got a little ice, but mostly snow.

And neither of us lost power, and I'm grateful.  

Asheville folks prepared and worried, remembering Helene.

I'm grateful for my neighbor who used his snow blower and did the first round of snow removal.

To the two polite boys who knocked on my door looking for a snow removal job and who cleared ice and snow off my porch and steps and sidewalk leading to the street.

And to another neighbor who dug out my car, not an easy job after the snow plow piled up snow.

I'm all set to go, but I'm not going anywhere.