“On the Fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me Four Calling Birds”. I wouldn’t want four calling birds in the house but I would like hearing some of the songs of the spring birds, but that won’t happen for a while as winter only officially started a week ago. Even the noisy barn swallows, like these four birds, would be a welcome sound over the squeaky snow under my feet as it is -5ºF this morning.
Four Noisy Birds
“On the Third day of Christmas my true love sent to me Three French Hens”. Since I can’t speak French, I rather have three laying hens than three French hens.
Three Laying Hens
“On the Second day of Christmas my true love sent to me Two Turtle Doves”, which might be a little hard since turtle doves aren’t native to North America and even two turtles would be hard to find since they are hibernating on a wintry day.
Two Turtle Loves
“On the First day of Christmas my true love sent to me a Partridge in a Pear Tree.”
Well the song lyrics just don’t work for me since I don’t have a true love, the coyote ate the partridge and it has to be a very hardy pear tree to survive in my area and it would be a bare tree this time of year.
Bare Tree
Wishing everyone peace on this Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas
When I was in grade school, it was our job to cut the Christmas from our planting of pine trees for a windbreak the first day school let out fro Christmas break. But since it was a windbreak, we could only take a tree where the trees were too thick so that meant a ‘Charlie Brown’ type of tree, which was usually flat on one side. The Charlie Brown tree did work well in a small room since the flat side could be pushed tight to the wall. One problem with the tree was that it would always grow after we cut it by the time we got to the house door!
This leaning tree might have fit into the Charlie Brown category since the deer rubbed off several rows of branches, although the gap is covered with the heavy snow laden branches, but since the tree was on the end of the row, it would have been safe from being a Christmas tree.
No clear, sunny sky for this Christmas Eve Day but then I suppose that means it won’t be real cold tonight for Santa’s reindeer but if Santa can bring the sun for our present, I think a lot of people would be happy.
Christmas Eve Tree
Rain yesterday, snow today. I guess Old Man Winter has returned but I still prefer the softly flowing waterfalls to the big falling snowflakes.
Streaking Snowflakes
Old Man Winter must be confused with all the cloudy weather we have been having since now that it is officially winter, it is raining and melting the snow away. But it sounds like the snow will return soon enough, but in the mean time, I will dream of a warmer fall day on the banks of the stream in Houghton Falls State Nature Area.
A Little Falls
According to the calendar, winter has officially started, but Old Man Winter doesn’t know he is doing since for a while this morning it was raining, or actually freezing rain, but now it is snowing again. And snowing means another cloudy day which is about the fifteen day straight day of no sun – I am starting to wonder if it still exists.
Start of Winter
Since today is the last day of autumn, one more colorful autumn picture is needed especially since another cloudy dreary day and looking out at stark bare trees.
End of Autumn
