A short update

I left the hospital yesterday evening and came home to this
sight in the western sky. Some may say it is an ominous looking
sight while I think it was a nod from our God telling us that
everything is going to be fine.

Arising at 5 am once again, minus the burglar alarm going off,
it felt like it would be a good day. The wife broke her fever,
her blood pressure was coming back up, and she had been awake
for 22 hours when I came home.

We’d like to thank everyone for the kind words and prayers as
they mean a lot to us. The wife didn’t want a Chaplain to come
visit as she felt she wasn’t that bad off. So here shortly,
after the critters are fed, I’ll go find out how the wife is
doing.

It’s looking like we’re going to have storms for the next 3
days along with the return of higher temperatures so be careful
out there.

Enjoy our Thursday as I know we will. Now I need more coffee
before feeding and watering the critters and visiting the wife.
Comments are always welcome.

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More distractions

Yesterday I did more yard work than I have since October and
when I put the tools away the sun was going down. Then I went
into the kitchen to eat and attend Cowboy Church on RFD-TV
while scarfing down supper.

Since I managed to sneak a few pictures yesterday and shoot a
few today it’s time to share. The bird above has a disappointing
name, at least to me. It is a house finch. When I looked it up
I expected something like crimson crested variegated tolanger or
some such regal sounding name.

The cardinals were out and some were brightly colored instead
of drab winter coloration.

A brown thrasher was in the thick bushes again and we managed
a shot of that elusive critter. And I thought blue jays were
skittish.

Today some white American pelicans did a flyover and it was
something to see. Hard to believe these birds have a 9 feet
wingspan.

When I looked in on this tulip last night it was all closed
up and my thought was the party is over. Imagine my surprise
went I went out this morning and discovered it was only taking
a break.

Enjoy or Monday as it’s looking to be a great day here on the
east coast of Iowa. Now for some more coffee and a bag of
Donettes.
Comments are always welcome.

Interesting days

Lately there hasn’t been much going on with the wildlife in our
area, and that makes it hard to get pictures of the critters.
Yesterday it got busy and the neighborhood had more than its
share so we’ll show you a few now.

The squirrels were in the bird seed again but it looks like a
new bunch have taken over. At least they are easier to scare off
so the birds can get some.

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A few crows have been squawking and fly around but haven’t been
in our neighborhood, until yesterday. This is a bigger bird that
makes enough noise to get your attention. It was something to
see them in flight.

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And I finally saw my first robin of the year. So on top of
getting a few pictures we now know spring is getting close.

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The cardinals came back around after being missing for a few
days. Always good to see them around.

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Finally, the fireworks went off in the western sky again last
night and I got some pictures of that also. Here are just a
few examples of what that was like but the pictures don’t really
do it justice.

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Yes, I was outside most of the day, had a great time, and even
got these pictures to share. Enjoy our Thursday as we won’t see
another until next week. Now I’ll get some coffee and grab my
camera.
Comments are always welcome.

More non-news

Today students walked out of schools across our nation to
demonstrate for gun safety. The talking head network news person
made that clear at the beginning of a ‘Breaking News” segment.
They said the walkouts were about gun safety and had nothing to
do with gun control.

Yeah, I’ll trust them about as far as I can fling them. It does
smell fishy though as it did when ‘global warming’ turned into
‘climate change’. We’re not buying the bull they’re shipping.
While it is commendable to see kids getting involved in
something we think it would be nice if that involved seeking the
truth before blindly following others.

Since I haven’t been following this it does beg the question;
gun safety for whom? Are they advocating gun safety classes for
potential shooters or gun safety for all the kids who are
opposed to guns? I admit to being confused.

It also has my inquiring mind wanting to know what’s really
going on behind the scenes they don’t want us to hear about. The
dog and pony show had gone for long enough. How about someone
come up with a solution.

If nobody is talking solutions, nothing is being done about the
problem. Plus all the hot air from all the speeches may just
contribute to our planet heating up. Enjoy our Wednesday as a
day without an ‘r’ is as good as any with one.
Comments are always welcome.

Bird day

The high temperature today almost reached my age and I just had
to get outside again and enjoy the east coast of Iowa. So I
checked out any critters flying about. This cardinal perched on
a branch and tried to figure me out.

After watching her watching me I looked up to find 2 flocks of
geese heading north. I took that as a good sign that perhaps
winter is almost behind us and spring is getting closer.

Then imagine my surprise when a huge flock of American White
pelicans flew overhead. There were too many to count and they
got here earlier this year. They were headed east, but hey,
they’re here. As always, you can click on the pictures to
enlarge them.

And finally, after these huge birds were done flying over a
bird of prey decided to take over the airspace. I believe it’s
some sort of hawk but not sure.

So I spent the day outside, missed all automated calls, and got
to relax. I’m working on figuring out how to get the coffee pot
to work while walking around outside. Perhaps a power inverter
and a small cart.

Some may call it wasted time, or avoiding work, but in my case
it’s therapy. No matter my mood, when the camera is in my hand
and a few pictures snapped I’m smiling. Having a nice day to
take pictures is an added blessing.

Enjoy our Tuesday as it has been a great one here.
Comments are always welcome.

Weird tales

Our youngest called from Idaho and during the chat the subject
switched to police responding to calls. Our son told of when the
police accused him and the wife of having a loud domestic
dispute and would not believe nothing happened. It was cleared up
but not without some frantic moments.

I remembered back in the early 1970s the first wife and I were
getting a divorce when I got a call her boyfriend beat her up
and she was in the hospital. I got the kids to a baby sitter,
stopped and got some flowers, and went to pay her a visit. After
all, she was the mother of our children.

I stopped at the nurses station, asked for her room number, and
was told to wait a moment. Up came two policemen who pushed me
against the wall and told me to spread em’ and then patted me
down. This seemed strange but I was in no position to argue.

I was cuffed and quickly escorted to wifes room where the
police asked my ex if I was the one who beat her up. She said
‘no he’s my husband, my boyfriend beat me up’. We then told the
police that we were still legally married, but separated. The
cuffs were removed and the police made a hasty exit.

I didn’t blame them as they were just doing their job and still
don’t know if they ever found the guilty party. After a visit
with my soon-to-be ex-wife I left to get the kids and have a
good laugh. It could have ended differtly.

Enjoy our Monday as we will since we have a little warm up
going on here on the east coast of Iowa. Now I need some coffee
as my throat is parched from telling the tale.
Comments are always welcome.

Couldn’t believe it

We’ve been busy since celebrating Thanksgiving trying to eat
all the leftover goodies and have put a dent in them. I’ve been
working overtime since our grocery store Friday where I
discovered “A Yard of Snickers” at said store.

Now that things have calmed down a little, I spent a lot of
time yesterday outside taking a few pictures of whatever caught
my eye. There were the regular birds, critters, and even a few
of the sky.

As the sunset was fading and darkness approached I noticed a
large bird in a neighbors tree. The pictures were more
silhouettes than portraits, but this critter had to be about
2 foot long from head to tail.

I kept moving around trying to get a shot and hoping the bird
wouldn’t fly off before I got a clear shot. Yet this bird
stayed in shadow.

Running out of ideas, and light, I decided to get even closer
and stood at the base of the tree. The hawk just looked down
at me but didn’t fly off. I’m just glad he didn’t think I was
on the menu.

After about 30 minutes the bird flew off into the night and
hasn’t been around this morning. I have found out I need a lot
of work of my low light photography but thought I’d share a
few pictures anyway.

Enjoy our Monday, before we know it December will be here.
Now I need more coffee and a Snickers.
Comments are always welcome