Tieing my old blog entry record...

This may be a cheesy way to tie a record for second place, but since I was so close to having another good year in terms of the number of entries, I thought I would just throw a couple of things together to let you know how we spend our days here when it gets cold and snowy  --  bird watching.  One of my old Army buddies who checks in every once in a while is probably saying -- "Oh, no, not another bird story!"  Well, "hang in there" (hint:  this will be further explained later in the article).  There's more to come.

It seems that we have gotten into the habit of sitting in the pentagon room in the mornings to watch the birds as we drink our morning coffee or juice.  It really is a nice place as the sun generally fills it with warm sunlight and we can look out over the feeders, the pond and fields and watch the birds come and go, fuss and fight over seed, and explode in flight as the pesky neighborhood red-tailed hawk comes to try to get a tasty breakfast.  Of course, when it comes around, Pam yells at it and tries to chase it away before it can complete its mission.

This red-headed woodpecker is fun to watch.  He comes in, gets a sunflower seed from the feeder and then climbs up the side of the tree and starts whacking the seed up against the tree in order to crack it open.  It's funny to watch its routine...it is the same every time.

So it was a good insight into how these animals react to weather when I looked out and saw it just clinging to the side of the tree as it is here, just hanging on and not moving.  Then I realized that the cold winter winds were out of the west (which would be to the left of this picture) and they were really cold and blustery.  I checked the weather station and saw  that the winds were about 15 m.p.h.sustained with gusts to 25.  There was also a wind chill at 2 to 3 degrees.  Pretty smart bird staying in out of the wind behind the tree.  We often tell people to "just hang in there" when something is pretty bad.  Do you suppose this is where that saying came from?  Yeah, I doubt it too.

So this is the official end to the 2014 blogs.  I hope you have enjoyed them.  Feel free to leave a comment.  And if you too have noticed that I have kinda settled into a routine and have written about some of the same things as the seasons turn, you are very observant.  But that's what happens when we get older -- we settle for routines because at least we're vertical to see them and that is still better than the alternative.

Now, having said all that, I am going to go public with one of my New Year's resolutions (actually, the only one I have made so far) -- I am going to try to write more entries, write about some different things, and get more deeply involved with the things around me on which I might repeat an article. The way I look at it, there is nothing wrong with revisiting something, but the challenge is to "resee" it, to scratch a bit deeper and keep going.  So that is my resolution -- and I'm sticking to it!! (At least for now.).  In this entry I kinda got a better insight in to the phrase "just hang in there."  So maybe the next golf article, grandkids entry, and so on will get into that next level.


When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of unfinished writing left, not a thing I yet need to see, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."

Hooah

Christmas wrap-up...

Christmas 2014 was pretty good.  We got to spend time with some of the family at my brother's house and most everyone was there (Brian, Doug and Danika and their children were unable to attend -- too bad).

So, as Christmases go, this one wasn't really out of the ordinary, but one thing did stand out when I looked back at pictures of previous years -- we're all getting a bit older.  You know how I can tell?  There is a distinct absence of hair on the guys.  And if that is happening to the guys, well, let's just say the women are experiencing similar milestones (but being a gentleman, I'll let you come up with your own estimates of these "milestones."). Another measure of just how old we all seem to be getting is that everyone was pretty much partied out by 6:00 p.m.  That could have been because none of us got our naps, and it could have been because some of us don't like to drive after dark.  That might be a good case for those self-driving cars, huh?

Oh, well, at least most of us were there and we had a good time.

Trying to decide if anyone can bend over to pick up a present for the exchange.

I can't remember if this was the ladies lining up to begin singing carols or begin a line dance or maybe the "Can-Can."

No, this is it -- Jessica is leading them in carols from her I-pad.

I kid around with them a bit, but at least we were together.  And Luke and I were really there, just incognito. I can remember one year (the year I was gone for Desert Storm) when we didn't have a gathering -- or at least they didn't tell me about it if they did.  And just like this one, I wouldn't have been in any of the pictures anyhow. Hummmmphh!!

So ........ this closes out 2014.  Overall, it was a good year -- successes, failures,  good and bad times came to all of us in some fashion or another.  Fortunately no major health issues.  We are, indeed, blessed to still be all together.  Now to see what blessings, trials and mysteries await us in 2015.

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! (Albert Einstein)


Hooah