Hello, Hello! Anybody still got me on their list?

I'm back, at least for this one post right now.  I hope to be a little more regular, but I'll probably be a lot more erratic than I was in the past.  I just can't seem to find things to post about.

I guess I have two pieces of news, though.  The first is that I'm on day 17 of a diet.  I decided that it was time to lose all this extra weight that is keeping me from doing the things that I want to do.  I could stand to lose 100 pounds, but I'll be happy with less, as long as I keep it off.  So far, only weighing myself once a week, I've lost 5.5 pounds.  But, I won't bore you with constant updates on how the diet is going.

The second thing that I wanted to share with you is the wonderful sight that I saw out of my rear window this morning.  I was puttering around when I noticed that Becky Cat, who loves to sit and watch the birds out of that window, started making that chattering noise that cats make when they are excited.  I went over to the window and this is what I saw.

Yes, that's a Snowy Owl, sitting there in my back yard!  I knew that they were around.  There have been reports of sightings in my area.  But, I never expected to see one right here at home.  I have heard that the irruption has occurred this year because the Arctic Summer last year was very mild.  That lead to an explosion in the population of lemmings.  In the chain of events that nature often provides, this meant that adult birds had plenty of food to feed to their nestlings, leading to a larger than normal survival rate.

When the birds fledged, the young birds had to roam farther afield, to find new Winter hunting territories.  That's why we, here in New York State, are now being treated with the sight of so many of them.  This looks to me like a first year bird, probably a male, which would be in line with the theory.

Just a short while later, I got an email from my neighbor.  He had seen the bird also, and sent me this picture.

They are so beautiful, and so large.  When I first saw it, I thought it was a dog.  Hey, it was early, and I hadn't even had a cup of coffee yet.

So, there we have it, a brief update on my so very unexciting life.  I promise, I'll try to get a blog up now and again, and I also promise that I will try my best to get caught up on your blogs in the next few days.

I have a confession to make

I am not one of those people who just loves the holiday season.  Between that, and the short days, I become a grumpy, unpleasant person, who has absolutely no get up and go. 

You probably have noticed my lack of posts lately.  Primarily, it's because I just can't get my rear in gear to post anything.  In fact, I can't even think of things to post.  Heck, I can't even get up the energy to visit my blogging friends. 

So, I think I'm going to take a formal break.  I'll undoubtedly be back after the New Year.  I hope that at least some of you will still want to share experiences with me, but, I wouldn't blame you if you just kicked my butt out of the door.

Out of My Rear Window 11-6-11

It's a beautiful Fall day here.  The temperature started out in the 30's, but got up into the 60's.  Saturday was gorgeous, too.  Nice weather for walking campaign literature, which I have been doing both days.  I'm done for this election season, and it's a good thing because my feet fell a little like raw meat.

There is a new gentleman showing up at the feeder lately.  This guy is a very handsome six-pointer.  He's very skittish, thank goodness.

The turkey ladies were gone all week, but, today they were back in force.  They do this every once in a while, and I always worry until I see them again.  Tucker, the feral cat, does the same thing, and I worry just as much about him.

And, just to prove that I'm not the only one who likes to look out of my rear window, here's a short video of Becky doing the same.  Guess what she's looking at so intently?  I'll post the answer tomorrow morning.

Added Monday morning:  Becky is watching leaves fall.  They are coming down like rain right now and she is absolutely fascinated with them.  She spends hours on that chair, just watching.  

And, finally, I wanted to pay tribute to the great Jumper, Hickstead, who died today in Verona, Italy, right after completing his round.  He collapsed on the course.  Cause of death isn't known, but speculation is high that it was a heart attack.  Competition was canceled after his death.

Hickstead was one of the great names in show jumping.  His partnership with his rider, Eric Lamaze, was one of the most successful in recent history.  My heart goes out to Eric, and all of the connections of this wonderful horse.  It will be a long time before we see his like again.

What's the Matter Little Squirrels?

Trick or Treating didn't go so well last night?  Sorry for the poor quality of the picture.  The sun is at a position in the sky right now where I get these miserable reflections on my rear window.

Off to spend the day delivering campaign literature.  I'll catch up on your blogs tonight.

Out of My Rear Window 10-30-11

The Box Elder tree has now lost almost all of its leaves, and the other trees won't be far behind.  Next will be the Linden, and then the Maples.  Soon snow will cover the ground.  But, not yet, because we missed the great NorEaster that pounded the East Coast yesterday, thank goodness.

There's not much activity at the feeders today.  Only the squirrels are out and feeding.

But, last night, the Gentlemen's Club was present and accounted for.

Today is cold and bright.  I've a lot of inside chores to catch up on but, if the cats are any indication, it's going to end up being a lazy kind of Sunday.

That is, of course, if I can manage to get any heat in the living room.  As you can see, the fancy new cat bed works, but the wrong cat has taken it over as her own, leaving Becky the Register Hog in her usual position, smack on the register.  This, in spite of the fact that I have those nice warm heated cat pads all over the house.

Sigh.

Here's hoping that every one of you have a very happy and peaceful Sunday.

VOTE!!!!

 

I put my money where my mouth was.  A while back I said that we all needed to get more involved in the politics of this country,  and try to convince the politicians of this country that we were tired of the "Political party  and me first"  attitude of most of the politicians out there.  

So, I went out and found a candidate who believed the same thing, and I have been supporting him this year in our local elections.  It's been quite an education.  And, today, I got one of the most discouraging lessons that I could have imagined.  I'm checking to make sure, but this is what happened.

We did a literature drop in my candidate's district this morning.  We had a list of all of the registered voters, Democrat, Republican, Independent and Blank, in the district and we each took a specific area, and were supposed to hit all of the homes of these voters.  What absolutely destroyed me was that, while doing this drop, I found that I was only hitting about 20% of the houses on my assigned streets.  What the heck?  I really hope that these county rolls are wrong, because I find it so very hard to believe that only 20% of the voters in my area are even bothering to register to vote.

I happen to believe that we should work for change within the system, but, how can we, when there are so few of us who even care enough to participate?  It's too late for this year, but, please, register to vote for next year's election, and work hard to convince everyone you know to register, also.  I don't care how you vote, but, we, the 99%, have to express our opinion, and voting is the very best way to do that.

Update - I emailed my candidate and asked if this was, indeed, all of the registered voters and the answer I got back was somewhat heartening.  The houses that we were dropping literature off at represented those who "sometimes" voted in off-year elections.  Those who voted every year were not included, because they vote anyways.  Still, he also told me that in off-year elections, only about 30% of the registered voters show up at the polls.  

It's at the grass roots level that we can have the most effect.  So, remember to look at your candidates and be sure to get out and vote this year for the candidate who best represents your beliefs. 

Do I Really Need Words?

You have to see the incomparable beauty of the Great Smokies to really appreciate it, but I hope that my pictures give you some idea.

Lovely Trails

Almost impossibly clean mountain streams.

A lovely lake surrounded by mountains that take your breath away.

We're so lucky, here in the US, that generations before us have made the effort to preserve the natural wonders that exist in this vast and varied country of ours.  I hope that we, and the generations that follow us, remember that this pristine beauty is part of us, and who we are.