Monday musings...

(source)

It's another gloomy day here in Missouri.  And I'm trying to fight off a gloomy mood the past few days.  Maybe it's S.A.D.  I know that it affects a lot of people this time of year.  To look on the bright side of things, we are half way through January!  Spring is only a bit over 2 months away.  Yay!  

I've been birdwatching out my kitchen window or when downstairs out the large back window.  They have really been eating up the food we put out as fast as they can!  I have seen a few bluebirds around the one birdhouse that I can see from the window and sitting on the wires but not at the feeder.  The bluebird is probably my favorite bird.  They are so pretty and "a symbol of happiness."  Naturalist Henry David Thoreau once wrote that "it carries the sky on its back."  

I have a little story about bluebirds.  When we first moved to this house over 20 years ago, we had taken our children out of one school district and put them into another and we had moved from the country which we loved into "town".   We had made the move because it was close to my husband's work and our church was in this town and the property was a very good buy.  Our country house was old and needed a lot of repair.  Hence, the move.  And this property is on the edge of town with 6 acres, so we still have a bit of country. 

I remember standing at the windows facing the back yard one day soon after we moved in.  It had been raining and our large patio has a low spot that water stands in when there's been a good rain.  Anyway, I was at the window gazing out toward the back pasture and worrying over whether we had made the right move.  I remember praying at that moment about my feelings and praying that we did the right thing in uprooting our children, taking them from a supposedly better school district.  (They did fine here, by the way.)

All of a sudden, I noticed fluttering and looked down out of the window and saw to my amazement around 2 dozen bluebirds frolicking in the water standing on the patio!  I've never seen that many bluebirds in our yard in the 20 plus years since.  I took that as a good sign!  And I was so amazed and enjoyed watching them so much that I completely forgot to grab my camera and get a picture before they flew away!   

I love many other birds, too.  The brilliant red of the cardinals is always a delight to see in the snowy winters.  The yellow of the goldfinches in the summer fighting for a spot at the feeders are fun to watch.  We've even seen an indigo bunting a few times in the last couple of years at the finch feeder.  He is a beauty, too!  

Bird watching.  Now there's a winter activity to shake off the gloomies!  I feel better already!  And I better get outside and put out more feed. 

Until next time...