Survival Tip #442

Pick up the phone.

Make that keyboard sing.

Call your mother.

Chat with a friend on Facebook.

Video conference with friends and loved ones.

It helps.

A lot.

A short virtual visit with a dear friend half-way across the country yesterday....

A quick conversation with our boy before he started work in New Jersey this morning...

Solving the world's problems and laughing over stories from the past on the phone every evening with my beloved mama...

Powerful medicine in this time of wild uncertainty.

Hope you are all safe and well, adequately supplied with what you need and not going too crazy yet. The girls and the boss worked together to get me out for about a half and hour's birding yesterday and that helped too....

Something Different

I read this pretty much every day and prop myself up with it quite often. Not my usual, but it is what it is.

“I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:12-13

Rain

A young friend shared this fun draw a bird thing and so I did

And babysitting. The girls are working all the hours they can while the getting is good.  So the boss and I are home pretty much all the time.

We woke up yesterday to a dead furnace fan. Many thanks to friends and family from all over the US who offered suggestions on where to find a new one with everything closed or crippled. It took all day but the boss bought one in Albany, rewired it, spent hours installing it, and it is rumbling quietly away right now, taking off the chill of still-winter-in-the-Northeast.

I have always been glad I married a farmer, never more than now......Not every fellow would know how to do that stuff. And thank God for technology. Where would we be right now if we couldn't communicate or entertain ourselves?

This is the one of three neck-banded Canada Goose we have found this year.

Each day's news brings more madness. 

And less birding. Good thing I have a stock of seed on hand to fill the feeders. Scored a year bird despite being stuck at home...an Eastern Phoebe has showed up in the hedgerow along the long lawn.

In my Facebook feed I am seeing both small farmers who have lost their commercial customers for eggs and similar farm products and townspeople finding shelves in stores empty of same. Hope these folks can get together somehow. Nothing like farm fresh eggs. 

In other news, Peggy is making a book....All off her own bat with neither help nor influence from her staff. She made a bunch of highly colorful paintings and stuff and is carefully and patiently gluing them together with a cover made from cardboard. I will grab a pic if I get a chance. It is going to be a pretty darned nice book I think. 

Hope you are all well and coping somehow with both the demise of our culture and economy and the threat to our health. Must be getting used to it I guess, as I slept through the night last night for the first time in a while. Take care.....

The Wearing of the Green

Nope. Not.

Just too gloomy and doomy today to bother.

I am one of those silly SAD people and it is snowy (!) and grey and unpleasant and the plague has me staying home providing child care instead of birding.

On top of that the knowledge that I have nothing to complain about, being well-fed, as healthy as I was pre-plague, living in a house with huge windows, maximizing available light, and able to get outdoors even at home, plus having a wonderful child for whom to care, makes me feel guilty about feeling gloomy.

You know, that Irish guilt syndrome and all. My great grandfather, Lawrence McGivern came over from the Ould Sod as a boy and I knew him as a child, so the ties to the green are strong.

Anyhow, instead of the dark green Henley and the green plaid flannel I had saved back for today, I grumpily went with grey Henley and orange plaid flannel.....with a black sweatshirt on top.

Take that plague!

In my defense I long ago gave up on St. Patty's day as far as good times are concerned. When we were kids we ALWAYS missed school because we had measles, mumps or rubella. Or the creeping crud. Or the galloping zook as my old boss at the veterinary clinic where I worked in my youth used to call it. The kids were always home sick too. March is a terrible month for seasonal contagions and always has been.

So here I sat at my computer, thinking about working on the story I started in lieu of my old job, listening to a cardinal wearing his heart on his song, when I happened to glance down.

And by Jove, I am in fact wearing green. Becky did my fingers with nail wraps for the High Kings concert last month, in green, and blue, and white with glitter. Kinda like an ocean wave breaking on pink sand. I liked them so much that they are still there.

Huh, whaddaya know....

Anyhow....

Hope you are all well, and finding what you need, and able to remain as calm as possible under the onslaught of scary information. And that the luck of the Irish smiles upon you whether you are or whether you aren't. 

Betcha can't listen to this without a smile. I sure can't. 

An Unexpected Kindness

In the birding world I am pretty much an outlier; always  been interested, always excited about them, haven't gone anywhere without binoculars since I have been an adult.

Which, as it happens, is quite a while.

However, while we were dairying, which we did together for all of our marriage up until six years ago, and separately on different farms for a good while before that, there wasn't much time to be serious about it.

Kept the bins in the car, stopped at good ponds or tooled through Montezuma, but nothing like the real deal.

In retirement I have making up for lost time. However, between the above history and being more than slightly introverted, I never got to know other birders. Over the past few years that has been changing. We keep running into cool people, particularly at Schoharie Crossing, a popular hot spot, and making their brief but delightful acquaintance. Seems as if I learn something from every single one of them too.

Saturday we were checking out the geese and  ducks there when a gentleman pulled up behind us and introduced himself. We had corresponded online but had never met. It was really nice to put a face to our pleasant virtual conversations.

However, I wanted to check out the local farm ponds and so we took off quite soon.

Way up back of beyond in the southern part of the county, my phone pinged with a text. It was from another birder, from NJ, whom I had met in much the same manner a couple of years ago. He was asking if he could give my phone number to the gentleman we had just met.

Seems he had found a Greater White-fronted Goose down in town.

Yowsa! You betcha!

We headed for Dunkin' as fast as traffic and our ancient conveyance would allow. The nice man who found the goose waited for us so he could get me on it too. Thanks John! Also, thanks David for taking time to relay messages so I got there in time to see the bird.

And a very good thing too, as it left only minutes later.

Wasn't it nice of both of them to make sure we got to see this rare and exciting bird? Made my week, and with all that has been going on recently it was a week that needed it.

Thanks again to all involved, including the boss who transports me to the wild and not so wild places where the cool chicks...and geese....hang out. 

Purple Sky and Plague Perception

This photo is unedited

Tweaked this one a tiny bit, but this is pretty much what we saw at the Crossing

These photos don't do the morning sky yesterday justice. The little temporary pool at Schoharie Crossing was actually purple. It only lasted a minute or so, but it was stunning.

Thanks, God, I needed that.

The Erie Canal at Yankee Hill Lock

We all need a little purple sky, a smile, or a kind word these days.

No matter where you live, no matter what you do, I  imagine that the plague is affecting you. We are somewhat socially isolated at the best of times...color me as introverted as that pool was purple....but this is unprecedented. It has hit us in many assorted ways from empty grocery stores to closing businesses.

Look out below! A Red-tailed Hawk hovers like a kite in the high winds the other day

Peggy's school has closed for at least two weeks; her mom works two jobs. Thus she will be spending a lot of time home with us or with her other grandma. Should be interesting...

As rumors fly and rules multiply, it is hard not to spend all your time worrying....... relentlessly increasing government control of everything we do, and unavoidable fear of both the disease and the unknown.....it's a major challenge to stay calm and normal.

I think we can all help each other with that though without getting close enough to exchange germs. I believe that if everyone who is the least bit creative shares a little of what they do, say photos of your latest project, a pretty sunrise, a good yarn if you are a story teller, and most of us are, a photo of your favorite dog, cat, horse, arachnid or whatever you love....we can help each other approach some semblance of normalcy.

I've encouraged the boss to write and share more of his short stories about his life growing up on a farm and continuing at it all his life. They are funny and uplifting even if I have heard them all a hundred times. Find him on Facebook if you want to read them....he is kind of outspoken politically, but you can skip all that and enjoy tales of riding cows and life on the land.

Best I can do for you is birds, but if we can keep getting out to see them I will keep sharing them.

Meanwhile.....

Female Common Merganser, gettin out of Dodge

Male Hooded Merganser looking all sleek and shiny.

Best wishes and love from Northview Farm and lets see those dogs, cats, memes, and ads for local meat and eggs if you got 'em. 

A Bald Eagle practices social distancing at Yankee Hill Lock yesterday

Schoharie Crossing

Birding tends keep me tilted toward the sane side at the best of times. These are certainly not them. Is it any wonder that this is one of my favorite spots to visit when needing a dose of therapy?

Besides all the amazing birds that is. 

Common Goldeneye, male and females, Wood Duck, and Canada Geese

Not Panic but Plenty of Precaution

How are you all doing? Okay so far? Have what you need? Hanging in there?

We are, at the moment, all right, although it is impossible not to worry.

Of necessity we shop every Friday for my folks and for us.

It is rarely entertaining, mostly because I am uncomfortable in crowds.

Yesterday morning we headed out early, having been deluged with photos of empty shelves and reports of panic.

We did indeed find bare shelves. There was no bathroom tissue to be had at Walmart . There were few disinfecting products, although we scored a bottle of spray cleaner, which we use even when there isn't a pandemic.

Staples like flour were absent or in short supply, perhaps just for the moment, as there were dozens of stockers hard at work all through the store. 

We also found universally pleasant, kind, helpful, cheerful, people, whether they were store employees or early morning customers like ourselves. 

It was a relief from the social media free-for-all that has become the norm.

And we found TP at Hannaford, thankfully, because we were actually out and needed to buy some. One pack for us. One pack for the folks.

Call me crazy but I think whenever this disease outbreak plays out, and however it does, we are going to be profoundly changed. I think if systems are put in place for distance learning and telecommuting for those for whom it is possible, they will not be abandoned even if and when things get better.

I think there may be a lot more preppers than there are now. I hope though that we don't go crazy ceding control of our lives to others, particularly government, and find freedom gone forever in the future. It is easy to let others take care of us, but it tends to come with a cost.

And by way of update we went back in late afternoon to take Becky shopping when she got off work and to pick up prescriptions...what a difference. The store was mobbed and people were miserable. Not one person smiled back or even acknowledged nods and greetings.

Pretty darned grim.

You Can't Make this Stuff Up

I can't believe I ate the whole thing

Free-range pig plus pedometer (to prove that it is a free-range pig) plus depraved appetite and resulting valuable organic fertilizer.....

Equals barn fire!

First of the Year

Dawn Chorus this morning.

After a quick airing of the Jerk Russell Terrier (not my phrase, but so very fitting, second walkies of the morning) I walked outside to photograph the setting of the moon.....

...To the first robin song of the year. Half a dozen Northern Cardinals were boxing the compass in cardinal speak, North-by-Northwest, and all the Souths, Easts, and Wests they could sing.

Song Sparrows were doing their thing from the pear tree by the stove and the heifer pasture fence. And of course the Carolina Wren was shouting his "Judy, Judy, Judy" song from the mulberries by the driveway.

The rising dawn and the setting moon were spectacular.

A fine way to put problems in perspective and a beautiful morning indeed.

***Please excuse the traffic noise in the background. We live on an Interstate....this morning it was really loud. 

All the News

Or maybe not. Have you noticed how few interviews with survivors of the disease du jour are available? I did a search as I was curious what it felt like. They are pretty scarce....

Or that most people who fit the description of "elderly" have "underlying conditions"? Seriously, how many people over sixty aren't on some medication for some age-related impairment, however minor? That description takes in a lot of territory...and a lot of people.

Or that the Iditarod has started? I am going to miss my dear friend, Jan, this year, as it will be the first time in many that she hasn't shared news and generally hilarious commentary on the last great race. You can find good info here from another longtime blog friend: Way up North.

Meanwhile, our car is dead or at least severely incapacitated, and we have no way to go anywhere or do anything. Many thanks to Lisa, our dear sister-in-law for getting the folks' groceries taken care of as we have been grounded since Thursday.....

I sure hope they find the gremlins soon, and get them under control! Things are changing way too fast around here. It would be nice to at least be able to cope with the day to day necessities.

That is all.

Out on the Hill

For the first time in a long while. I've tried, but the lane where the boss unloads hay has been clogged with ice and snow. It is steep and kinda dangerous at the best of times, so even getting out of the barnyard has been impossible.

Then came mud. Or I was babysitting and couldn't go out.

However, this morning the lane was open and the ground was frozen so I could climb the hill behind the barn.

Birding wasn't stellar, but it's always fun, and especially so on our familiar roads and fields.

Best encounter was four deer who meandered out of the field behind the barn, never  figuring out what I was until I took all the photos I wanted and moved a step. I think they would have walked right down to me if I had waited, but I wanted to see the hilltop before the ground melted and turned to slippery mud.

They exited right quickly once they realized that I wasn't just a log or the skid steer.

It's nice up there on the hill although it will be a while before work can begin.

Out in the Night

The Moon

And its shadow

Last dregs of the sun

And down in the barn.....

Somebody wants dinner....

Ein Footinger

Normal Black-capped Chickadee opening a seed

Early in the winter a Black-capped Chickadee showed up at the feeders that just didn't look right. It was always fluffed and ball-shaped and just.....wrong....somehow.

I thought it was sick and considered taking down the feeders for a few days, but I didn't and somehow it persisted.

It would cling, upside down, to the meal worm block for hours, picking slowly at the feed. It rarely flew when I went out to fill feeders or had reason to be out in the yard. It is normal for chickadees to be quite bold and ours even congregate as soon as I am near the feeders to they can grab some seeds when the big birds aren't around. However, this guy was much more so.

One day it got down in fresh inches-deep snow and lay there panting and struggling desperately. When I approached, thinking to pick it up and perhaps deliver it to a rehabber, it managed to flutter off, but it only went a couple of feet before perching.

I laid it to illness.

It was instead desperate and necessary trust.

The other day, despite being kinda, sorta, blind....ish....I finally got a good look at it.

It is not sick.

It only has one functional leg. The other is withered and useless. It holds it up under its body and uses the good one for everything.

Since chickadees open seeds by holding them with their feet while they peck them apart, this bird has a pretty tough time eating on the regular feeders. However, the mealworm block has hulless seeds along with the dried worms. It can just peck them out and eat them.

So it does.

I took a photo the other day when it landed right near my head when I as doing the feeders. Poor valiant little bird. How awesome is it that it got through the whole winter so far with such a great handicap? I named it Ein Footinger. 

The bad leg