They Need a Shovel

And hands to use it.

In the Snowbirds post I mentioned that the Mourning Dove went hungry.

And noted the birds seemed confused in the Messy Garden post.

You know that feeling when you go to a favorite restaurant anticipating a nice meal and find it to be closed?

Yeah it was that. Only for birds.

Go Blue

We went to Florida for the week between Christmas and New Year's. Patty's brother Doug and his wife Natalie recently bought a house in Palm Bay, Florida, which is just south of Cape Canaveral. 

And one activity was a trip to the Orange Bowl for the first round of the college football playoffs.

Spoiler Alert: They did not go far.

We got there a bit on the early side. 

Pros: plenty of parking and no lines at the still clean porta-potties.

And plenty of space in the grilling field.

Cons: We were so early we ran out of beer.

So we headed on over to the Fan Fest. Where six beers and one water cost over $80. There was a bridge.

And a tunnel. The Ronald L. Book Pedestrian Tunnel to be specific. At first my thoughts were that the tunnel was named in Mr. Book's honor; what one had to do to have a tunnel named after them; and how proud his mom must be. But after a quick web search I discovered that Ronald L. Book is a law firm that specializes in lobbying. So the law firm bought the naming rights to a tunnel. I could see that meeting: "well team, the naming rights to the stadium are taken, but there is a tunnel available." And they said "yeah, let's do it!". And that is kinda sad.

And I still wonder how proud Ron's mom must be.

🏈  🏈  🏈  🏈  🏈

Patty's family are Michigan folk. Her grandfather was a Professor of Voice and Music Director of the Men's Glee Club.

The only Michigan gear I had was the mask I wore throughout the game (except when drinking very expensive beers).  And we are in the absolute last row in the building.

While enjoying those beers (and they had a nice selection, along with Bud Light) we were entertained by the Michigan Marching Band. Curiously the Georgia Band did not perform. Worse, neither band performed at halftime. Instead a country act (that Patty's sister Suey actually likes) played through the stadium sound system. It was awful.

The "Animal House" moment at the end of the performance. Alas, this would be a metaphor for the game, with Michigan marching into the wall that was Georgia.

ESPN was in the house. Have floor will travel.

I was a Michigan fan by association, but really was just hoping for an entertaining game. It was not a good game. Final score Georgia 34 - Michigan 11. And it wasn't that close. The ride home was not a joyous one. 

But I crossed Major Bowl Game and College Football Playoff Game off my bucket list. Of course, I had to add them to my bucket list as I don't really follow college football. 

Snow Birds

Friday morning we woke to a winter wonder land.

And the American Robins, looking for food, descended upon the Crabapple tree.

And they found it.

Which can't be said for the Mourning Dove.

Thoughts of Warmer Times

On day this past June I spotting this red patch in the Crabapple tree out my office window.

And work went on hold.

A young Northern Cardinal. 

And as I was watching a young Great-crested Flycatcher made an appearance.

A nice interlude between work tasks. 

And something to dream of these cold dark days.    

Snow Bird

Fast forward some months ...

I wonder if it is the same Northern Cardinal. 

And I wonder if it's dreaming of warmer times?

What a Difference a Week Makes

This morning I took this picture looking out the window over my work laptop:

(You might recall the image on the laptop.)

I took this picture last week, of Patty's nephew Stephen 'working from home':

This morning:

Last week:

❄️  🏝  ❄️  🏝  ❄️

Messy Garden

One of the benefits of gardening for wildlife is that the amount of yard work is significantly reduced. A trivial example is every square meter of garden is one less square meter to mow. 

Another maintenance job we no longer do is cut down the dead plants in the fall.

And this is one of the reasons why.

As you can see we had a bit of snow.

And the bird feeders were all snow covered. 

The birds were confused.

But there was still food available.

And this Chipping Sparrow was out my office window happily munching away at native grass seeds.

Which is another benefit of gardening for wildlife, benefiting the wildlife.