If the power goes out and we lose the days to the extra work, it can be distressing. Once in a several-year-snowstorm can be all used up with preparing, shovelling, getting the kitchen ready for camping out in front of the stove to stoke during the night to keep the pipes from freezing if the heat goes out- being sure all is safe.

By the next week, the almost 2 feet of snow is gone but ice is on the way. We make Hungarian mushroom soup. We check the owl box- something is in there but- The bird journal continues. This is a good time of year for scrapbooking- I was right to take the time for it. You should see it. The best kind of day! Winter Olympics and the opera..

I have to have certain things happen for me in the winter to feel complete along with the extended time for work. Snowfalls, skiing, owling. This year, we’re concentrating on screech owl boxes. The aforementioned is my old one, and Chris my tree man puts that back up, in the same place as before but higher- fifteen feet up. Hopes are high but when I see a little squirrel face in there it’s time for professional help with placement. We’ve had another snowfall so that’s great but I really want an owl in my yard. A marvelous man from our local land trust comes over and chooses a tree in the front yard, away from backyard commotion. We set a second box there, right as the moon turns full. We’re still not too late- I wish it had gotten up in January but February is still good- they’ll still be looking for nesting places. Now- we wait.