Just Do Something, Anything

It's been cold, cloudy, wet, and windy for more than a week now. We really need the moisture, I know, but I miss the sun. It's been cold in the house when I get up in the morning, and even though I get a fire going right away it still takes quite a while to warm the house up without the sun shining in the east window. Even the dog shivers curled up on his pillow - maybe I'll cut up an old sweatshirt to make him a sweater.

I've been filling the bird feeders daily. The finches and sparrows sway in the wind on the hanging feeders, the quail cluster underneath (and the occasional guinea too). There's been just enough snow nightly and then melting each day that the streets can be slick without looking like they are. We call it black ice - it can really get your heartrate up when you hit a patch of it driving, and makes walking a challenge on our hilly streets. But we've got lots of sand and sagebrush in our neighborhood, where traction is better and falling less likely. During a break between snow showers, I bundled up and got out for a walk with the dog. I've got my own little incentive system - stickers for my kitchen calendar - so that earned me a gold star.