Dogs, hogs, logs

I think some days are just destined not to go well. It seemed almost a shame, or actually definitely a shame, to waste such a beautiful day in that way, but if we could pick our bad days, I'm not so sure they'd be bad days then, just days spent hunkered down and reading. Or at least that's what we do when we meet with a bad day.

Sunshine in the morning today beckoned us to the zoo, but a project I had to finish for someone kept us housebound for too long and then grumps invaded the morning instead. We stayed home, we practiced the piano, we read book after book after book, we ate lunch. It was all pretty meh. Then Calvin announced that he was going to write a poem. I think he was revelling in a new found ingenuity, in an ability he didn't know he had. To get him to write poems in the past we've played a game, drawing a set of matching words from a stack of cards and taking turns writing alternating rhyming lines with a certain measure of hilarity, but here, today, he was writing all by himself. Dogs, hogs, logs. It was a hilarious if not auspicious beginning, and with that kind of magic a day can be turned around.

We did get outside today, too, and found time to commune with our favorite birds, the blues, the chickadees, a cardinal, and the little red capped woodpecker we see every time we walk along our neighborhood path. I think he waits for us.

And in other, sad, sad news: our camera is failing. What a short life it has had, at only four years. Canon lovers everywhere would chide us for having chosen a Nikon, or perhaps it is just denouncing its overuse, the hundreds of pictures it has been forced to take on an almost daily basis. Whatever the cause of its protest there are likely to be fewer pictures for a time. I have yet, for instance, been able to capture a shot of Calvin's finished poem. It will have to wait until tomorrow.

What a Saturday should be

There are no hard and fast rules about what makes a good Saturday, but I would  definitely put today into that category. We slept in and enjoyed some early morning quiet. There was coffee and english muffins for us and shaped pancakes and juice for Calvin. There was a fire, some chess, a little family time. Around eleven we struck out for downtown Ann Arbor, the wind still howling but a bright sun shining, with the intention of getting a book from the library there. I thought I'd just jump out and run in to get the one book we needed—the next in the Oz series—but Calvin wanted to go in too, so since we had to find parking anyhow we first stopped at my favorite book seller's (West Side Book Shop) and then at the little toy store nearby (which is Lexi's, but it turns out Calvin is too old for them now). We found the book we needed at the library and also noticed the sign for their book sale going on in the basement (turns out they're open every weekend, so next time we're hungry for a sale we can just go there). That sale turned out to be pure magic for us today.

Back at home it was all Legos all afternoon. Well, Legos and we painted some more on our pictures (which are almost done), spent some time exploring the new books, watched City Lights (Charlie Chaplin), did some chores, counted birds, took naps, and read three chapters in the book we checked out from the library, the next Oz book in the series.

A truly diverse train station.

Jon's creation—the zoo. Note the elephant, snake, skunk, and turtle. I don't know what the red and blue thing in the back is, though.

But the celebrated moment of the day, the activity we've looked forward to all week, came this evening: after the wind had died down, and before the arrival of tomorrow's winter storm clouds, we went on a snow moon night hike at our nearby county park. We love our county naturalist. She taught Calvin about making maple syrup and she's the one who guided our owl hike over a year ago when we actually met a screech owl. Tonight's weather, chilly but perfectly clear, was ideal for the bonfire, Native American folk stories, star gazing, and owl hunt. No owls found us this time, but as the little girl in Calvin's most recent picture book, Owl Moon, says, "sometimes there's an owl and sometimes there isn't." The stars were phenomenal, though, and we got hear two packs of coyotes communicating across the lake and the sonorous tones of the lake ice shifting and giving way to the (slightly) warmer spring air. Don't forget the marshmallows, either.

It's now ten o'clock and we just go Calvin tucked into bed. I think he may have been asleep before his head hit the pillow and if I wasn't so enthralled with the new books, which I now absolutely must skim through, I might be there myself.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

The spring-like weather is now long past. Yesterday when we got up the snow was gone and the sun was out but the wind was raging and the temperatures dropping. There is ice and snow in the forecast for tomorrow. We practiced the piano and read some favorite picture books and Calvin played with Legos while I hit the treadmill, then we packed off to the library for a presentation on Michigan wildlife. I think I've mentioned before how much I love our children's librarian for her rich and varied programming (I just hope impending budget cuts don't kill that).

A couple of days ago we finished our latest book of Oz so back at home Calvin wrote a summary of the book (I love watching his writing grow and develop) before dividing our house into the dominions of the Nome King King (the downstairs) and the lands of the Fellowship of Fairies (upstairs) and I enjoyed watching him scuttle around pretending I know not what. It is wise to stay out of the tube (stairs) connecting the two.

We've been looking forward to the Great Backyard Bird Count for a while now so we were more than ready for yesterday's kickoff. Calvin is keeping track of our observations in his journal and I'll grab a picture of that at the end of the count period, the last day of which is Monday. We observed our own backyard for one 15 minute block this morning, counting mostly grackles and our beloved bluebirds, and we descended upon my parents' house for a second block of counting time in the afternoon. As a general rule my mom, with her treed backyard, has a greater variety of birds at her feeder and we were looking forward to counting them. Instead we got a lesson in the importance of leaf cover, an the effects of a lack thereof, so we counted out her front window and saw about 13 crows zip by. After that it was all Legos. Today we'll stick to our own feeders and see what we get.

If the wind dies down tonight we will be taking part in a snow moon hike with the county parks and recreation, another thing we've been looking forward to all week.

Fighting the fever

It's too early for spring fever. And it was really too cold for puddle splashing today, too, but with fresh snow lurking just around the corner what's a mother to do? I'm dying to get out, he's dying to get out...so after a morning at the library out we went. Snow is a little hard for Calvin to manage on his bike, which I'm sure would be true anyhow but the more I watch at him riding that thing the more I'm seeing images of clowns on tiny toy two-wheelers being followed by yappy little dogs in neck cones. I think it's time for a new one.

In actuality it was definitely too cold for puddle splashing today, but that's what we have heat and hot tea for when we get home, right? And who am I to curb his enthusiasm? I'm just mighty pleased the boots still fit.

This is the most rewarding time of year to bird watch. Many of our birds are still around or are heading back, and without leaves in the trees they are much easier to spot. Calvin found this cardinal for us, and I spotted the very shy junco.

Okay, now how about some hot tea and scones from under a warm blanket while reading a good book? Sounds perfect. I'm not sure but I might like these days better than the warmer ones.

Just a glimpse

I'm glad we hiked the fields yesterday because at fifty degrees today it would have been too slushy to maneuver. We made good use of the new clear sidewalks, though, and biked to the mailbox for the first time since early November.

We also took to the walking paths. This was Calvin's first Downy Woodpecker sighting. We watched him peck away at the tree for about ten minutes.

We spent some time catching up with neighbors who have also been hibernating for the past few months. We fed the birds and watched them congregate on the feeders right after. We found evidence of both rabbits and deer in our yard. I can't measure in words how much I've missed the comfort of being outdoors: the fresh air, the warming sun, the signs of life all around. When it snows next week I think this will be just enough of a glimpse to keep me smiling until spring.