Winter feeding begins

I've been delaying beginning my "winter bird feeding" until I was pretty sure that the natural world was not supplying enough of what they need. Of course I don't really know when that is, but when the birds started to check the empty feeders more vigorously I thought that it may be time.

These plain old common chickadees are just about my favorite. Yes, they are everywhere and yes, they don't seem too special, except for their coloring, but I love them anyway! It probably has to do with the hand feeding they let me do a couple of years ago...what a treat that was.

Ditto for these, just plain old brown sparrows, I think. There seem to be scores of them around and they aren't too nervous, as they let me get close to them---which I certainly can't say for both the male and female cardinals, woodpeckers and others that appear at our feeders only in the winter. 

I have this window feeder in my room, one on a pole outside below my windows, and one right outside the inner courtyard doors. Keeping them all in food and with a little water in the nearby bird bath, takes some real dedication, especilly when the snow piles up. But, the sisters (and I) love to see them throughout the winter months, so it's certainly worth it.

Building update

Back on August 13th I posted two photos of what seemed to be clearing of the woods west of us across Troupe Rd. Rumor had it that a developer was looking to build an events center in the midst of these woods. Anne and I had trooped through the woods and ruts to get some early pictures of the progress.

This weekend, three months later, we trooped out again, albeit easier this time. Not a whole lot has happened except that it is greatly cleaned up and the entrance from the road now looks like it could manage trucks without their risking being stuck in the mud. With colder temps and snow coming my guess is that things will stop now and pick up in the spring. One of the sisters reminded me that she read that the new building was scheduled to open in 2025. So, if that's true, there's a lot of time to work on the project; especially if the builder is doing much of it himself, as we also heard!

 

Archives

 

The larch in our backyard has started to drop its unique pods /seeds. I'm not sure of the proper name.

They are so very unique, we never get tired of looking at them.

This week the archivist for our Federation is here for some business. It is such a treat to have "access" to her expertise and advice. She'll be meeting with our community archivist and I hope to get her in town to look at what we're doing with Sister Joan's literary works, too. I am such an amateur at this but I really love the work. It is such a joy and so rewarding to organize and preserve the best of an organization for the future. 

I've called myself "Sister Nancy Drew" for the many times I find something out of the blue, that we didn't know we had, and turns out to be so valuable. Archives seems to be a subset of detective work.

Remembering

Every November, the month of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, our Catholic bishop has a Mass in remembrance of all of the sisters, priests, oblates and associates of the diocese who died in the last year. This year three of our sisters were among those remembered: Sister Mary Lou Kownacki (January), Sister Mary Miller (May) and Sister Mary Therese Egan (September). 

One of our litugists put the liturgy together, the readings, the hymns and other appropriate rituals. It seemed to go particularly well this year, helped by the addition of new songs and the fact that it was held on a clear Saturday morning and not what was often a windy and cold November evening. 

It is a rather sad time, the remembering of good friends who are greatly missed, but there is some consolation that the people of faith who attend are joined in prayer and fond memories of these friends who have recently died.

Advent calendars

Our larch in the backyard.

I have a couple unusual things to share with you today. Whimsical in some ways and clever in others.

Here is the first: the latest, at least that I've seen, "Advent calendars"! It's not that they aren't a blatent homage to American capitalism, but why call them "Advent"...maybe just December calendars would be better...Do non-Christians or even Christians for that matter, really know what and when and why Advent is?!

2023 Advent calendars.

Secondly, a friend passed on two pages of word-play/puns to me as she knows I enjoy such. They make me laugh and groan and be amazed at--Who thinks these up?

I hope you enjoy them in some way, too. Here are five of the best:

1) I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

2) How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

3) Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

4) A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5) Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

Happy week--hard to believe it's November already...where do the months go?!

Autumn scenes

 

Five or six of our sisters hail from the Philadelphia area--or at least close enough to have grown up in the midst of a Phillies, Eagles, 76-er fan base and the city-wide craziness when one of their local teams makes it to an end-of-the-season playoff spot. This week is a bonanza for them, and for us, as the Phillies are in the final series for a spot in the World Series next week and the Eagles are at the top of their division in the national football league...so we've been enjoying both of these teams and the fun and excitement of their games. 

This week our trees reached their peak and we are in a yellow, orange and red world, especially when the sun is bright. Here's a box of gourds at a local fruit and vegetable stand--yellow, orange and green, too. 

A humorous, personal aside: this month has brought me a new intimacy with needles from the medical world. I've had three vaccines: RSV, Covid and flu, and given blood once. Talk about the proverbial pin cushion!  

Finally, a couple of weeks ago when we finished the Astrid series on PBS, we couldn't imagine that we'd get another series that even came close to our liking as that outstanding series did. Were we surprised when we found another that is just terrific and comes surprisingly close to the acting and creative and engaging story line of the first one. This is Professor T and if you haven't tried it, do. It's great.

Three memories from the week

 

So how was your week? If someone asked me that I could easily brush it off by saying, "Oh it was fine, normal, same old, same old." And I admit I often do that. But in reality I could share some not so same old, same old experiences, that make a week different from every other one. So here are three such for this past one.

1) We took a walk Sunday on the path that goes along the ridge of the Bayfront highway for a mile or so and overlooks Presque Isle Bay. It was its usual wonderful place, beautiful now in a kind of early autumn way. The experience worth sharing is seen in this photo: a homeless person has set up their evening place, I believe, complete with bedding and a shopping cart of goods. The place is the large gazebo that is in the west Bayfront Park, the gazebo used for picnics and gatherings for summer family outings.

2) Last Thursday we held another Take Back the Site prayer vigil at the site of a murder in late August. This one was a double murder and suicide event. November will mark 24 years of these, with about 160 public prayer vigils being held. Each one is still as haunting, sad and sobering as they all have been.

3) On Friday, I visited our local community blood bank and was able to donate a pint of blood for the first time in 5 years. (Lumpectomy time-off). Since I began giving blood in the early 1970s I regaled my young phlebotomist with some of the most memorable experiences at the various blood bank sites where I had been. (The best being when the blood spurted out all over a white sweater I was wearing and the staff sprang into action with a cold water treatment that got all the redness out within minutes!) She listened kindly and seemd interested (or faked it well), laughed when it was appropriate and it at least passed the time for the procedure for both of us. I always feel like I'm directly helping someone in need when I donate. The clever T-shirt they offer after 4-5 donations, doesn't hurt either!

So, how was your week?!