28 December 2009 No place else I’d rather be than here today

The alarm sounded off far too early. But that is what alarm clocks always do, isn’t it; drag us from our beds before we are ready? The dog and I braved the driveway for the newspaper and I could almost feel the temperature dropping as we walked back to the house.


While I was coaxing the stove into surrendering coals from last night for today’s warmth, a shadow outside caught my eye. Looking up and toward the creek, the turkeys were flying in. They came from the northwest and southwest as if they had been roosting in our hemlocks or pines overnight. That supposition was borne out by the steep descent they made. Their landings reminded me of watching Navy aircraft fly a steep glide path onto carrier decks in a controlled crash that everyone walks away from. One of the birds misjudged the landing and nearly wound up in the creek. A last minute diversion to creek-side brush kept her feathers dry.

The flock has been here, off and on, about half the day. They were here by 0800, left, returned, left, returned. One minute the yard is full of them, the next, they’ve vanished as if by magic. We’re trying to condition them not to flee when they see us.

The morning hike with Mike was a cold and breezy one. The temperature was about 24°F most of the morning. It may be time for the rabbit fur hat tomorrow. We were both considering ski masks by the time we were half way down valley.

The middle part of the day was spent fussing with a chainsaw that starts fitfully, stalls incessantly, and does not idle well at all. I managed to get some wood cut today but I’d have probably doubled the amount with a working chainsaw. I’ll talk to Mike about it tomorrow. It is probably some simple maintenance item that I have overlooked. That would be nice and the least likely to be costly to correct.

As the sun goes down, its warm and dry inside, windy and getting colder outside. We just found some good cold weather gloves for Gloria and they should make a difference for her when she goes outside.

Tomorrow, more conflict with simple tools. Tonight, contentment.