Two years ago was the last time I heard my favorite bird call, the eastern whippoorwill. I love their special night song and miss it very much. Now, it looks, or should I say sounds, like a mockingbird has moved in to fill the void. 3 am and the bird was singing so LOUD and clear outside the open bedroom window. Whereas the whippoorwill shouts the same phrase over and over, the northern mockingbird whistles tunes like a jukebox skipping from record to record. It is great to listen to but as I got into bed, I wondered if I would be able to sleep! It was the last thought I had. : )

I'd hopped on the mower tonight to get some of the side field cut before dark. As I went around on the mower, I saw the dwindling sky light become increasingly interesting. I debated with myself whether I should stop, go in, and get my camera. "Mow?" "Take pictures?" "Mow?" "Take pictures?" But I was able to do some of both!

Between showers. : )

Out this morning to be greeted by the first lily of what will be a few hundred lilies here in the next several days! And the honeysuckle is blooming, too; what an awesome aroma when I took the dogs out last night.

It is an annual spring event. A black snake stays and molts in the wall of the outbuilding. And it drives my dogs nuts. And when they bark and dig like crazy, I'm nuts, too. lol Last out yesterday before work, we came upon the molted skin. YAY! THAT'S done! 

I pulled the entire skin out and had a good look. It measures 47 inches long. Particularly interesting is that the skin of the eyes is included in the whole molting shebang. Now if the snake will leave again, peace will reign. If not, I am going to have to spray a non-toxic something in there to get it to move on. Owl and the others have killed half a dozen of their tribe that I can remember.

The most memorable black snake appearance was when I got out of bed one morning and there was one on my bedroom carpet. Thank God, it had not crawled onto the bed. Speaking of which, I jumped back on the bed a heck of a lot faster than I got out. I am not afraid of black snakes, I actually like them. But I do not like surprises!

It seems that I have not, at least, had any problems breeding black snakes here. <she says with pride> But I forbid them to whelp in my bedroom.

You know that I have been steadily other-homing books. Two or three times, I have had a specific one in my hand to put on the Go pile but kept pulling it back. And I am glad that I did! It is a book that I have had since I was stationed at Fort Knox in my early 20s. And have never read. Began reading it yesterday and it is wonderful!

"A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold, written in Wisconsin in the 1940s. It is a collection of essays that were in draft form when Mr. Leopold died in 1948. His son Luna edited them for publication in 1949. I love the writing! Besides being a naturalist, he was also a historian and the pages are filled with both. 

Here is a paragraph: "March. The Geese Return. A cardinal, whistling spring to a thaw but later finding himself mistaken, can retrieve his error by resuming his winter silence. A chipmunk, emerging for a sunbath but finding a blizzard, has only to go back to bed. But a migrating goose, staking two hundred miles of black night on the chance of finding a hole in the lake, has no easy chance for retreat. His arrival carries the conviction of a prophet who has burned his bridges." 

Great stuff in this little book which I have only begun to read!

I like Owls

What a sparkling, jewel-encrusted landscape this morning! Clouds were rolling in while I was out taking photos but some of them are pretty good. I am only posting this one before I leave for work.

Opened my eyes this morning, saw sunshine in the window and couldn't get out of bed fast enough! Now I am waiting for the sun to move up over the evergreens and shine on all those iced up trees!!!

In the meantime, these are photos of my dogs that I took on our walk early evening yesterday. I DID figure out how to walk four dogs and carry my camera, too. And I felt safe carrying it with me on the icy road because I had on my Yaktrax. If not for the Yaktrax, I would not have been able to walk the road.

Played around a bit and had some fun with effects, too. I haven't quite figured out how to tone down the reds. It shows up pretty dark and brilliant in snow. But then, they are brilliant. : )

My neck of the woods this morning. It is beautiful! But I cannot say as much for the road since I must be driving on it later today. I went out and took a few photos after the dogs came back in. We don't have a lot of snow but with a layer of ice on top, snow shoes may have been useful. 

Breakfast afterward included a chicken & pineapple hot dog cut up into what I call 'pan luck.' It was good! Who would think? Apparently not many. Kroger had them marked way down as a manager's special! 

Hey, Anna Knoll in Mississippi, have I got a snowball for you!

Taya also loves this stuff. You can come up here and the two of you can go dashing through the snow.

This afternoon after it stopped snowing, the wind became stronger and I looked out and watched snow cyclones dance! I bundled up (way, way up!), and went out into the frigid air and took something like 120 photos under an ever-changing sky. These are my Pick Four. I love living up high but there's a whole lot of wind crossing these hills! 

Here was today's contribution to Facebook's throwback Thursday.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this: And to think that I hate when whitetails do this!

A beautiful, bright morning in southeastern Ohio. Just right for packing the car, loading the dogs, and heading for a field trial!

Up early this morning to pack 'em up and head 'em out (translated = traveling to field trials this weekend). This was the sight that greeted me. With the schedule I work, I do not see many sunrises. It looked like the woods were on fire! Spectacular sight!

Beagler and dachshund field trial judge Bill Dyer shared this story on Facebook last night. Bill lives in Meigs County in southern Ohio where this incredible incident took place last fall.

I googled for more information and found this link to the story on Outdoors International, with many photos.

Wow!

Afternoon

Not this girl's anyway. I far prefer the sparkle of millions of ice 'diamonds' on my daily walk.  : )

Despite the sun having been out a few hours, it was cold enough that the ice was not melting. 

All the diamonds in the rough were absolutely stunning!

Morning

Every branch, twig, leaf, and blade was covered with ice this morning. And then the sun came out.

WOW!

What a blessing to be in winter wonderland!

Mindy Reed sent photos of artistic woodpiles. How interesting! I went online and found more. Amazing, really, what people can do.

Thanks, Mindy!