Southern Living Yankee

Another one for my collection of cat videos! I picture Elmer as Henri 2--this French film is his expose'. (Thanks, Steve!)

It stared snowing on my birthday! The next morning, the path in back of my house was a winter wonderland. Home sweet home look at that ocean blue sky and frosted treetops! Even when the world is icy cold . . . . . . light reveals its beauty

I love this!

One day Tom and I explored a bike trail about three miles from our house. It was really nice, but I'm not sure I'll ever go back! As I was rolling along I noticed a stick laying on the pavement. Something about it was a little different---"Man, that's a soft looking stick," I remember thinking. Then I ran over it and noticed it's pattern. When I glanced back it was writhing and coiling and really really mad at me! Tom took this picture with his phone. We were pretty sure it was rattling its tail, but the pattern matches pictures I found of a copperhead. This was a young one, only about 10 inches long but it sure did want a piece of me! I ran over it's neck---if snakes have a neck? I don't know? Do they have a neck, or maybe they ARE a neck? They creep me out, that's for sure! Zombie Squirrels. The rest of the world calls them gray squirrels. Cute, fluffy little things, right? That's what I always thought but Not Any More! Now I call them Zomb...

  Angry Bird had built his wife a nest in the bend of the downspout right next to our garage door. I could see her cute little head peeking out as she laid on her eggs. And when we opened the garage door I could tell it took everything she had to stay with the nest and not bolt away in fear with all the noise and vibration from the garage door going up and down.   But finally, she'd had it. She abandoned the nest. And Angry Bird quit thwacking my windows and disappeared! I wondered if the eggs had hatched so I hoisted a ladder up there. Four perfect little pale grey eggs lay in the twig and thistle chaff nest. I carefully took it down. It's been sitting on a shelf in the garage ever since so the eggs will dry out and not stink. After Christmas I'll find a place on the mantle for this gift of nature. It will be one of my prize possessions! 

It's June. (Oh, I know it's already December, but c'mon, humor me, I'm setting a scene here). We've just moved in. I'm home alone in this new land, surrounded by mounds of boxes that need to be unpacked. It's so quiet, so different . . . then THWACK!. . .THWACK! What in the world? I looked around. I wasn't sure where the noise had come from. Maybe a tree branch. THWACK!. . .THWACK! There it was again! Only this time it was more on the front of the house. THWACK!. . .THWACK! Now the back of the house. I went outside to look around but didn't see anything. After a few days of this. THWACK!. . .THWACK! This constant THWACK!. . .THWACK! I finally THWACK!. . .THWACK! figured it out. THWACK!. . .THWACK! But there was nothing I could do because it was a man-bird defending his bride from his reflection in our windows. He was faster than the speed of light. Everywhere. Front of the house, back of the house, front, back, front, back THWACK!. . .THW...

Oh my . . . I'm still laughing over this. Yankee or Southern, there's no line to cross when it comes to cats and dogs. These guys nailed it.