Tendrils

Mincemeat Pie On Christmas Eve

So many traditions on Christmas Eve. One tradition, carried on for at least half a century, enchiladas. An absolute must. Another, putting the tree up and decorating it on Christmas Eve. That one quickly dropped from the list. Tonight we’re having mincemeat pie for dessert. Not a tradition, but perhaps it will become a tradition to be followed.

Wishing all my dear friends, cousins and readers a Merry Christmas filled with many good things, and a 2023 that will be the BEST of years.

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Just Flurries – So Far

This morning there were snow flurries for a few hours. Perhaps because we had flushed ice cubes last night. That’s good but we’ll still work on it tonight and again tomorrow night, Christmas Eve. This snow stuff requires hard work sometimes, even to get flurries. If you’ve got a snow candle, we’d appreciate your support. This is important stuff.

This photograph is from January 30, 2010. Some of our Christmas trees, during my very favorite winter.

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Flushing Ice Cubes

A little willowy child has come to visit with one request. A request to flush ice cubes each night until Christmas. The weather forecast not quite perfection. No snow on Christmas.

Perhaps we can help. Flushing ice cubes just might help the clouds form. The temperatures plummet. Now, Thursday night. One night, the spell cast. Two more nights left to go.

Ah imagination. A child with imagination and an adult with the imagination of a child.

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Is This A White-throated Sparrow?

This handsome little bird showed up at the bird bath today. It’s a White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis).

But this is also a White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). Same species, but two different color morphs. The first image, a white-striped, and the second image, a tan-striped. A coloration that stays with each White-throated Sparrow for life. About 50% of males are white-striped and 50% are tan-striped. And likewise, 50% of females are white-striped and 50% are tan-striped.

Researchers have found that personality comes into play as well, with these color morphs. They have found that the white-striped White-throated Sparrows are more aggressive while the tan-striped White-throated Sparrows are more nurturing.

Such a complicated world of White-throated Sparrows.

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Baking Season

Seems it’s the season for baking all sorts of yummy things. Keeping the kitchen warm while the oven bakes away, as the season turns from autumn to winter.

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Playing With Candy Canes

Christmas colors, the scent of peppermint, swirls, twists, curls. Gleeful play. Eventually, a Christmas card.

An Afternoon Hello

A Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) stopped by this afternoon to say hello, as it was hunting for a dinner of berries.

The second portion of it’s scientific name, gusttatus, is Latin for spotted. It’s one of several that are called the spotted thrushes. During the winter, identification becomes easy since this is the only spotted thrush normally found in North America in the non-breeding season.

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Mistletoe

There are more than 30 species of Mistletoe in North America.

Juniper Mistletoe (Phoradendron juniperinum). Photographed in Zion National Park.

Mistletoe is a hemi-parasite, meaning that it performs photosynthesis, but extracts water and nutrients from the host plant.

If you’re considering using American Mistletoe as an indoor decoration, and have children or cats or dogs around, keep in mind, those berries are poisonous.

One Of Many

Yesterday, a day of beautiful, glistening ICE! I planned ahead and had no place to go. But oh those loud SNAPS, and CRACKS. I knew that at the very least that sound meant a tree had lost a limb.

Or even worse a tree was down. Or a tree was down across the lane, or the road.

And that was the case many times over. The top photo is of a large Sassafras tree being hugged by a Flowering Dogwood. The bottom image, the same pair, close up. The Sassafras had lost its battle with a wood borer several years ago. Yesterday the ice brought it down. Right across the lane. The required “key” to exit, a chainsaw.

As luck would have it, the road down the mountain is a state maintained road and they take very good care of that road and its residents. Ah, living in the mountains. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ice Storm

A storm crossing the country. Menacing with flooding, deep snow, tornadoes, large hail, and for me a thick coating of ice. It arrived last night and lasted through the morning, coating everything with a thick layer of slick wet dangerous beauty. Every now and then the power went off for but a short second or two. So far, tonight, I’ve escaped a power outage.

The ice created noises, strange to me, sounding as if there was a huge someone in the woods breaking large branches with big, “SNAP!” noises. The Gray Dogwood trees in the picture above were a part of that noise making, snapping right in half after I took this picture. The road going down the mountain hasn’t been checked. I’m hoping there aren’t any large trees that suffered that, “SNAP!” sound in a louder rendition. Maybe a chainsaw will be required? I hope not.