Seasons change and so do I

Red-breasted nuthatch

Woke up this morning to the peace-shattering rap of a woodpecker on the wall outside right over my head. One has been flitting around the yard for the past few days and I've chased him with a camera without much luck. Perhaps this rude awakening was a warning not to intrude into his privacy.

The woodpecker isn't alone. I've been keeping one feeder filled and it's been attacked constantly by a group of chickadees and a couple of nuthatches. Yesterday seven pine grosbeaks came around. Then later in the day, as if to mock the photographer chasing him, the woodpecker landed on the feeder and stared into the house. By the time I retrieved the camera he was gone.

  

Black-capped chickadee

Maybe it's time to fill the rest of the feeders even though there isn't any snow yet. It does get down into the 20s some nights so maybe they need the extra feed. I had a little left over from last year but had to buy the first 40-pound bag of the winter this past week.  The price is down, only $30 and change compared with $37 last year.

It's such a treat to go to the window in the morning and see birds flocking around the feeder, a sort of reassurance that all is right with the world, everything is moving along the way it is supposed to and it's all right to join the day's parade.

Most of the leaves are raked into piles, at least, waiting for someone to find the energy to haul them into the woods. I usually dump them over the septic tank thinking it might insulate and prevent freezing.

Just sitting here feeling the cold, waiting for the darkness and snow. Seasons change and so do I.

"No time left for you. Distant roads are calling me.

"No time for a summer friend

"No time for the love you send

"Seasons change and so did I

"You need not wonder why

"There's no time left for you, no time left for you."

– The Guess Who, No Time