Untitled Halloween Blog

 I watched the birds at the suet feeder this morning and its seventeen degrees. There are jays, titmice, chickadees, sparrows, a robin, one seemingly misguided finch and several kinds of woodpeckers. It is at times like these that I scold myself for not making the effort to better learn my birds. What I think are three kinds of nuthatches gripping the metal cage, jostling for position and when they leave my shy Red Bellied makes an appearance only to be spooked by a much smaller bird. I know that it is a Red Bellied because I sent a picture to Helen just yesterday to learn it's name.  The first of the season juncos make me smile even though I know they are for me, harbingers of winter. 

The one birdbath that I leave out all winter is frozen solid. The cherry tree out front from which the suet feeder hangs, is sparsely covered with interspersed green and yellow leaves. Maple leaves cover more of the front lawn than yesterday's snow and thankfully the sky is brighter than it has been for some time. It is Halloween. 

I'm thinking about the hunters and trying to remember if it's poor luck to have deer stay down due to cold or good luck to have a trace of snow in which to track them. My brothers are hunters but I never picked up the sport. My first hunting experience was in Grafton when Charlie asked if I would go with him to make sure that he came out of the woods okay. I must have been eighteen and this was in the days before cellphones. I picked out a log and sat by myself reading a book until he returned. Charlie is a much more successful hunter these days and I still like to sit by myself in the woods. 

This year we picked out two large pumpkins that are this morning, sitting uncarved in my dining room. We used to bring in the pumpkins due to "cabbage night" shenanigans; but here in Vernon that tradition seems to have fallen out of favor. Perhaps it is the cold Vermont nights that keep people indoors or maybe it's because our houses are spread so far apart. I asked Wayne to lug our pumpkins inside, (so that they wouldn't become blocks of ice) after he had already settled into his chair. I wasn't going to carve them or decorate this year due to the virus, but I changed my mind last minute. Kayden called from San Diego letting us know that she is camping next week to try and get away from the news cycle. Come to think of it, I haven't seen many campaign signs on front lawns in Vernon this go around.

I usually have envelopes of seeds collected from my annuals sitting above the dryer by now; but I never got around to it this year. The mower deck is still packed with mulched grass and leaves. Snow shovels are hanging above the snow thrower in the back of the shed and my garden hoses are still out. Nine years ago we lost two trees during a Halloween snow storm, so one would think that I knew better to let the season slip by so. I have in my archives, a great photograph of wild California Condors at the Grand Canyon. They let me get right up to them. I had planned to write a blog about Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures as opposed to the Condor; but I never did manage to get a good picture of our birds. This was a missed opportunity for certain, as Halloween is filled with bats, spiders and vultures. - Norma Manning