Birds, Birds, and more Birds

A few weeks ago we went to visit Heidlebeere and her family and saw that they had hung a couple of bird feeders on two trees out in their backyard.  But what was amazing was the huge variety of birds that were constantly flocking around the feeders.  It was amazing!

They had a lot of little chickadees, all over the place! Both trees, all the feeders!

They would sit in the trees waiting for a turn at the feeders, there were so many.

They packed around the feeders.  I wouldn't be surprised to hear they had to refill the feeders every few days, there were so many birds.

Sloppy as birds are, there was plenty of seed on the ground under the feeders so, of course, there were birds down there, too!

But what was amazing was the variety of birds.  I never looked out the windows but what there were birds at the feeders and in the trees.

We see cardinals at our house on a regular basis, but here there would be three, four, and sometimes five pair of cardinals.  They would almost always be in pairs, male and female.

There were plenty of blue jays, as well.  They are a pretty bird.

Birds all over the place.  But what I found really amazing was the whole time we were there I did not see a single squirrel.  Heidlebeere said they never see squirrels getting into their feeders.  That's just plain strange. 

With no squirrels to compete with, its no wonder the birds were so plentiful!  It was amazing.

So much more fun than at our backyard, where the squirrels are always emptying the feeders.  Not only emptying them, but trashing them.  It was really amazing to see!

The End of an Era

President Thomas S Monson passed away several days ago, on January 2, 2018.  He was ninety.  Whenever a president of the church passes away everyone reminiscences about their experiences with him.  I'm no different, I suppose.  Years ago, when I was in college, right after returning from my mission, I ended up being the official photographer at the LDS Institute where I was attending school.  I happened into it, actually, it wasn't something I sought for.  I just took my camera to an institute activity and began taking pictures.  One of the institute officers saw me and asked if I'd be the photographer.  I said sure and that's how it happened.

Anyway, the institute had a monthly program where they would invite a speaker to address the institute student body.  As the photographer, I took pictures of the speakers when they came.  And so when Elder Thomas S Monson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, came to speak one month, I took his picture as well.

Elder Thomas S Monson

I usually sat in the congregation, off to one side, and used my tele-converter to get a nice picture.  That was before I had a good telephoto lens.

Elder Thomas S Monson

Normally, I took a few of photos of the speaker.  Then I'd put my camera away and listen.  Well, when President Monson passed away I went digging through my oldest photos again, looking for those pictures I'd taken as institute photographer.  Alas, once again I did not find them.  I was looking for black and white negatives since a lot of the pictures I took during that period were black and white because my roommate had taught me how to develop and print my own black and white photos.  I had actually looked for those pictures several times over the years but had never found them.  Then, today, quite by accident, I stumbled onto them.  I had bought a slide converter a while ago and decided to finally get it out today and try it.  And the easiest slides to get to were a little stash of slides I'd collected and stuck in the drawer of my night stand.  Low, and behold, when I got looking at them, there were the pictures of Elder Monson!  Callooh! Callay!

Over the years, I've grown to really like President Monson.  While I had no trouble at all accepting him as the Prophet and President of the Church, I would be dishonest if I didn't admit that some of the leading brethren are more likable to me than others. President Spencer W Kimball, for example, was incredibly easy to love.  President Hinckley as well.  I could listen to President Hinckley all day.  In that respect, President Monson had a tough act to follow.  But he grew on me and I was sorry to see him decline and finally pass away.

President Thomas S Monson

He lead the church through some turbulent times.  He had to maintain and institute some unpopular policies.  But he was faithful to the end.  Many have commented that the church slowed in its advancement and growth under his leadership, as though that was somehow a failure on President Monson's part.  I don't believe that is the case at all.  Knowing President Monson, he did exactly what the Lord wanted done.  I have no doubt whatsoever he was faithful to the end.

Thou Didst Hear

In my  distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

(II Samuel 22:7)

A Blast from the Past

I was looking through our old family photos today, looking for a couple of pictures I took while back in college (which unfortunately I never did find) when I came across these old photos of our cute little Heidelbeere.

An exercise buff from an early age!

"Talking" to grandma - still learning the finer points of telephone skills

These were taken in 1990, when she was just a little shaver.  What a sweetie!

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. (Psalms 27:7)

The Latest and the Earliest

We don't pick up Christmas ornaments every year anymore but this year we did, we got some from Erdbeere.  I really like them, they are what I'd call "old fashion".  Plus they have that "home-made" look.  Knowing Erdbeere, she most likely did make them herself.  At any rate, they came as a set and I really liked them so I got them.

And they fit well into the menagerie of ornaments that we have accumulated over the last forty plus years of Christmas trees.

Stars and orbs, "dusty" colors.  They fit well into my idea of good Christmas decorations.

This is our Christmas tree this year.  I think I have gotten a picture of our tree every year since we got married.  We have so many decorations that we've accumulated over the years that we don't even put them all on each year.  There are just too many.  But these new ones from Erdbeere and really nice.

Anyway, getting some new ones got me to thinking about our first Christmas. We had been married only several months when Christmas came.  It was easy enough to find a tree but we had no ornaments that year.  We had to actually go find some.

What we ended up getting was some little flat wooden ornaments, Brombeere found them.  They came as a kit, we got to paint them ourselves.  So we did that for Family Home Evening one Monday early in December that year.  When they were dry we hung them up and they've decorated our tree every year since.  We still have most of them.

I did some and Brombeere did some.  What a pair of artists!

Then we got some lights, made some chain garland with tin foil and put it up in front of the window of our first apartment.  It worked quite well for our first Christmas.  It was a real tree so it only did one year with us, but the other decorations were a great start to our fabulous collection that has grown almost every year since!

So, Merry Christmas!

On This Christmas Eve ...

Christmas - the celebration of the birth of Christ.  The occasion that began the culmination of the mission of Christ.  To celebrate is most appropriate.

I wonder, what does Christmas mean,

With its stars an shiny balls?

Is Christmas more than Christmas trees

And toys and games and dolls?

Of this I'm sure: There's something more,

For I've heard many say

That in a strange and far-off land,

A child was born this day.

And Christmas is to celebrate

His coming from above.

He showed us how we all should live

And told us we should love.

(Thomas S Monson, December Ensign, 1987)

The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever; the Lord shall rejoice in His works.  He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: He toucheth the hills and they smoke.  I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.  My meditation of Him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord. (Psalms 104:31-34)

Not a Sweet Apple

So this evening after I got home from work I started some dinner.  First thing was to chop some carrots and onions.  I got them out and set them on the table where I was going to work on them.  Then I went to get some other stuff I was going to need.  While I was away a little helper came along and set to checking out what I was doing. 

Of course, he had to check out the onion.  He began peeling it.

Then he had to sample it.  Like an apple.  He tried a couple of times to bite it before I took it away. That made him a little unhappy. 

We finally had to distract him with a plate of apples.  That worked, under protest.  He really wanted to get back to the onion.

Sunday Thoughts

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!

Thy wings shall my petition bear

To him whose truth and faithfulness

Engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since he bids me seek his face,

Believe his word, and trust his grace,

I'll cast on him my ev'ry care

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Attr. to William W. Walford, 1772-1850, alt.

A Season of Bikey Fun

Well, it would appear that the biking season is over.  The weather cut it short, just like it delayed its start.  Cold and wet weather made it it difficult to get out very often.  And cold and wet cut the season short, making it hard to get out very much.  As a result, I ended up riding fewer miles this year than either or the last two.  It was better than it looked for a while, though.  At one time I wasn't sure I was going to get over 200 miles.  But in the end I did 282 miles, compared to 445 in 2015 and 460 in 2016.  I noticed that my total miles, since starting riding again, is just under 1,200.  That was disappointing, I had really hoped to get over 1,200.  Ah, well.

Because of various construction projects going on around here, most of the riding I did this summer tended to be out of town.  I normally do most of my of riding in town but some of my favorite routes were closed.  But I still saw some pretty areas around here.

It occurred to me that I tend to do a lot of my riding on the trails, using the roads mostly to get to and from the trails since none of them run right by my house.

I like to take my camera with me, you never know when you'll see something interesting.

For the most part, it never really got real hot this summer.  That was also nice.  It did get windy, though.  I don't like riding when the wind gets much over 10 mph.  I'm a wimp, what can I say.  And don't like riding in the rain.  My big objection with rain is the effect it has on bicycle brakes.  That, and the stripe you get up your back when you ride on wet roads.  My bike doesn't have fenders, or splash guards. So, yeah.  I don't got out when its real wet or raining.

At the New Glarus trail head of the Sugar River State Trail

I did manage to meet pretty much all my biking goals this year, except one.  That was how many miles I got in during the season.  I had hoped to at least meet the same number of miles I made last year. 

The north entrance to the Stewart Tunnel

One of my goals this summer was to ride the Stewart Tunnel, near New Glarus, WI.  That tunnel is about 1,200 feet long with a curve at the middle so that you can't see the other end when you start out. 

The south entrance to the Stewart Tunnel

That tunnel is on the Badger State Trail.  I did manage to get there and ride through it.  That was a bit of work but also a lot of fun.  It was a fun day.

On the Badger State trail a little north of its intersection with the Sugar River trail

There were some interesting sights along the Badger State Trail.  And the ride back to New Glarus was on the Sugar River Trail, also an interesting ride.

The Tomorrow River State Trail

I also rode on the Tomorrow River State Trail. That's another beautiful trail. 

The Tomorrow River State Trail

The Tomorrow River trail runs for 29 miles between Portage and Waupaca counties, through some very nice terrain.  And for the most part, the trail is level.  Most places where there are hills are small and gentle.  My kind of riding.

The Tomorrow River State Trail

I like the places along any of the state trails I've been on where the foliage closes in close to the trail.  There was one ride where I left pretty late in the day and traveled part of the trail after dark.  Good thing I have a good light, made it trip much nicer.  The only downside of riding after dark is I can't see what gear I'm in.  But that's a minor thing.

One other things I've been wanting to do was ride to a certain train trestle.  I had ridden to where I thought it was last year but it turned out to be the wrong crossing.  This year I made it to the right crossing.

There really isn't anything special about this crossing, its just one that caught my attention.

And the fun thing about the trip there is just as I was putting things away, getting ready to head out, a train went by.  That was unexpected and serendipitous. I like trains so it's always fun to have one go by up close and personal. 

Riding out in the country gets away from the urban areas, away from the city streets and sights.  And it brings its own set of smells when riding around.  Fewer fireplace fires, fewer barbecue cook outs, and less burning leaves.  More of the pungent smells of various barnyards and farm fields.  Freshly plowed fields, freshly mowed hay fields.  I've always loved the smell of fresh cut hay, since I was a kid and we'd go help my grandfather harvest his hay crop.

Saw plenty of deer while out on my bike this year.  In fact, there is one area that every time I went through it there were a number of deer.

On the trails around this area there will often be sections of boardwalk, places where the path goes through a wetland area.  In those places they will build a boardwalk to keep you up out of the mud and water. 

Whether on boardwalks or not, I think my favorite time to ride the trails is in the fall when the leaves turn colors. 

The variety of trees is amazing.  Lots of maple trees, which have the best colors when they turn.  That's where all the reds, yellows, and oranges come from.

The oaks make rusty browns that linger longer than the other trees.  The oaks never really drop their leaves, they will stay on all winter so that sometimes people have to rake in the spring as well as the fall.

Anyway, I really like riding out in the trees on the trails.  Lots of interesting things to see. 

I will often see animals and birds but not be fast enough to get stopped and get my camera out for a picture.  I almost always take my camera with me when I ride.  Never know what you'll see on the trails.

Sunset through the trees

One thing I accomplished this summer was something I've been wanting to do for the last couple of years.  There is a parking garage in the area that has a number of different levels and a circular drive between the levels.  Like a spiral staircase for cars.  I've wanted to ride down that since I began riding my bike again.  This year I did it.  And what's fun is I was able to get it on camera.  The light kind of played with the video quality, going from light to dark to light to dark from the lights in the garage.  But it still turned out to be a fun video.  Went pretty fast, even though I had the brakes on nearly the whole way down.

So that was my biking summer. Except for not being able to get out as often as I would have liked, it was a good summer.  One thing I found was that the Stewart Tunnel is not the longest bike trail tunnel in the state.  I was pretty sure I read somewhere that it was but later I discovered that Tunnel No. 3 on the Elroy-Sparta trail is 3/4 a mile long, quite a bit farther than 1,200 feet.  So next year I have to get to that tunnel.  That will be one of next year's biking goals.  Let the good times roll!