A WINTER'S DAY

So far removed from a Connecticut winter,

I am learning to embrace the changes here
in the desert.

The sky is more intensely blue most days of winter

but on the gray days, you have that 'feeling of winter'

looking out the living room window I spy the character I call

THE SCREAMING PECKER HEAD

She, and I know it's a 'she'

as the HE is a few trees over doing what he does best

SCREAMING

And, he has a cap of red on his head that the female does not have.

See how she is dining on the last of the unripe figs.

Click to enlarge - upper left corner for dining bird. Can you see her striped feathers??

The fig tree is deciduous, so the huge leaves turn yellow
and fall on the ground

leaving a stark, gray form behind.

This is another item that reminds me that we have a winter.

As I snap a photo of the 'Screamer', a Ruby throated hummingbird swoops in to feed on the nectar in the feeder.

you will notice missing yellow flowers where the hummers insert their long beaks

the reason they are missing is that the Screaming Pecker Heads

pry them off in order to
dine on the nectar themselves and fight with the hummers for this delight.

There she is in the middle of the branch....trying to blend inNow she's looking at ME looking at HERThe rascal is now sucking huge amounts of nectar out of an already flower-less opening

Here comes the hummer
Notice how you can hardly see the hummer's wings??

they are moving so fast to keep her
airborne and in on place.

The sound of the wings at this speed is amazing.


Now, yesterday, before the clouds came in totally
to give us the rain we are having today

I took a drive to the cafe to spend a few hours playing

'Cashier Girl/Latte Girl/Ice Cream Scooper Girl/Tidy Up Girl.

What I love about this photo
(and why I took it)

are the mountains in the distance

See the different shades? It's so beautiful in person that it looks like a painting

anyhow, back to the fact that I was heading to the cafe...

This was the first time I have done that in.....

ummmmmmmm

.......about 3 1/2 years.

Yes, that is how long I have truly been away from the cafe
and working back in the so called '9-5 day job world'

But something clicked a week or two ago

and I am now able to spend small bits of time there.

And Mr. J. - always happy to see me - is perplexed
and can't help but wonder

if the aliens will be returning his partner
in business and life sometime soon.

I wonder the same thing.

I sense this is going to be another amazing year......

and as I get things in order

I may be playing a larger part of the day-to-day of the cafe.


After all, as Mr. J. says.........

the cafe is the vehicle to our retirement.

You see....Mr. J. looks carefully at the future.

Me.........I look at today.

Amazingly, we are a good team.



Taken New Year's night. The Fountain Park is behind the cafe.

Our patio has the most beautiful view

Mr. J. and I had a champagne toast that night
as the fountain went off.

Just the two of us.

A few doors down at another establishment
they were having a New Year's Eve party
and a Folk duo sang and played guitars.

We had our patio to ourselves,
music,
the fountain,
our cafe.

LIFE IS GOOD.

3 comments:

Sharon Tomlinson said...

Well, I surely enjoy all of that. We had a very gray day here today too. Unlike yesterday which was a summer day. Oh that Texas! I wonder what clicked.

Maija said...

Is the cafe in Fountain Hills?
How awful of you to torture Lyn with phtos of palm trees and warm weather when it's snowing in NJ?!?! I think I'll send some, too! tee hee!

dogfaeriex5 said...

i love this post! happy new years to you sweet faerie~
xoxo