red jays

We missed out on our second grandma over Thanksgiving break because she was sick--and I sit down to write about her visit a week ago, having time just now because I am the same. Tis the season! I'm going to drown myself in yogurt and build up my immunity so that that the Ghost of School Years Future can know that I'm ready to pinch hit as my colleagues have done for me. It's not easy for the community when one of the team has to stay home.

Fortunately, lives our flexible, and we get new visits, and Grandma Sue came with her new puppy, Maggie Mae, a week ago and got to romp in our very first snow.

We've learned that Maggie Mae has an extreme fondness for slippers and napping on flannel sheets.

Our Penelope continues to be The Dog Whom Other Dogs Like because she gets down at their level to play, and Zephyr continues to be the big terror that he is--well-intentioned, but still bowling-ball-esque and galumphy.

We've put up some feeders in the yard, and we've spent so much time with our guides, looking through, wondering what sort of woodpecker is this, and why does the red-bellied woodpecker have that name when it hasn't a red belly at all, and Maya has charmingly taken to calling the cardinals "red jays." We had a gray squirrel and a red squirrel fight over the turf of the under-feeders, but haven't seen them return since the first day. Already we've increased our bird collection by dozens now that we are no longer in a downtown neighborhood. Rumor has it there are some deer leavings back there too. I'll keep watching.