HIGHLY MOTIVATED OR BORED?

I am so much over winter it isn't funny and I do know what the folks up north are going through.  I went through it for fifty years.  It's just that cold and snow is very different here in the south and it interferes with routines that would otherwise be serendipity and frolicsome.   There's a mouthful.  For instance, I awoke at 4 AM this morning and decided to count what's left of my life savings.  Oh ya - I keep everything here at home in a bucket near the door to my bedroom where it's safe.

If you think that's all I got saved up after 68 years - yer wrong.  I got another bucket full hidden away somewhere.  I dip into this one occasionally to buy coffee and such but the other bucket is for hard times.  It would be a couple hours until the sun would peek through so I made some coffee and let the girls out for an early morning romp.  I enjoy this time of day because the rest of the world isn't up yet and all is relatively quiet.  If I had it to do over again I would not have made this area my home but would have moved north east along the Holston river where the mountains are and city people won't relocate due to the lack of a cultural hub for the kids as well as for that party atmosphere on the weekends.  The nights are dark up in those parts because there are no city or community lights to make the night sky bright - no damn night light hanging on the ends of roofs to constantly remind me that a scared neighbor lives in front of me and needs the light on for security.  His insecurity condemns me to stare at his bright night light each and every night I sit on my porch trying to enjoy the darkness.  I wish those thuja pines would hurry up and grow tall enough to block that house totally out of my vision.
A quick check of email tells me that I'm the only nut case who is up at this hour and I hear soft dog squeaks at the front door.  They're ready to come in.  With hot coffee cup in hand I stare over the tops of the tall oak trees in my yard and try to see the tops of the distant mountains covered in snow.  I can barely see them.  Oh well.
I run upstairs to change shoes and notice something on my bed.  It's Homer.  But, its something else.

It would seem that Homer Cat has been practicing Archaeological procedure in the yard this morning and has brought one of his Pale-ontological discoveries into the house to show me.  "And what have we here my little furry investigator?"  I'd say it was a petrified toad.

Being a scholar of ancient Pict and Druidology allowed me to instantly identify the origins of this unfortunate amphibious relic as a sacrificial toad dating back to around 85 AD and it's obvious that the sacrifice was Druid instigated.  Couldn't have been the Picts as they only used humans as offerings to the Gods.  I quickly deposited Homer's morning treasure into the garbage can and walked outside to start the morning.   The coffee was kicking in and the snowflakes and wind didn't bother me as much as usual.  I just wished it would either rain or snow - one or the other and about 10 more degrees warmer would be appreciated.

I already know that there will be no fishermen on the tailrace this morning due to the cold but the scenery is welcome.  I always can find something interesting to look at.  

I wish I knew the stories that surround these old places.  Think of the novels that could be written about real people who struggled to succeed and did succeed, as well as those who didn't.  Did they simply move across the road,  sell out to the neighbor, move to another state, in jail, on and on.  Would be interesting reading.
I glanced up at a really pretty meadow that had a nice lay to it and noticed a lump on the skyline that didn't belong.  Critters show up just about anyplace.

  

      Cute!

       Very Cute!

 Relax little one;  better times are coming!

I could see there was an adult bald eagle in the nest as I drove by and I didn't stop for a picture because I've already collected scores of eagle shots near this nest site.

 However, one of the eagles was on the hunt down at the river and I couldn't resists taking a picture.  It was a long, long camera shot.

I have been out for hours and soon would be heading for the barn.  I saw a group of chipmunks at a woodpile near the narrow road I was on and instantly came to the realization that I've never photographed a chipmunk in my life..  We'd soon cure that ill.

 

 And, there he is - a star at last!

I've got to get home and warm up a bit.  Seems I've caught a chill I can't shake.  This indecisive weather is tough to deal with.  See ya later and thanks for looking in.