Diminutive Dramas

Ice storms isolated.

Snow secluded.

Negative temperatures confined.

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In the midst of cleaning, I stumbled across two decades of prescription glasses. I donned them in an attempt to recreate John Lennon’s 1970 image. Had I not been isolated, secluded, and confined I never would have taken the time to mimic the image. 

A bit bored with being inside.

Many mini winter dramas, some manufactured, unfolded within the confines of home. 

One winter Mike and I bet how long it would take Comet (my blind, deaf, but with olfaction in tact 13 year old English setter) to rouse from a sound slumber when salami had been positioned six inches from his snout. We both underestimated the power of garlic by about three minutes. 

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Comet has passed, but Squeaks our present cockatiel provided a source of drama.

When a pillow obstructed Squeak’s view of us, he investigated by peeking around. Encouraged by the cockatiel’s problem solving ability, Mike constructed a ladder bridge from cage to cabinet top for further testing. Our timid bird traversed the gap with impressive speed (though not as impressive as the Comet salami experiment).

This never would have happened in May.

A dear friend had given Cindy (another dear friend) and me amaryllises for Christmas. The growth rate of the bulb astounded. However, Cindy’s shot up as mine only inched up. Cindy flaunted texted photos of her plant’s progress. Not wanting to admit that MY amaryllis wasn’t as successful as hers, I combed the floral departments of local grocery stores for an amaryllis understudy. After rearranging the store’s display so that the background wouldn’t reveal my deceit I snapped a shot of the stand in and pawned it off as mine. 

Too much time on my hands.

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Similar to the Comet /salami experiment I laced the back deck with peanut butter laden crackers and timed the squirrel’s attraction to the feast. Before the squirrel reacted, my oven timer buzzed, reminding me to tend the snickerdoodles. Then I forgot about the whole peanut butter squirrel experiment. 

The squirrel didn’t. 

He climbed the screen searching for more treats. I squatted while photographing him and paused to change my lens. With my guard down and distracted, the critter stormed the sliding glass door. The thump and proximity startled me and I sprawled backwards.

Spare time misspent!

A red-breasted nuthatch busied himself at my feeder. White breasted nuthatches are more typical. Although I found this exciting news, I hesitated to share it due to the owl incident.  One dawn the prior week I heard owls hooting in the tall pines behind my house. Finding this a thrilling event I texted my neighbor about the great horned’s calling. My new neighbors have six children AND I TEXTED HER AT 5:30 AM ABOUT AN OWL!

I plead temporary loss of judgment due to winter!

Now when I spy a robin, that I’ll text!