We had some very cold weather last weekend. But by Monday, the weather started to permit cycling. Temperatures were above freezing. It was wet, but there was no rain. I rode around doing chores. Tuesday it was beautiful, sunny with temperatures up in the 60s. I did my first 40-mile ride this year. It felt great. Wednesday temperatures approached 70. It was wet, but there was no rain in the morning. I was able to ride some of my favorite hills around Ellicott City. I’m glad I went out in the morning, because the rain started in the afternoon. By evening, the winds were ferocious and the rain got quite heavy. Several streets in Ellicott City flooded. I never realized before moving here how often that happens. I never heard about it living in Baltimore County, because it happens so frequently it’s not news.
Unfortunately, winter returned by Thursday. It was sunny but 30 degrees colder. In addition, winds down a little to around 20 MPH, with gusts of 40 MPH. I was sitting in the house, reading in “Alaska” about a man who rode from Dawson, Canada to Nome, Alaska on a bicycle in the middle of the winter in 1900. (That’s about the same distance as Baltimore to Bangor.) He rode on the frozen Yukon River, carried his bike over a mountain, and then rode down the frozen bay. He enjoyed “mild” winter temperatures of 20 degrees below. Certainly if he could do that, I could ride 10 miles to Harris Teeter to pick up some groceries. I decided to start with a test trip to Target (1 mile away) to pick up some milk. By the time I got to Target, I knew I could do the 50 minute ride to Harris Teeter, and also the 50 minute ride back. But I chose buy everything I really needed at Target and go home. That was the end of outdoor cycling for the week. It was nice to have those few days.
Gazebo Bird Feeder
I finally got my gazebo! But first I have to back track a little bit. Brian and Elizabeth made pine cone bird feeders and brought them for Christmas. Danita got some string and hung them from our deck railing. By last weekend, birds were getting desperate and found the pine cones. It was terrible. Birds would fly up to a pine cone and take a quick peck. This would make the pine cone rock back and forth. The bird would have to land on the deck and wait for it to stop swinging, and then fly up for another quick peck. This is not a way to be kind to animals. Danita cut the pine cones down and laid them on the deck. Then she added some bread crumbs. That worked well and got the birds through some very cold days. No good turn goes unpunished, as they say. The birds left behind their very special “poopy presents” on our deck floor. I took care of those with a bucket and a brush early Tuesday afternoon. The rain came in handy for washing the residue off.
Cool pic captured a bird in flight. (Click the pic to see a blow-up)
That problem solved, we decided to order a proper bird feeder from Amazon, along with some proper bird food. When I saw the gazebo bird feeder, I couldn’t resist. I know it’s only 6-sided, but it *is* a gazebo! It even has plastic sides to make it a 4-season structure! I found a hanger that I could clamp to the deck railing to hold the bird feeder over the grass behind the deck. Now we can sit in the living room and watch the birds. All is well for the birds. Alas, all is not well for me. Most of the day, birds form themselves into 3 groups. the smallest group is on the bird feeder eating. The second group is in a near by tree waiting to get the the bird feeder. The third group is on the deck porch or railing, pooping away. The feeder is definitely coming down when winter’s over.
The big excitement this weekend is the Super Bowl. You may remember that after the AFC Championship game two weeks ago, I went outside to celebrate and found a completely dead neighborhood. Other neighborhoods had people outside honking their horns and having a good time. Not ours. Today we’re having a neighborhood Super Bowl party. They’re renting a big-screen TV. We will have chicken, chili, pizza, chips, salad, and open bar. Win or lose, I’m pretty sure that after the game everybody will go home and go to bed. Baltimore City has made plans to close streets and have the police out in force after the game. Nobody’s planning to station police in our neighborhood. But it’s hard to turn down a free party. This will be our cheapest Super Bowl ever.
I hope this finds everybody doing well.