And November

I put my birdfeeder out a week or so ago and almost immediately the chickadees found it, quickly followed by the blue jays. There are an unusal number of jays in the neighbourhood this year, at one point I counted over eight at or around the feeder. They fight amongst each other and scare off the smaller birds. The chickadees are also more numerous than usual and they seem adept at scooting in and out to grab a seed between jays. 

I am concerned for the other birds though. I've only seen two goldfinches and that is unusual as well, they were formerly the most numerous. A cardinal pair visit just before dusk but often the feeder has been totally emptied by then, thanks to the jays. I am now trying to replace the empty feeder later in the day in hopes that the small birds and cardinals get a shot at it, the jays seem to find other places to go around noon.

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I was talking to my son about Hapi and her brother Hiro. He had told me that Hiro had cancer which incapacitated him. But now he tells me that he doesn't think it was cancer, rather it was a preventable accident. I think he felt very guilty about the accident and clung to the cancer theory advanced by the vet who attended Hiro's euthanasia. That is sad. He texted me a Youtube video of seven Malamutes and a toy poodle being fed by their owners through a window (8 minutes long), it is very cute. Most of the Mals look like Hapi, one looks a bit like Hiro.

He also texted me a link to another Youtube video (11 minutes) about the myth that destruction of the environment and climate change can be halted by personal actions such as changing lightbulbs and taking shorter showers. This was in response to my comment that I felt pressured by certain people to invest in solar panels for my house. My son said the solar panels weren't going to save the world. That if anything, the gain of reducing hydrocarbon-based energy usage is offset by the cost of mining and manufacturing the components of solar panels.

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I went to an Artisan's Market event at the local Lions Club hall with a friend. Names and phone numbers were taken at the door to enable contact tracing if needed, a handwashing station provided and of course masks and social distancing were obligatory. Nevertheless the place was crowded, it was difficult to maintain social distance and I found the noise bothersome. I got to chat to a couple of people I recognized behind their masks, but I soon got overwhelmed. My dizziness ramped up and I started looking for the exit. I told the friend I arrived with that I would wait for her outside. It was cold and damp and the only place to sit down outdoors was a still-damp picnic bench, but it was better than staying inside the hall.

I did see some nice things there but I couldn't think straight enough to determine whether I wanted to buy anything. My friend had a Christmas shopping list in her head that she successfully ticked off as she moved from booth to booth. I was very impressed with her efficiency. She has a large family in the area and Christmas is a major production for them. But over the years she has gotten her Christmas shopping down to a system, she knows what kinds of things she can gift to each family member. She emerged from the hall happy that most of her Christmas shopping was already taken care of.

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Sorry, I have no pictures. I've plasticked over the window where the birdfeeder is so it does not photograph well, and taking gloves off to use the cell phone camera outdoors seems like too much bother these days. Our lovely warm spell is over and we are back to the regularly scheduled November weather. Trees are bare, ground is wet, air is cold.