Lunch?

I was chatting on the phone with a friend when I saw a blur of motion go past the window, followed by little birds scattering in every direction.  Never missing a beat, I grabbed my camera and slithered into the kitchen...where I spotted a big immature Cooper's Hawk sitting on one of our patio chairs.  Click, click, click, through the window.  A few moments later, she left.

Well, needless to say, the background was crap and the image not as crisp as I'd like since it was taken through double pane windows.  But I worked a little magic in LR then moved the image into PS and Topaz ReMask.  I dropped the hawk onto a background of snow that I'd taken last year that replicated today's conditions perfectly.  Then a crop to show just the head.  In the interest of full disclosure, the raw image is in Extra.  You can see why I wanted to play with it.

So, backing up - it snowed today giving us about an inch of slushy, wet snow.  And we are now headed down to the high 20's F tonight so tomorrow morning will be icy.  I spent some time in the hide until my feet started to lose sensation.  Thankfully, Hubs had a nice fire blazing and I'm now toasty warm.

I am happy to report that I addressed a bunch of holiday cards (after printing off my holiday letter).  I am feeling extremely proud of myself!  I wasn't sure if I was actually going to pull this off.

I watched the first person in NY (and I believe the United States) getting vaccinated this morning - it felt like a very momentous event. Tomorrow morning, NJ will vaccinate their first person.  First steps on a very long journey.

We zoomed with MIL today and she was in fine spirits.  We also learned that the part of the facility she's in (long term care) is on total lockdown because of the recent positive case.  That's a blow, but we trust them to do all they can to keep everyone safe.  Some positive thoughts directed her way would not go amiss, however.

Stay safe, people.  And I can personally say that a small bit of dark chocolate can really help ease the stress right now.  

xo
Debbi