Winter is coming

In addition to the bare trees in our woods, the other sure sign that winter is coming is the arrival of our two winter sparrow species - the white-throated sparrow (here) and the dark-eyed junco.  Both are already present in noticeable numbers, busy foraging under the feeders and in all the seeds in the garden.  This is an adult as can be seen by his white bibb and his clearly defined yellow "eyebrows".  He is the tan-striped morph, common in our area.  And, he was an easy blip today as he perched atop the cherry tree chipping at me.

Jax has been a total puppy today, chasing toys, chewing on everything, trying to play with two extremely unwilling cats and having getting himself all revved up.  I attempted to give him a time-out in his crate which resulted in the most piteous howling and barking you can imagine.  I lasted 20 minutes.  I've been bested by a 4 month old cur.  He also got over-excited and peed in the bedroom while in pursuit of the cats.  He wants so badly to play with them and they just aren't having it.  We did, however, have a nice walk with our neighbor and his tiny dog (who snarled most fearsomely at Jax).  He is currently passed out next to my desk as I work on photos.  With an occasional fart to let me know he's here.  Oy.

I'm on my second day of antibiotics for Lyme - three weeks this time which is a giant pain.  Fortunately, they don't affect me the way they do some people - more that it is just a nuisance to remember to take them and to remember not to get any sun exposure.  

I'm consoling myself with plain dark chocolate today.

xo
Debbi