Another Day On The River ...

Just 4 days ago almost the entire river was covered with a thin glaze of ice. This is what the river looked like this morning at about 7:30 AM, after several days of temperatures in the low 70's during the day and upper 50's during the night. A blanket of thick fog started to form just over the surface of the water then quickly disappeared as the clouds vanished and the sun began to warm things up. Today again it is warm, about 66 degrees. I long for flowers ... daffodils and tulips ... but it is far too early, of course, and the weather people are talking about the possibility of snow showers this weekend. Even though I love the cold weather, it isn't difficult for me to be overtaken with a serious case of spring fever even at the beginning of January!

The robins are still here and made it through the frigid nights last week. The most exciting bird sighting of the past week was of two bald eagles going after some Canada geese quietly feeding on the river. The eagles were dive bombing the geese. I believe they were trying to make the geese fly so that the eagles might pluck one out of the air for breakfast, but the geese stayed put, flapping their wings and calling loudly every time the eagles got close. I had no idea that eagles would prey on waterfowl, but one of my bird books does say that they do. I wanted to get a photo of this excitement, but my camera was not nearby. I was too interested in the goings on to leave the scene and find it, fearing I'd miss something. After about 20 minutes the eagles left, looking I suppose for an easier meal. Eagle sightings have become fairly common here on the river after many years of none at all.


The reason I haven't posted to my blog in a while is the mess in this photo ... I've been filing and trashing things I've been hanging onto (some may call it hoarding) for several years. I am ordinarily a very organized and tidy person but the last years have found me letting things go when it comes to important papers and such. The bills are always payed on time, but it's the rest of the stuff that has built up into stacks and piles all over the room. What you see in the photo is only one corner.

So far I've been able to completely clear my desk and get all of my new medicare papers filed in a place where I can find them. I've discarded many pieces of paper that are no longer relevant to anything in my life and have started shredding tax records and receipts that have been around well over 7 years and no longer necessary in the event that the IRS thinks I've been playing games with them, which I don't. My husband and I have been audited twice in our lives together and both times of no benefit to the government. But if you haven't saved every scrap of paper it is a big pain in the butt! And it takes time.

I can't tell you exactly why I've started this project at this time, except that it feels like the right thing to do at the beginning of January and I'm beginning to feel lighter and freer ... as though I'm losing weight and am able to move around more easily and joyously. HAH!!! I suppose that now that I've started cleaning up this mess I must finish it. I'm so glad it is too early for daffodils and tulips, because I'd be out in the garden getting my hands in the dirt right at this moment!!