I  have some very happy woodpeckers and mockingbirds his morning. I went out and brought the bark butter paste feeders in last night and filled them just before I went to bed around 0100. This morning, despite the 18 degrees, they are out there happily having breakfast. I also put another gallon of water in the bird bath. It is a pretty popular place on these cold frozen mornings. Today I have sunflower seed feeders to fill, and --- maybe go get another 100 pounds of sunflower seed. The can is getting low.

Yesterday I posted a picture of the flock of robins that had come into the neighborhood and were eating the berries off of neighbor Dan's cedar tree. I'm guessing there may have been 50 -75 of them. They have already stripped the berries off of the holly trees. That is an annual occurrence. But I've not seen them in the cedar trees like that. It was fun to watch. When they are in a flock like that, they are really noisy and they are really messy. They poop as fast as they eat; they are as bad as a flock of geese with their mess. Every time they flock into my yard, my sidewalks end up being a mess.

It is a beautiful day. The sky is chrystal clear without a cloud. It took the mail out to the mail box and it didn't even feel that bad because the sun was giving off some warmth. However, this joy is going to be short-lived. The clouds are to move in this afternoon and bring the first of two snow storm this week. I fully expect to get up tomorrow morning to 3-5 inches of snow. It is supposed to be a night snow event and if it doesn't rain (which it isn't supposed to), removal won't be bad. I'll throw out my snow melt tonight before I go to bed. Round two is supposed to happen on Thursday and into Friday. That one looks like a rain/snow event but the temps are supposed to be warmer. (Yes, I watch my weather pretty close.)

I spent most of the day yesterday at the computer writing. I wrote my sermon for next week, (31st), and I started on a funeral service for the brother-in-law of a parishioner. I don't know the man but he isn't expected to last the week. I talked to the man's wife yesterday for a little bit and got a few particulars about him. I find it hard to write a funeral for someone who I don't know and who is "un-churched". But, I believe everyone deserves a proper funeral and I'm doing it as a favor for my parishioner.

The cardinals have been to the bird bath several times this morning and the sun is really making their plume a brilliant red. They are my constant reminder that God is still in His heaven and is still watching over his creation --- even down to the smallest bird. That's why I keep an electric bird bath and nineteen bird feeders going; --- it's my job. I was assigned this micro-patch of the earth to care for along with all the critters who pass through it. I try to remember that when God gave us dominion over the the earth, God didn't make us "the boss"; God made us "the servant". Have a blessed day.