I had to repair the cross wire, then hung the big feeder a bit higher than before. And considering the feeders now need to be taken down every night, I’m using a forked stick instead of the step ladder.
Bear-proof bird feeders?
Night Visitors
The same morning, thirty feet closer to the house. Notice his disdain for the barbecue grill.
Unknown critter near the front door two weeks earlier, neither bear nor boar?
Exciting, but no. I didn’t recognize it at first: it’s our own dog Lucy, being led by my almost invisible self.
Dahlgren Trail Half-Marathon
Fredericksburg Area Running Club members just before the 9am race start. In all there were 149 finishers: 80 men, 69 women. I ran 2:15:56, avg pace 10:23/mile, making me 11th of the 28 men over 50, and beating my 2024 time by 21 minutes.
8½”
Meanwhile, 141 miles to the northeast . . .
Tall oak’s final day
Eugenio Cruz the tree man noticed woodpecker holes and the decay on both trunks above the fork. A second opinion agreed it was a fatal flaw in this tall white oak only 35 feet from the house. So piece by piece four men took about four hours to remove it today.
After the fact photos by Eugenio Cruz
A walk in the woods
Photo by Elspeth, about 3pm, in the Nine Corners. The 9″ snow of a week prior was down to about 3″, crisp but yielding. This was the first day of temperature up to about 45°F, 7°C, but nobody got muddy. It’s the dead leaves on the birches seeming here to be almost glowing in the sun. Lots of animal tracks, including squirrel, rabbit, and deer. Tim wondered if we’d spotted black bear pawprints.
Utilizing . . .
…dog-poop bags. Winter running tip by Erin.
Twelfth Night
Dog walk about 10pm under a bright half moon following our 9″ snowfall.
Our Christmas lights finale:
Next day, about 8am, before snow-blowing the final 2″:
Photo by Sandy:
Our treehouse lights seem to have outlasted Twelfth Night.
Christmas Climb
Christmas Day Zoom
