Smart and brave

No doubt about it, the smartest, bravest little birds are the chickadees and the titmice. At long last, the dogs and I are back in the apartment in the woods in my small college on the hill.

It's been a long time since I've put out the seed and the suet for the wild birds and my window was sadly very quiet for most of this morning when it seemed no birds had yet realized that I was back.

But that changed completely only a minute ago when a little chickadee and two titmice came over to see if there was any sign of life here. To their delight, they found a lot of seed strewn on the window sill outside, a suet cake hanging from the up-to-now empty basket, and seed poured into the small window-box feeder. Now, there's an eye-feast of birds out there, including two nuthatches that came to find out what all the chickadees were chattering about.

(A red-bellied woodpecker just came, too!)

I'm already settled and the dogs are in their appointed places, snoozing away contentedly after I gave them a short walk in the snow. While it was mostly clear when I left my little city, the snow caught up with me once I arrived at this northern county and it's been spitting snow since I arrived an hour or so ago.

That means that instead of taking the car everywhere, as I mostly do at home, I'll be walking to my department, to the post office, and to the bookstore for some supplies. Later, when I get back here, I'll have to take the car to the grocery store to stock up. But I'm looking forward to a brisk walk in the snow across the tiny town that hugs the small college on the hill.

Tomorrow, I start teaching again. Hopefully, this semester will be as rewarding as the last one. At any rate, I'll take my cue from the smart and brave little birds now flitting in and out of view through my large picture window: I'll welcome any challenges and opportunities that come my way.