Snow! And ice! And freezing temperatures! Everywhere! Do you have them too? I've been quite elated (except for that part where the weather cancelled our plans to go out of town of a day or two — wah) by the cold and am enjoying every minute of it. I love it. We've only really had one day of snow and many days of cold, but they say there might be more snow on the way today.
What do you think of my hawk picture??? Weirdest thing: Meems and I were setting out for a long walk on Sunday afternoon. About a block away from the house I saw the light shining through those seed pod things and wanted to take a picture of them. I debated going back for my camera; I almost didn't. We went back, got it, took a snap of the pods, and we continued on our way. It was strangely quiet. Amelia was asleep in the stroller. It was sunny and very cold, and for some reason (I guess no one wanted to go out in it) I could hardly hear any traffic (usually it's quite loud) and we hadn't seen a single car. I thought about what our neighborhood was like when it was just woods. I used to think this about my neighborhood at home, too; when you look at those giant oak trees, you feel like you can see settlers. The sun shone low in the sky behind bare branches. We walked another few blocks when suddenly there was the most awful and startling noise: bird violence, and in the air. I'd never heard the sound before, but I knew what it was somehow. I thought I'd seen a swoop and a flash some ways up the road but I couldn't be sure. We turned the corner and there, in the middle of the street — a Cooper's hawk, straddling a bluejay, the pair of them all giant wings and eyes. I stopped in my tracks, and an oncoming car rolled quietly toward us all, and stopped a few feet from the birds. We were all frozen, when suddenly the jay sprang back to life and made a break for it. He darted, low and sharp, toward the houses, stunned to be flying. The hawk casually hopped into a tree and looked around: Oh well. He cleaned something off his chest. I dove for my camera, tucked into that (maddening) net basket under the stroller and started snapping pictures as fast as I could. He was about twenty or thirty feet from me, not more. I snapped and snapped, amazed that he sat. Snap snap snap. I could see a very bundled couple walking their dog coming toward me. Snapsnapsnap. I tried to wave them off, knowing they would flush him, but they didn't understand my waves and points. He sat in the tree until they got right up to it, oblivious to him, and then he flapped off. They noticed the camera and said something polite like, "Oh, how nice, a crow" and I was apoplectic with frustration, excitement, and delight, sputtering, "It was a HAWK!!!" Oh! I showed them the photos on my camera's little LCD screen. Wow! Cool! We each told our only hawk stories from the neighborhood — it's so rare to see one! They watched one divebombing at the park a few years ago; I saw one other in our front yard tree one afternoon, and thought I was hallucinating. It made my day.
City peeps. We need to get out more, don't we!!! :)
*The dancing photos are from ScanFair, and yes, I'm still fiddling with CHAI. I can't stop.
**Her peasant dress and blouse are from Alice à Paris, and her booties are from Misha and Puff.
Some lovely bunader and folkedans in the pictures too!
Fantastic hawk pic. Well done.
Yes, that hawk is awesome but that little scrunched-face girl is the best of the bunch! :-)
The hawk shot is amazing, I love the pattern of he feathers on her breast. It's annoying how the best things always happen on no camera days. It was worthwhile going back home. A red kite (European bird of prey) landed so close to me a couple of weeks ago, I was gutted I didn't have my camera with me. I get a bit lazy it's so heavy, I like to travel light.
Amelia's hair looks so cute in bunches, very grown up. Love the screwed up nose photo. She reminds me so much of my daughter when she was the same age.
Thanks for always sharing these perfect moments.
debx
Oh - the ponytails. Love.
Pigtails,that face,the Hawk, I see a Clover and some decorating going on! And yes,it's freezing here in Pittsburgh, I don't mind the snow but I hate the ice. Now I'm going to scrub my tub so I can soak by candle light, read a book and drink some tea, thanks for the great idea!
yehhh CHAI - I had not been here in a while (don't blog much anymore)
Read the post / links on froth~er / tea.
Okay ! ORDERED . It Came. Opened - ---anddd
ADDICTION IN PROGRESS.
Thx for extra pounds I am putting on with this delicious milk / cream ! ha
(because denial and blame are characteristic addiction)
No but really , Loving My Big Girl Tea Toy. Thank You for info. FUN
The pig tails are too much precious for one little girl, oh my!
I cannot believe the Hawk shot, just wow!
The hawk photo is beautiful. We have a hawk around the neighborhood too but I've never been able to get a picture of him. I love those pigtails too.
I have fiddled with chai too. The last go around, I used Heather's recipe: http://beautythatmoves.typepad.com/beauty_that_moves/2013/01/homemade-chai.html
I grated the ginger and maybe added a touch more. I also used half as much milk. So far, it's been my favorite. I think the grated ginger, for me, is what did the trick. In my mind I'm trying to duplicate this pot I had at this Indian restaurant in San Diego. The adorable Indian woman just told me it was made with Love :)
TUS FOTOS SIEMPRE TAN REALES Y HERMOSAS.
QUE LINDA Y GRANDE ESTA LA NENA!!!
ME ENCANTA TODO LO QUE PONES PERO NUNCA ME CONTESTAS.
NI UN COMENTARIO.
SALUDITOS
HAHAHAHAA!! i LOVE everything you just said!! and ohmygosh the little monkey's funny face. love her xoxoxox
We are city folk. So. Cal city folk at that. And yet there was a hawk that would frequent my backyard when the kids were little. I figured it out watching from the window one day. The boys had a little plastic golf set. There were forever white plastic golf balls on our lawn. The hawk thought he might have some eggs...and boy was he disappointed. You might toss some plastic golf balls in your yard next spring and wait to see if a bird of prey comes.
Loved Scanfair. My girls were so enchanted by the crowning of Oregon's Lucia. It will be all the more magical when we celebrate this Friday. I am with you on wishing for more snow
Oh the pigtails!!!
Those pigtails!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love. :)
Gorgeous hawk photo!
I want to come give Mimi a hug and sing her some of my favorite toddler play songs. I bet she'd be up for an energetic round of "Tick Tock Tick Tock, I'm a Little Cuckoo Clock."
We have hawks in our yard but I've never been that close to them. Your picture is beautiful! We had two foxes chasing each other through the snow today. I need to keep my camera nearby from now on so I can capture all of this! I am also glad we decided not to keep chickens in our yard!
We had a red-tailed hawk move onto my college campus my junior/senior year. It was fun to watch--mostly because it terrorized the our very large squirrel population. (It took the squirrels a few weeks to understand that the hawk was NOT their friend.)
oh my i can't believe you had a hawk in a neighborhood! i am a bit jaded when it comes to hawks...we have them here on the farm and they are quite fun to watch and i do love their call, but little olive (my 5# yorkie poo) makes a run for it anytime she hears them! i know they could pick her up quick as a wink! but the best, the BEST, is amelia's PIG TAILS!!!! there just aren't enough pig tails in the world.
How wonderful, my biggest boy is a birdwatcher, and we would have been completely thrilled as well. I love Mimi's wonderful warm cosy trousers - I need some like that!
The pigtails… absolutely precious!!!
you are making me so homesick for portland on so many levels - i loved those snowy days when the whole city shut down because they have no idea how to deal with it there, and the years i spent studying birds in portland's parks, complete with coopers hawks attacking my lovely little study specimens. and your girl - she has the best faces ever! i didn't get to enjoy the city with my kids (we lived there before we had kids and now live in vermont), but regularly miss portland madly... thank you for your lovely post, alicia!
Hawks sit in my backyard all the time, and catch squirrels and eat them, Right there, like it was Cracker Barrel or something. I don't take pictures of that> But your hawk was nice, it wasn't eating anybody.
Oh dear. That sweet face in the second shot of her. That scrunched up sweet adorable face. If anyone is ever down, all one need do is look at that photo for instant cheer. Sweet Mimi. Sweet sweet sweet sweet pea.