I witnessed the funniest thing yesterday morning.  The neighbor's cat is a regular visitor in my yard through the summer.  He stays on my deck for days on end.  I was almost ready to leave for work and noticed that 'The Skinny' was sitting on my deck rail.  The funny part was the fact that the cat was sleeping, sitting up on my deck rail.  I watched for 5 minutes while he dozed.  He would start falling over, catch himself and sit up straight again.  It was rather amusing.

I have not been out to the trails for a few days.  Work has been keeping me busy but the animals must know that.  When I can't go to them, they seem to come to me.

On the way to work this morning I passed by the pond that until recently was covered in ice.  The waterfowl have found it since the surface opened up.  There were many kinds of ducks and geese swimming there this morning.  The surface was as smooth as glass.  The birds appeared to be thoroughly enjoying an early swim.

Further along the way, a young moose was nibbling on young willow branches.  I slowed to watch for a couple of minutes.  It did not mind me stopping to gawk at it.  A young deer was grazing in an open field.  It too glanced up as I slowed but it did not run away.  Numerous hawks were perched along the fence lines, waiting for movement in the tall grass.  It seemed that all of nature's creatures knew that I love watching them carry on with their daily activities.

I got home early enough today to see my backyard buddies.  The two mule deer have been coming faithfully between 7pm and 8pm.  They are quite the couple.  The female has a beautiful, shiny coat.  The male looks like he's been beaten up.  His coat is not sleek and shiny.  It looks battered.

Just as it began getting dark, snowflakes began to fall.  My yard has just dried up from the last snowfall.  I'm just beginning to get used to not having the snow on the ground.