Sunday, February 01, 2015

Breakfast on the Deck

I hear it’s winter in some parts of the world. I certainly can’t verify that locally. Lana was up before me this morning and when I got up she had the air conditioner running. Then I went out to feed the birds, and though there was some rain last night today’s skies were bright and blue. It was so nice that we decided to have our breakfast on the deck. I made bacon and eggs and toast while Lana set up the table and chairs. We even had a tablecloth this morning. How classy is that?

The primary signs of winter that we could see were, 1) the carpet of dead leaves in the back yard and the steady fall of others leaves, and 2) the types of birds swarming our feeders. Most of these were goldfinches and chipping sparrows, which are migrants that come through here during the winter. A few of the local cardinals came around but seemed rather bewildered at all the newcomers. We counted around eighty birds in and out of the trays in the yard as we ate. I’m sure we missed quite a few.

Sometimes these days I feel pretty tired and old. But a morning like this renews me, centers me, teaches me again the things I’ve forgotten about what is important in life. Good food, good talk, good companionship, and nature.



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28 comments:

Unknown said...

From the rusty belt buckle of the Bible Belt on the Redneck Riviera: Color me envious: breakfast = toast and banana / weather = gray, cold, and raining (again)

Unknown said...

Love you so much. :)

Cloudia said...

Feels great just reading about it, you two!



ALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
<3

Charles Gramlich said...

R. T., my sympathies

Lana, love youse

Cloudia, am glad to hear

Adventuresfantastic said...

Sounds like a great morning. The thought of bacon and eggs is making me hungry.

Paul R. McNamee said...

Sounds and looks great.

sage said...

Sounds like a lovely morning--everyone back in Michigan were sending out Facebook notices about today's snow storm and I had to counter with photos of my afternoon of sailing.

Charles Gramlich said...

Keith, one of my favorite meals.

Paul, a good day.

Sage, we know how to live eh? :)

Vesper said...

So wonderful, Charles...
*big sigh...*
It's minus 1 F now in Montreal and it feels like minus 17 F... with blowing snow on the way...

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Charles, I consider "Good food, good talk, good companionship, and nature" as some of the good things of life. Simple living, high thinking.

Brian Miller said...

ah that does sound like a good morning...it got pretty nice yesterday....pouring rain now....still no white stuff this year, that kinda sucks....

Charles Gramlich said...

Vesper, that sounds pretty nasty.

Prashant, absolutely

Brian, we did get some more rain late in the evening but all in all it was a nice day.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Cool you were able to enjoy breakfast outside. Like camping but without leaving the house.

Tom Doolan said...

8 inches of snow covering my car when I went out to go to work this morning. I envy the weather of the southern US. It's nice to rest and rejuvenate. we all need that from time to time. :)

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello,

To have a leisurely breakfast outdoor in the company of lovely birds,surrounded with a lovely weather, sitting with a wonderful companion and chatting is the height of happiness.

Many of us can't even dream of this.

Interesting photo.

Best wishes

Snowbrush said...

Oh, my god, even that little bit of scenery looks like where I'm from. I so hunger for pictures like that, so anytime you won't to show us your area, I would be here with bells on to see it.

It's so warm here in western Oregon that I mowed on Saturday, and the crocuses and daffodils are well underway to the time when they will bless me with their blooms.

ivan@creativewriting.ca said...

So freezin' cold up here in Lower Slobbovia.
Mother Capp says, "Sharrup little Noodnick...even the walrus has ears." lol

Merisi said...

You must me kidding, the air conditioner running?

So glad to see you and Lana enjoying life.
Cheers,
Merisi

X. Dell said...

Go ahead. Rub it in.

Charles Gramlich said...

Alex, Lana and I have actually camped in our backyard a few times.

Tom, that's a lot of white shit.

Joseph, absolutely. Thanks for stopping by.

Snowbrush, I'll put up some more pics of our area.

Ivan, Lana's bones like the warmth.

Merisi, that was kind of what I said when I realized the AC was on. I asked why she didn't just open a window. It was pretty cool outside that morning.

X-Dell, as Picard says, "Make it so."

Riot Kitty said...

Nice! What a neat vignette.

I can't vouch for winter here, either - it has been unseasonably warm. With my luck we'll have another February snowstorm on our lobby day.

Charles Gramlich said...

Riot, thankee. On Tuesday now, I'm missing the weekend and my deck. Much colder today too.

Rick Robinson said...

Nice, very nice. We're seeing Black-Capped Chickadees (year round), Juncos, Northern Flickers, Thrushes, Downey Woodpeckers, Spotted Tohees and a lot of others. Most of our birds are year-round.

BernardL said...

A wonderful setting, my friend.

Steve Malley said...

Mmmm, nice! It actually *is* summer here, and we don't get it that sweet :)

Charles Gramlich said...

Richard, we've got chickadees here too, and local nuthatches. We see a lot of different woodpeckers during the year but almost all during breeding season and not much the rest of the year.

Bernard, it was very nice indeed.

Steve, congrats on the new edition, man.

Ron Scheer said...

Eating a meal out of doors does wonders.

Erik Donald France said...

Fantastic, Charles!