Thursday, January 8, 2009

Oakley departs, the snow stays, the feeders are full and so it goes...


Our time with Oakley has passed as his family has returned from a wonderful time in Hawaii and no doubt a sense of peaceful relief has befallen him as the tormentor, our Maggie is no longer a part of his day, night and hopefully not a part of his nightmares!!! I'm sure Maggie wonders where he went but being easily distracted by anything that moves, crawls, flies or changes hew depending on the lighting, outside or in, has moved on to the next chapter of her now nine month old life.

The birds at the feeders continue to hold her attention from inside the house until she figures they're having way too much fun and clearly are asking her to come join in. Any vocalization at the patio door calling forth her servants to see her out, the door opened , a brief sniff and then the loping through the snow to the back fence where the feeding species are taken to flight, leaves Maggie wondering why they always fly away at her approach. Can't they see I'm friendly, that my tail is wagging and that secretly, I'm a bird too??? I know they congregate in trees, haven't they seen me in my tree; surely they can relate!!!

Now the snow transforms her world totally and makes old games new again as the running in the yard is now a romping; wet grasses are replaced with soft mounds of pristine whiteness, the damp coolness now has a cold embrace that challenges her coat of winter fur. Maggie takes it all in stride :) and obviously is in her element as the hours pass with her totally being occupied in the yard and then she returns to the warmth of the house with snow encrusted paws tapping on the tile floor, her muzzle still covered in snow, attesting to the scent of interest leeching its way up through the snow and a nose, a degree away from freezing that always finds bare skin to touch; her way os saying, "Did you miss me?"

There is a new game that's played as she forages through the yard, now two feet higher thanks to the persistent dumping of snow. Things that formerly held no special interest have a different vantage and suddenly what was perceived as possible has become attainable. Our patio table, clearly marking the depth of snowfall is now ready to be exploited as a resting place for her nibs. We're still perplexed as to the advantage of her being there other than to express the ages old game of, "I'm the queen of the castle, you're the dirty rascal" !!! :)

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