It was a gray day for a walk.
Surprise! A gray catbird in December! North Carolina must be one of the places they migrate to in the winter. I’ve never seen one in Connecticut after September or before May.
~ Mary Oliver (Catbird)
we humans have learned to tilt our caps, in envy.
~ Mary Oliver (Catbird)
But it was a great day for a walk. A good break from busy, busy, busy…
wonderful, just wonderful!
Thank you, Leelah!
perhaps my catbird (who left in late june or july) is now your catbird! please send him back in may 🙂
What state are you in, Ren? Next time I see him I’ll give him your message! 🙂
Ohio! <3
Great! But he may not want to make that trip until spring. 🙂
Looks like October, does that feel strange?
It does feel strange, Eliza! I stumbled across this quote this morning which agrees with your observation:
“The winter most commonly is so mild, that it looks like an Autumn, being now and then attended with clear and thin Northwest Winds that are sharp enough to regulate English Constitutions…”
~ John Lawson (The Natural History of Carolina, 1709)
I so enjoyed this celebration of life in winter, Barbara. Your surprise and delight at finding the catbird, and a singing one, too. Lovely holiday touches with the Christmas fern and holly. And wonderful to read Mary Oliver’s special words here too.
Winter is looking very different down south here and seems to have a beauty all its own. Catbirds singing in December — it feels like a surreal but special Christmas gift from Mother Nature. There are lots of evergreens to enjoy, too. Thank you so much for your kind words, as always, my friend.
This is a pretty walk for this late in the year (we are similarly having lovely early Fall temps until the bottom falls out tomorrow night). Barbara, that little squirrel peeking out is adorable. I like the holly you’ve captured. I have never seen holly while out on a walk, however, my own holly bush has berries this year. That doesn’t happen all the time, so a touch of color is in the front garden. I especially like your catbird pictures – I have never seen a catbird.
My friend, who grew up in Connecticut with me but has been living down here for many years, told me that when she first moved here she felt like the seasons went straight from autumn to spring, skipping winter entirely. But, I have to say, even though it looks like autumn out there, there have been mornings with temps in the 20s, even though we have had some days in the 70s. That adorable squirrel just warmed my heart. I wonder how long he was watching me photograph the holly before I noticed him! I would enjoy having a holly bush so close to my house — enjoy looking at your berries while they last. The internet says catbirds arrive in Michigan in mid-May. Maybe this will be the year for you!
It will be difficult totally acclimating to your new normal Barbara after years of living in Connecticut. Your morning temps in the 20s are downright cold. Good thing you didn’t discard your cold weather wear (and Tim has a new heavy coat now from your trip in the Fall and those cold temps). We’ve had such nice weather and now tomorrow will bring snow squalls, rain (hopefully not freezing rain), just to remind us of the reality of December. That squirrel is so cute – the Eastern Gray Squirrels are endearing. Hope Fred is still warming your heart as well.
For years I used to make two Christmas arrangements, one for home and one for my desk. I’d cut sprigs of holly off the bush and I’d go to the nursery and get a few red and white carnations, some florist foam, a pine bough and greening. We had a couple of “Christmas picks” to put inside and we had a nice arrangement that lasted at least a couple of weeks. I almost lost this holly bush after the first Polar Vortex. It appeared to be dead – all brown and so I cut it to about a foot from the ground. I planted the whole front garden in in 1985, so the roots were big and I intended to get the handyman to could pull the bush out as I was/am not that strong. I was upset as it was a mature bush (almost 30 years since planting that garden) and would leave a huge hole in the front garden. So, it looked bad and I decided to see if I could revive it and poured a whole bag of “Holly-tone” plant food (made specifically for holly bushes). In a few weeks, I had tiny green shoots … it grew back healthy and is as tall and in proportion to the rest of the garden now.
I will have to look for catbirds having seen your photo. I bought a bird book a few years ago but you know how easy it is to use Google Images to I.D. anything.
Your Christmas arrangements sound so beautiful! Did you take any pictures of them over the years? I would never have thought of using red and white carnations in holiday décor, but it’s a classic color combination. I’m happy you were able to bring your holly bush back to life after the polar vortex and you can keep on enjoying it. Do you still use it for decorations?
No, sadly I didn’t take any pictures of the arrangements Barbara, but I am sure I still have the mugs. They were the head of a snowman, so very cute. The red and white carnations with the greening was very festive – the colors of the season. I really only noticed the holly’s berries recently. Since the groundhog burrow debacle, after he took the trap away and I filled the burrow/hole, he told me to check around the house every day to ensure a groundhog would not try to dig anywhere else, since my neighbor had three burrows at his house. So, I faithfully check every morning and saw the holly bush berries. I normally don’t go around that way. I have to see if I have my folder on what the exact names of the bushes are at the house to see what type of holly it is. I know you have to have a male and female bush for there to be berries for some varieties of holly; for other varieties, it produces berries every other year. They are actually complex bushes when you think of it.
If you decide to make some new holly arrangements this year it would be fun to see pictures of them in the snowman mugs. I’m looking forward to learning what kinds of bushes I have here. My neighbor identified one as a wax myrtle. Can’t wait to see what it looks like this spring.
I looked and have about a dozen berries on this big holly bush – hmm. So it would be one big sprig of holly, but at least it is producing again. I looked in all the photo albums I have digitized so far to see if I had pictures of the mug in the background, but did not. I could easily go to Michael’s next year and buy the “picks” and floral foam, but it would be nicer to have the real deal, as it smells so fragrant. However, when I made my two snowmen mug arrangements, there were lots of florists around here then. I will have to do some sleuthing before Christmas next year.
Anne Mehrling did a post about a crepe myrtle once – I had never seen or heard of a myrtle and now you have another type of myrtle. Maybe they are for warmer climates than Michigan. It will be fun to see what bushes produce blooms next Spring.
When we were out driving here in the middle of summer we kept seeing a tree with blossoms, as if it was spring. I found out it was crepe myrtle and started seeing them everywhere when we were out doing errands or exploring. I’m pretty sure we didn’t have them up north. So pretty to have a tree blossoning in summer. And pansies growing here in December… It seems like another world! I’m sure I will post pictures of the wax myrtle when it blooms and maybe next summer I’ll get some crepe myrtle pictures, too.
Maybe by next winter your holly will have two sprigs to work with!
Her crepe myrtle bush was gorgeous … I’ll bet we don’t have them in the more northern grow zones. I will keep my fingers crossed the holly does better next year and I can make a Christmas mug.
Looking forward to seeing it! 🙂
I love the catbird — what a find! I had to Google to hear what he sounds like (nothing like a cat!!). Sometimes gray days make for the best photos, as your prove here.
And maybe gray days are great for finding gray birds! 😉 I used to think the only call catbirds had was that cranky meow, until the day I saw one singing. They are related to mockingbirds and sound lovely when they do decide to sing.
It was a great gray day! Love love! the squirrel playing peek-a-boo and the oakleaf hydrangea composition is beautiful. How exciting to find AND capture your catbird, yay! Some of ours stay year-round, so I am tickled that I have at least one in my backyard still. 🙂
Thank you, Donna! You are lucky to have a few year-round catbirds so I think that means I will see them year-round, too. 🙂 The day seemed so dreary but that cheerful catbird reminded me that gray is a dashing color, especially on him. 😉 That squirrel warmed my heart, too.
Oh, a squirrel and holly! They are both pretty special sightings. <3
I thought so, too. It was a simple but magical outing! ♡