Pileated Woodpecker pics, that is! I got quite the thrill today as I drove down our street on my way home from town, and I didn’t have my camera with me. I wanted to kick myself! Right by the side of the road, impossible to miss, was a Pileated Woodpecker pecking away at a tree. He was HUGE! and GORGEOUS. Darn, why did I forget that camera? I drove home as fast as I could, unloaded the dogs from the car into the house, grabbed my camera and a fresh battery and drove back down to where he had been. Would he still be there? YES. The bird gods were with me today.

I’ve always thought of them as Woody Woodpeckers, since they inspired the cartoon character. [ You know: Heh-heh-heh-HEH-heh!” ] I knew we had Pileateds around but I had heard that people don’t actually see them very much as they are known to be shy birds. This one was not too shy since I just drove up next to the side of the road and put my window down. He didn’t budge. Too busy getting yummy bugs out of his new hole. You can see how he was twisting his head around to get just the right angle.

To give you an idea of how big he was [about the size of a small crow, around 17 inches tall] I took this photo of the tree he was on. You can see he’s been very busy drilling holes—it must be a favorite tree of his. In the photos above you can see his tail is covering the hole below while he pecks away at the one above. Now look at the photo below and you will get an idea of his size. The two highest holes on the left hand side of the tree is where he was. That kind of puts his size in perspective for you.

From now on my camera goes with me. Everywhere. No matter if it’s just a short, boring jaunt into town. Because you just never know what you might see.

To read more about Pileated Woodpeckers, follow this link.

©Lynne Robinson 2007

As I type this entry, a frigid wind is driving a wintry mix of snow/sleet against the windows. It’s kind of a cozy sound, not much different than rain. Tap, tap, tap. Like grains of rice being thrown against them. It falls in blinding white sheets of frozen precipitation. BRRR. It’s now turning to ice and accumulating in piles that look like pillars of salt. Bizarre. I wish it was snow instead of this.

Rick is on his way home from work now at 12:30 p.m. I hope he makes it okay. Hopefully they’ve been out sanding the roads.

Uh, oh. The lights just flickered. Oh no.

I think the expression on this Blue Jay’s face says it all.

That seems to be the question tonight as be supposedly brace for our first real winter storm here in New Jersey. There is excitement in the air; from the weather forecasters, to the hardware store where snow shovels and bags of salt are finally selling, to neighbors starting up their snowblowers just to see if they still run. After all, predictions of about a foot of snow, maybe more, is big news.

But, as we all know, Mother Nature can be very fickle. Frankly, I don’t believe it until I see it. Too many false hopes. Of course, it’s supposed to snow the hardest while we are fast asleep, cozy in our bed. Robbing me once again of the pleasure of watching the snow fall. But, I’m not complaining. IF it does indeed snow as heavily as they are predicting, my hubby and I will have a nice snow day to enjoy together. That is, of course, unless the power goes out. Alas, we also have ice and freezing rain in that prediction. You know what that means: power outages.

Something really unheard of back in Colorado where all the power lines are underground. Not so in the East. Power lines vie for space with trees in our part of the country. Very, very vulnerable. So today I went to our local Sears Hardware store and bought a telescoping shovel with a smaller scoop for use on the deck and all the freakin’ stairs, and an additional lantern. Now, of course we all know because I am ready, prepared, and totally hoping for this first major storm of the year to hit, it probably won’t.

I’ll be ready just in case.

Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We’ll weather the weather
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.
—anonymous—

Jackson Square was established in 1721 as a drill field and has been known under many different names during French and Spanish rule. In 1848 it was given its present name, and in 1865 this statue of General Jackson on his rearing horse was erected. It was the first equestrian statue with more than one hoof unsupported.

St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in the United States and the third church on this site. The first church was demolished by a hurricane in 1722, four years after New Orleans was founded. The cathedral was completed in 1851, and in 1964 Pope Paul VI made a visit and designated it a minor basilica.

The beautiful iron-fenced garden square in back of the cathedral is known as St. Anthony’s Square [or Cathedral Garden]. I couldn’t resist poking my camera in-between the fence rails to take this photo. It seemed as if the statue, with its arms raised in supplication, was asking for protection of the houses surrounding it. The square had a feeling of peacefulness that washed over me the minute I saw it.