I got up late this morning and was half an hour late to school. On the way out, I found that I had run out of heating fuel! In the car, I found that the car was nearly out of gas! The spoon for my breakfast fell on the car floor. Ewww! They had not made my copies for my first class as I had texted, so I did them and messed them up so that someone else had to re-do them for me.
But all my classes went very well today and that was a blessing. I could spend all my time fretting about the cost of heating oil. I got the car filled with gas ($65) and I noticed that the sheep were out in a field nearby, so they would be my simple photo of the day. I ordered oil, paid for it (I can only afford 100 gallons at a time anymore; it is $4.42 a gallon now, which is down by over $2 from the summer).
But I also had to visit other blogs! I haven't done so for days and I am thankful that nobody has complained. And then…I turned the corner to go around the north beach of Willoughby Lake, and there they were. Four bald eagles. FOUR. Someday I will tell you about my bald eagle sighting debacles, but they are long stories, so they can wait.
Until just a few years ago, maybe just ten years ago, bald eagles were extirpated from Vermont. Every neighboring state and province had them except us. Since they have returned, all of my friends and children have seen them. I have only seen them when I staked out a site that has been told to me by others. I am now infamous for not-finding-an-eagle. But no more!
There were a couple of other people, and a cyclist, there at the lake, but they didn't seem to care. My bug camera, which would have been perfect for eagle shots, was at home warm and dry. Well, at least it was dry. Not warm. So all I had, again, was the cell phone.
I uploaded my report to iNaturalist, where one should be staid, sedate, and professional. Yet, this is what I posted in the notes on my observation:
Today was a wonderful day despite every other awful thing that went wrong. You can't buy anything as good as that awesome feeling when you watch eagles soar. Thank you all for your patience with my blog visits this week, for your visits, and your marvelous comments. I'm sure I will miss days again and again during school, but I sorely miss all of you and the stories of your lives. I will catch up and visit your posts that I have missed! Oh! And thank you for reading this entirely too long post! 💓
 |
| More thanks at Brian's Home |
