Nature Invents New Color!

Yesterday, I had to finish scouting the Futch after work...I got there a little late, but just in time to see the swans fly in and the sun to set...I also had to pay taxes on my vehicle. The due date on the taxes was January 1...the clerk's office wasn't open that day - so I am not sure why it was due then if nobody could take my payment...I do not enjoy paying taxes on something I already own...but there are 2 things you can be certain about in life, I guess.

On the other hand, the world can surprise you like it did me yesterday at sunset. As I was trouncing back to my vehicle, I noticed the spectacular sunset. 9 out of 10 sunsets here are better than 10 out of 10 sunsets anywhere else, and yesterday was no different. I think a new color was invented in that sunset...I will call it palmetto pink. Here it is...and I cropped it out of the terrible, uneven picture of the setting sun....there are also sime pictures of swans I saw yesterday, too - try to enjoy them!





"Palmetto Pink"







There's a neck banded swan in this picture...find it!
































Enjoy the day...

Endangered Species Sighting

This morning, I decide to go and scout the J Morgan Futch Waterfowl Impoundments, out near Alligator. Driving around in the early morning can be grog-inducing, but not around here...my encounters with all types of wildlife have reduced me and my speed to cautious levels of travel velocity. I have seen loads of deer, some bear, a coyote, and this morning a Red Wolf.

The Red Wolf used to be all over the South. Ranging from Texas in the west all the way to the coast and as far north as New York, the Red Wolf was an apex predator. Red Wolves aren't like other canids in the wild. They don't really hunt in packs. They are also a little smaller than the gray wolf, and also lack the gray wolfs fluffy coat. The Red Wolf's ears a little bigger, too. This help the red wolf dissipate hot North Carolina heat.

Killed to virtual extinction, there are less than 300 in the wild...with 95% of them being right here in Tyrrell, Hyde, and Dare Counties. They were reintro'ed back in 1987 at the Alligator River NWR...and several other places, including the Smokies...yet most were eventually captured and "re-reintroduced" in our area. While not thriving, they are spreading out a little. At some point, some have had to actually cross the Alligator River, which is the border between Dare and Tyrrell County. Dogs can swim, but the Allligator is 4 miles wide in places, but it is reduced to a trick around Kilkenny. All of the other Red Wolves I have seen were in Tyrrell County. So the swim must not be bad...

People often confuse the red wolf with a coyote...Coyotes can't exist where a population of other larger dogs has staked a claim...and coyotes are a little to lazy to peruse the pocosin for prey. Coyotes will scavenge road kill, though. Folks tell me I'm not seeing red wolves - they argue that its a coyote. Here's how I know...

I grew up in Alabama...if there are three things I can recognize immediately they are: Barbecue, Coyotes, and Armadillos. A coyote has a slightly narrower snout - they also have "pointy" head shape, where a wolf would have a more square jaw...kinda like Brad Pitt. Also, unless the Federal researchers have started radio-collaring coyotes, I am pretty sure I am only seeing red wolves.

So, how did I encounter this specimen...On Bay Post Office Road and the intersection of Raccoon Road, sat a wild red wolf, defficating on the double yellow. It's a sharp turn, so I didn't see him until nearly tooooo late. My Jeeps bumper was on the brink of extirpation, as was this rare dog. Luckily, he pardoned my jeep, but the double yellow line now has some endangered feces. He was lucky...so was my Jeep, but so was I for being able to interrupt one of the rarest predators in the world, in his time of privacy...

This weekend we have "Envirothon"...they will be here throughout the weekend - I am sure I'll be "on call", so I'll be around. It's also the final weekend of the North Carolina waterfowl season. Youth Day is February 6, and despite my short stature, I would not pass for a 15 year old. I'll be taking a buddy though - it's his first duck hunt...and if you can take someone on youth waterfowl day, yo ushould...if you need some advice on where to go, I can also help you with that...

Enjoy the day...

It's Winter, Where's my snow

I wish this would happen again...

Speaking of decoys...

The East Carolina Wildfowl Guild will hosts it's annual decoy festival February 5-7 in "little" Washington...It's my annual "cap" on the North Carolina Waterfowl season. I really enjoy the tradition and heritage wrapped up in Atlantic Flyway waterfowling. It's all about the decoys, and this fest does it right. I like to see the old "working" decoys...the ones that someone's grandfather inherited from his grandfather. Roughly carved from wood, usually cypress, or some other relatively buoyant wood. The best ones are the ones that were adrift for years after breaking loose from some old-timey market gunner's spread...even better if they were discovered years later in the mud around somewhere like the Susquehanna Flats, Barnegat Bay, or Currituck Sound.

Yeah, some people can carve beautiful mantelpieces, and there will be plenty down there, but they are virtually useless...never collect anything, whose primary function was/is to collect dust. I think the festival is $10 for a 3 day pass and there is a ton of art to see, as well as a calling competition that I could probably enter...and win laughs. Yet, I still fancy myself a fair to middlin' caller, but that was earned from my Mississippi relationships...it's all about decoys on this coast, and the ECWG is the place to see some of the oldest and best...and if yo decide to visit...please pick me up one of the old Mason decoys...or something in cork. The only thing better than this festival is...CAMP CANVASBACK, our one-of-a-kind youth waterfowl camp...yeah other states have them, but ours is like college - you really need to attend all 4 tracts to be a seasoned, albeit, young waterfowler.

Enjoy the day...

Winday

Today is Winday....the first day of the week. I think some of my hait blew out in that 50 mile an hour southerly gust - which sped my travel into the office. If hair did blow out - the rain caught it and returned it to the earth. That's nasty...but so is the weather. Hurricane season will be here June 1, but unless it calms down soon, many folks will be none the wiser.

Two inches of rain, again. This has been the rainiset year of my life. Not that it really matters. I am just a little pawn in Mother Nature's wonder ways. Over the weekend, I spent some time waterfowling of Hushmouth Point in the Pamlico. Want to feel small? Spend an hour in the Pamlico. Want to feel lost? Spend 30 seconds in the pocosin. Only in the pocosin can up seem down, down seem up, and left can seem right. Right is always right, and don't forget that...

The next time (or the first time) Bear Grylls calls me for a recommendation, I gonna tell him to visit the pocosin around Stumpy Point and Engelhard. Will he win in his Man vs. Wild... Here's why not:

1) To survive, one needs food, water, and shelter - and oxygen to breathe. There's nothing to eat in the pocosin, other than cattails. But you really want to cook them...there a lot like a really starchy potato. The water, which is the color of sweet tea is hardly potable. A UV Sterilizer pen wouldn't work well in that water. In the pocosin, everything is so wet, that absolutley nothing will ever catch fire, especially this year. One thing will burn - cattail seed heads...they'll go up like gasoline, but there has to be some dry sticks to keep it going. There's some shelter out there...you'll need to find an old cypress and climb into it...you could also cut several hundred cattails and build a nest above the floating grass mats...this works, but would take all day. Oxygen - there is some out there...but enjoying the swamp gas will be necessary.

2) The pocosin is a lot like a Jackson Pollack painting...somebody called his works a "beautiful mess". That's what the pocosin is to a lot of folks. They only see it when cruising to the beach. Get out in it, just take rope and tie it your car. Dropping breadcrumbs will only get you tracked by the nearest quarter ton bear. If carnivorous animals were the only things you had to worry about you still be in trouble, but there's even carnivorous plants. The mosquitoes alone could tote Bear Grylls off...that might be his savior. Unless he falls into one of the many sink holes formed by an old peat fire.

3) Bear Grylls likes to find a nearby river. Go ahead...say "Hello" to the big gators I have seen in every river around here. The gar can take afinger off, and the bowfin can just give you the creeps. The snags and duck weed on the surfaces can mar one up for days.

4) Nobody else lives in the pocosin. There's no one to call for help. Loneliness is your only companion, but it'll never leave your side. No one else would be silly enough to traipse around out there.

5) There are no hotels for him to stay in at night. Most of his events are staged. He's not "lost". But even the "Survivorman" Les Stroud couldn't handle it...otherwise they would have already been here.

The pocosin is the gateway to some of the world's most spectacular beaches. Anything worth seeing or doing has it's obstacles. There are no "Keep Out" signs on the fringes of the pocosin (well, only at the Dare Bombing Range)...but I imagine that there are some signs deep in the pocosin that read "Keep In"...cause that's what is gonna happen. All types of great paces have great security. The White House, Norad, even the North Pole probably has security. Rumor has it that a new highway is gonna be forged through the pocosin enrout to the beach. A four lane to the beach...How about the Dismal Swamp Canal...George Washington built a ditch in the water and it took long enough...a road? Good luck, but please leave us with some great views.

Enjoy the day...

Rain, Rain, Blow Away

Come again another day...This has the been the rainiest year I can ever remember. Before long, my yard will be soundfront property! Rain can give a lot of people the blues or just get them sick. Cold rain like this certainly prevents my cold from healing. Nevertheless, there are upsides to rain...

10) The next time it raining, put a tarp in the yard. Then pour some dish soap on it. If your child has trouble bathing, simply market your invention to your child (or stinky friend), as a Slip and Slide. They will be clean after 17 slides. Be prepared to hose them off.

9) If you know that there will be a monsoon, go out and by some environmentally friendly soap...use this to wash your dishes in the rain. Do this close enough to your neighbors, so that they can enjoy the scene. Take plenty of pictures if you can talk your spouse into doing this...

8) Using one of those golf umbrellas with the 8 foot "dome" on the top of it is genuinely awesome.

7) April's showers bring May's flowers - which are in full bloom at our annual Dock of the Bay...

6) A rainy day is a good day to empty out the Tivo, or catch-up on your Netflix rentals. Or you can read one of those papery objects filled with words...

5) Sleep...or you can just sleep.

4) I like to try new recipes when I can't get outside. Tr something weird. I like to take mayonnaise and put it in different ramekins...I will add something new and different to each ramekin, with dreams of inventing the perfect sandwich condiment...I have tried hundreds, but the best are cranberry sauce and maple syrup - both are great on a turkey sandwich. Or just try to make homemade mayonnaise...eggs and oil - I think.

3) If you don't mind the rain, go for a hike. Only do so if you are properly equipped with good socks and waterproof clothing. The rain can make the woods really peaceful. You are also able to sneak into photo range of the wildlife because the rain dampens an animals sense of smell, sight, and hearing. It will also dampen yours. Animals will be able to get within eating range of you...this will add to your excitement, especially if you only have a camera to defend yourself.

2) A rainy day is a good chance to go the the "liberry" and check out the short story "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury.

1) You car will be automatically washed. Roll your windows down for the inside and out cleanse.

Rain at home is also a good chance to take a vacation to drier climes, as well...just don't try to fly.

Enjoy the day...

Advisory Board Meeting Today

The Advisory Board will reconvene today...it's Annual Meeting time...we have some new appointees, and I look forward to meeting them!

Today's lunch menu will include lasagna, Italian bread sticks, Ensalata, and French Silk pie...it's a veritable gourmet tour de globe...whatever that means.

A front is blowing through..and blowing out of the northeast. Will any more waterfowl decide to make their way down this year? Several wildlife officials have suggested that the most birds bypassed this area during the big freeze of a couple of weeks ago...

Now, the real topic of discussion. This morning on the Good Very Early America Today show I heard an alarming statistic. That static said that 70% of teenagers and "tweenagers" spend more than 53 HOURS a WEEK on the internet and/or listening to music. That is totally ridiculous...If you have an iPod, please take the ear pieces and cover your eyes...you will not want to watch society spiral down the drain. 53 hours is more than a full time job, for most folks anyway...When do kids do their homework? When do kids TALK, not text, other kids? And frankly, what kind of music are they listening to? I grew up in the 90's - some would say that it was the best decade EVER for music, except the folks that grew up in the 60's....but that's a different story.

Nirvana, Pearl Jam, even Hanson were some of the bands that me and pals perused...today there is nothing...somewhere in LA, there has to be an old airplane hangar where pop stars are made...

The internet is best enjoyed in small doses...other than email, I rarely log on, except to "socially network (about 20 minutes a day) or purchase items (rarely). What can kids do on the internet for so long?

I believe the statistic was made up...there are not 53 hours of music a child can listen to week in and week out...Also - after 53 hours, wouldn't someone eventually come to the end of the internet? Hopefully, this statistic is just an anomaly thanks, in part, to our cold winter. Canada has a low crime rate because nobody wants to go outside in the winter...maybe that's what's going on in America - since it's cold. In fact, violent crime rates are down since November in most major cities...

When it warms up, make sure no child is left inside...seriously.

Enjoy the day...

Summer Fun

This unusual warm weather has me looking to summer, only behind the handles of a Kleenex. I hate getting a cold, but I love the summer. Recently, I have started to reach out to potential summer staff members...It looks like I could set a record for hiring a staff so early - granted the University will only let me hire them so early - mainly so that background checks do not expire.

This is the fourth summer...If I was Nick Saban, it would be the culmination of a "process." I have put all the pieces together, my returning staff has matured, and barring crazy weather and/or outbreaks of plague and famine, this summer should be the best. Ever. For all camps in the history of the world. It's tough to build a dynasty. For some people. But I have done so. Eventually, the dynasty will end, but hopefully in several decades.

Our new rec hall will also make things even better here...to think that these thousans of kids have had all of this fun with out a recreation hall. We're cooking something good down here...

Nevertheless, the cold I have is puzzling me. A cold is an infection of the upper respiratory system. But I never saw anything get "in" it to 'fect my respiratory system. There is virtually no way to prevent getting a cold. Wash your hands to often and you eliminate germ fighting bacteria. Wash your hands to little and you are virtually hosting a winter "mixer" for germs. If you talk to people they will get yo usick. If you avoid people, poeple will think you asre sick...in the mind.

I enjoy using rather strange methods to deal with my cold. They would not be recommended by a doctor, so I will not discuss them, yet it involves lots of tissue and metholated salve.

But, if you get plenty of sleep and water you should be able to wash it out or sleep it off. I like to sleep and drink water, sometimes simultaneously.

This morning, I arose early not in pursuit of waterfowl but of sausage. I was server to the stars this mornig for the Karl Best Agri-Leadership Conference. Working in the kitchen is, well, work. But it's not terrible work. It can taste quite good. We don't serve a lot of alternative foods, unless diets request (and we are happy to oblige), but "soysage" just sounds good to me, but I have a propensity to drink soy milk and rice milk. The upside to these items include: taste, distant departure date - both of which are important to a bachelorman. I am still enjoyoing my soy egg nog.

Enjoy the day...

O'er the weekend...

I went to visit my parents this weekend...we celebrated Christmas a couple of weeks late. I had a good time, but I have recently decided that hispeed internet MUST be run to the backwoods of Alabama...the dial-up is so slow, that my parents just don't dial it up anymore. My dad uses the web at work, but since my mom is retired, she is reduced to snail-mail and telephone calls. She likes it better that way. Yet, when she heard about youtube over the weekend, she proceeded to look for it on out satellite. I just let her look. It was to much fun to pass up.

By the way, if that 1991 Fod T-Bird is still on the road...I think I am still suffering from the noxious fumes you sprayed up and down US 64, so watch out for this rolling stinkbomb. How did this car pass inspection? It was like a Mobile Weyerhauser plant. Or Domtar...or whatever it is now.

This week, the Center is playing host to the Karl Best Agri-Leadership Conference. We are serving several meals to them - beginning with "Hamburgers Deluxe" (a Lee Scripture design), sweet potato fries, and cole slaw. I hope they enjoy the nex several days here.

Joe Fowler is bringing his swan -hunting contingence and staying over the weekend, along with the Envirothon group...it is great to be busy, and just in time for pleasant and above average weather.

Enjoy the day...

out for a bit...

I'm headed to a meeting in Reidsville this week...I will be back later...in the meantime - no blogging for a while :(

Weather is finally warming - all that ice I talked about is GONE!

We have several groups headed our way in the coming days...February - September are slammed, but there is still time to book something...

Enjoy the day...

Global Warming

Despite the uproar, whether you are a believer or not, I have undeniable, scientific proof of global warming. All I had to do was take a look outside of the Office this morning. The Albemarle is under ice...but not just any ice - Polar ice. Apparently Greenland and The Ross Ice Shelf have broken free in the temperate waters of the Atlantic, floated towards Diamond Shoals, became beached, drifted through the Oregon Inlet, and drifted upstream and parked itself in the Albemarle.

After removing the seals from our dock, and scaring off the dueling Narwhals, Bulls Bay may finally be at peace.

Seriously, for what many people believe about global warming, I offer a contradiction. Is this cold spell, which is colder than last winter, which was colder than last winter, the beginning of a global freeze? The past couple of summers have been cool and wet. Well - not hot and dry, anyway. Rare was the night when I put extra blankets on my bed, but this occurrence has become the norm.

Trees, grass, and dirt are getting their due, too. The ground is like concrete...it's a temporary solution to the swampy front yards of many Tyrrellineans. The thaw will come back, as will the swamps. In the mean time, mosquitoes, yellow flies, and fire ants are struggling to hang on. The fire ants can go ahead and go...their invasive.

The mosquitoes provide enough food for bats and other neat summer life to make their hindrance bearable. You guys may stay, but only some of you...

Our Environmental Education programs contain many activities concerning global weather patterns and warming and/or lack thereof... Whether the earth is warming or not, it certainly will warm up here in the summer. This summer is filling extremely fast with campers, both old and new. They'll enjoy the fun in the sun, but also our new REC HALL...nobody will enjoy this more than me, though. It will be a pleasant alternative to a Conference Room on a Rainy Day. It will have heat and air and all of the other modern conveniences our technology allows. It will have to come out of it's current state of ice before work can speed up, but its well on its way...

Anyway, if you get a chance, go and see the Scuppernong River...It's completely iced - a once in a lifetime occurrence, at least that's what I have been told. Before moving here I had never seen the Atlantic, the Sounds, or the Scuppernong...now 2 of the 3 are iced...I had never seen iced waters in Alabama, either. I am enjoying it, but carefully...I'm not sure if the Earth is actually heating, cooling, or being just plain erratic...but in the meantime, I 'll just bundle up!

enjoy the day...

1 Year...

Today marks the 1 year anniversary if this blog... feel free to applaude in private.

The "snowstorm" turned out to be a rain shower...according to my dad, you can thank the milk man for starting the snow rumors. I saw approximately 8 snow flakes this morning. At least there was no sloppy mess.

Congratlations to the University of Alabama for winning the NCAA BCS National Championship. To where should I address my fan mail?

This weekend, we are playing host to the East Carolina University Greek Life Committee...40 folks will enjoy the serenity and heat (!) of our facility...tonight we are serving 20 pizzas...A veg pizza, meat pizzas, supreme pizzas, cheese pizzas, and of course - pepperoni pizzas. A Salad will add ruffage to the carb-fest. I hope they have a wonderful time...I 'll be around to check on them from time to time, too!

Next week, Lee and I will participate in one of our monthly-ish ECOT meetings...this is when all of the Center, Program, and Summer Directors get together to discuss and make changes...items such as our Online Registration have stemmed from these meetings...who knows what next big thing will arise from one of these meetings, but it is sure to have a big impact...

Enjoy the weekend!

Snow Paste

Quick...exit out of this blog and run...no drive...to the absolute nearest grocery store. You better hurry. Get these three items: Milk, Bread, and Eggs. Come back and read this blog.
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Now that you're back and you're "staples" are put away, you are now a member of an elite throng of folks. These high-fallutin' frenzies are the ones who "stock up" on the "essentials" before a snow storm. And since we are having a snow tonight, the local grocers' bread, milk, and egg racks are sure to have only tumbleweed...

I have never understood this cultural phenomenon. Maybe it's an attempt to see all of the other Jones' in the store and to let them know that you, too, care about your families survival until the snow melts...2 hours later. However, grocers certainly appreciate the foresight that citizens exhibit...going as far to mention milk and bread on their color marquees. You can even pick these essentials up in the impulse isle (the candy rack by the checkout line)...located along with disposable cameras, lip balm, and shoelaces.

If electricity ever went out these items would be rendered useless if not harmful, though. I reach for more "stable" items - toaster pastries, bottled water, and canned soups. A couple of canned heats is also good.

After much research, a renowned snow and y2k survivalist, located in this very office complex was able to enlighten me. "He" says that all of the items can be combined into a paste and consumed. This, in essence, provides maximum calories, and "thins" out each ingredient, stretching the grand sum of the items over a period of a couple of days. The taste alone will make it last quite a while. Here's the recipe.

1 Hour Power Outage
2 eggs, shells removed.
1 cup milk
3 slices of bread
a frozen stick

Do not attempt to make this paste until electricity has ceased to course the copper wires in one's home. Quickly send your most able-bodied family member in search of a frozen stick. Find a bowl, or the hood of a jacket and combine eggs and milk. Stir vigorously with stick. Allow youngest to forage first by using the bread as a dipping device to soak up the liquid. When bread is gone, the toughest family members should drink the liquid contents.

Seriously, here's my problem with the bread, milk, and egg scenario. People go out to get these items immediately. Media coverage insists that these are needed to survive. Those who can't get the items appear to be totally hopeless. Survival instincts, such as looking in the cabinets for other food, are totally lost these days. The worst thing that can happen to me in a power outage is sunset. It's me, the dark, and no TV. No internet. No light to read. No clock to measure my electricty-less endurance. Oil lamps are nice, but dangerous for indoor use. Hopefully, families can use this time to hang out together. Some of my best memories growing up occurred during power outages and snow storms.

I will never forget the day that me, my mom, and my sisters ran to the storm pit...mom slipped down in a mud puddle. The sky then broke. We laughed as she soaked. That was 15 years ago. The Blizzard of 1993 was a good one, too. We just went outside and played, even in the dark...Alabamians see that kind of snow once in a lifetime. Hurricane Katrina found us making spaghetti on propane stoves on the back porch. We played cards and napped in between thunder claps. We were lucky and thankful to be together and safe...Good luck tonight!

Enjoy the snow!

College Football National Champioship

Theres only about 36 hours before the University of Alabama and the University of Texas face off on the grassy gridiron to establish supremacy in collegiate football. Big Whoop...

I love college football...the sanctity of the game is protected (hopefully) by amateur athletes, not competing for a paycheck, but for school and team pride. I have no pride in either school, so it is irrelevant to me who comes out the loser. What does matter is that one university in North Carolina is very near the top and is competing for a National Championship...of sorts.

North Carolina State University, the grand poo-bah in the Tarheel State, ranks SIXTH (6th) among ALL PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES - with or without a football team - as a top value university. That's something I take some pride in...Leading the way for NCSU include textile, agriculture, and engineering programs. Is it possible that one school can offer so much - oh yeah, it's also in Raleigh which may be one of the best towns in the country, despite having the I-440 Beltline?

I did not go to NC State for my degree...I went to another prestigious university that can also be found in top college countdowns. But NC State does oversee my employment at the Eastern 4-H Center. Which proves that NCSU, in one way or another, impacts the lives of not only students, but grown adults and tiny children. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences oversees the Cooperative Extension Service, which is the parent body to 4-H (who I work for) that seeks to offer youth development opportunities at every turn... CALS is also the backbone of the University.

The First Year College helps out lowly freshmen sort out their futures with classes and opportunities to develop a concentration and major. If you can get in, they want you to graduate! Some colleges take pride in limiting acceptance and keeping students in class for as long as possible...60 percent of students are accepted, so you have a D- chance of getting in...but it's a great place to be if your accepted.

NCSU is also one of the top research colleges...I think it ranks in the teens. Maybe that's why the Research Triangle Park has been so fortunate...their cultivating employees at the nearest University.

Nevertheless, NCSU has a football team. But students don't let that get them down. They also have a shooting sports team that is one of the "tops" in the country...and it is stacked with former North Carolina 4-H'ers. Maybe the football team should recruit 4-H'ers. Maybe not.

Anyway, there are lots of reasons to take pride in our state school, and other schools...even smaller schools can hang their hats on something...

Oh yeah, "War Eagle" and "Hook'em Horns!"

Enjoy the day...

Cold Tuesday

It is frigid in: the outdoors, my office, the refrigerator, the car, the boathouse, and the staff house.

There is ice on: the sound, the river, the buildings, the cars, and some trees.

It is warm in the:......

It's cold everywhere you look feel, and smell. It doesn't take long for the nostrils to freeze over, either.

Despite the peculiarity of the above statement, there is a point. Go outside, right now. Or go out in the weeee hours of the morning, where it's just you, the air, and your endurance. Can you take it? Can you deal with Mother Nature's coldest offerings. You are a human, right? Don't be to cold, or to hot to do anything, especially things with family and friends. Cold weather is the perfect time to stew up a good stew or make a pot of chilli.

Hot desserts like peach cobbler also hit the spot this time of year...lots of heart and sweet quick breads and cookies are fun to pass the time with kids or friends. As much as every one has complained about the temps (and it's always either too hot, too cold, or too unseasonable), there is so much to do that can take advantage of the temperatures...my friend Callie has taken up knitting, and henceforth knitted articles of clothing to cover her entire body, including her paws.

Other cold weather beaters, like I mentioned earlier, might include baking or cooking...I like to put all of my refrigerated foods outside just so that I can pretend I am prehistoric...despite the fact that all of my food has a label or a wrapper. There's nothing like running outside, early in the morning, in your PJ's, to fetch some milk. I remember when my dad did this during the blizzard of '93 in Alabama. That was the year my cowboy hat blew across our pasture (right after my sis swatted it from my skull)...I chased it for 400 yards before a snowdrift/hole ended my journey. It was a denim cowboy hat, virtually irreplaceable, and certainly doomed to an ill-fitted fate.

If there is snow...make a snow person...or snow cream. If the snow is dirty, leave it alone. In eastern NC, there is virtually no since in trying to ski or snowboard here, yet many have found ways to entertain themselves using old garbage can lids and tractors - but I will never condone such activities. You can always make snow angels, too.

Yeah the cold weather relegates many to dreaming of scorching, steaming, UV-rich beaches...but come August, those same folks will be waiting for...

Enjoy the day.

Happy New Year!

2009 has come and is now gone, but 2010 is has come and is not gone, for about 361 days it'll be on your desktop calendar. My holidays were OK - I was unable to travel home due to an incident I had that left me not tough and ruthless, but rough and toothless...that's right, I knocked out my two front teeth, reviving lyrics to "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth..." and ensuring a week of uncomfortable time on the couch. I did manage to recover in 3 or 4 days and was able to spend some time afield in search of waterfowl.

I had friends visit me to ensure that I had not gone insane and family called often to make sure that I would indeed come home at some point.

Over the holidays, college football season renewed it's bowl season. There were lots of exciting bowl games to keep me entertained throughout my teethaches. Auburn squared off with Northwestern in what turned out to be the thriller of the bowl season. Auburn won, several times in fact, but ridiculous penalties nullified every "premature" ending. Nevertheless, Auburn pulled out the victory in overtime.

This week, the Eastern 4-H Center will be hosting the "ECU Presidents Retreat"...we certainly hope they are bale to enjoy the frigid temperatures. Every creek in the area has frozen up right out to the big water, which pushes all of the fish and birds into the bigger rivers and sounds. Frigid temps appear to be holding tight for a couple of weeks and word has it that the Albemarle could be frozen up to a half mile out!

Enjoy the day...