Well, if the snow and crusty ice was not bad enough, we’re in the deep freeze for the next two weeks, as we revisit the term “Polar Vortex”.  Brrr!

As I stepped out of the cozy house, shovel in hand and bundled up to the hilt, I glanced over at the dial on the big thermometer on my neighbor’s deck.  I couldn’t verify the temperature because the dial face was frosted up.

But, something else caught my eye that I’d not seen before – there were buds on the magnolia bush.  When did that happen?  Was it that one day, about a week ago, when we basked in the sun and enjoyed a balmy 50 degrees?  Well, no good will come to a bush or tree that starts budding out in this brutal cold.

While I was checking out the magnolia bush, a sparrow alighted on a branch.  I felt sorry for this little soul, as I stood there in multiple layers of clothing, and I was already feeling the fingers of cold infiltrating my mitts and numbing my lips, less than one minute after I stepped outside.

I’ve never understood how our little feathered friends don’t freeze to death on these bitter cold days.  The poor little guy was all on his own, with no brethren to huddle close to on a branch, or a wire, or even the top bar of the icy-cold chain-link fence.  No, he was all alone in the cold, cruel world.

When my neighbor Marge still had the pair of plum trees, I could go out on the coldest morning and the birds would be sitting side-by-side on a branch and singing their hearts out.  That little spot of joy emanating from the top of those trees warmed my heart so much.

My friend Ann Marie saw a robin yesterday.  I told Ann Marie her robin might have regretted hanging around here with all this snow and cold.  I wonder what that red-breasted bird is eating?  It’s a sure bet that worms aren’t on that robin’s menu … not a chance in this frozen and snowy tundra.

The poor birds … my heart goes out to them, but poor humans too, because the temperature only got to the teens today and wind chills will be down to minus fifteen degrees tonight.

I sure hope the snow and cold we’ve endured thus far in December does not set the tone for the balance of the Winter season.

[Image of sparrow by Suju from Pixabay]