The Changing Seasons, December 2021

Garry said it well: “As this miserable excuse for a year slinks away…”

In any of the galleries, you can click on an image to enlarge it.

I recognize that not everyone had the same year we did, but no matter how much personal success we may have had in 2021, the world does not seem to be better. I live in hope that somewhere, something is going on which will change our world, that secretly, progress is progressing. Somewhere. Maybe this is my personal version of magical thinking, but I need hope no matter how unrealistic it seems.

We had a mad infusion of Grackles at the beginning of the month. They love eating the acorns that fell from our oaks.

Except, for reasons known only to the grackles, half a dozen of them would try to crowd into the really small wooden feeder — which I bought because it’s small. I thought it would be a good hangout for little birds while the big ones could hang on the flat feeder, deck, and cage feeders

On to our private woodsy reality. I don’t know what which birds breed, but they must have all been breeding recently because during the past week, we’ve had an infusion of tiny little birds. They look exactly like their mamas and papas, but they are tiny except for fluffy bits of pre-flight feathers poking out from their heads or chest. They are adorable.

The best part of the baby creatures have been the teeny weeny red squirrels. Not much bigger than their flying cousins, they are much more polite models because (holy moly!)(did you know “moly” means “potato”?) they get totally involved in eating and I can actually get a few photos focused.

I took a lot of pictures over the month. Not nearly as many as I took in the fall, but I haven’t processed most of them. Why not? They feel like repeats of the same pictures I’ve taken before. We need to find new places to shoot.

And now, as we end the year and begin anew…

About The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons is a monthly project where bloggers around the world share their thoughts and feelings about the month just gone. We all approach this slightly differently — though generally with an emphasis on the photos we’ve taken during the month.

For many of us, looking back over these photos provides the structure and narrative of our post, so each month is different. Some focus on documenting the changes in a particular project — such as a garden, an art or craft project, or a photographic diary of a familiar landscape. In the end, it is your changing season, and you should approach it in whatever way works best for you.

There are no fixed rules around post length or photo number — just a request that you respect your readers’ time and engagement.

Tags and ping-backs

Tag your photos with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

Create a ping-back to Brian at Bushboys World or Ju-Lyn’s Touring My Backyard so that we can update it with links to everyone who contributes.

Categories: #Birds, #ChangingSeasons, #gallery, #MonthlyPhotoChallenge, #Photography, #Squirrel, Anecdote, Blackstone Valley, Christmas, Garry Armstrong, Grackle

Tags: #gallery, #Photography, church, Garry Armstrong, Marilyn Armstrong, New Year 2022