Unfortunately, it was a beautiful day today. This is one day we want it to be cloudy, so the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow. He definitely saw his shadow today, so we are in for six more weeks of winter. Of course, we have hardly had winter yet, but the forecast is for sustained bitter cold arriving soon. Real winter is on the way.
Staying in the moment, we enjoyed the mild weather and sunshine.
Jane and Gus walking 
Miscellaneous birds 
Incoming cardinal 
A nuthatch on the pole 
Cardinal landing 
Downy woodpecker taking a drink
Harry ran various errands this morning, and returned home with pizza for our bubble of three. We did not exactly set a beautiful table, but it was delicious and lots of fun.
Roscoe found the sunshine through the window made him sleepy.
I had great excitement today. I ran an errand to Wentzville myself, and remembered to take the camera. On the way home, not far from here, I saw something I have never seen before. I have seen thousands of dead armadillos on the roads, but have never seen a live one, and finally, today I did – a nine banded armadillo. It is a very strange creature. Climate change and a lack of natural predators has brought them here, and they grub around in the ground, searching for, you guessed it, grubs. They are great diggers, and apparently make quite a mess in gardens. I watched this guy for a while, and called out to him. He made no sign of hearing me and was very intent on snuffling through the ground. Apparently, they have very low natural body temperature, which makes them susceptible to leprosy. This one had a sore that I thought might have been caused by dog. I hope it wasn’t leprosy! They roll into a ball as a defense, so a dog could certainly have chewed on him. When surprised, in alarm, they jump into the air, which is why they are so often killed on the roads. Though they can move quickly, they leap up first, often right under cars. Also, they have very poor eyesight – and tiny little eyes. The pictures aren’t very exciting, but it was fascinating to watch him going about his unusual life. I have no idea why I refer to the armadillo as “he”, but here he is.
Pinker in life than they look when dead on the road 
Ouch!
The horses loved the sunshine today, even though they were locked in paddocks. To their dismay, they got dewormed today, but otherwise it was a good, uneventful day.
Harry worked hard in the studio today, because tomorrow is cataract surgery day, and he will be prohibited from working for a week. He is agonizing over the legs on his current sculpture. The artist admonishes that they are not just posts that hold up the figure. They need to be alive and artistic themselves. There was leg surgery being performed.
As for the cats, they always enjoy sunny days.
Rosie enjoying the sun 
Marmalade on the way to dinner followed by Tom Morris
Weedy is not worried about the groundhog’s predictions. He advises to always get plenty of rest in a comfortable place. Roscoe would like it known that he is Weedy’s life coach.
Stay safe, stay well. Peace.
During a teacher’s workshop at the St. Louis Zoo, an armadillo wandered away from the instructor and ended up at my desk. The zookeeper asked me to carry it back to the front of the classroom. I was surprised by how heavy and dense it was….. sort of like a sand-filled football.
Oh my word, an armadillo!!!!!! What a day.
We saw an armadillo on our trip to Gulf Shores! It was a fascinating look at a very strange creature.
Two little boys, their parents, and Bill and I watched while he searched for tidbits in the sandy soil and paid us absolutely no mind.