SNOW BIRDS

Snow Birds

The Old Hand of Oakdale

They say in the spring a young man’s thoughts turn to thoughts of love. Maybe so. I can add for certain though, in the winter an old man’s thoughts turn to thoughts of warmer climes. Enjoyment of the winter is for the young and healthy.

Many of our friends and relations turn into snow birds the first night the temperature drops to 50 degrees. They head to their trailer homes in Florida or Arizona and spend the winter playing cards and shuffleboard, and compare pictures of grandkids back home. They delight in watching what the weather is back home; and every time there’s a snow storm or bad cold snap, they phone or email to describe how they are enjoying their weather, and offer their condolences about what we are experiencing. They try to make it sound as if they are sorry for us; but the truth is, they are just rubbing it in.

Of course, those of us who aren’t snow birds, do the same to them when the holidays come around. We delight in describing our family get-togethers, the holiday feasts, the looks of joy on our grandchildren’s face when they open their presents or build a snowman etc..

Winter can be fun if you are young enough to enjoy winter activities. The activities that appeal to my wife and I now consists of looking at the beauty of the snow from the warmth of the kitchen.

There’s one thing that prevented us from becoming snow birds, our family. Neither one of us could be happy if we were a great distance from our kids and grandkids.

Pub ???BB St. Paul Dispatch

Young Love

The Old Hand of Oakdale

My wife, of over a half a century, and I were having lunch in a restaurant when a young couple walked to a table. They were holding hands and smiling at each other. Young love. I looked at my wife and than out the window. I thought about way back to when love was young between my wife and myself. It is good some things never change, I thought to myself.

I looked over where the young couple were sitting in a booth. Both of them were holding a cell phone and were concentrating on playing with mad birds or texting a friend, or whatever. They stopped only to order their food, returned to their finger work, and didn’t lay their phones down until their meals arrived. Young love! I guess some things have changed over the years.

Pub in BB. St. Paul Dispatch 1/31/13

Name of the Bird

The Old Hand of Oakdale

I got yet another lesson in nature study from our 4 year old granddaughter, Jaycee. I watched a white heron glide over the trees and land on the far edge of the pond.

‘Jaycee, come here and look. See over there, there’s a white heron.’

She looked and looked and finally saw it. ‘That’s a goose, Grandpa.’

‘No. It’s a big white heron.’

‘It’s a goose, Grandpa! A big white goose!’

‘Okay, it’s a big white goose – named Heron.’

She let out a great sigh. ‘Grandpa,’ she said, extending her arms, palms turned upward. ‘Gooses don’t have names.’

Pub 5/10/14, BB

Dandelion Wishes

I was sitting by the glass doors watching as the wind played with the tree cotton. My five year old granddaughter, Jada, came and stood by me. “Look at all the dandelion fuzz, Papa,” she said. The she softly added, “Somebody must have made a wish.”

DID YOUR DOG DIE?

At Christmas, Jena, age 6, blurted out to her Uncle Danny, ‘Did your dog die?

Danny answered, sadly, ‘Yes, she died.’ And walked away.

Dirk, her dad, pulled Jena aside and she should be more sorrowful about Danny’s dog. She should tell Uncle Danny she that she is sorry his dog died.

‘Why should I say I’m sorry? I didn’t kill it.’

Jena the Nurse

My wife took her two hibiscus plants into the house early last fall. She kept them alive and well in the family room, patiently waiting for the warm weather so she bring them back outside.

The other day she went to the family room and found that our granddaughter, Jena, had taken all the leaves off of both plants and had them stacked in piles on the bench. Naturally my wife was upset and wanted to know why Jena had done such a thing. Jena just bowed her head and refused to explain her actions.

Then, her older sister, Jada, spoke up in Jena’s defense. In one of their Land Before Time videos, Grandfather Dinosaur is very sick. Littlefoot and his friends go to a forest where a certain tree grows. They pluck the leaves from the tree and bring them to Grandfather, who eats them and becomes well again.

Jena was worried because I was in bed feeling very poorly, and she was going to bring me the leaves so I wouldn’t be sick anymore. Thanks to my little nurse, I felt like a new man, and I didn’t even have to eat the leaves.

Snt BB 4/16/12

Pub 4/25/12

And now you see many reasons

why my wife and I aren’t

Snowbirds.