Yesterday afternoon I was graced with a visit from Mr./Mrs. Pileated Woodpecker! If you look closely in the photo above you can see a newly pecked big wood chip on its chest right by the claw. Its been hanging around this tree for about a week now but my camera battery always turned out to be dead. (My camera is eating battery life these days. Lack of use?)

I had noticed this tree which stands at the back of the grass yard and the beginning of the woods part of the yard some time ago and wondered at its bark loss. It stands out like a sore thumb. I had even gone down to look at it a few weeks back, thinking in my head that it was the work of a bear. But on closer inspeciton I didn't see any claw marks. It looked like it had been chiseled. A few days later I saw the pileated pecking away at it and it became clear that it was doing the damage. Here is a photo so you can see how much of tree is without bark.

This time I had my camera battery waiting and fully charged. I made my way slowly and carefully down the yard in my house slippers, tip-toeing in the snow and below freezing temperatures closer and closer to it until I dared not get any closer. The result is this set of photos. I am thinking that it was worth the discomfort of frozen body parts.

It would sit there cocking its head back and forth, intently listening to whatever bug it could hear moving inside the tree. The attack of the big beak is brutal and deliberate —and loud. What it must feel like inside the bird's head is beyond me! 

I like this last pic because you can see the wind blowing its crest.

A truly magnificent bird, and one that I will miss when we move. We are so lucky to have them in the neighborhood, and even better in my yard!

I thought you all might find it interesting to see exactly what Mr/Mrs Pileated Woodpecker did to the  tree. See the pile of wood shavings around the base of the poor thing? He/she pecked at the tree so much that it split at the thinnest part and broke off.

You can see a video of the woodpecker over on Rick's site, at this link. Be sure and turn up your sound so you can hear his/her beak hitting the tree.

Let's take a closer look at those wood chips:

Maybe we should collect them as use them as starter for our wood fires! This bird meant business!

It's actually working on two trees as you see in this photo. We haven't seen it now for about a week so maybe it's gotten all the good bugs out. I saw a few other trees in the woods that have the same scaly fungus growing on the bark that look like the woodpecker has been having a go at them as well. Maybe the fungus indicates it's infected with bugs? Carpenter ants? Grubs? This photo was taken before the tree on the left split and fell down. I find nature so interesting, don't you?

When our "For Sale" sign fell down a couple of weeks ago after a windy day I took it as a sign. Well, that's that I said to myself. The house is really and truly SOLD. As it turns out, it was definitely a sign. Our buyers had put their house on the market in mid-February and we learned yesterday that they had just sold it. The closing for their house sale is May 20th, and ours is May 12th. This is really happening now. Almost like it was meant to be.

I've been getting a lot of "signs" lately. I can almost feel my mom at my back, guiding me along, nudging me in this direction or that. She loved the cabin too. I had forgotten that she had seen the cabin before long before it was even assembled on our land. She was with us from the beginning. The cabin was built the year after my dad passed and for each year thereafter she always came to visit us and one week of her visit would be at the cabin. 

When we were planning to live at the cabin after Rick was cut loose from Hewlett Packard back in 2006 she was not a fan of our plans. She didn't think it was a good idea at that particular time in our lives. Then the job here in New Jersey came up and plans for full-time life at the cabin were put on the back burner.

I think she'd be happy for us now. Like I said, lately I can feel her right by my side, guiding me all the way.

Yesterday I went for an eye exam since it's been 10 years since I last had one. I think my vision is pretty good except for an annoying "floater" in each eye. Most of the time I don't see them but sometimes they bother me for weeks at a time. So before we go off eye insurance I thought it was a good idea.

Last time I got an eye exam it was from our long time optomologist in Colorado. I got both reading glasses and long distance glasses, neither of which I could ever really wear because they were too strong. I went back to him and argued about the prescription but he insisted that it was correct. Money down the drain. He also told me a few other things on that long ago exam. He told me that a had a bad astigmatism and should not be wearing over-the-counter readers because they would harm my eyes. (I've used them for 10 years now.) He also told me that I was a little bit color blind. I've always thought I had a good sense of color and its nuances so I was quite surprised to hear that.

So needless to say I was a bit anxious about going to the eye doctor. I am glad to say I aced it! My eyes are healthy and I don't really need glasses for long distance, just if I feel I need objects slightly clearer. My vision is 20:30. Reading is a whole 'nother matter. But guess what? He said if I'm comfortable with over-the-counter readers I should keep using them, but if I wanted glasses tailored to my eyes then I could fill the prescription. When I asked about the astigmatism and told him what the other doctor had said he said yes I had an astigmatism from the Lasik surgery (it almost always causes that) but it was very slight. I also asked about the color blindness since he hadn't said anything and he just laughed and said I had gotten everything but one right, and by the way, it's mostly men that can have color blindness but it's very rare in women. 

Well. So much for Dr. Straub.

These days instead of dialtion they do a really cool computer scan of the retina. It was interesting to see photos of my eyes. Kind of creepy.

Since my mom had macular degeneration I asked him about that as well since it is hereditary. The first thing he said was "Do you smoke?" I replied that I never have and he said GOOD. Smoking is related to macular degeneration which I had never heard before. My mom did not smoke but my father did. Could it have been second hand smoke for all those years? He said it was very likely. My mom would be furious if she knew that. My dad died from emphysema caused by his smoking. Rick's father also has macular degeneration and is almost blind. He smoked, had lung cancer and one lung removed many years ago. Interesting, yes?

Anyway, long story short, my vision is great! I am going to look into reading glasses to see how much they would cost while we still have the insurance but I'm just as fine with readers which have not damaged my eyes. I am not the slightest bit colorblind.

Time in New Jersey is counting down for us day by day. Next week this time the movers will have come and gone and we will be preparing for the estate sale which is not going to be any fun. I guess we will stay holed up in the bedroom upstairs, occasionally popping downstairs to take the dogs out in the back yard. House emprisonment! 

I have an Exit post in mind and will post it when the time is right. It's bittersweet leaving our home of 10 years, but also very exciting to finally be close to living our dream.

If you have stuck with me all these years, bless you! I will be exiting soon ....