Birds, Bells and Blankets

Well, another very Grass Valley-like sunset last night.  I almost missed it, but managed to catch it before it went down.

BIRDS:  When my friend Janet and her husband Russell visited me, she made the comment that being here was like living inside an aviary.  She was right.  The birds sing and chirp from the instant the sun breaks until the last minute of sunshine is gone.  I don't know how many different types of birds there are, but there are seemingly thousands of them flying around.  Big and small, loud and not-so-loud, they are everywhere.  I've said before that cats are king here.  It should be the birds.

BELLS:  I have NOT cracked the code on the church bells yet.  The obviously easy ones to figure out are the bell chimes on the hour and the half hour.  By the hour, it's the count - eight chimes for eight o'clock, etc.  On the half hour, one chime.  But then, at other times, the bells just seem to go crazy.  Sometimes after announcing the hour, they ring out like three-four-three-four rings.  Other times they ring like some kind of alarm - ring ring ring ring.... one time it went on for so long I was certain that it WAS an alarm and looked out to see if we were on fire.  I have got to figure this out before I leave.

BLANKETS:  I have gone from sleeping with four blankets and one thumb-tacked to the outer door, to sleeping with only one.  The weather is very much like Tahoe.  Warm days, comfortable nights.  It is so much better than sleeping with your head under the blankets.

I leave you with some more cemetery shots.  Tomorrow I'm going to look around for some more things to see and photograph.  CIAO!

A headstone ornament

another one

My favorite little simple gravesite.