Our bags are packed and we’re ready to go

After monitoring the weather for the last couple of days we have decided to leave today after the morning church service to get ahead of any freezing rain or possible snow. The next two days should be good for travel although they are calling for some rain. Our first night will be spent in Morgantown, West Virginia and from there we will move on to Kernersville, North Carolina. We will celebrate New Years there and then head to Myrtle Beach on New Years day.  This year we are away for about 9 weeks. It will be interesting to see if we enjoy being gone for such a long period of time. The long range forecast is looking good and we are planning our golf to start on Thursday. We’re certainly looking forward to that.

As we left church the rain started coming down. We were thankful that most of the truck was packed before church. Ralph did the final packing and even made the coffee. I cleaned up one last time and then we were on the road. The temperature is 3c and and it’s 14c in Pennsylvania and 16c in Morgantown. That’s pretty good. The rain continued for most of the drive and only stopped about 30 minutes before arriving in Morgantown. It was dark by 5:00 already. We were surprised at all the green grass we saw along the way. The rivers and streams were pretty high as well. We are so thankful it was rain and not snow as that would have made driving a bit challenging.

We packed a few extra things because of the length of time we are away.  Ralph envisions some football throws at the beach, reading lots of books and camera magazines. I hope to start learning some more about photography and look forward to putting what I have learned to practice (I can’t wait). 

We enjoyed a nice dinner at Primanti Brothers who specialize in “big” sandwiches filled with coleslaw, French fries, tomatoes, cheese and your choice of meat. It sounded exactly like something you would see on Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives. I was curious, so I gave it a try and it was amazing. Needless to say I could barely eat half, so I now have lunch for the next leg of our journey.   We were thankful that we could walk to the restaurant as it gave us an opportunity to enjoy the temperature and stretch our legs after the long drive. It certainly doesn’t feel like winter. 

Christmas dinner

After church today Ralph and I went home and enjoyed some time spent opening our stockings and had a nice light lunch.  Tonight we have a dinner planned and wanted to make sure that we didn't spoil that.  I really wanted to go back and see the Owl again so after lunch we drove back to Schomberg.  Oh man, I was so thankful that we went.  Ralph decided not to bring his camera but didn't mind bringing me to shoot a few pictures.

Once again there was quite a few photographers there.  The Owl was flying around but kept mostly in the same area.  It was really interesting to see what he did with his "dinner" which we were told was a "Vole".  He would fly into a tree and place it in the "v" of the tree and then proceed to try to eat it. Ralph was talking with someone who shared that they eat the head off the Vole and then leave it for a period of time in the tree (to age I guess and become more flavourful).  Apparently the Ravens have been eating the "Voles hidden in the tree's" so this owl was pretty particular about where it was "hid".

This was such an awesome experience and I feel blessed to have been able to witness this.

Northern Hawk Owl

Our friend Anne sent us a message telling us about a location in Schomberg where a Northern Hawk Owl had been spotted.  She sent pictures, news articles and a shot that Ron had taken on his cell phone.  We were inspired to go and check it out ourselves.  I'm so happy that Anne persisted in sending us the information as it was so exciting to go out and see it sitting perched in the tree's. It flew often from one side of the pond to the other, and it was humorous to see the photographers following.  Maybe it was teasing us.  We were rewarded with a few nice photos so I am happy that we went.  We didn't stay long (30 minutes) but it was most definitely a thrill to see.

Below is some information that I found on the internet describing them.

A bird of boreal forests, the Northern Hawk Owl behaves like a hawk but looks like an owl. Its oval body, yellow eyes, and round face enclosed by dark parentheses are distinctly owl. Its long tail and habit of perching atop solitary trees and hunting by daylight, though, are reminiscent of a hawk. It is a solitary bird that tends to stick to the boreal forest, but some winters it moves south into the northern United States, delighting birders near and far.

Find This Bird

For nonmigratory birds like the Northern Hawk Owl that breed in the boreal forest, spotting one usually requires a trip to the frigid north. However, hawk owls do turn up from time to time in southern Canada and the northern United States. They don't seem to fear humans much and perch atop solitary trees in the middle of the day, so when they are around they can be easy to spot. At night they roost in tree branches, often close to the trunk and tucked in amongst the branches, where they can be more difficult to locate.

Cool Facts

• • The Northern Hawk Owl can detect prey by sight up to half a mile away.
  • Northern Hawk Owls are thought to detect prey primarily by sight. Along with their tendency to hunt in the daytime, their symmetrical ear openings are cited as evidence for daytime hunting—their ears presumably have less acute hearing than the asymmetrical ear openings of species such as Boreal and Great Gray Owls. Even so, hawk owls can still find prey by sound, even when it is under a foot of snow.
  • The Northern Hawk Owl sometimes wanders or invades areas far to the south of their normal range. Invasion years tend to occur when small-mammal populations decline following a good reproductive season.
  • The oldest recorded Northern Hawk Owl was at least 5 years, 11 months old when it was found in Alberta, Canada.

It’s beginning to look like Christmas

This weekend we celebrated our first family Christmas. The vanBolhuis Christmas was celebrated at our church on Saturday. Jim and Debbie did an excellent job organizing the event. With games planned and a nice spread of food we all enjoyed a nice evening. Mom was able to join and really enjoyed seeing her family of roughly 54 all together. What a blessing!!

On Sunday morning we woke up to freezing rain.  This brought some worry especially since the kids needed to drive home due to commitments on Monday. We agreed to wait until later in the day and if the weather didn’t clear they would spen another night. When Ralph woke up and came downstairs Brody was already in the kitchen. He was happy to help Ralph prepare breakfast and coffee. Breakfast was delicious and Ralph really enjoyed an extra set of hands. Little Brody is a chef in the making. 

After church we spent the afternoon making snowflakes and playing games. So much laughter and fun filled the air. What a beautiful start to the Christmas season. 

Brody’s Christmas tree that he made during the family Christmas.

Our neighbours left gifts for the kids which they opened this weekend. Needless to say they were thrilled with their new tops.