I’ve had some great encounters with animals the past five days. It started on Saturday while out with some friends on a beach on the Chesapeake Bay. We had gotten out of the car and walked onto the beach, I had just finished saying how foggy it was-you couldn’t see more than a quarter of a mile out; on a clear day you can see the Bay Bridge and Baltimore. I’m not sure of the exact distance to either from the beach we were at but usually they are fairly small from where we stand. It is still nice to see even small but on this day all was gray, the water, the clouds and the sky. I love the water. We turned to leave when the dog in the top photo trotted around the fences and joined us on the beach. He followed us to our car and then went to check out other people in their cars. He apparently is a regular. He lives in one of the cottages on the shore of the Bay.

The next day while checking on properties I got to observe lots of birds due to the howling winds we were having yet again. Hundreds of geese, many kinds of ducks, chickadees, blue jays, cardinals, eagles and kingfishers. While walking the perimeter of one property I came across a herd of deer. I was upwind of them so they were not aware of me at first. I inadvertently got close to them on my walk about and I can never keep straight what time of year you have to watch out for aggressive bucks so I stopped and just watched them. About ten minutes later one of them noticed me, we all watched each other for a while and then they went on their way. The following day while walking a dog I came across a red tailed hawk who was sitting low in a tree, he turned, looked at me and the dog, then he flew over one tree away from us. I was eye to eye with him and obviously interrupted his hunting. He graciously moved and continued hunting. I love hawks.

I am grateful with my pet sitting that I am outside a lot and am able to experience nature and the weather. I watched three adult eagles fly some thermals today.

The bottom two pictures are of my family room and a shelf on one of my bookcases in the family room. I am always eager to get home after work and don’t always understand the people who stand around talking for thirty minutes to an hour after punching off the clock. And these are people with significant others, spouses and families. I just come home to myself but I love to be home. I do not find living alone or cooking for myself to be a lonely experience. Some people I know despise cooking for one, going out alone or living alone. The best advice I was ever given was you have to enjoy your own company to be happy before you can bring someone else into your life. Mind you I would always welcome company and more to cook for but I am happy in my home now as it is.

How about you? Do you mind alone time? Cooking for one? Going out to eat alone? Out on the town alone?

Hope your week is going well. Enjoy the last day of February.