Quoting Nora

 

Should you feed birds in winter?

In a moment she was trudging back, dragging an enormous burlap sack.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to feed the birds." She was out of breath but still moving. "This time of year they need all the help they can get."

He shook his head. "Let me do it"

"I'm very strong."

"Yes, I know. Let me do it anyway."

He took the sack, braced, put his back into it and began to haul it across the snow. It gathered snow— and weight—with every step.

"I thought you weren't a nature lover."

"That doesn't mean I'd let them starve." And she'd promised Libby.

He hauled the bag another foot. "Couldn't you just dump it out?"

"If a thing's worth doing—"

Times Change 

_________________

It seems like a no-brainer to help our feathered friends, but consider these potential risks

Watching birds at your feeder during the barren winter months is a great way to stay connected with nature and help creatures that might otherwise struggle to find their next meal.

mother nature network

_________________

The mourning doves were cooing, bobbing heads as they pecked along 

the ground under the bird feeder. Too fat and lazy,

Duncan thought, to bother to fly up into it. Rather take leavings. 

A lot of people were the same.

High Noon

Once-Important Things People Don’t Know How to Do Anymore

"Lib, I'll concede that J.T.'s a little unusual."

"The way he seems fascinated or puzzled by ordinary objects?"

She remembered the kitchen faucet. "Well, yes."

Times Change

_______________

See the push buttons on the left? That how you shifted the auto trans.

By inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +) - 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23155134@N06/7309990326/, CC BY-SA 2.0, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57469912

When was the last time you adjusted the antennas on your TV, changed the ink ribbon in a typewriter, or looked up your library book in the card catalog? Here, we take a slow stroll down the memory lane of obsolete life skills.

Family Handyman

_______________

Cal took a moment to be charmed by the old-fashioned instruments and controls. The birds were singing as he tested the steering wheel and pumped the gas pedal curiously.
There was a lever between the seats marked with numbers running from one to four in an H
pattern.
Gears clanked when he shoved the lever forward. Confident he had the skill to operate such a simple vehicle, he turned knobs. When he got no response he jiggled the gearshift while depressing the floor pedals. Through trial and error, he found the clutch and shifted smoothly into first gear.
A beginning, he decided, and wondered where the hell the designer had put the ignition.
"You're going to have a hard time starting it without this." Libby stood on the porch, one hand in a fist on her hip, the other aloft, with the ignition key dangling from her fingers. She was mad, all right, Cal thought.
But he didn't feel like smiling. "I was just… thinking about taking a ride."
"Were you?" She tugged her hastily donned sweater farther over her hips before she walked
down the steps. "It's your bad luck I didn't leave the keys in the car."
So it took a key. He should have known.


Time Was

TESS

"I always feel so cut off here, more so than when I'm in the field hundreds of miles away. 

I imagine we could establish a colony on Mars and I wouldn't hear about it until it was all over."

"A colony on Mars," he murmured, feeling his stomach sink as he glanced at the paper again. "I think you've got about a hundred years to go."

"Sorry I'll miss it."

Time Was

_______________

By ESO/S. Brunier - http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0932a/, CC BY 4.0, 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9559670

"I have been blessed to have been a professional astronomer during the period of time that started with—'well there probably are planets around other stars, but boy, they're just too hard to find and we'll never know'—to where we are today, which is we know there are planets around almost every star," says Paul Hertz, the Director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA. "In just 25 years, this field of science has gone from theoretical to very, very applied and very, very data-driven."

Popular Mechanics

_______________

"Sure. I probably would have gone on being happy here, but I discovered the world. 
What do you think of the world, J.T.?"

"Which one?"

With a laugh, she gave the popper an extra shake. "I should have known better 
than to ask an astro-whatever. Your mind's probably in space half the time."

Times Change

Things happen to couples who have been together a long time

Still looking at him, she held out a hand. Jake put a mug of coffee into it. 

“I heard you were out of town.”

“I got back yesterday. I came by the site, but you were busy.”

“Oh. Well. You put cheese in those eggs?” she asked Jake, and was already opening the

refrigerator to dig some out.

“Not everybody likes cheese in their eggs.”

“Everybody should like cheese in their eggs.” 

She passed him the cheese, skirted around him to open a loaf of bread. 

“Put some in my share, and if it gets in someone else’s that’s too bad.”

Doug watched Jake hold out a hand for the knife she’d taken out of a drawer, watched her

pop bread into the toaster, then take the plate he handed her.

It was like a little dance, he decided, with each knowing the steps and rhythm the other

would take even before they were taken.

Birthright

___________

"Another sunset together" by Leo Hidalgo from España - Another sunset together. 

Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Science says these 5 things happen to couples who have been together a long time

Being with someone for a long time changes the way you see the world. It also changes you. Everything from how you act to the way you think shifts in ever-so-slight ways.

And according to Joshua Wolf Shenk, the author of "Powers of Two," these tiny shifts are also the catalyst for a different kind of thought process — a shared mind, so to speak — that allows couples (romantic or not) to come up with more creative solutions to problems than they'd ever think up on their own.

YAHOO!

___________

“I’ve been making this pie for too many years to count. It’s Loren’s favorite.”

“You smile when you say his name.”

“Do I? We’ve been married—I count from the handfasting—for thirty-six years. He still makes me happy.”

That, Abigail thought when she was alone again, was the most vital and compelling statement on a relationship.

The Witness

when your dog is a smartypants

She’d seen to the security herself, and she trusted no one else.
Well, she thought, as she stopped the car. Except Bert.
The big dog sat on the covered front porch of the two-story cabin. Body alert, eyes bright. When she got out of the car, she signaled release. He bounded to her, all hundred and thirty pounds of him wriggling in joy.
“There’s my good boy. Best dog in the world. So smart. Just so smart.”

The Witness

(The Witness' Bert is a Bullmastiff) 

______________

The 10 Smartest Dog Breeds

 

 

Sure your dog's clever … but is he or she one of the smartest dog breeds out there? 

"While all dogs are smart, certain breeds are more intelligent at specific tasks than others," said Lisa Peterson, spokesperson with the American Kennel Club. 

SHINE

_____________________

“Now that we’ve got a second coming along, I’m talking Seline into a Lab.”
“Poodle.”
“Girlie dog.”
“We’re girls.” She gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek. “You’re outnumbered.”
“This one might even things up.” He tapped her belly with his finger. “A guy needs a dog, not a little French toy.”
“Poodles are smart.”
“They are a highly intelligent breed,” Abigail agreed. “Only the border collie is thought to be more intelligent. They’re agile and, if properly trained, very skilled and obedient.”
“See?”
“A Lab’s a dog. They’re smart,” Russ added, appealing to Abigail.
“Yes, of course. They’re the most popular breed in this country, and in Great Britain. They make excellent assistance dogs. They’re loyal, and most have a well-developed play drive. They’re excellent with young children.”
“Young children.” He snagged CeeCee, made the girl laugh as he tossed her in the air. “We’ve got one of those, getting another.”
“Poodles are good with kids.”
When Seline turned to Abigail, Sunny laughed. “Now you’ve done it. These two will tag you as referee in this battle. I’m going to save you, show you the gardens. Food’s going to be ready in a few minutes.”
“Maybe they should consider a Labradoodle,” Abigail murmured

The Witness

a thousand years

"I came through time for you, Libby. Don't ever, ever think I made a mistake."
She shook her head. "I'm afraid you'll think so."
"'Time is… Time was… Time is past'," he murmured. "My time is in the past, Libby. With you."
Her eyes filmed over again. "I love you so much, Caleb. I'll make you happy."
"I'm counting on it."

Time Was

________________

Christina Perry

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I love you for a thousand more

_________________

 "I wanted you to have something from your time." 

He felt a little foolish, not ready to admit that he had
spent months scouring antique shops. "When I saw this, it was… well, like fate. Don't cry."
"I have to." She sniffled, then raised her drenched eyes to his. 

"It survived. All this time."
"The best things do."

Times Change