HELPING THE NEEDY

Today, I'll have to name this blog "Bill's Big BENT Bamboo". Central Arkansas is being visited by a Winter storm which is bringing in large amounts of sleet, snow, rain & freezing rain. Since six A.M. this morning, I have had all four kinds of precipitation falling at my place.

None of this weather is a surprise. It's been forecast all week, ever since the initial storm hit the Pacific Coast.

Once again, our neighbor state to the West, Oklahoma ,seems to have taken the worst of the storm, at least when it comes to loss of electrical power due to ice on trees & power lines.

We're getting a lot of sleet right now. It's giving the ground a white look, as if it were snow falling, but it's ice pellets coming down. It's like "noisy snow", due to the sound it makes when it hits.

So far -- thankfully -- it does not appear we have had the tree-breaking amount of freezing rain. [Note Key Words: "So far".]

The Electrical Co-op in my area has done a good job the past few years keeping trees trimmed around the power lines, so hopefully, there will not be issues here with electrical service.

I went for my daily morning walk earlier this A.M. I kept it short, staying on my road only. The pavement was icy & crusty, so I did not want to get on the main road where there would be traffic. It was also raining, as at the time, it was about 32 degrees.

As the day has progressed & the temperatures have started falling, the ice build up on the bamboo on my property is causing the bamboo to bend downward, giving it a "droopy look". So far, nothing major in the way of damage. [Again - Note Key Words: "So far".]

In the weather conditions we are having, normally, ice on the plants will cause a dramatic bending of the stems -- in bamboo, which is nothing more than large grass, these are called "clums" -- to the point where the bamboo will "lay down" on the ground. As long as there is no breaking of the clums, the plants will all return to their upright position when the weather warms.

Along my early morning walk, I have been outside two other times today. Because of the harsh weather conditions, there must be several hundred birds attempting to get bird seed from the feeders in my yard. I have had to refill the majority of the feeders, as well as scatter a good amount of seeds on the ground, twice(d) today.

At the rate the birds are deleting the seeds, I am sure at least one more refill trip is in my future. Still, by having the bird feeders in my yard, I have "invited" the birds to come & feed, especially -- like today -- when their environment is so harsh. It''s my way of helping them meet their needs.

Of course, with all the "bird activity" in the yard, two of the cats -- Nibblets & THE WOBBLER -- are both sitting in the window sills, eyes focused on all the "meals" they are missing outside. Both girls have ventured outside earlier this morning, but the weather not being to their liking, they quickly returned. Still, even if outside briefly, they were wet enough I had to rub them down with a towel when they came in.

The smart one of the group -- Momma Kitty, AKA, Precious -- is providing me warmth by laying in my lap as I type. It's sweet that she offers to volunteer her services to me on a cold, wet & snowy day, but I have a feeling -- based on how she approaches the effort, -- Precious is mainly INSISTING on getting in my lap ... for her pleasure & comfort.

I do believe, despite her being that selfish, it's really a "win-win" for both of us, as we both get our "needs" met.