Making adjustments

The house that I am living in is beginning to feel a little more like home. I reconstructed my floor loom last weekend and wove a scarf on Monday and I plan to measure out some more warp this afternoon. My photos and books litter the coffee table.

I have a mouse friend who rummages through the garbage during the early morning hours while I try to sleep. I don't mind the company and I purposely leave bread crumbs on the floor for her. One night I left some nuts (that were meant for Bennie the squirrel) sitting on the kitchen counter. I awoke to the sound of them being dropped onto the floor and then carried off by Miss Mouse. Ah well, I hated to ruin her day by taking back her newly found treasure. I mean, can you imagine how happy she must have been?

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There is one thing that I haven't quite gotten used to yet:

On the bedroom's wooden panels, high on the wall, there are silhouettes of silhouette projects -- the former made by the bleaching sun and the latter created by school children with scissors and construction paper. Four heads --two boys, two girls. I expect them to turn their faces to me sometimes, and they remind me of a hot drink that can be bought in Austrian cafes. These drinks are served in white cups that have black silhouettes, and I think the drink is heavy with cream. It might even be named after Mozart, but I have forgotten the details because I never actually have ordered the beverage myself and so the experience of taste, name, and place is lacking.

Meanwhile,

Time continues to pass quickly and Stefan leaves on Monday evening. I feel sad, worried, panicked and clingy -- and I hate feeling clingy -- but there it is all the same.

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The numbers and species of birds at the bird feeder continue to grow. I sit with my binoculars at the kitchen table where, through different windows, I have a view of both the suet and birdseed feeders. Suet straight ahead, birdseed to the right. I added thistle seed to the mix and the birds really go crazy now. Still no sign of squirrels, but there are plenty of deer tracks every morning. The latest counts are:

12 Dark-eyed Juncos
2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers (one male, one female)
2 Downy Woodpeckers (one male, one female)
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 American Goldfinch
2 Northern Cardinals (one male, one female)
3 Tufted Titmice
2 Blue Jays

and last but never the least

6 Black-capped Chickadees

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On Tuesday we went to Chicago. It was windy, snowy, and cold, of course, but it all makes for good memories. Sears Tower, Art Institute, Marquette Building, The Rookery, The Water Tower, Hard Rock Cafe. Michigan Avenue. I bought a pair of suede boots at Aldo's, and it was nice to know my European shoe size without having to ask anyone about the conversion.

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And I hate to admit it, but I broke down and bought a Nikon D50, which is a digital SLR. I wasn't using my N6006 very much because of the broken part that I never had fixed like I had planned. It's still usable, with the help of Duck Tape, but I was tired of the whole taping process and I felt kinda silly while doing it. Yeh.