I’ll Take Ice Cream with My Cake
I see snow falling in March and remind myself. Again. My birthday occurs during winter. Somehow, working outside in the cold for more than thirty years wasn’t enough. I had to retire to figure it out. It’s not like I didn’t see enough snow. I lived in Buffalo where scraping ice from a windshield is one way to stay warm and digging out is a just another day. But even if it is my least favorite season, I didn’t move to get away from the weather. Milder winters were just an added bonus. Missouri may not see half as much snow, but it has its share. In fact, six inches is the forecast for tonight. In March. Now that I have more time on my hands, maybe I notice these things more. I watch a female cardinal take seeds from the feeder, her mate standing guard on an overhead branch as the snow starts to fall. Looks like this year’s could be another winter birthday.
rivrvlogr 
I am happy – don’t ask me why, I can only say because your birthday makes me happy. But to scrape a windshield to stay warm – why should that make me happy? Happy to live in southern California, close enough to the ocean that I never scrape a windshield, only wipe off dew from mirrors, only flip the windshield wipers back and forth every few seconds to rid the spattered drops, only…
Mmmm ice cream. Oh yes. There. That makes me happy. I don’t eat ice cream much any more, it is full of sugar and butterfat, but the thought of it makes me happy.
A prose poem makes me happy.
Being retired – even with very low income – makes me happy. I get up in the morning to greet the rising of the daily light, not because I have to go catch the bus downtown to work.
No.
Yes.
Devils food, or chocolate, cake, please, with French vanilla ice cream.
Mmmm.
Feliz cumpleanyos. Happy birthday Mr. K.
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Gracias, Daniel.
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I find these posts on snow very interesting, Ken, having seen snow very rarely in my life. It is lovely for a short period but I can imagine it becomes very wearying. Lovely prose poem.
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Thank you, Robbie. Here, not so much, with only 3 or 4 major snowfalls this winter – I think that, this winter, the snow has been the most in my 7 winters here in Missouri. Back in Western New York, 3 or 4 per month was not unusual. Here, I think 25 inches/year is normal; there, 80-100 is typical. Before I retired, I drove a truck (semi). Of course, winter driving was my least favorite. And when I worked on the loading dock the doors weren’t sealed, so it was not much warmer than working outside. I guess that work was the reason for my dislike for winter.
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“Now that I have more time on my hands, maybe I notice these things more.” I often wonder that. Sometimes it seems I’ve missed so much in the rush and striving of life. An advance Happy Birthday!
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Thank you, Janice. 🙂
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Great title! I have a pair of cardinals visiting this winter too. They are beautiful against the snow, but I too have had enough. I grew up in Cleveland, so I know about endless snow too. I am definitely too old. But happy birthday! Another one is always cause to celebrate, no matter how many years stretch into the past. (K)
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Thank you, Kerfe!
A visit to see my son in Cleveland is always a stop on the way to Buffalo. That can make for an interesting drive during the winter, with the possibility of lake effect storms along Lake Erie in Ohio, then PA and NY.
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Interesting indeed. But we thought nothing of it when we were kids.
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Happy Birthday!
I enjoy watching Cardinals too. They brighten up any day.
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I love the colors, even in the females.
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Neat, working the cardinals into a discourse on snow … humans aren’t the only ones having to cope.
Happy Birthday – each year older a gift of greater awareness – of such as snow and cardinals. Plus most of us hang onto delicious awarenesses from younger years – like cake and ice cream.
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Thanks, Jazz. No more ice cream binges! As much as I love it, it just doesn’t agree with me, so it’s a rare treat, these days.
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I can still enjoy ice cream (once a month or so!) but cake is off my diet – even the pumpkin bread I once relished – and the longer w/o, the less I enjoy the occasional interruption to common sense. My taste buds are showing a bit of memory loss …
I did thoroughly enjoy the flavor of this poem!
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Happy Birthday, Ken! Beautiful birds. We don’t get those here. But, we did have 20″ of snow this February, smashing records (and a few trees and things).
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Thanks, Em! I’ve often thought of weather prediction as a crap shoot. That was when they thought they had reliable models. Now it’s more like Power Ball or Lotto. What global warming, right? 😉
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Happy birthday, Ken! I enjoyed your prose poem. Wish we had cardinals here in the northwest…such a colorful bird against the snow. 🙂
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🙂 Thank you, Betty. Although nowhere near as beautiful, I got to spend the day watching turkey vultures. Watching them soar and rise on thermals over Missouri’s bluffs, even on a cold winter’s days, can be fascinating.
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Happy Birthday, Ken! The photos are wonderful, but getting to watch the cardinal couple is an extra special treat. At least the snow will melt soon.
Enjoy that cake and ice cream!
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Thank you, Merril. I did enjoy, and I spent the day hiking on a windy, chilly (but sunny) day – watching turkey vultures instead of cardinals!
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Not as pretty, but maybe more interesting. 🙂
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