At first glance they appear to be leaves silhouetted against the pale and bleak sky, but upon closer inspection of the trees, I spy movement. Birds! Dozens of tiny House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches are perched on the tips of the oak trees in my yard. Without realizing it, they are creating a lovely tableau for me to admire on this cold winter day.
#1 – Feed the Birds
It’s so cold outside, yet my bird feeders remain a hub of activity. Seeing this, I decided to do some research on winter bird feeding and on how birds keep themselves warm. Here are links to two good articles that might be of interest to you: Winter Bird Feeding and How Do Wild Birds Keep Warm In Winter. And please remember to keep your bird feeders full all winter long!
#2 – New Year’s Resolutions
I’ve made my list of new year’s resolutions and not surprisingly some of my resolutions are on a top 10 list of resolutions. Lose weight? Check! Fit in fitness? Check! Get organized? Double check! If you have not made any resolutions yet or if you need a little creative assistance, then check out this New Year’s Resolution Generator! Click on the “GIMME MORE” button and resolutions appear!
#3 – 7 Billion
Obviously none of us lives on this planet alone, but did you realize that by the end of this year you will have at least 7 billion human cohabitants sharing the earth with you? View National Geographic’s short, but compelling, video about the numeric trends of our rapidly, growing world population.
#4 – Geography Challenge
With almost 7 billion people and about 195 countries in the world, how strong is your knowledge of the world’s geography? Take the Geography Challenge Quiz from mental_floss and see how well you score.
#5 – Room by Room
We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential.
Ellen Goodman
Can you find “JOY” in this photo?
My daughter says if you use your imagination, you can make out the letters J-O-Y in the photo. Joy is everywhere!
Wishing all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!
What about this? 
Thank you for sharing this photo. I love the notecard you made for me using it also. My imagination must be working -I can see the letters of JOY quite clearly.