"Goodnight Moon"

The view through my office window. 

I've been adopted by this little red bird. When he runs out of seeds he doesn't go elsewhere. He just stares through the window as if to say... Hellooo - aren't you forgetting somebody??

Sunrise on the messy 'Bird Tree.' Same view out my office window. 

Yup - they are definitely running low on food. I need more java before I bundle up and remedy this situation.

I didn't haul myself out of bed at dawn to see if my little red bird was still here. No, no. Much different agenda, this a.m. (Plus, I knew he would be. He'd probably come indoors if I'd let him.)

I wanted a fab parting shot of that very big and pretty rare NYE blue moon. Had the bright idea of capturing her right when she touched the tip of this mountain. I'd noticed a couple days ago that she doesn't say goodnight until I'm in the mood for a good morning.

As you can see, this effort was hardly worth warming up the coffee pot for. A storm came rumbling over the peaks and our big blue moon went bye-bye.

However! While I was standing there shaking my fist at the clouds and the wind, something cool happened!

Two hot air balloons popped out of that same cloud cover. Just imagine the blue moon photos they have!

* Goodnight Moon is a marvelous bedtime story, written by Margaret Brown in 1947. If you've read the book you may remember my favorite line: "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight light, and the red balloon..."