February bluebird

I'd been hearing bluebirds for several days now; this morning as I sat looking out the window, I was thinking how much my mother would have loved my little shed studio, wishing she'd had something like that to see the little birds so near.  There's always something to see, and she loved that, especially the winter feeder birds.

Just as I was writing that in my journal, I looked up to see a bluebird right outside the window!  Her favorite, though not normally a winter visitor.

Bluebirds DO winter as far as the Great Lakes, occasionally, and this isn't the first one I've seen in the coldest season...but it's always a thrill. This time, it was a thrill for two, shared with a woman long gone...

My scanner's being wonky and I don't know why...the journal sketch itself is warmer and more orange, not a mahogany like this...