The longest month

February may have the fewest number of days, but this year it certainly felt like the longest month of the year. February is a curious month; the days are noticeably longer but the scant increase in daylight does little to brighten our moods, and in just about any place you live, February is a miserable little month for weather. Then there is "winter break" - what genius came up with the idea of giving schoolchildren a one week vacation during the lousiest time of year?

The misery of February was increased for us by James' existence in unemployment purgatory. Severance ended in February and although he had a verbal offer from a company, wrapping up that job offer took nearly the entire month. The head honcho wanted to meet with James, then the company decided that they should do some due diligence and check his references, and finally, the HR person asked to meet with him. Every time we thought the offer was forthcoming, another hurdle popped up.

I am not going to lie; it was a rough month. Our nerves were taut, our moods were bleak, our fatigue was palpable. To maintain a basic level of mental equilibrium, I require a certain amount of solitude and with all three of us confined to the house by dreary weather and inane school holidays, solitude was in short supply.

We kept going and finally, FINALLY, the Real Official Written job offer came through at 4:55 pm last Friday and James started his new job two days ago. The winter of our discontent seems to be over, and spring can't be far away.

Friendly fowl

We met this fine feathered friend while snowshoeing at Beaver Lake:

We had been told in the nature center that the resident grouse had been spotted quite frequently; he/she is definitely easy to spot in the snow. While stopped for Aidan to adjust his snowshoe, halfway around the Southern Exposure trail, we saw the bird approaching, and soon heard its quiet chirruping.

Such a handsome bird, who was happy to pose for photos:

He/she is not at all shy - that is the tip of my snowshoe:

Shortly after I snapped that photo, I managed to get my snowshoes entangled with one another and fell backwards onto my tookus. The bird took the opportunity to jump onto my leg and start pecking at my jeans, which led to me shrieking "Get it off me!" It's not that I don't like birds...well, actually, I'm not fond of birds at all, especially ones that peck at me (there was an incident with an angry robin in an apple tree at my grandmother's house that scarred me for life). Apparently this grouse has been fed by humans enough times that it now it actively seeks food from humans.

Once James and Aidan stopped laughing at me, they were able to shoo the bird away and help me stand upright. As we continued down the trail, the bird followed us for a time, even pecking at the back of James' snowshoe, until it finally lost interest. Whew.