Snow Day in Corvallis

This post was written by Dad!

We went to a lunch at the Country Club for Dial-a-bus drivers. They did a white elephant gift exchange after the buffet. Near the end of the exchange Mom had her gift (a bottle of men's aftershave) taken by another person. So Mom had the right to then take a gift from anyone else. The lady she chose put up a little fuss so Mom graciously quit the game and let the grouch keep her package of bonbons. That game sure brings out the worst in us when we should be gracious. I was proud of the classy way she handled it. My gift was some beautifully embroidered Christmas tea towels. Anyone interested in them? Mom doesn't want to use them and some Easter European peasant probably spent a whole day making them. 

Today my Dial-a-bus shift was cancelled because of the icy road condition. So while Mom was doing family history research for Brother Taylor who will be baptized in January, I walked over to the park near our house. A beaver has recently become active. It has damned up the creek and started gnawing on the trees.

There are now three bird feeders in our backyard. The one outside the kitchen widow is close to the house. The bird in the photo is a rufus-sided towhee. Ken sent me a post from the web describing it.  It is a little smaller than a robin.

The streets were so bad that I put the chains on the rear wheels of the Avalon.  After driving around the corner I stopped to tighten them up.  My neighbor in 4-wheel drive rolled down his window and asked, "Isn't that a front-wheel drive? You should put the chains on the front tires."  It was a little embarrassing because I knew that.