Waiting for Gaylord

Dear Diary,

I saw Gaylord for the first time this season a few days ago but not since.  I've put out extra sunflower seeds and peanuts but it is just Philly and her crew that comes; and the birds of course.  I feel like a little child waiting for Christmas but unlike Christmas I don't know the exact date of the event!  I look out countless times a day to the feeding table but no Gaylord.

This is a very old photograph of the feeding table at the house where I grew up.  It was probably around 1953 or 54, not long after we moved there from upstate New York where I was born.  My grandmother always put out food for the squirrels, I guess that is where I got my passion for them.

I love this faded old image because it reminds me of the old farm.  I use to play for hours in that barn on the hill.  I don't remember what that T-shaped thing is, part of an old clothes line perhaps?  The well house is just out of the picture to the right.  It is where I would fall 15 years later and severely injure my back.  I feel that old injury this morning after trying to stack wood yesterday so I will leave the rest for Matt who will be here this morning to help.  I, on the other hand, will keep an eye out for Gaylord.