Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

Ahh, Cincinnati. I just got home yesterday from a week's vacation in this metropolitan, midwestern city. Not that I really got out to see the town much - most of my time was spent visiting with family (though I did get out for a much needed excursion to the Skyline Chili on Ludlow with my sister Franny). I was lucky enough to be there when my little niece Gabby was there also, and it was certainly wonderful to have another chance to get to know this growing, spirited little girl, now two years old. This was my first time with her since she's been really talking, and she seems quite the smart cookie. I'll tell you, when a little one like her addresses you as 'uncle brian', it's near impossible to deny her whatever it is she wants, so we played several rounds of fun games until she tired of them, or until I tired of them and was able to distract her into a new activity. We played hide and seek, though Gabby hasn't got all the subtleties of the game down yet. When I'm counting and she's hiding, as soon as I yell "ready or not here I come" she runs out of her shady corner straight at me, laughing. We enjoyed several other activities, including sitting in the soft kitty beds at my Mom's house and playing the twirly game.

We also had lots of fun with my sister Esme. It was her birthday on Saturday. We played scrabble and had a chocolate cake, amongst other things. I had to leave Sunday morning during the biggest snow of the season so far, so I missed whatever snowball fights and snow sculptures were enjoyed, and only got the experience the stress of driving to the airport in it with my Dad.

I did get a touch of birding in, though that wasn't exactly a priority. As one might expect from some brief, low impact birding in mid-winter Ohio, there wasn't a whole lot seen, but some nice birds nonetheless. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers were seen on several occasions, Terry and I had a Pileated Woodpecker flyover at the Nature Center, fox sparrows at Spring Grove Cemetery and at Spring Valley, kingfisher, red-tailed hawks, great blue herons, tons of red-bellied woodpeckers...the most interesting sighting of the week was at Spring Valley with my Dad and Lisa of a small flock of Eastern Bluebirds gathering on the ice in the center of the small lake there. I have never seen that before.

Anyway, it was a restful week with loved ones, and sorely needed. Back to work tomorrow.