I have many things to smile about this week and it’s only Tuesday morning!

First, of course, there’s Katie-girl who makes me smile most days even when she’s getting me up to go out into the pre-dawn morning. Which lately has been very cold to boot.

And I have what now appears to be multiple orioles at my feeder. Last night there was a series of orioles usurping each other, including the orchard oriole who I hadn’t seen for several days.

But the biggest smile today happened just moments ago. I was taking bed sheets off sensitive perennials in my garden, covered last night to protect them from frost and this morning’s snow. It was early, the rising sun was melting the last bits of snow and warming the air. As I pulled the sheets away from the tender shoots I caught a flash of yellow in my red crab apple tree.

Just a goldfinch I thought, but something wasn’t right about the shade of yellow, and I looked again.

A rounder shape, black and white stripes…he hopped along the branches of the crab apple, just a few feet from my head…then he popped out to the end of the branch and the sun lit up his yellow throat.

And me with no camera.

I stood still and we eyed each other. He tilted his head to get a better view of me. I whispered a “thank you sweetie,” to him. We stood that way for a long time and then he flew into the neighbor’s yard.

I’ve never seen this bird before and he’s not in my Michigan bird book. But I went online and found him.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/yellow-throated-warbler

He was absolutely stunning, and he’s not supposed to be in Michigan. The site says it’s even unusual that he’d be in northern Ohio. I wish I’d had the camera, but probably if I’d lifted a camera to my eye he’d have been frightened off and I wouldn’t have had those long moments with him. So I’ll keep him in my memory and be grateful I saw him at all.

Oh, another smile, also early this morning:

It’s what’s left of the infamous flower super moon of earlier in the month. It’s not full but it’s still beautiful.

Two smiles in one day and it’s barely 9:30 in the morning. Can’t wait to see what the rest of the day has in store for me!