WILDMAINE.COM/SAVINGMAINE.COM Bill Silliker, Jr.

The Camera Hunter Photography Tips, Loons In wildlife photography, if you've missed the eye, you've usually missed it all.--Tip from Bill @themooseman.com

Cold Climate Gardening

Little nuthatch flitting around
Welcome to our cherry tree
Woonder if you are finding bugs
Wonder if woodland birds need hugs!

Winsted History We'll never know the Indian name for a certain lake located within Chahn-tonka, which translated means the "Big Woods."
During hunting seasons, Sioux Indians traveled from their villages to that lake to set up camp near its eastern shore beyond the point of land that juts into the water.

Wow!
300 people stand up to bitter winds to say their voice for peace!

Minus 9 Wind Chill

Hi,
The birds WERE feeding this morning. The rose looks a little dried out, but it still stands and I am confident it will come back in the spring better than before. I am greatful to be able to see it periodically from my living room window. I wonder how my silver sose in maine is doing? Those plants all had plenty of time to take hold...They are all hardy to begin with so I fear not. I am rather exxcited about the prospect of the "winter garden" this spring and summer. Why do I say that? All the flowers are white, silver and pale lavender like a shadow on the snow!

So back to CT for a moment...I filled the watering can with hot water and brought it out. I melted the pile of snow on the bird bath and part of the ice, filling the bath with water. I knew the hot water would soon be cool and hope that the birds take a moment to drink before it freezes over. I filled the hanging feeder with a mix of cracked corn, thistle and sunflower. This should please the juncos as well as titmice and chickadees. I sprinkled whole sunflowers generously under the spruce in hopes that the squirrels would have their fill and leave the seeds in the feeeder to the birds...

If only Kitty could blog! Jessie will be watcing out the window, tracking and eyeing what is happening and if only she could share! I guess I will have to relax and implement and Holding Down the Bird Bath ritual! hehehe. Don't kno what I mean? Visit the Stories page at Holding Down the Pond.

Have a great day! Early workers get warmer parking spots!!

The darkness is so dramatic that the French government's generous medical insurance program covers medical consultations for those who grow depressed because of the waning light of winter. The syndrome - clinically known as seasonal affective disorder, or more commonly as the winter blues - affects as much as 20 percent of the population, according to studies. Consultations cost about $30 in public medical practices and are covered by medical insurance. The light treatment itself, in which patients sit in front of a special light for a specific period of time, costs about $5 a session and must be paid for by the patient. Leger is lobbying for full insurance coverage.
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"It's preventive medicine," he said. "And it's less expensive than medications and anti-depressants."
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A specialist in sleeping disorders, Leger uses four broad-spectrum fluorescent lights of 300 watts each in his office and 10 more that he lends to patients. One of the most popular lights, a large, round-edged, modernistic white object that sits on a desk, sells commercially for $300 in the beauty department at the BHV department store in central Paris.
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Olivier Lacaille, the store's lamp buyer, said that typical buyers were physically active people over 35 who are concerned about their health. At the moment, the lamps are sold out at BHV, and there is a waiting list.
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Still, there is skepticism about the treatment.
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"My colleagues know about my therapy, but they

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