A friend’s mom passed the other day and so this morning we zoomed up to Markham for the funeral service and burial. At the cemetery, although there was little wind, the cold was biting. By the time we returned home to Long Branch, though, it seemed the temperature had crept up a few degrees. It was clear and it was sunny.

I could not resist a walk out to Sam Smith Park to enjoy this rare December weather.

There was a fellow at the far east end of the park looking after swans, ducks and gulls, who were panhandling in the park. I hope whatever he was feeding the birds does not do them any harm. In Sam Smith Park, if you walk towards an area with ducks in the water, the mallards and the mute swans usually move closer, while the other ducks such as buffleheads and mergansers move away.

I did not see nearly as much bird-life as I saw the other day in the park. Somebody has a feeder set up near the parking lot, and there were some chickadees there, and a male cardinal, as well as a couple mourning doves walking around under the feeder. At the cherry tree, there were a few robins. I didn’t see any cedar waxwings (there were lots the other day). Also absent were mockingbirds and kinglets.

It felt great to walk around on a sunny day. It seems as if we’ve been mostly experiencing a lot of grey.