I think the January thaw is upon us. The birds are happy and the animals are happy to be outside. Of course we know it will not last, but we can enjoy it while it is here.

Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week. Big balloons go out to Emily Anderson and Jonathan Ruzzo, who celebrated their day Jan. 11; Joseph Ruzzo, Jan. 12; Kyle Rollins and Scott Wieditz, Jan. 15; Elias Gundersen and James Murray, Jan. 16, and to Gabryal Brooks and Tyler Grasing, who celebrate their day today, Jan. 17.

This past week’s storm caused the waves at South Beach to be high and they did some washing away of the little beach we have left. But, you still can’t resist going down to the beach and watching the waves rolling in. My friend Ellen and her daughter Ella and I ended up at South Beach while we were on the mission to see if we could spot the snowy owl that people had been posting about seeing and taking pictures. We did not see the owl but the waves were beautiful. The sun was shining just right on them and the colors were beautiful. We watched them for a while then walked down the beach a bit to see if there were any treasures, but there were none except the usual rocks, some broken shells and Ella’s favorite the mermaids pocketbook, otherwise known as skate eggs. We loved those as kids, along with conch necklaces that had the baby conch in them, and of course the toenail shells. I don’t know if they still call them that but it was fun when we were kids to collect them and imagine whose feet these nails came off of.

My neighbors the Wallers have a new puppy named Finnegan. Finn is an English sheepdog and he is growing fast. I was walking home the other night and he greeted me at the fence. I still chuckle thinking of Patrick their past sheepdog and how he would run to the corner of the fence and wait until you got there and start barking, scaring his victim. So we will see how Finn does as he grows.

Have a great week and keep the home candles burning.