Snow Tires. Look into it.

I have a HUGE bird feeder on the fence on my patio. Holds about a gallon of sunflower hearts, or, shelled sunflower seeds. I can watch all the birds from the neighborhood feed there. And the hawks that feed on the birds from the neighborhood, feed there too. The circle of life.

When we had this set up in West Jordan, and my daughter was really little, maybe eight or nine, it was right outside the big bay window that was our dinning room. And one Thanksgiving morning, Meagan was looking at all the pretty birds, and a, Sharp Shinned Hawk busted in, grabbed a little bird, and started to devour it.

Meg was kind of freaked out, looking at me like, "Daddy? WTF?" I just told her to think about, "The Lion King", Which we had just seen, and, "The circle of life". I think she got it, but she didn't like it up close and in person.

Well, now, I have been watching this bird feeder for nine years, down here by the river in Murray. And I've learned some shit. My neighbor, Ernie has one that doesn't HANG it has a stand under it, and he and, Cathy get more, Goldfinches than I do.

Mine hangs, I get the, Red wing Blackbirds he doesn't.

And all summer long, the birds will eat here, but mostly at evening, and there will not be a lot of them. I fill it every couple of days. Doves, House Finches, Sparrows, Red wing Blackbirds, everything that lives down here.

In the winter, I only have to fill it once or twice a week. With so many birds going south, there are not that many to clean it out.

I have the pattern down. But not THIS year.

Since the middle of August, I have gone through two, 45 pound bags of bird feed. And this shit does not cost, "Chicken feed". Sunflower Hearts are $46 a 45 pound bag! This HUGE feeder I have gets emptied EVERY day!

Today was the worst. I filled it at about three o'clock this afternoon, and I was sitting on the patio, reading, "Mother Jones" magazine and listening to, "Outlaw Country" on satellite radio at eight o'clock tonight, and it was empty!

Do you remember how the, Indian's around here used to forecast a cold winter by looking at the, "Woolly Worm" caterpillar's? Still the best fly fishing lure ever, by the way.

And how the Pioneers had, "omens" that would for tell a, "bad" winter?

Well, I'm an atheist, and I don't believe in supernatural bullshit. But I DO believe that if you've lived in a place long enough, you can tell what signs nature is showing you. And I think that the sign that the birds in my neighborhood are sending me is, "You human units are in for some SHIT this winter! It's going to snow more than you know, and it's going to get REALLY cold, and we're bulking up now for an early flight south. Good luck, Suckers! And thanks for all the, swell food."

So based on nothing but, "bird behavior", I'd advise you to buy snow tires, lay in some wood for the days the power goes out, and get some gas for the, "Blow Snower", because I think we're going to need it!

Me? I already got my truck load of wood as I always do in August before the good wood is gone (cedar and pinion). And I have the extension pole to clean windows that now only keeps snow off the satellite dish so I can watch college football since I don't own a two story house. And I bought the, Audi with, "Quattro" the year I retired, and, "High Performance All Season Tires" last year.

I married a Mormon, so we have SO much food in the basement! It's almost crazy.

I have a safe full of guns and ammo. Just so in the event of a total disaster, I could shoot my Mormon neighbors, and take THEIR food storage.

But I digress. Global climate change is a reality. And if we don't change things, this scenario could happen. I don't see it this year. So I'm pulling your leg.

But, seriously? In nine years here, I've never seen the birds act like this in August. Just something to think about.