A pair of Eastern bluebirds were spotted along the C&O Canal three days ago. I didn’t expect to see those this far into winter but I have since read that the population is not entirely migratory; many individuals stay in their breeding territory year round. This morning, when I opened the living room curtains, there were four bluebirds at and under the bird-feeders at the front porch. Another pair — seemingly larger than the original four — arrived at the suet feeder about two cups of coffee later.

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I stumbled on to Pieter Bruegel the Elder a week or two ago, a European artist living in the time just after Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses. The scenes in his work are very often the people and the landscapes around him — not the wealthy and powerful. Although he engaged in commissioned and religious work, his overall body of work seems to represent a democratic shift in who was allowed to be the subject of artistic works. As far as I can tell, his winter scenes seem to be the ones that resonate with the largest audiences, although I prefer scenes like The Fall of the Rebel Angels:

Coincidentally, his son, Jan BruegeI created a painting titled The Flemish Fair, which was made into a ‘Fine Art Jigsaw Puzzle’ that currently sits on one of our bookshelves. SEEB has had this puzzle since before we met 13+ years ago. The Bruegels have been with us this whole time.

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Unrelated, the photograph above is an early color photograph (an autochrome, specifically) from the collection of Albert Kahn. I post it as an example of both garden design I like and a photographic aesthetic I would like to pursue with the Polaroid received for Christmas this year.