All too frequently a bird slams into one of the kitchen windows. This little redpoll was still breathing so I advised Everett to pick it up from the snowy ground and hold it safely out of reach of cats and dogs till it got its wings back.

I talked to and stroked it while it looked at us with bright-eyed curiosity for about five minutes before flitting off to sit in the branches of the trees near the feeders.

Yesterday at the Co-op store I had ice cream in my hand and put it back in the freezer so I could stop in and see Grandma before going home, but it was a quarter to 2 when I got to the lodge and Birdline was on the CBC radio phone-in show and let me tell you, it was not easy to tear myself away from that. The calls about wild birds people have spotted around the province, and Trevor Herriott's expert answers to bird-related questions, are endlessly interesting. But I did manage to tear myself away from the radio and go indoors. Grandma was already down in the dining room, ready to play bingo, so I didn't stay more than a few minutes to say hello, tell her I'd just picked up my repaired van and bought groceries, would see her next time I'm in town. In a short time I was on my way home (listening to Birdline again) to get some more work done.

Tom, here's the bit about water:

A chiropractor told me that when you don’t drink enough plain water, nothing works properly and it manifests in all kinds of apparently unrelated discomforts and illnesses — even migraines. Oh, and for every cup of coffee or bottle of pop consumed, you need to drink an extra cup of water over and above the minimum recommended daily amount — which is about four cups for kids, and six to eight cups for adults, depending on their size.

Here's the note, not sure where it came from:

Water

1. Three-quarters of us are chronically dehydrated.

2. In more than one-third of us, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

3. Even mild dehydration will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%.

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of us.

5. Lack of water is the number one trigger of daytime fatigue.

6. Eight to 10 glasses of water a day significantly eases back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on a computer screen or printed page.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%. It can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.