Perfect night

I pull into the driveway and honk the horn. Pop is burning brush in the firepit. He looks up and waves, and I get out of the car and haul my bags of groceries into the house. I'm putting the groceries away hurriedly, thinking about what I'm going to wear tonight and about work tomorrow.
"You didn't even say hello to Joe-Bob," says Pop as I rush around the kitchen. "Come look."
I go to the kichen door, and look out. An oversized partridge is pecking away at the birdseed Pop's scattered on the snow.
"Hi, Joe-Bob," I say, smiling. "Oh my god he's fat!" I add, looking more closely.
"Oh ya, he can hardly fly," says Pop, chuckling. "Good thing he has me for a buddy."
Later, before I leave for the night, Pop says "Come outside for a minute."
I follow him onto the back deck. As I walk outside the crisp air hits me, laced with the smell of wood burning. A silver crescent moon is rising in a clear midnight blue sky.
All is quiet, and I listen. All of a sudden, "POP!", a loud crash explodes from the ice. I jump about 10 feet.
I turn my head to listen as more sounds come from another spot on the lake. The ice moans and groans, as if some beast is trapped underneath trying to get out.
"What is it?" I ask.
"It's the ice shifting," explains Pop. "Isn't it neat?"
It is at this point I figure out why I have moved back here.
If this isn't an example of true blue, everyday, natural beauty, I don't know what is.
Eternally lucky is how I'm feeling tonight.
BB