Carnivore in Flight

Today... brace yourself... today we are preparing for our second Thanksgiving dinner. I was standing at the sink looking out the window when you won't believe what came swooping down and landed in our tree. A peregrine falcon! I know this is what it was because I saw the same bird in tree not far from our house a week ago. It was then featured in the local paper. There is nest on one of the tall buildings downtown. So the falcon today had a nice catch. There was a struggling gray/brown bird under it's foot. We saw the falcon tear into it and then pick it up and fly away with it. Wow! How cool was that?!

Silent Post #1

Birds

This is a European Starling. There were two in the yard this morning. They were hanging out with a Robin, who kept staring at me. It was kind of scary.

This is an adolescent European Starling. I think this is the brown speckled bird I saw at the feeder a few weeks ago that I thought might be a Sparrow. Could the one this morning and the one from weeks ago be the same, all grown up?

Here's a Goldfinch. These are my regulars, along with the less flashy House Finches. They make quite a show when there's five or more trying to all rest on the same thistle sack at once.

Lastly, the friendly Black-Capped Chickadee. Very cute bird.

I am not including a picture of the bird poop that is currently on my car window, which lessens my love for the skyward neighbors.

Junco Sparrow Dove and Titmouse

Warning: These are observations of the birds in our yard. If you are not a birdwatcher this might be a very boring read.

Today a Black Eyed Junco foraged around the ground under the feeders, all three feeders in one tree now. I'm sure another one was a Sparrow, possibly a Chirpping Sparrow, because is was definetly brown (not gray like the Finches) with white peckles. And the Morning Doves hung out on the fence and in the tree. This was the first time I and saw them in the tree and in any numbers. I'd seen the two a few times, but today there were five. The really unsual visitor was a Tufted Titmouse. I noticed it at the feeder, the one with sunflowers seeds and nuts, and quickly grabbed my binoculars. Dark grey, white belly, and large black eyes surrounded by a saucer of white on the face. The Gold and House Finches are returning daily, but I don't see the Chickadees as often anymore. The Gold Finches are exciting. When we first moved in a month ago, they were mostly brownish grey, but now they are turning bright yellow with black and white wings. A bird bath from my moms house has been experimenting in the yard. First close to the feeders (too close) then near the trees at the other end of the yard (too close to trees, too far from the feeders). Now its out in the open, yet close to the feeders. The Gold Finches jaunt down from the feeder tree and take a quick sip before returning to the safety of the tree. The tree has fuzy white-ish buds, whereas the other trees in the yard have little green leaf-lings. I wonder what the buds will become.

Photo Graphers

On Little Bear (our bedtime TV show) there is a character named Duck. Little Bear had an old camera and was taking picutres. Duck, of course, wanted a turn and she jumped on top of the camera and sort of brushed everyone away saying "I'M a photo grapher, too." Like two words, photo and grapher. It struck me funny.

Early one morning I came downstairs and sleepily glanced out my back window. Gasp! There it is! The Downy Woodpecker! I run to get my camera and the satisfaction I get when I capture that thing in a photo surprizes me. Ahhhh.

My camera is so easy a child can do it. Here, Divina took this one of Mark and me. And heres a few others you might enjoy. Such talent. Such vision. Just look at the composition. I'm particularly fond of the CD. Its a photo of a CD of photos. Ha!

Peace

A Downy Woodpecker and a White Breasted Nuthatch came today to the new feeder, which I located to furthest tree in the yard. They snubbed it when it was close to the deck. Picky birds. So, I'm happy and stand in the bay window with my binoculars watching them eat seed and insects, then looking them up in the book.

Divina and I worked for about an hour in the yard raking leaves and collecting sticks. She watches what I do, then does her best to do the same. My shadow. She wander off from time to time and do her own thing, including attempting to unlatch the gate. (Mental note: buy lock for gate.) Just when I thought she was all work, I turned around and found her laying on her back in a pile of leaves. Just lying there. I asked her what she was doing. "Thinking." Well, okay then. She's thinking. Can't argue with that.

We visited my friend Ken today. He works at the record store. I met Ken the summer I turned 16. I'll be 36 this year. Do the math. Go ahead. That's twenty years, my friends. So he mentioned that another friend of his can't go out much. He calls her in hopes of going out for a bite to eat, say around 8 or 9pm, and she can't go because of her kid. This annoys him. I said that when people have kids you have to just go along with what they are doing, the park, library, etc. He didn't think much of that idea being that he works and goes to school most of the time. Then he noted that he and I won't be able to get together much because of the same thing. We talked about how when people have kids their priorities and desires change. It's not like we can't go out much and it's prison. We don't really want to go out much. I have a great time hanging out with Little Miss. There are times when I'd like time to myself, of course.

I think a big part about being a parent is giving yourself completely to the little person. It's kind of like being in love. You loose a certain part of yourself, a certain kind of freedom, but you gain a whole new world. It's like if you keep telling yourself that you'd rather be doing something else, or try to do things while you should be paying attention to the kid, you get all stressed and down on life because it's not working out the way you want. Isn't it like that with a lot of things? Not just with kids? People have a hard time being happy right where they are.

Everyone has their own drummer. Some more than others. Ha! Since the kid my drummer has slowed down. The rhythm of my life is much more natural. Units of time are measured by milestones, not months; by meals, not hours; by growth charts, not years. My rhythms were once erratic with passionate kisses, depressing lonely nights, racing through cubicle days. Now there's a soft, steady beat constantly in the distance. My own heart.

Chickadees and Magical Healing Powers

Chickadees, Robins, Cardinals, Blue Jays, House Finchs, Doves, and a Woodpecker are the birds I've seen the yard. There are three others that I haven't identified yet. Some are Sparrows, I'm sure. There's this one that sort of has a pointed head, like the Woodpecker, but it's small and brown. It's nice that the first one to visit my feeder was a Chickadee. According the nice bird book, they are the most friendly of all the birds. They hang out in gardens even when people are around. They are the embassadors of the flying folk. I'm honored to be welcomed by them so quickly. My mom put out a hideous white sack filled with feed. She says its for the Orioles. Riiight.

We've been quarantined for three days. All three of us, sick. Mark has bronchitis, according to the people at the urgent care place. That means I probably have it, too. But I have magical healing powers, which he does not. When I begin to feel a cold creeping in, I tell my body that it can handle it and I picture my cells going to work. I also pamper myself with rest, liquids, and sunshine. Mark does not hold this philiosophy. He tells himself from the first caugh that he's got a terrible, incurable disease and he needs to go to the emergency room...which he has done several times since I've known him. I tell you, that man has gone to the emergency room more than anyone I have ever known in my life, all put together. I believe its all in his attitude about being sick. It frustrates me. He and I have the same sickness. I am just as sick as he is, yet he manages to hospitalize himself. I've not been very supportive of him this round. That makes me a bad wife, I guess. It's just...well...being Mommy means I don't get to shut down when I need to. I've learned to suck it up and press on. If he and I are sick at the same time, I just don't have the energy to take care of him, me, and Divina, too. The past few days have been bad. He's really suffering, but I don't even ask how he's doing, because I already know. I have it, too. But I have magical healing powers. What a canundrom. (I'd check the spelling on that, but I'm tired.)

Stupid Idiotic Pictures Won't Turn...uhg

Well, it you turn your head, you will see the very cool bird feeder that my sister gave us. I finally ventured to the backyard and hung it in a tree. As soon as I returned to the house two birds started using it. Of course, I took a picture to commemorate the occasion. I believe a backyard wildlife book is in order.



Do these look like people to you?

New (and messy) House

I never did write about our experience of walking into our new house. Remember, we bought it without actually seeing it. Our realator sent us about 150 photos...the closets, the bathrooms, the fireplace, a spot on the carpet... and my dad saw the inside for a showing. It's very difficult to tell the proportions of a thing from a photo, especially an empty room with nothing to gauge distance with. My sister saw the house the morning of the closing (she was our power of attorney) and my mom saw it later that day. We owned the house for a week before we got in. Ha!

Divina and I were the first to check it out as Mark was still driving from CA. We came in through the garage and proceeded to explore with lots of excitement. You might think I'd feel like a tresspasser, but I didn't. This was our new home, and I knew it. I did a lot of "Oh!"ing and "So this is what they were talking about" and "Oh my god, wow!" The place is just perfect for us. Not too big, not too small, the layout is just right. That this house found it's way to us is amazing.

Yet, we haven't been in the back yard yet. There's a lot of snow out there. I need to move a bird feeder to a tree (it's currently on the porch where the birds can't see it), maybe today. The view from the back of the house (living room and kitchen) looks out over what I thought was a field but turns out to be a ravine. It's a retention pond, but I choose to call it a ravine. Very nice. We've seen kids sledding out there.

The painting is coming along but there has been a break in the progress. I was taking Divina to my mom's house so I could work, but I started feeling guilty about taking her there so much. My mom seems to love having her there, but still. Now Mark and I have residents. A virus causing sore throat and cough has moved in. Great. We're tough and Airborne helps. I'll post pictures once more work ... ah hell, I just take some pictures of our messy house and post those ... who cares?

You will notice that my knick knacks are out but not arranged yet. I'm hoping my sister-in-law, Sarah, will come soon, who is very talented with such things. (Hi Sarah!) I would like to also note that my sister, Ann, helped me pick just the right color of blue to go with the cabinets in the kitchen. Good eye, that one. (Hi Ann!)