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How far can a dragon fly?

On wings of hope and love?

If I'd known, I would've baked a cake

Hey, everybody - yesterday was World Snake Day. Now that we know, we'll have plenty of time to plan for next year's party.

Recycling

For those of you who enjoyed Saturday's nest photo, you'll be happy to hear that this afternoon the nest was being being disassembled for recycling by a very happy goldfinch.

I'm just a bloggin' fool

Paul Lester asked an interesting question on his blog earlier this week. In his post, Paul Lester Photo » Blog Archive » Why I blog, he challenges his readers to explain why they blog and if they've ever been tempted to quit.

The second question is easy to answer. I did quit, for nearly two years, when other aspects of my life demanded my full attention. No one was more surprised than I when I started up again.

The first question - why do you blog? - is harder to answer. I don't know the reasons. I first started to learn the technology; but it's not that complicated, and that was quickly accomplished. Yet I blog on, despite the progress in interfaces that makes it ever easier to do so.

For more than 20 years I've been part of online communities. I've met good friends (not to mention my husband), and I've learned a lot about a lot of different things. In many ways, online communities are much like the colleges and universities at which I work. Both are full of talented, knowledgeable, and diverse people who are incredibly interesting and who value many of the same things that I do in life.

As my network of online friends has expanded, as more and more friends and family have moved online, and as email has overrun itself with spam (it's so crowded no one goes there anymore), blogging has simply become an easier way to keep in touch.

And I've learned so much! I learn from all the blogs I read - about photography, invertebrates, plants, birds, other animals, and the weather. I gain glimpses into lives very different from mine, lives of people with whom I have many common interests but would never have met in the offline course of events.



Or maybe it's simpler still. Where else would I find a community of people who would care to see a photo of a bird's nest I found in the yard this morning?

Twofer eight things

Mary at Mary's Corner of the World and Jayne at Journey through Grace both tagged me for this meme, the eight random facts. Here are the rules:

Bloggers who are tagged write a post giving eight random facts/habits about themselves.

The post must start with these rules.

At the end of the post, the blogger tags eight more people to play and lists their names. She/he then leaves them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Since I was tagged almost simultaneously by both Jayne and Mary, this one list of eight will satisfy both tags. I'll need the time I save to find eight bloggers who haven't already played this one. :)

So here goes:

1. I don't take vacations in places that don't have indoor plumbing. My mother grew up on a farm with neither electricity nor running water and passed on her very strong feelings about life under those circumstances.

2. I only got interested in photography when digital cameras became available.

3. My definition of the four basic food groups is chocolate, coffee, single malt scotch, and diet coke with lime.

4. My favorite movie is Casablanca. It has everything you need: good guys, bad guys, love interest, noble sacrifice, and great humor.

5. I read voraciously. I'll read anything, but prefer fiction, particularly mystery and detective stories, but some sci fi/fantasy as well. I also enjoy and frequently reread Jane Austen.

6. I come from a long line of animal lovers. One of my fondest childhood memories is of watching my father's father feed chipmunks on the back porch.

7. I've always been good at math and lousy at music. I can't sing on tune to save my life.

8. I once made bread and baked it in a wood stove. It turned out okay, but I've since made it a rule to live in houses with more modern kitchens.

I'll update this post tomorrow with eight tags of other bloggers.

Where I live

In a recent comment, Patricia asked where I live.

I live in a suburban neighborhood with houses close on either side of me. In front of the house is a nice paved road that goes nowhere (ie, around in a circle) and just out back is a golf course. The heavenly part is that the piece of the course right behind the house is what I think is called "the rough" so we look at trees and deer instead of golfers.

Between us and the golf course is a protected wetland - a small stream with a 25 yard buffer on either side of it that cannot be disturbed, mowed, or planted in. At angle to one side there's a field, currently cultivated, that will undoubtedly be sold some day for development. For now, this is my therapy. I sit out back and watch the non-human, non-urban, non-automated world, and I feel myself relax.

Clouds

The sky is sunny blue except for the horizon. Two bambis are playing tag amongst the corn, a grackle and a red-wing proclaim their territories from adjacent trees, baby dove practices flying with mama, and a downy woodpecker, a goldfinch, and two sparrows take turns on the snag.

Life is good.

Vibes

Cate has tagged me for this meme, Beyond the Fields We Know: High Vibes which originated at OptimistLab with the post, How I raised my Vibes. The challenge is to blog about five favorite tricks for “Raising Your Vibes.” So here are mine, in no particular order.

#1 - Enjoy the freebies. Monday morning as I was driving to work, I was basking in the sunlight, the warm breeze, and the low humidity. Arlo was talking about how he met Steve Goodman, and then sang "Riding on the City of New Orleans." I was looking forward to a day rife with new opportunities at work. All of this combined to set me wondering about what it is that makes some days so great, some moments in our life so perfect we want to freeze time and revel in them. Then I thought about blogging about that, but didn't put aside the time to do so. The next day, Cate tagged me for the vibes meme. I know as well as the next person that correlation does not equal causation, but the nudge was fortuitous and encouraged me to think and write along these lines. I can't summon weather or command signs and encouragement, but I can choose to enjoy them when the opportunity presents itself.

#2 - Laugh. I have a robust but idiosyncratic sense of humor. It responds to the absurdities of life, of which there are many, such as the Department of Homeland Security setting up its future headquarters on a site previously used as a psychiatric hospital. Regardless of your politics or your opinion of that agency, surely you see the humor! However, I don't rely solely on the news and current events to tickle my funny bone. I start my day with my favorite comic strips, Cute Overload, Cute Otters, Penguins, Daily Kitten, and Kitten Break. Awwwhhhhhh .....

I've also focused on reading books and watching movies that are funny or upbeat. Last night we went downtown to see a The Thin Man as part of a classic film festival. I also enjoy the Marx Brothers, screwball comedies from the forties and fifties, and animations. I have a collection of Rocky and Bullwinkle shows on DVD, as well as a collection of favorite sitcoms from years gone by (Barney Miller, WKRP, Northern Exposure, and the greatest of them all, Sports Night).

#3 - Read. All my life, reading has been a joy, a relaxation, an escape, and a restoration. Strictly speaking, it's reading per se, not necessarily books, that I enjoy. Though my taste runs largely to popular fiction for escapism and spirit-lifting, I will gladly read newspapers, blogs, websites, encyclopedias, museum placards, or cereal boxes, if that's what's available. I highly recommend the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series, Donna Andrews, Maeve Binchy, or Jane Austen, though my entire list of favorites is much too long to list.

#4 - Talk to the animals. Of late, I've come to appreciate nature more and more. Watching birds and animals is a great treat, and sitting on the desk with a cool drink, a book, and binoculars or camera, is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable ways I know of to spend an afternoon. I always enjoy spending time with Kinsey, my resident critter, and in this regard I have scientific observation on my side. Studies show pets are helpful to both the sick and the well, the young and the old, for maintaining a sense of well-being or raising spirits when down.

#5 - Spend time with other people or spend time alone. While this sounds like a conflict, both raise my vibes. I need more time to myself than most people - my theory is that my brain needs this time to process all that it has absorbed. If you believe in personality types, I'm an introvert. Being around people takes a lot of energy, energy that I need to replenish.

On the other hand, I am neither a hermit nor a misanthrope. I need and enjoy interaction with other people, particularly smart, funny, slightly unusual people like my husband and good friends. My friendships are deep rather than wide, and I'd much rather have dinner with one friend than go to a party. The less fuss involved the better; I'd rather go out to dinner than have guests in or be part of a pot luck and a tee-shirt-and-jeans dress code is my favorite.

I have other "rules" for life, but these will do for now. The second part of the meme is to identify five favorite posts, each from a different blogger. Only five is tough, so I'll concentrate on recent ones that are fresh in my mind and know that I'll undoubtedly miss one that I shouldn't.

Rabbit, rabbit yourself from A Mark on My Wall
Resilience, from Journey Through Grace
Chain Link Fences and Rioting Flowers from Wanderin'Weeta (with waterfowl and weeds)
Early July in the Garden from In the Garden Online
Boats at Sunset from Somewhere in NJ

Festival of the Trees #13: Putting Down Roots

Welcome to Festival of the Trees for July 2007

Trees are inextricably linked to places, perhaps because it takes them so long to reach maturity and majesty. When we become very attached to a place, we liken ourselves to the trees, and say that we have put down roots. This month's Festival of the Trees looks at places where trees have taken hold, including places in our hearts. Where, then, are the places we find trees?

I've found them at all four points of the compass:



West, on the edge of the Grand Canyon

The last tree North

A tree at my former home, back East


A magnolia, the epitome of Southerness



Windywillow finds them nearby, in a farmer's field



Jade, at Arboreality, finds them everywhere. From a Horse Chestnut at her parents' home to a mulberry tree next to her cottage, Jade shares her love of trees and her understanding of their place in the world.

We don't usually look for trees in the desert. However, the Palm Springs Savant (aka Rick Rockhill) finds date palms thriving there, as he illustrates with pictures from Sheild's Date Farm. (Unsolicited and uncompensated endorsement: I've been there. I highly recommend the date shakes.)

Mary shares palm trees seen at the Palo Alto Baylands, filled with egrets.

Jayne, of Journey through Grace, finds a tree in a nearby cow pasture, filled with vultures.

And Florida Cracker, at Pure Florida, shares his love of the Florida Keys in a post filled with pictures of trees found there, many filled with frigate birds.

Cate ("Kerrdelune") at Beyond the Fields we know shares pictures of trees at Dalhousie Lake and Bitterroot and Bergamot shows a picture of trees by the Missouri River.

Paul Lester celebrates his love of Seabrook Island with a series of posts and photos, including this one of trees and Spanish moss.



Pablo has put down deep roots at Roundrock, as we all do in places we love. Not only his own roots, but those of cypress and maple trees as part of his effort to restore the land.



Dave celebrates the trees of the Snyder Middleswarth Natural Area even as he mourns the dying hemlocks.

Chet celebrates a copper beech in Ireland, with words and pictures.

Also across the big pond, the Crafty Green Poet shares a link to the Edinburgh Tree Festival, a gathering not of trees but of tree lovers.

Down under, we find eucalyptus counseling a willow not to weep, while on the opposite side of the globe in Peru, Claudia leads us on a tour of a forest in the Valley of the Salas River.

The down side of trees is that no matter how rooted in a place they are, trees may come down. Similarly, we may find ourselves uprooted by life or circumstances. James Jourdan reflects on life, inspired by a fallen tree. Christopher also reflects on the fallen, as does Genevieve, while Pablo reflects instead on a tree deliberately felled.

Xris, the Flatbush Gardener, celebrates trees found in memories, both personal and societal.

Of course, sometimes the trees root themselves in our imagination, or their roots stray across the fragile boundary between the known and the unknown. Vicki pointed me to this picture of a tree that contains a portal to another reality.

Some of the trees we find in the reality inside us, we celebrate in stories and pictures. Others push through and bloom in poetry ancient and modern.

May you find green and growing trees where ever you look.

This concludes the July Festival of the Trees, the first one of FOTT's second year. If you'd like to host the August fest, or any future edition, write to Dave, bontasaurus (at) yahoo (dot) com, or Pablo, editor (at) roundrockjournal (dot) com.

You looking at me?

Bitter? Me?

Two green herons just perched on the snag in the backyard. I grabbed my camera, only to find that I'd left it turned on last time and the battery was dead. Of course, by the time I raced to get a charged battery, the critters had moved on.

Just seeing them was fun, but it would have been a great picture.

I'm sitting on the deck with laptop and camera, in case they come back. There's a doe grazing in the far field, the barn swallows are swooping over head, and there's a fair representation of blackbirds, doves, robins, bluebirds, grackles, starlings, and sparrows. Swallows always seem particularly joyous, and today they are chattering quite energetically as they swoop.

I love it here. I've never felt this strongly about a place, but I just love it.

At a distance, beauty