I Remember The Halloween of 1991

In 1991 I had a seven year old and a three year old, good ages for trick or treating.  Did I plan an old fashioned evening of costumes and door-to-door begging for candy?  Not exactly.  I signed us up for the school carnival where I volunteered to work at the fish pond while the others enjoyed themselves in the school gymnasium.  They had costumes on.  Offspring #1 really wanted to go trick or treating.  I promised him we would - just as soon as the carnival was over.  I said, "I promise you can go trick or treating tonight."  Thinking back, I'm not really sure why the school had a carnival on this holiday evening.  I don't think it was a fundraiser.  In any case, my job was in the fish pond.  I didn't get the fun job of interacting with the children and watching their excitement as they fished for prizes.  I was assigned the "behind the scene" job of attaching prizes to the clothes pins "hooks."  I stayed behind the fishing screen.  Since the screen was shorter than I was, I had to bend over the entire time so I wouldn't be seen.  I guess they thought the kids believed in magical fishing or something.  Seriously, did they think kids thought prizes automatically clipped themselves to the clothes pins?  The person in front would whisper clues to me so I would know what kind of prize to attach.  The clues were "preschool girl" or "older boy" and things like that.  From that brief description I could decide which piece of worthless trash to clip onto the string.  After about an hour of bending over and getting hit in the noggin with flying clothes pins, I was ready to call it quits. My head hurt and my thighs were screaming.  But I couldn't let these children down.  The fish pond was located in a corner of the gymnasium near a fire exit door.  The room got hot and stuffy as the evening wore on.  Someone behind me opened the fire door for a breath of air.  Holy crap!  It was snowing!  Not only was it snowing but it was almost knee high already!  My brain could not comprehend what my eyes were seeing.  My heart sank a little.  Did I make a promise I could not keep?  My offspring was going to be so MAD at me if he couldn't go trick or treating tonight.  Offspring #2 wouldn't care but Offspring #1 was going to care enough for half a dozen children.  I made my apologies to the volunteer person at the fish pond and high tailed it out of there.  I found my family and we headed outside.  The deep snow and slippery roads made for a long trip back to our neighborhood.  And Offspring #1 WAS NOT HAPPY!  He made his feelings clear.  So we stopped at the first house on our block that had a porch light illuminated.  I waited in the car while his father helped Offspring #1 through the thigh-high snow.  (The snow was thigh high on a full grown man, not a seven year old).  Lucky for us, they had candy.  They were totally surprised to see anyone out trick-or-treating in this weather but they had candy.  If I remember right that might have been the only house with a light on all the way home.  Offspring #1 was still mad.  And he had every right to be mad. One house does not trick-or-treating make.  My condolences and commenting that we had lots of candy that never got handed out did not help the situation.  Offspring #1 might still be mad.  I'm afraid to ask.

Happy Halloween

Watching

My new birdfeeder has been up for several weeks now.  So far it has proven to be squirrel proof.  Today I watched as six gray squirrels sat underneath my two feeders eating the leftovers the birds had thrown to the ground.  Now that I have conquered the squirrels (at least temporarily), I can appreciate them more. One came up on the deck to drink water from the bird bath.  It had muscular little legs and a intelligent look.  Squirrels aren't so bad WHEN THEY'RE NOT EATING THE BLACK SUNFLOWER SEEDS THAT COST ME MORE THAN $32 FOR A FIFTY POUND BAG!

The Evil Buckthorn

Yesterday I took a day to catch up on chores in the yard.  My hamstrings are singing today so I know I got a lot of work done.  I picked up all the leaves and filled the two compost piles.  I spread a layer of dirt between every three bags of grass and leaves to innoculate the mixture with microorganisms that will chew those leaves and grass clippings into healthy, rich compost.  I let the chickens out to roam, filled the bird feeders, and emptied the rainbarrel and put it away for the season. I reached my arm W A Y  down into the pond to lift the water lily out and store it in the garage for the winter - a cold and slimy task.  I cleaned out the coop and gave the chickens fresh bedding and food.  I dug out the bulbs and threw out the annuals on the deck.  When I got the ladder out by the oak tree to replace the nose that fell off my "tree face" a pileated woodpecker landed about 5 feet from my head.  I hugged the oak tree and held my breath as I balanced on the ladder with a mixture of fear and awe as the female woodpecker hopped about on the branch.  She flew away after about 10 seconds but those were 10 awesome seconds!  I spent two hours fighting the war against invasive buckthorn.  I worked on the area next to my driveway again. I took out at least 100 trees ranging in size from 12 inches to 18 feet.  I had to use my bow saw on about 10 trees, they were that thick.  I used my nippers on the smaller trees.  Every tree trunk was sprayed with "Brush B Gone."  In the fall, the buckthorn will pull it's liquids down into the roots so fall is the perfect time to spray buckthorn stumps with poison. I told some trees to "suck it" as I sprayed poison on the cut.  The buckthorn is a crafty tree.  Although easy to find because of their waxy dark green leaves in the fall when most of the other trees are bare, some grow crooked so you can hardly find their trunk.  Some of the smaller trees will hide their trunk under the leaves so you can't spray them with poison unless you move the leaves.  Some buckthorn will grow smaller branches that slap you in the face as you cut down the main trunk.  I spent two hours cutting and poisoning buckthorn and I didn't get them all.  I will keep working on it.  I notice my neighbors have lots of buckthorn growing in their woods too.  If there are buckthorn large enough to bear fruit in the neighborhood, it will keep coming back.  The buckthorn berries have a laxative effect.  One master naturalist told me that a buckthorn berry will spend twenty seconds in a bird before being expelled from the other end.  I don't know if that is true but it sure is an impressive figure. 

Bog Lecture; Owls to Orchids

Last night a sibling and I went to the MRVAC (Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter) for a lecture.  We had to go all the way to Bloomington to find the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center which, interestingly enough, is just a couple short blocks from the "Park-N-Fly" where I leave my car when I go to the airport.  Would would think a wildlife refuge was so close to the airport?  When you walk out the door of the wildlife refuge, you see the Hilton and Embassy Suites across the freeway.  Sparky Stensaas was the speaker.  My sibling said she wanted to go just to see what a guy named Sparky looked like.  To me, he looked 20 or 30 years younger than I thought he would.  Most birders are way past 60 years old.  Sparky was young and enthusiastic about bogs.  He said bogs fill in from the top down where swamps fill in from the bottom up.  Bogs have organic material below while swamps have mineral matter below.  A person could get wet and stuck in both of them.  And the mosquitoes from a bog bite just as hard as the mosquitoes from a swamp.  Sparky is a naturalist, a photographer, author, publisher and a writer.  He showed a film he made called "Owls to Orchids."  He had scenes from the Sam-Zim bog which is located near Duluth.  I've been there in the fall when the tamaracks were in beautiful golden orange color.  Sparky had amazing footage of the bog in all four seasons.  Besides the beautiful landscape, the clouds and the stars, he showed us gray jays, boreal chickadees, redpolls, great gray owls, northern hawk owls, ermine, frogs, voles, orchids, pitcher plants, sundew, spruce and grouse.  His film was nicely done with close up shots of owls turning their heads, blinking, hunting, feeding their young, eating, yawning, and burping up pellets.  Sparky is a big fan of the Sam-Zim bog and is leading the effort to expand the bog and build a visitor center.  Right now there is really nothing at the bog, not even an outhouse, which makes it difficult for visitors.  He'd like to see some trails put in and more prime bog land purchased.  At one point during the movie he switched from background music (mostly Enya) to a loud chorus of frogs.  Suddenly all we hear is "keck a heck, keck a heck."  Those are wood frogs.  We both had a good time at the lecture.

Some Potatoes Are More Appetizing Than Others

I put the potatoes in my little red wagon to bring them into the house.

I planted russet potatoes and some blue potatoes.  The russets turned out fine.  Some were small but overall it was a good crop.  This particular strain of blue potato is not as appetizing, in my honest opinion.

These look like something a cat leaves in a cat box.  I hope they're more appetizing when they're mashed.

Comments

I got seven comments when I misspelled the title and the picture was blank than when I write a blog entry.  What does that say about me?  What does that say about you?  Maybe I should do that more often.

More Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge Pictures

The picasa slide show isn't working on some computers so I chose some photos to display separately.

Dawn at the refuge.  See the mist hanging low to the ground?

The sun rises.

Sandhill cranes wake up and go to the corn and soybeans fields for the day.

The cranes appear to be illumated from below.

These cranes will leave within the next two weeks, gather in Indianna before heading to Florida for the winter.  I wish I could go with them.

Sandhill Cranes at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

Frustration

Migwe, my canary, is looking pretty fine in his new coat of feathers but I am sick and tired of sweeping up feathers.  This molting thing is for the birds!  The wing feathers and tail feathers aren't so bad because they are heavy enough to stay where I put them.  It's those downy under feathers that keep escaping.  I try to sweep them with a broom and the feathers scatter away as the broom approaches.  I pin some downy feathers under the broom bristles and carry them out the deck door.  As I let them go free, some feathers rise in the air and go back into the house ahead of me.  I go back in and trap more between the broom and the dustpan.  I set them free on the deck railing. Some rise into the air on invisible air currents and soar into the basswood tree or up and over the roof.  I am glad molting only happens twice a year because cleaning up feathers is frustrating.

Got Up Early This Morning

This morning I got up early.  I had to be at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge by 6:30 a.m.  I met some friends there.  About 30 people carpooled to a spot about 5 miles away.  We parked in a field and stood outside waiting for the sun to rise.  As the light increased, we could see fog in the distance across the prairie.  An orange glow shimmered through a stand of bare oak trees to our left.  We stood and watched as the day began.  A robin flew across.  Three crows chased an immature eagle.  Mallard ducks formed big "C's" in the sky.  And then another bird flew by.  This is what we were waiting for.  This bird flew effortlessly with a graceful and stylish flick at each upward stroke; a sandhill crane.  Camera shutters whirred and clicked.  Flocks of birds flew right toward us until they could see us standing there and veered off to the right or to the left.  More ducks flew by.  A noise behind us drew our attention.  Grackles were chattering and moving behind a barn, across the road and into the woods.   They looked like a black river in the sky.  We could hear gun shots to our left.  As the sun rose above the horizon, the cranes were illuminated from below.  Some cranes were so close we could see their little black feet stretched back.  Many of the cranes were silent.  Some cranes made their typical pterodactyl sounds.  Young cranes made an awkward peeping noise.  As we stood for an hour and a half we saw at least 300 cranes, 200 ducks, 50 geese, 2 trumpeter swans, one eagle, one robin, 3 crows, 8 cedar waxwings, and a bazillion grackles.  I hope some of my photos turn out.  Birdwatching with others, a great way to start a day. 

Compost Wars

I've struggled with one of my compost piles in the past.  Located next to an apple tree (for my convenience) the compost was violated by apple tree roots.  The apple tree sent it's hungry roots into the nutrient rich compost.   The roots infiltrated the compost and grabbed hold of it tight like a mother holds a baby.  I would try to pull the compost out and spread it around and ended up playing tug-of-war with the apple tree. So I sought advice and was told that a layer of landscape fabric on the floor of the compost pile would keep the roots out.  That advice didn't work. The roots easily pierced three layers of landscape fabric.  Getting the compost out that year was harder than ever.  Last fall I tried a new technique.  I put a double layer of green tarp down.  I tied the tarp to the sides of the compost pile so that the tarp climbed up 10 inches on 3 of the 4 sides of the pile.  Whaddya know?  This worked!  When I pulled the compost out a couple weeks ago, the compost was not infiltrated with apple tree roots.  Only one small root pierced the tarp.  Once I got most of the weight of the compost out of the pile, I untied the tarp and pulled the tarp out into the garden to empty it completely.  And with all the chicken manure, this was some prime compost.  Success!  I am smarter than an apple tree!

Mercy

I read "Mercy" by Jodi Picoult and it had all the typical Picoult novel trademarks - set in the northeastern United States (Wheeloch, Massachusetts), a trial (murder one), and a heart tugging social dilemma (euthanasia).   Jodi's characters are fascinating as always.  There is Cam, the local rule abiding chief of police.  Cam's cousin, Jamie, a business owner, loves his wife so much that when she asks him to kill her because her body is riddled with cancer and she is in so much pain she doesn't enjoy life anymore, he eventually does what she asks.  The cousins have more than a Scottish grandparent in common.  They both do things they know are not right.  Which one is the better man?  This was a fascinating book - a real page turner.  I found myself holding my breath when the jury came back and read the verdict.    

Penny Postcards

Prior to 1917, a person could buy and mail a post card for 1 cent.  Go to this website to see examples of penny postcards from your area:  http://www.usgwarchives.org/special/ppcs/ppcs.html

Last Of The Summer Wine

Lately I've been watching a British sit-com when I eat my supper after work.  The show, "Last of the Summer Wine," is shown on the public broadcasting channel at 6 and 6:30.  The show features three retired men who live in a small village in England.  They have no jobs, no wives, and no commitments.  The three guys hang out together all day. And they have the best time!  All dressed up, well, two are dressed up and Compo is dressed in scruffy clothes, they go out walking, to the cafe for tea or to the pub for beer.  They reminisce about the old days.  Cleggy is the meek and philosophical one.  Foggy is the pompous former military man.  Its a funny show.  The physical comedy is especially funny because these are pretty old men to be doing such crazy stunts like riding a donkey, being shot out of a cannon, and rolling down huge English hills inside barrels.  Compo is in love with his neighbor, Nora Batty.  She is portrayed as a stern woman with no sense of humor and wrinkly stockings.  And if a man grabs an unwilling woman around the neck to kiss her cheek, it's considered sexual assault here but in the show it happens every episode.  Nora just yells and shoves Compo off and she might hit him with her garden broom.  The scenery is amazing and the story lines are hilarious.  The sitcom was written by Roy Clark.  "The Last of the Summer Wine" is the longest running sitcom in television history, running from 1973 to 2010.  Roy Clark also wrote "Keeping Up Appearances" which is another funny show I've watched.  I really like this show.  I think these three guys have the ultimate retirement plan - hang out with your friends all day and do whatever you feel like doing plus getting into trouble every once in a while.  They're living my dream.

I've Got Birds On My Blog

Junco

At least I think I've got birds on my blog. Do yo see them?  I had them earlier but I don't think the birds can fly over my old fashioned dial up connection.  If you do see them, it's a facebook thing with the Audubon group.  You can collect all 38 kinds of birds on various blogs.  I think they're cute.

On another note, I saw lots of birds while I sat at the kitchen table for an hour reading the Sunday paper.  If only Project Feederwatch began in October, I would have had an outstanding report of Junco's (my Easter egg birds came back from the tundra for the first time this season), robins, blue jays, chickadees, house finches, gold finches, hairy woodpeckers, nuthatches and cardinals.  The yard was full of life.  Now I have to save up some money to buy another bag of black sunflower seeds.

Love My New Kitchen Gadget

I love kitchen gadgets and supplies.  I restrain myself from buying more because my cupboards are full and really, how many pretty bowls do I need?  But this gadget was worth the money and the storage space.  I've used it 6 out of the last 7 days.  My new gadget is an immersion blender.  Oh, it's so handy.  I have a regular blender but this one is better to puree hot soups (like carrot soup, squash soup, and black bean soup).  And it's safer than transferring a kettle full of hot liquid food twice.  I can just stick the blender into the bowl of soup and puree it without pouring.  The immersion blender is great for making a strawberry smoothie because somedays I just cannot face another portion of plain yougurt.  And instead of having to clean the blender cup, the blade, the attachment and the rubber gasket, I just rinse the shaft in hot water and I am done.  It's so easy! 

Preparation

I am getting ready for another season of watching winter birds for Project Feederwatch. Recently one of my old bird feeders crashed and broke into pieces.  I had strung a cable from a crab apple tree to the top of the deck.  I suspended the feeder on the cable.  To deter the squirrels I had strung milk bottles, large juice containers and pie plates along the cable.  To be truthful, it looked a little trashy.  And the squirrels could still tightrope their way across.  The gray squirrels walked above the rope and the red squirrels clambered across below the rope.  I really didn't want another season of keeping a loaded super soaker by the back door.  Instead I sunk part of a 6 foot 2x2 into the ground.  Over that I put a 5 inch length of 4 inch diameter pvc pipe.  I hope the squirrel arms are not long enough to skinny their way up the thick pvc pipe.  I suspended a bird feeder and a suet holder to that. I've had it up almost 3 weeks and so far I haven't seen a single squirrel on it.  I haven't seen a single woodpecker yet either but they should find it soon.  The nuthatches, goldfinches and chickadees like it though.  Over time I have come to realize just how crafty the squirrels are.  I don't think this one will be squirrel proof forever but if I can keep them off it for six months, I'll be happy.

Once Upon A Time

There was a mother mousey who lived in a sleeve.  She had more mousey children than she could believe.

She gave them some broth without any bread.  She whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.

How Can You Tell If Someone Doesn't Like Your Carrot Soup?

"Yeah, I tried that carrot soup you brought.  I didn't even try to give  her any, she doesn't have much of an appetite.  It was different.  I suppose it has nutritional value?  What is in it?"

Nice Weather We're Having

With all these days in October with the high temperatures in the 70's and 80's, I almost feel redeemed for the long and cold winter we had last year.

Poor Aunt Bea

Sandhill Cranes

It has been a long time since I've put a new bird on my annual bird list.  I need to get out bird watching again.  I'm tempted to see the gathering/staging area of the sandhill cranes at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge soon.  The refuge is offering sandhill crane tours on Oct. 15 and 22 at 6:30 in the morning.  The cranes roost together at night and we can watch them leaving the roosting area in the morning to forage for the day.  I am tempted to go and watch.

Carrot Soup

I had a great crop of carrots this year so I looked up a recipe for carrot soup and then changed the ingredients to fit what I had available. It was delicious!  Ingredients:  carrots (an amount similar to a small bag of baby carrots) sliced into coins, 1/2 cup red onion diced, 1/2 cup celery diced, 3 cloves garlic diced, 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth, 4 small tomatoes diced, 3 TB soy sauce, and a generous sprinkling of powdered red pepper.  Add all ingredients except for the soy sauce and red pepper to a sauce pan.  Simmer for 35 minutes until carrots are tender.  Blend soup.  I bought an immersion blender which is a lot easier than transferring hot soup into a blender and then back again into the pot.  Add soy sauce and red pepper to taste.  Enjoy!  It's really, really good.



Oatmeal

Lately I've been enjoying steel cut oats.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:  1 heaping cup of steel cut oats (looks kinda like grit for the birds), 1 cup water, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp. salt, 3 or 4 apples peeled and cut into chunks, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1 TB cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Spray the inside of your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.  Do it.  Do it or you'll be sorry later.  Add all ingredients.  Stir.  Cook on low for 7 or 8 hours.  My crock pot runs hot so I cook it for 6 hours.  If you cook it overnight you will wake up to a wonderful cinnamon and apple aroma.  Makes 6 servings.  Serve with sweeter and milk.  This oatmeal is so hearty you will not get hungry again for at least 6 hours.

Fire!

After work and swimming laps, I stopped by the library on my way home.  I wanted to pick up some books.  This month it's my turn to present books to read and we usually pass around a copy of the book.  I'm too cheap to buy them so I borrow them from the library.  As I drove up to the library, I saw smoke in the grass at the edge of the driveway.  A car was parked there and some teens were outside.  I parked my car and looked again and this time I could see flames.  The teens were trying to stomp the fire out but it looked like it was getting away from them.  I told the librarian that the grass on the other side of the driveway was on fire.  To my surprise, she said, "Again?"  She scurried to tell other people while I went to get my books.  As I left the library I could see the kids had kept the fire from spreading.  I could also see that the prairie area between the lanes was blackened and smouldering.  That must be where the fire had burned earlier.  The high winds and the dry air might have pushed some smouldering ashes across the lane and into dry leaves on the other side.  What a wild day.  This warm air and windy weather is getting a little spooky. 

Wrinkles

I knew I would get wrinkles when I got old.  I expected that.  I was told about the "laugh lines" and "crow's feet."  I knew to expect a turkey neck someday.  But no one told me about the thigh wrinkles.  Good lord.  My advice?  If you choose to do a yoga move called "downward dog,"  either wear long pants or wait until after dark and keep the lights off.

4D

Today I heard about 4D ultrasounds.  Someone I know has a daughter with a high risk pregnancy.  Every month she has a 4D ultrasound.  This future grandmother told us how amazing the  images she saw in the 4D ultrasound.  She even got a movie burned on a DVD of her granddaughter who is due to be born in February.  Strange, not?  I didn't even know we had four dimensions. One dimension (like a line) I can understand. Two dimensions (like the surface of a sphere) I can get.  Three dimensions (like the space inside a cube) I can get.  But four dimensions?  The future grandmother said the fourth dimension is the images are given in real time.  She said it's like looking inside right at the baby. She could see that her skull hasn't grown together yet.  She could see her little upper lip so clearly she knew the baby would not have a cleft palate.  She said the images were a little spooky to see.  And that got me to thinking.  I had an ultrasound once.  I guess my ultrasound (almost 23 years ago) would be considered a 2D ultrasound.  At first I couldn't see anything at all but suddenly I could see a head and a body when the technician pointed them out.  I could see little eyes.  The baby was laying facing the camera on it's left side.  It's head was on the right side of the screen.   As I watched in amazement, the baby raised it's right arm and pulled it's hand toward it's head and moved it back and forth.  My baby WAS WAVING AT ME!  Waving like it was in a parade.  I started to giggle with joy and we lost the picture.  But it was a very happy moment and a foreshadowing of the vibrant, gregarious offspring I was to have. 

Walnut Season

Landscape boulder or squirrel work station?

I've been hearing this sound in my yard and my parent's yard.  It goes "screech screech screech" and sounds like rocks rubbed on a grater.  It's not a pretty sound.  It's the sound of squrrel teeth breaking into walnut shells.  Now I've tried to open walnut shells.  Each shell takes at least 5 blows from a hammer.  They are not easy to open.  So I have to admire the squirrel's ability.  Just imagine how strong those squirrel teeth are.  If the squirrels couldn't wear down their teeth with walnuts, they would probably be saber-toothed squirrels.  The squirrels use my landscape boulder as a work station.  The top of the rock is littered with walnut husks and shells.  They also use my front cement sidewalk.  I try to keep the husks swept away because they stain the cement.  But it's an impossible task because squirrels open new walnuts every day.  I guess it's just "walnut season."  It will pass just like the holiday season, Girl Scout cookie season, and rhubarb season.

Improve Your Karma

I signed up with bethematch.com last week.  They sent me a kit with three swabs.  I rubbed the swabs on the inside of my cheeks and mailed them back.  If you meet basic health criteria (which even I could meet), you could be a bone marrow donor.  Look it up.  You might want to participate.  You could be the one to save a life.

Pumpernickel

Last night I had some Greek garbanzo bean stew and pumpernickel bread for supper.  As I chewed my dark break, I started thinking about the name pumpernickel.  "Pumpernickel," I thought to myself, "Pump or nickel.  Pumper. Nick. El.  I should google that."  Later I did google the origin of the word pumpernickel.  Much to my surprise, the answer is gross.  Pumper is the German word for fart.  Like "Achoo" sounds like the sound, pumper sounds like a fart in Germany.  Nickel is the name for devil.  So pumpernickel is devil's fart bread.  Basically they thought the stuff was nearly inedible and gave you gas.  If I had known what pumpernickel meant, I don't think I would have purchased it.  What other foreign foods am I buying that I should be concerned about?

Nice Lady

A lady about my age and driving a rusted mini-van approached me today as I was getting ready to put on my motorcycle helmet outside the fitness club.  She said, "I had to drive over here to applaud you.  You got guts."

I assumed she was applauding my motorcycle use so I said, "Thank you.  It's actually a lot of fun."

"I am sure it is," she said as she drove away.

Such a nice lady!

What The Dog Saw

I was given the book, "What The Dog Saw and Other Adventures" by Malcolm Gladwell in January of this year.  A fellow traveler in the Galapagos Islands finished it and offered it to me because she didn't want to carry it all the way home.  I guess it has taken me almost ten months to finish it.  It's not a bad book.  It's one of those books you can set down and pick up a month later without a problem because it's a series of essays that were published in the New Yorker magazine by the author.  the book comes in three sections. The first deals with little known geniuses, the second with the problems of prediction, and the third with psychological topics.  The topics vary from "why are there 30 kinds of mustard and only one kind of ketchup?" to "are pit bulls really the most dangerous breed of dog?"  One of the more interesting essays was on corporate climate.   Enron, for example, promoted those employees with "talent," an unmeasurable quality.  Employees were promoted because they gave off a perception of talent and were often promoted and rewarded far beyond their abilities.  Other companies, Southwest Airlines, for example, pay modestly and give raises according to seniority. Southwest has become, according to Gladwell, the most successful and efficient airline.  This is not a book I would have chosen to read but I am glad I did.  Gladwell's writing prods me to question my assumptions and to to think about topics I normally don't bother to consider.

House Wrens

House Wrens nested in the bluebird nest box.

Looks like they lined the nest with pine needles, spider webs and dryer lint.

House wrens nested in one of my bluebird houses this year.  I know they had two, if not three, clutches of eggs.  There was a lot of care and feeding involved in raising all those young.  The male wren fills the box with short sticks.  He might fill other bird houses and nesting cavities in the vicinity just to reduce competition.  Then the female comes alone, surveys his work, tosses out any unnecessary sticks, and lines the nest with softer items.  The female will lay between two and eight eggs.  House wrens are not as spectacular looking as bluebirds but I do appreciate their pugnacious attitude.