Wire Hangers

I've been cleaning out the house and getting rid of clutter.  I've emptied closets and sifted through things.  I have so many wire hangers it's freaking ridiculous.  We've lived here, what, 20 years?  I think the house was empty of hangers when we moved in.  Where are they call coming from.  I don't recall buying any hangers.  We seldom  used a dry cleaners.  How is it possible that I am still finding another 50 empty wire hangers?  How?  The only plausible explanation is that the wire hangers are reproducing in the dark closets.  Male wire hangers hook up with female wire hangers and baby wire hangers are born or hatched and they jump up on the wooden closet rods and hang there in wire hanger family groups.  Anybody want some wire hangers?

Scythe

I confess.  I was snooping the barn.  The barn holds so many cool things.  I found a scythe and took it out to the sunshine to take some photos.  The handle is wooden with a metal blade and a metal grip half way down the handle.  I have so many questions.  Who bought it?  How much did it cost?  On what crops was it used?  Who used it?  When was the last time it was used?  This scythe has a history to it I just know it.

The Martian Chronicles

Ray Bradbury wrote The Martian Chronicles which is a series of slightly connected short stories rather than a novel.  The stories are science fiction and are set on Mars.  On Bradbury's Mars, humans can breathe the air safely but it's thin, as if Mars were set at 10,000 feet above Earth.  The first third of the book are short stories about humans trying to land and colonize Mars while the Martians stop them.  The middle third regards the  humans settling on Mars because most of the Martians have been killed by a germ brought to their planet.  The final third is the devastation brought by an inter-global nuclear war.  I found it interesting that even though Bradbury wrote these stories in the 1940's, the conflicts and issues he brings up are current events.  In the middle section, there was one story I found very thought provoking.  A minister was trying to convert the Martians. He tried to create religious icons that looked like Martians. At this time, most Martians had died and the few that were left looked like glowing blue globes.  His fellow ministers scoffed, saying Martians are not human and cannot be converted.  They said you can't convert a paramecium because they don't have limbs and are incapable of committing a sin.  The Martians, appearing as blue globes, also don't have limbs and therefore can't commit a sin.  It's not every book that has me contemplating the nature of sin. I'm not a huge science fiction fan anymore, but this was a really good book. 

The Light In The Forest

I walked through the library and saw a book on display under the word, "Classic."  I had never seen it before.  I picked it up.  The book was short, had illustrations, and was written in 1953-a very good year.  So I borrowed it, read it, and am here to tell you this is a great book; a first rate American historical fiction.  The main character is John/True Son, a boy born in Pennsylvania and kidnapped by Indians at age 4 and reluctantly returned to his white family at age 11.  The boy spent his formative years with the Indians and he believes he is an Indian.  He finds living with his birth family extremely uncomfortable especially because his uncle is a white supremest.  He runs away to live with his Indian family but finds he doesn't fit in that world either.  Both white and Indian, he is neither white nor Indian.  Tough spot to be in for anyone but especially an 11 year old boy.  Conrad Richter takes no sides on the racial issues.  He writes  succinct and non-judgemental chapters that work for children as well as adults.  A Disney movie was made of this story (starring Fess Parker.  I always have liked Fess Parker).  I should put in in my Netflix queue.

Greg Brown Concert

A friend took me to the Greg Brown concert last Friday at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis.  He is a folksinger.  He has a low voice.  Think of the lowest note you can imagine.  He's lower than that.  Oh, so manly a voice.  He plays at small venues.  I've seen him at the State Fair and at the Minnesota Zoo.  The concert, once it got started, was great.  I don't like how we paying customers are expected to wait a half hour for the warm up act and another forty minutes for the main act.  Greg didn't start until 9:40 and the concert started (or actually didn't start but was supposed to start) at 8.  I get up at 6 in the morning.  Many nights I am asleep by 9:40.  Once Greg started singing, all was forgiven.  My favorite songs are very irreverant.  One is about Inabelle's funeral.  I thought about loading a youtube video of that song on this page but youtube really didn't show how great a song it really is.  Another song I liked was the "Fat Boy Blues."  That Greg.  He may look like a full fledged adult male but I like that he lets his eight year old self show through.  Before the show we ate at the Weinery, a restaurant just a few doors down from the Cedar.  The Weinery, contrary to it's carnivorous name, offers many fine vegetarian options.  I had a seitan Philly cheese sandwich.  It was so delicious that when I went to pay, I asked the cook how he prepared it.  Great dinner.  Great concert.  Great evening.  So tired!

Bird Class

We had another bird class on Monday.  this time we went to Emerald Pond in Ramsey.  We saw mallards, red winged blackbirds, robins, grackles, starlings, blue winged teal, coots, Canadian geese, wood ducks, a bald eagle, a great blue heron, yellow rumped warblers, and a kingfisher.  The kingfisher is my favorite.  A starling was chasing it for some reason and they zoomed by right in front of us several times.  They zigged and zagged fast-it was like watching a Star Wars action shot.  The kingfisher gave out a rattling call, "Leave me alone!"

Job Done

I took Monday and Tuesday off work.  These were two of my vacation days.  I could have spent them any way I wanted.  My plan was to paint my bedroom including the ceiling and inside the closet.  Despite the siren call of the sunny weather and the lilac scented breezes, I did the mature and responsible thing of focusing on my task of painting.  I could have been out riding my motorcycle.  I could have been out boating in the new kayak I just bought.  Ooooh, I was sorely tempted this morning to head outside.  But no, I was up and down the ladder, reaching up to the ceiling, and laying down on the floor to get the paint close to but not on the baseboard.  The painting is finished.  I haven't put the room back together yet but at least the painting part is finished.  Note to self-paint no more than one room per year.

Birding on Saturday

On Saturday my bird class went on a bird watching trip to Carlos Avery wildlife management area. We saw a total of 23 species. I think the cold and rainy weather kept some birds out of our sight. We saw downy woodpeckers, Northern flicker, bald eagle, kestrel, yellow rumped warbler, palm warbler, Harrier hawk, blue winged teal, ring necked duck, scaup, wood ducks, tree swallows, barn swallow, hooded mergansers, trumpeter swans, loons, mallard, Canadian geese, red bellied woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, goldfinch, sand hill cranes and cormorants. We started at 7 and by 10 am we were deep into the management area and far from any asphalt roads. There were very few cars in there. The area is so remote and natural that sometimes we forget to pull over to the side of the road when we stop to look at a bird. Near the bodies of water the roads is sometimes washed out so we don't want to pull over to the side of the road because we don't want to get stuck. Our teacher had stopped his van in the middle of the road to look at a pair of kestrels flying over a marsh. I was in the back seat of the van and all five passengers had our heads turned to the left and were peering through our binoculars. Some crazy fool biker, wearing bike shorts, a helmet, and a tight biker shirt, bikes by on the driver's side of the van and into the path of five pair of binoculars, scaring us half to death. I got a close view of the first and only bicyclist I've ever seen on my many trips to Carlos Avery.

Excellent Adventure

My four projects are on the right.  Can you tell that is a frog on the plate?  I caught some heat because it doesn't have arms.

 

 

Saturday was my surprise early Mother's day outing with Offspring #2. I could have found out on Friday what we were doing but I chose to keep it a surprise. The day started with lunch in her apartment, homemade pizza with faux turkey, pineapple, spinach and onion followed by a fruit salad. The salad had fresh strawberries, pineapple and banana topped with Greek yogurt/protein powder and almonds. All that protein really stuck to my ribs. Then we went to a clay center on Franklin Avenue for a “crafternoon.” We got to throw pots on potter's wheels. We listened to our instructor tell us how to make mugs, plates and bowls and then we got to try it ourselves. The first thing is to center the clay on the wheel. It's not as easy as he made it look. He said we should practice to improve our muscle memory. He said to expect 25% of our attempts to amount to anything. After a certain amount of working with the clay, things go downhill and it's better to dump that clay and start over. The clay is actually recycled and I did recycle a few clumps of clay. I ended up with a plate and three bowls during our three hour class. Mugs are hard. My problem was making the bottom too thin. When I tried to pick them up the bottom would tear. Getting things even was also difficult. As the wheel turned I could feel thick, thin, thick, thin. So I would get the wheel turning faster and feel thickthinthickthin. I would try slower and feel thick thin thick thin. Evidently changing the speed was not the answer. I was working next to a young man who managed to make a large and beautifully shaped bowl that I could already picture fruit sitting in it. Where I had made three items, he was still on his first. I thought I would slow down like him. He spent a lot of time just holding the bowl with his wet fingers as it spun round and round. I enjoyed our afternoon but golly,we were a mess. I had red clay on my pants and all over the front of my shirt. We painted and decorated our work. Our instructor will glaze and fire it for us and we can pick it up in three weeks. After class we went to the Hard Times Cafe on Riverside Avenue for dinner. They have a six page menu and everything on it is vegetarian. Every item menu was vegetarian. I am not used to this. When I go out to eat, I am lucky to find anything besides a garden salad and a grilled cheese sandwich. Having six pages of options was overwhelming. This must be what it is like for carnivores every time they go out to eat. I'm just not used to it. I got a haystack (nachos). The serving was so big it could feed 3 people. Hard Times has interesting patrons, good atmosphere, great food and good prices and absolutely no service. You have to go to the counter to order, carry your own food, and bus your own dishes. Well, I guess we can't have everything. I had an awesome Mother's Day excursion. The best.

Anticipation

Offspring #2 has a mother's day event planned for me tomorrow.  She's doing it early.  She won't tell me what we're doing.  All she says is it's from 2 to 5 pm and I should wear clothes that can get dirty. Reading between the lines I think we're taking a class of some kind.  Maybe a craft class?  She assures me I will enjoy it.  Not knowing what I will be doing is making this day more fun.

Flowers and Fungus Found In The Forest

flower

fungus

Orange fungus

Purple fern fronds

Flowers

I almost stepped on this little guy.

This little wood frog was hiding in the leaves on the hillside next to the lake.  I almost stepped on him.

Walk With Me Down To The Lake

The soil is so black in the fields.

And it smells good too when you bring a handful to your nose.

I love the forest past the fields down to the lake.

Mostly maple and basswood with a few poplar.

Mostly vertical trees.

I was hunting for morel mushrooms.  Didn't find any.  But I did find fungus.

You can see the lake through the trees.

Look up.

Look down.

I hereby name you the "Quint Tree."

Have you ever seen a more beautiful rotting log?  Orange is my favorite color.

Block Lake.

Strange how a straight stick can have such a curvy reflection.

The water is so clear.  Last fall this water was so thick and green it looked like a green carpet.

Walking back now.  I wish I could get a sweater in this color of grass.

Walk is over.  Thanks for coming.

Springbrook

Tonight my bird class was scheduled to meet at Springbrook Nature Center if the weather was nice and in the classroom if it wasn't nice.  I went to Springbrook.  I think our class must have had divided opinions on the weather because only half of us showed up there.  Without a teacher, we walked around.  We saw robins, red winged blackbirds, snowy egrets, blue winged teal, Canadian geese, grackles, black capped chickadees, hairy woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, and a yellow rumped warbler.  One of my fellow students works at the nature center and she took us behind the scenes, where regular visitors should not go, to show us a fox den.  From our vantage point 20 feet away, the fox den looked like a big hole in the ground; not much to see.  One of the naturalists has a hole cut into the side of a garage so he can film the fox.  Even without seeing a fox or kits, I enjoyed seeing the den.  The geese at Springbrook are tame and swim right up to you begging for food.  The three deer we saw weren't a bit afraid either. 

Road Trip

I took a little road trip this weekend to northwestern Minnesota with Offspring #1 and a nephew.  I had fun spending time with two young men one of whom had a birthday.  The weather was rainy on Friday and Sunday but Saturday was a beautiful day.  I saw phoebes building a nest on the barn wall, great crested flycatchers, robins, chickadees, crows, blue jays and ravens in the yard.  I could hear sand hill cranes, red shouldered hawks,  and great horned owls.  On the lake I saw loons, common mergansers, and wood ducks.   I was so proud of myself for identifying the female wood duck before I saw her mate.  Female ducks are so plain compared to the males.  I spied on my cousins across the lake as they put in four docks in front of the cabins. I saw a yellow bellied sapsucker in the woods near the lake.  While sitting on the shore I saw a crayfish with bluish green legs crawl under a rock.  I saw a leopard frog doing the frog kick under the water.  I saw red admiral butterflies flying around in the woods but they would never stay still enough for me to get a photo. I walked down to the lake twice and sat in the moss observing.  I found it very relaxing to sit, observe, and try to identify every sound I heard.  I was very content.  I thought I could sit here all day.  Then I felt the eighth deer tick crawling in the flap of my left ear and I got the he!! out of there.  I was okay with the first seven but number 8 was one too many.  I didn't find number 9 until all my clothes were off and I was getting redressed.  Lucky for me, none of them bit me.  Pictures will be coming.  Pictures of the woods, not pictures of ticks.

Feelings

Yesterday a chipping sparrow hopped onto my deck railing to eat left over canary food.  Awwwww!  How precious and cute that "first of the  year" chipping sparrow appeared to my chipping sparrow deprived eyes.  I haven't seen one since last fall.  With their red cap, black eye line, and pink beak and pink legs, a chipping sparrow can warm your heart.  However, if I see one in June, July and August, I react with, "Meh."    Cardinals, always impressive, are expecially striking on December 25th.  A robin on a December day makes me feel good.  Seeing a robin in June is not so inspiring.  How I feel when I see a bird depends on the circumstances.  The more unusual the bird sighting, the better I feel.  I think if blue jays weren't around all year and weren't so common, they could be at the top of my feel good list.  Blue jays loose their status because we see and hear them every day of the year. 

Word of the Week

Has it ever happened to you that a certain word will keep coming up during the week?  Usually an uncommon word, you will hear it in conversation at work, read it in the paper, hear it on television, or read it in a book over and over again.  This week that word is pomegranate.  I've used it. I've read it.  I've heard it.  Pomegranate.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

David Sedaris wrote When You Are Engulfed in Flames.  Sedaris=Hilarious. What a sicko. What a twisted sense of humor.  I love his writing. He can take a common awkward occurrence and turn it into a funny essay.  This book is a collection of awkward moments and funny essays.  His humor isn't exactly mood lightening kind of humor. You're not going to feel better when the book is done.  Sedaris writes about the common person, our baser instincts, and our gut feelings.  He uncovers the layers of grace and social niceties.  He leaves bare the nitty gritty and some of the things other people might think are better left unsaid.

Just a female cowbird.

Pileated Woodpecker-2, Hairy Woodpecker-2, Downy Woodpecker-2, Red bellied woodpecker-1, Crow-3, Cardinal-2, Junco - 1, Black Capped Chickadee-5, White breasted nuthatch-2, House finch-2, Gold finch-3, Brown Headed Cowbird-2.  I had an unfamiliar bird at the feeder today.  It was eating seed off the deck.  It stood there patiently, showing all sides. This bird wasn't much to look at; black eyes, beak and legs, gray body, a finchy beak, larger than a sparrow but smaller than a cardinal, indistinct markings on the gray wings.  I got out my bird book.  It wasn't a finch.  The tail had a divot.  I looked through all the flycatchers.  Maybe it was a Say's Phoebe but I wasn't sure.  I heard the phoebe calling so maybe it was a Say's phoebe.  But maybe it wasn't.  The bird came back three times to help me identify it.  Later I saw it sitting in the grass eating seed with a brown headed cowbird.  Oh, I see, it was a female brown headed cowbird. Isn't that always the case?  You think you got something rare (like a pine siskin) and when the male shows up you realize it's just a cowbird (or a house finch).  Cowbirds are not my favorite bird.  They lay their eggs in other bird nests and expect the nest builder to feed and raise their young.  Because cowbirds used to follow the buffalo herds, they didn't have time to raise their young.  The nest building birds don't recognize the cowbird eggs as different and will run themselves ragged trying to feed the cowbird chick which is often times larger than they are.

Pileated Peckers

When the hairy, downy, and red bellied woodpeckers peck at the suet feeder, they take small bites and don't spill much.  Chickadees eat suet too but are polite and neat about it. When the pileated woodpeckers eat suet, they leave crumbs of suet all over the place.  There is a big mess when they are finished.  Although fascinating to watch, pileateds are messy as heck. And when they peck, they don't just worry one corner or one section.  They peck in such a way to separate a big chunk of fat from the rest of the supply.  They're trying to tear off a hunk and fly away with it.  Mrs. Pileated was here this afternoon and she pulled the remaining wad of suet clear out of the feeder and dropped it on the deck.  She continued to stare at the empty suet feeder for a couple minutes.  Maybe she thought it would reappear.  She turned her head so her eye looked down at the floor of the deck where the suet lay. She backed up and clung on the far side of the deck railing.  She lowered herself down the vertical deck railing jerkily like a car being lowered with a jack.  When she got to the floor level, she squeezed between the railings and stepped onto the deck.  She pecked at the suet some more and threw it between the railings, off the deck, and into the grass.  Then she ate some of the suet crumbs left there earlier before flying away.  Messy birds.  They're not getting any more suet until tomorrow.

Owl Survey

Last night two of my siblings and I went on an owl survey; a citizen science project connected with Hawk Ridge in Duluth. This is our third year.  The first year we had a route by Lake City. We asked for a closer route.  The next week we got a route in East Bethel which was very close but so busy with traffic noise we wouldn't be able to hear an owl if it was sitting on our shoulders.  So, after much discussion with Hawk Ridge, we got a route in Pierz, MN.  The woman who had the route before us had it for five years.  She moved to Alaska, we were told, and that is why the route is available.  The fact that the previous volunteer had the same route for five years made it seem attractive.  And it is a good route.  We plan on doing it again next year.  However, the map we were given was crap.  Most of the roads were not marked and some were marked incorrectly.  After a long spell of confusion, we decided to start the route from the middle (downtown Pierz) and back track.  Looking at the shapes of the roads and the lay out of the creeks and rivers, we figured out where to start.  We ran our route while it was still daylight.  We saw a turkey run across the road.  And we saw a huge number of purple martin houses out there in the country.  There is a big purple martin fan club out there in Pierz.   We stopped for dinner at a little cafe on the main road of town.  The diner wasn't busy. The fire station was having a fundraiser fish fry and maybe that is why it wasn't busy.  Fish was the special at the diner as well.  I think everyone is trying to unload the fish supply before Lent is over.   The owner came and talked with us for a while.  He was a jolly fellow and he told us stories about the other customers.  He told us where he had seen owls and he seemed to be indicating the area to the north and west which is where our route began.  As soon as it got dark we went to the first stop.  On this, our third owl survey, we heard owls.  The owls we heard were very faint and far in the distance.  We heard great horned owls and barred owls at several stops.  We tried really hard to listen. At each stop we got out of the car and waited a couple minutes for the sound of the car to quiet down.  There was a slight breeze blowing so we would turn our heads so the wind wouldn't whistle in our ears.  We had some traffic noise.  Robins were terribly noisy at one spot along a river.  We heard sand hill cranes and geese and frogs and cows and machinery and dogs and tractors.  The dogs and the cows seemed to be adding extra o's to their moo's and their woof's.  They were trying to confuse us.  One cow was bellowing an extra lower octave Mooo that I thought sounded like a great gray owl but I decided it might have been one of the buffalo we saw driving into town.  When you are listening carefully for owls, almost anything can sound like an owl. I was excited to actually hear owls on our route.  We're told that the documentation of no owls calling is as important as hearing them.  But you know, when you spend time memorizing the sounds of owls, it's gratifying to put your skills to use. 

Two Turkey Vultures Sitting In A Tree

The past three mornings I've seen a pair of turkey vultures sitting in a tree on my street.  The house with the turkey vulture tree is on the golf course.  Why do the vultures hang out there?  Our street has an average amount of road kill; various squirrels and the occasional bunny or chipmunk.  I like turkey vultures but it is not a comforting sight to see them looking down at me as I pass by in my car.  Maybe I have watched too many westerns.  I've seen too many desperate cowboys out in the dessert, hungry and thirsty, dismayed by the sight of vultures circling overhead, waiting for them to die.  Sometimes the cowboys were tied spread-eagled to stakes by the Indians to die a horrid death while the turkey vultures came closer and closer.  Those old westerns, not only were they racist but prejudiced against vultures too.  I like to watch turkey vultures but I get a little creeped out when they watch me.  They force me to think of my own mortality.

Ring Around The Rosie

Have you ever looked upon a scene that held too much for the eyes to comprehend?  It's happened to me.  Twice.  Once, years ago, when the offspring were younger and less wise, I opened the door to the cabinet under the kitchen sink and saw two mind blowing things: a mouse skittering across the floor of the cabinet and a used fire extinguisher.  I knew I had a fire extinguisher there but I didn't know it had been used.  The extinguisher dial was on the red area and there was white residue around the nozzle.  My reaction was, "Aaaaah!  Aaaaah!"  I wasn't sure which thing deserved a louder scream so I think they came out equal.  Anyway, today, I again came upon another scene that was almost too much to comprehend.  I looked out the window this evening and saw two pileated woodpeckers on the deck.  Mr. Pileated (the one with the red moustache) was pecking at the suet holder and Mrs. Pileated (minus the red moustache) was on the floor of the deck chowing down on the big chunks of kidney fat he was spilling.  My appearance at the window started the pair of peckers and my eyes focused on something beyond the deck.  Meredith, my lone chicken, was out free ranging around the bottom of the bird feeder.  She was not alone.  She was circling the feeder with two other critters in a clockwise motion.  What were the critters you ask?  Squirrels?  No.  Cardinals?  No.  Nobody from her fowl kingdom.  Chipmunks?  No.  Deer.  Meredith was playing ring around the rosie with the twin, almost -year- old deer.

Rules Of Civility

I read Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.  The story is set in the jazz age, 1938, New York City and involves 3 friends, Katey, Eve, and Tinker, each wild, spontaneous and proud of being unpredictable.  The story was captivating.  Cigarettes are smoked.  Gin and martinis are drunk.  Doormen open the doors of apartment buildings. The character Katey Kontent (sounds like the emotion and not the table of) tells the story.  She likes old books and she finds one by George Washington that has 110 rules of civility.  All 110 rules are listed at the end of the book.  Most of the rules make total sense.  Don't sop up more sauce with your bread than you can eat in one bite.  Allow others to speak without interrupting. Don't pick or clean your teeth in public.  Don't gossip.  I said most of the rules make sense. Actually all the rules make sense with one exception; don't raise one eyebrow higher than the other.  Speaking as a person who's right eye brow waggles up and down without much control, I have to ask, what could possibly be wrong with that?  Katey tries to apply these rules (not the eyebrow one) to herself and to her friends.  Sometimes she and sometimes her friends don't live up to these rules and as she ages, Katey becomes able to accept that about herself and about her friends.  I really enjoyed this story.

Feathers

I read the book Feathers by biologist Thor Hanson while on my trip to Nebraska to see the cranes. This was the perfect book on a birding trip.  When I had questions like, "Are cranes the only birds that dance?" or "What birds besides cranes have featherless heads?" I would read the answers in Feathers at the end of the day.  The author of this book did a great job of mixing facts with story.  And he had fascinating facts such as for each person on earth, there are 50 birds.  I am outnumbered 50-1.  Amazing.  Also the shortest feather is as large as the tip of a pencil.  How long is the longest feather?  Sit down when you read this.  The longest feather is 36 feet long and it's on the tail of a ornamental Japanese fowl.  Thirty six feet.  Just picture the size of that chicken coop!  Holy shamoley.  As you would expect he had chapters on quills for writing, feathers in clothing (and a whole section on the Las Vegas showgirls), evolution of feathers, the ability to fly, and the most expensive cargo on the Titanic (feathers).  He wrote at length about the Archeopteryx.  I remember writing a report on the Archeopteryx when I was in third grade and I've been fascinated ever since.  He had charts and graphs and a huge appendix.  For a non-fiction book this was easy to read and over before I was ready.

Project Feederwatch Update

Bluebird (welcome back!  You look as tired as I did when I drove home from New Mexico)-1, Black capped chickadee-4, Goldfinch--3, Junco-5, Downy woodpecker-2, Hairy woodpeckr-2, Pileated woodpecker-2, Red bellied woodpecker-1, Cardinal-2, Blue Jay-1, Robin-2

And although they weren't in my yard, I was happy to see two turkey vultures sitting in a tree just a few doors down from me this morning.