A Dozen Eyes On Me

Last night after work I came home to find some snow in my driveway.  I could have shoveled it. Instead I drove back and forth up and down the driveway 4 times to pack it down. That is why my car was in the garage facing outwards this morning.  I opened the garage door this morning and turned on the car. My headlights come on automatically.  Straight ahead of me I see 12 wide eyes looking back. Six deer were looking at me. Three were standing and three were lying down. This was a strange sight to behold first thing in the morning. I carefully proceeded out of the garage slowly so as not to disturb them. The ones who were lying down didn't get up. The three who stood started walking away as soon as I turned my car to the right and they weren't staring into the headlights anymore.

Looks Like Winter This Morning

This morning I saw this as I went out on the deck to add water to the heated bird bath. Snow had fallen overnight. Ahh, winter is here. The season of rest. The coldest part of the year where I live.  The solstice is still three weeks away but it definitely looks like winter out there.

All About Me!

I learned something new today. In wasting time on the internet  exploring scientific materials I found a website that told me the following facts about myself.
1. 46 pounds of me is muscle and 22 pounds of me is bone.
2. My middle finger nail has grown 7 feet in my lifetime. My big toe nail has grown 3 feet 8 inches.
3. My heart has beat 2.7 billion times.
4. I have peed 1,002,462 fluid ounces of urine. I have excreted 328,652 ounces of sweat.  I have cried 774 ounces of tears.
5. 54% of me is water.
6. I have 5 million hair follicles.
7. I have shed 400 eggs in my lifetime.
8. I am made up 3.8 trillion cells.
This is all very personal stuff.  You can find out personal things about yourself at this website: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/the-making-of-me-and-you

I Saw Another Moose Today!

Moonglow

I just finished Moonglow by Michael Chabon this morning on my morning drive to work.  I really enjoyed Chabon's previous book, The Yiddish Policeman's Union so I thought I would enjoy this one too. This book was published in 2016 and includes some of the death bed memories of the author's grandfather. His grandfather was a remarkable man who was very interested in science, rockets, our moon and outer space. The story jumps back and forth in time from the grandfather serving in Europe during world war two to his death bed in the 1980's. Some parts are very sad and others very funny. The grandson's love and respect for his grandfather is very evident in this entertaining story.

The Couch

Here is my couch on the side of the road awaiting the garbage truck tomorrow morning. This worn out couch deserved throwing out a dozen years ago.  The arms had lost their plump shape. The cushions sagged lower than they should of even with the added support of flattened cardboard boxes under them. There is a hole in the fabric of the back of the couch where a run-away gerbil bit a hole and made a home there for a couple days.  Later that gerbil died.  I suspect the cause of death was couch thread poisoning.  Offspring #2 helped me get the couch out the garage the other day. I found 97 cents under the cushions.  Today I used my two wheel dolly to haul it out to the street.  Years ago, when Offspring #2 was small, I used to kneel on the floor with my back to the seat of this couch. She would stand at the end of the opposite hall, near her bedroom, and wait for me to open my arms.  When I opened my arms should would come running at me full tilt and slam into me forcing me back onto the cushions on this couch. We would do this routine over and over and over.  I certainly got my moneys worth out of this couch.  Today is the day I express gratitude for all the memories and send it to the landfill.

A Time of Dormancy

I am always thankful to see wild turkeys in my yard on Thanksgiving Day.  Here is a photo of 2 turkeys out of a rafter of 6.

Later that day I walked down a steep hill down to the shore of Block Lake. The walk from the house was bitterly cold. The wind blew the misty air right through the clothes I was wearing. Once we got a few yards into the basswood forest the wind was slowed and I was much warmer.  This log on the left has a series of icicles hanging from the trunk.  I suppose the splashing lake water dripped off the log or else the snow on top of the log melted downwards. I wonder if the icicles will remain all winter. The mist was so thick we could not see across the lake. Everything looked lifeless and stark. Appearances can be deceiving because this place is not lifeless.  There is plenty of action going on under this lake ice.  Fox and deer made tracks in the snow. A few birds flew around. A time or dormancy has begun for some creatures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Great Crested Crane

A friend at work asked me how I got interested in birds. I didn't have to think long. Almost 11 years ago I was in a van going down a country road in Kenya. We were passing a grassy field. There in the field was a big bird.  My guide, Migwe, said it was a great crested crane.  I looked at the great crest on that gorgeous hunk of a bird and thought to myself that I wanted to show people birds like Migwe was doing for me.  He showed me other birds too such as weaver birds, lilac bee eaters, secretary birds, flamingos,  hornbills and ostriches.  The funniest one was the cory bustard because in his excitement it sounded like he was saying "hairy bastard."  But it was the great crested crane that started a birding spark in my brain that still burns to this day.

Other Duties As Assigned

Today at work, under the category of "other duties as assigned," I drove a new Ford 15 passenger van from Blaine to Anoka and back again.  On the way there I let the other passengers choose the radio station.  They chose the Anoka radio station that has been playing (kill me now) Christmas songs since last weekend.  This van is very long.  On the way back I had the radio to myself. Besides singing along to some current music, I also sang what I remember of this fine, classic song.

What Part of the Cow Do Pork Chops Come From?

I talked to a friend today who disclosed that her father worked at the Polar Meat Market on Snelling Avenue. Suddenly my memory takes me back to 9th grade.  Our home ec class is on a tour of the meat market.  A butcher is there showing us what meats are from what part of the cow.  He shows us the rib, the sirloins, the round steaks, and the T-bones.  My new best friend is standing next to me and she raises her hand to ask a question.  The butcher calls on her to ask her question.  She asks, "What part of the cow do the pork chops come from?" I was astonished that she didn't know that pork chops come from pigs.  The butcher was nice though.  He didn't laugh.  He took her question seriously and answered her with all seriousness. 

White Mist of Tiny Water Droplets In The Air

I always enjoy watching my laundry steam when I put it outside on a cold morning such as this morning. The dry air in this cryogenic season of the year just yanks the moisture out of the cloth.

SE Minnesota

On Friday night I rented an AirBnB in Minnesota  City. It took me awhile to find the house because the roads in Minnesota City are  not well marked. Lucky for me it is a small town and if you drive around long enough you eventually find Iowa Street where this lovely Lustron home is located.  Lustron Homes were made after world war two.  Made of enameled stainless steel a Lustron home is a rare place to rent for the night.  The floor is steel. The walls are steel. The ceiling is steel. The doors are steel pocket doors. The cabinets are steel. The drawers are steel. This particular model has two bedrooms and one bath. Since I had to be in  Winona before 9 a.m I was glad to spend the night in Minnesota City which is just a short drive away.

We met other birders at the visitor center in Winona. We boarded a bus and headed into Wisconsin. Here is a view of Lake Onalaska, one of the pools formed by the many locks and dams on the Mississippi. We were here to view the thousands of tundra swans. These swans are on their way from their summers on the arctic tundra to the Chesapeake Bay. They stop here to load up on carbs such as the tubers that are in the mud under arrowhead plants. At this point we could see thousands of canvasback ducks and also mergansers, coots and loons.  Bald and golden eagles flew overhead. I learned that between 40 and 50% of the population of canvasback ducks on our planet come here in the fall. 

Our bus continued south along the river before crossing back into Minnesota at LaCrosse.  From there we headed to the Brownsville overlook. Here the tundra swans were closer to the road. We watched the tundra swams swimming and eating along with mallards, a great blue heron, canvasbacks, Canadian geese and several Trumpeter Swans. All the bird songs resounded over the water and bounced back and forth off the rocky cliffs and high bluffs on both sides of the river.

The lock and dam systems are getting old.The Army Corp of Engineers wants to keep a 9 foot channel clear for the barges who are bringing grain south. How much longer will this system be in place?  How much sand can we keep dredging out of the river? The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish refuge is a beautiful place to visit. I wonder how different it will look one hundred years from now.

No Monkeys!

I am glad we don't have monkeys here.  I read a story yesterday about a young mother in India. She was at home nursing her 12 day old child.  A monkey came in the house and tore the baby out of her arms. The monkey bit the child's head and carried it up to the roof of the house. Other people threw sticks and stones at the monkey.  Eventually the monkey dropped the baby off the roof and left the scene of the crime. The child died from severe bites to the head and the trauma of being dropped off the roof.  I can't imagine.  When I was in Africa there were monkeys and baboons.  One day we parked in front of a lodge. We went in the lodge to check in. For those few minutes it took to get our room keys some monkeys entered the van through the sun roof. They opened the bags. They tore open the bag of trail mix and left a big mess all over the van.  Our guides ran out to the van yelling. They chased the monkeys away.  Later, at that same lodge, I was swimming in the pool one afternoon.  I put my backpack on a deck chair with my towel and sandals. While I swam a monkey came up. Before I could say a word the monkey unzipped that backpack and was taking items out.  I had to chase that monkey away.  At dinner that night we ate on an open air patio.  A Maasi young man was there with a slingshot.  His job was to keep the monkeys off the tables and the buffet table.  Every single time he got distracted the monkeys took advantage and jumped up to grab food. One member of our party lost her phone. She looked everywhere. She called the phone from another number and it rang so she knew it was still in service somewhere.  Unfortunately her ring tone was frog noises and there were a lot of frogs in the area.  After 6 hours the phone went dead. She suspected the monkeys took her phone. Monkeys are trouble. I used to want a monkey like the one Tarzan had in the movies but no more!  No monkeys for me thank you very much!

Wild Flowers

Last night my chapter of master naturalists had a meeting.  Dave, a former park ranger, spoke about winter wild flowers.  He talked about how some seeds are dispersed. Seeds with fleshy fruit around them, like rose hips, are usually eaten by birds or animals.  The seeds can tolerate the travel through the body of the bird or animal and are spread that way.  Other seeds are flung out by the force of the seed pod springing open in a sudden manner that throws the seeds out some distance.  Others float away like milkweed seeds.  He put up slides of wildflowers as they appear at this time of year and asked us to identify them.  I thought one was bergamot and I was right. I thought five other ones were also bergamot and they weren't. Without seeing the flower in color and location, these slides were difficult for all of us. We have two members in our group who are really talented at identifying wildflowers and neither one of them was there last night. I don't know a vetch from a aster from a Canada puccoon from a zig zag goldenrod.  What I can do is look at a plant and study a dichotomous key and figure it out.  Or ask somebody, I can do that too.

A Small Hotel

A Small Hotel is the first book I have read by Robert Olen Butler.  If you listen to the audio version you can hear the author's voice reading his own words. The story is about a couple, Michael and Kelly. They meet at Mardi Gras. The hotel is also in New Orleans. The hotel is the Olivier House which is an actual hotel located in the French Quarter. The story is about the people more than the hotel.  I liked the book but I have one complaint. The word tits is used about a hundred million times.  I know Mardi Gras can be crass but if I never hear that word again it will be too soon.

Every Time She Turns Around She Goes Putt Putt!

I visited a good friend of mine today in Sartell. She was in a rehab place recovering from a joint replacement. I wanted to cheer her up so I went to visit. I brought her a gift of a pumpkin with a poem on it. Doesn't everyone who just had a total joint replacement want a poetic pumpkin as a gift?

Mouse In House

Today I made a list of chores. I started doing the chores so I could enjoy crossing them off the list.  Go to the bank. Check. Feed the birds.  Check. Feed the chickens. Check. Give chickens fresh bedding.  Check. Shovel the sidewalk. Check. To shovel the sidewalk I had to move a big old black walnut log off the sidewalk where it sat all summer long. I rolled it down the hill toward my boulder.  I tried to lift it on top of the boulder.  That did not work. The log was too heavy so I let it sit beside the boulder. The boulder and the walnut log can sit together all winter.  As I walked by the blue bird house I thought I would open it so no mice would live there all winter. I opened the house and saw a mossy nest. As I moved the mossy nest a pink mouse snout poked out of the moss.  I yelled and put it back. I said aloud, "Don't live in this house. Also, don't live in my yellow house. I am not sure what I want from you but seriously, do not live in the yellow house."

The One In A Million Boy

I picked up the book The One In A Million Boy by Monica Wood at the library.  I was attracted to the cover.  Turns out I got a marvelous little story about an 11 year old boy and an 104 year old woman who become friends. Both the boy and the woman are unusual people. Their friendship is genuine and each one of them sparks the other one into living life more fully. 

Winter Headquarters Already?

I got home after six o'clock tonight. I went to check on my flock of egg laying chickens.  I opened the egg door.  All the hens were snuggled together all tight in their bed. I politely asked them to move aside. As my hand drew out one warm blue egg I got to thinking - is the going to be the winter headquarters?  I was hoping to move the coop to a fresh spot of territory one or two more times in 2018.  Maybe that won't happen. Maybe winter has set in already and this is going to be where they will stay until spring.  In any case, I used that blue egg already in a batch of corn muffin which turned out to be a most delicious batch of corn muffins.

Short But Intense Conversation

Today was window cleaning day at my office. All window ledges needed to be cleared off.  I was in my office when the Squeegee Squad came in. I had a short but most intense conversation during the two minutes it took to clean my window. I started off by complimenting the catchy name of the company. The man wished he had thought of it himself.  I told him I went outside with some Windex and paper towels last month because there were bird droppings on the window and I didn't want to look at that all window.  He said he would take care of it because I shouldn't dirty my hands with that stuff. I told him I am used to it because I have chickens.  He asked if I cooked my chickens. I said I only eat the eggs because I don't eat meat.  Turns out he is becoming a vegetarian too. He told me what he had for breakfast that morning.  By then the windows were clean. He thanked me for the conversation and went on his way to the next window. I was pleased that two strangers could connect in such an real way in so short of a time.

Brunch!

The Ginseng Hunter

I am not sure why I picked up this little book called The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarico. I think the cover drew me in.  Also the size was right.  I wanted a little book to read for a change. This story is set in Korea and it is about a solitary man. The man is a farmer and he hunts for ginseng to sell. He is across the river from North Korea. The North Korean guards study him and know all his habits. He is just a man doing the best he can. He farms and hunts and eats and sleeps. Sometimes he goes to town. He studies nature. He never travels very far from home.  His life sounds boring but it isn't. His life is actually full of drama.  I liked this book. I felt as if I was living in the mountains of Korea as I read it.

Deer Season

I can tell something is up in my neighborhood. Tensions are running high. The deer in the yard are anxious.  They look around more. They run instead of walk. The deer seem more reckless. More risks are taken.  I can almost smell the extra testosterone in the air.  The bucks have a one track mind. Under the spell of their own hormones they barely eat or drink. I read that the male deer can loose 20% of their weight during the rutting season. When the season is over some males will lie still for two full days and nights before getting up again to start browsing again. If I can get through this rutting season without striking a deer with  my car, I will be grateful.

Talk To The Wrist

This morning I had a meeting. I was the oldest person in the room. Three people were in their 50's.  Two others were in their 20's.  One of the 20 somethings got a phone call.  He excused himself and stepped out of the meeting room.  I could see, through the window on the door, his profile as he talked to whomever was on the phone.  He had his phone in one hand but he was speaking into his watch.  He has an Apple watch.  He was looking straight ahead and talking into his watch.  Just. Like. Dick. Tracy! If you don't know, Dick Tracy was a comic strip about a police detective that started in the 1930's and ended in the 1970's.  As I watched this fellow talk to his wrist, I realized that I am officially old.

Guess What I Saw!

Today on my walk around Laddie Lake in Blaine I heard a group of three crows angrily shouting.  I looked up to see what they were shouting at. There was a great horned owl. A GREAT HORNED OWL! At 11 a.m. I was looking a great horned owl in an oak tree with rusty orange leaves and a blue sky.  The owl was looking at me. The picture I took is not great but if you look close at the middle tree you will see a branch off to the left about a quarter of the way down the trunk.  Above and below that branch to the left of the tree you can see two crows.  The owl is sitting on the branch close to the trunk midway between the two crows.  I stood in utter awe of this amazing sight. The owl looked down at me. Then the owl spread it's wings and flew around the oak tree farther back in the park to another tree that had no leaves on it. The three crows followed it and began harassing it there. Holy smoke, was I a lucky duck today!