New York

What a gorgeous weekend in New York. It was in the 70s when we started out for South Street Seaport on Saturday. The 1 train is only running to 96th Street. So, we boldly decided to walk the 37 blocks to catch the train there. Funny I never noticed before how uphill it is. So by the time we got to South Street, we were glad to settle down for a nice lunch outdoors at the Heartland Brewery. The weather was so nice we decided to skip the Bodies Exhibit. The Seaport area is more of a mall than a seaport lately. But we enjoyed browsing and looking at the water. (Photo to follow when I reinstall some software and/or figure out how to use my new network.) Nerd that I am, my favorite souvenier is purse size notebook from the Metropolitan Museum gift shop.

For dinner we went back to a place we'd noticed on our long morning walk. At Henry's, on Broadway and 105th, we had melt-in-your-mouth crabcakes, homey roast chicken and fine braised lamb shank. Not to mention Tiramisu and Blueberry cheesecake.

On Sunday we sucessfully navigated a trip to Target in the Bronx and Whole Foods in Edgewater. I now have a much better idea of the Whole Foods vs Wegman's competition. Back at my sister's house, Maggy made a delicious chicken picata that rivaled our terrific dinner of the night before.

The Search for "Average"

The Average American describes Kevin O'Keefe's search to understand, well, the average American. Starting with census bureau data and spending months interviewing people around the country, O'Keefe arrived at a list of 140 criteria and began his search for a single person meeting those criteria. In addition to his factual search, this is a spiritual quest for O'Keefe. He counts himself among many who have consciously avoided any tendency toward average.

"Whenever I had a choice between settling or struggling, I chose B. A, of course, stood for average."

Sound familiar? Turns out there's another whole set of people who view average as ideal. The thinking goes as follows: the reason certain traits become so common is that they work. The more of such traits that an individual accumulates, the more successful his/she is likely to be.

It's a fun trip as O'Keefe uncovers one criterion after another and he (and I) can't help comparing ourselves to the hypothetical average person: I live in the state where I was born; have lived in the same house for more than five years; am a high school graduate; believe in God - oops, no. I have a car, but no garage, I wear my seat belt and have a pet, but I don't live with "two to four people." And so it goes.

I may buy a copy of this book 'cause I think in twenty years it will be comical to look at things we now consider normal, or at least average: eats at MacDonalds and shops at WalMart at least once a year; lives within 100 miles of the ocean. Hmmm... Has a porch or deck and a grill; eats meat and ice cream; has a kitchen, at least one bathroom, a washer, a dryer and a dishwasher; showers and brushes teeth daily.

O'Keefe begins with a Norman Rockwell quote:

"Commonplace never became tiresome. It is we who become tired when we cease to be curious and appreciative. It is not a new scene which is needed, but a new viewpoint."

Spoiler follows. O'Keefe is disappointed and edified when his quest leads to his hometown and a person he'd known in high school.

Happy New Year

What is it about the tabula rasa, the blank page, the "I'm going to do better from now on..."? There are several dates that can mark that starting point. I'm lucky enough to have a summer birthday which can function as the first day of my new year. Even though it's been many, many years since I was in school, the first day of school still feels like the first day of a new year. There is, of course, January 1. But my favorite is the entire season from Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox. This is the season we plan for the new year. In fact, depending on how you feel about numbers, every single day is the first day of a new year.

I have some of the same resolutions most people have: exercise more, smoke less, eat better... But the biggie for me is planning. I don't have enough time or money to waste much. And there are sooooo many things I want to do (and quite a few that I don't want to do but have to)

I'm off to make a list...

Watch this space...

"It is not enough to be busy... The question is what are we busy about?"
– Henry David Thoreau

Collections

My mother collected words which used to end in -ed but no longer use the ending. I know, some people collect thimbles or stamps. I even have a friend who collects Lincolns. But my mother collected words.

It piqued my interest but I tend to forget the words as soon as I notice them. I've got iced tea, waxed paper, barbed wire and here's a new one: hedged fund. Scroll down to "Origins and definitions." I've forgotten how to do that in the link.

Dropping the -ed may make pronunciation simpler. But it blurs the line between nouns and adjectives. No wonder young people have trouble diagramming sentences. Well, maybe that's not the main reason.

Okay. Some days start out stranger than others. But you go ahead with the day you've got, not the day you wish you had.

Progress

Just look at this weather! Temperature in the 50s. It makes it hard to stay on track with holiday preparations when it feels like I should be outside. I could be turning the compost, cleaning up fallen branches, clearing more of the saplings in the chicken yard...


But we are making some progress. Here's the tree with lights. I try not to rush into anything. That's a gentle way of saying that I procrastinate like crazy. Anyway, I'll be adding decorations bit by bit all week. I may even save a few for Maggy to put up when she gets home Friday.


And the disorder on the dining room table is more wrapping paper than crafts in progress. It's rare that I do this much wrapping before Christmas Eve. It's giving me the illusion that I'm on top of everything.

Gifts

This is the gift I'm so proud of. These are four inch square glass coasters displaying my photos of a tree atop Mt Pleasant. The gift exchange was at a party on Mt Pleasant and probably everyone knows where the tree is, tho' no one has as close a relationship with it as I do.

My note accompanying the gift explains:

I take lots of pictures of this tree.
I call it "The Mt Pleasant Tree"
and we've kind of become friends.

P.S. You can use your own tree
or your own friend
or whatever...

I'm happy to say that the person who went home with the gift loves the photos and will probably not replace them with his own.

On the flip side, the gift I drew is this hilarious book by Amy Sedaris. The subtitle, "Hospitality under the Influence," says it all. I was second to draw a gift, giving the other eleven people a chance to steal my gift. (see my description of the gift exchange process) I managed to intimidate everyone to leave it with me. It helped that ten of the thirteen guests were men. To put them off I had only to hold up a few of the comical graphic illustrations of things only girls talk about and only in private. The other two women were the hosts and they were too kind to disappoint me by stealing the gift, tho' one said she's going to buy a copy for herself. In defense of my men friends, the gift was contributed by a man who said he spent an hour in Borders reading the book and laughing out loud.

Winter Festivity

I need to give more recognition to the beautiful wreath from Ludgates. I got my tree there, too - a delightfully fragrant fir. I understand some of their trees come from Ed Cope in Caroline. We visited him last summer when we were collecting information for the Renewable Energy Ordinance because his house is powered with wind and solar energy.

This door, by the way, was handcrafted by my father using a stained glass window made by my best friend from grad school. (Who'd guess that she was studying biology and I was studying labor relations. She's now an ASL interpreter and I'm, well, not a labor organizer.) The door is beautiful heavy cherry. I could never have afforded to buy a door this grand. I think my father enjoyed making it and was proud of it tho' it did cost him a couple of days in the hospital as a result of an instant of inattention to the miter saw.


So, I've got the one decoration up, but this is my dining table. I hope I don't have serve dinner on it before next week.

I've got a great photo of the gift I made for the party I'm going to this weekend, but I can't post it 'til Sunday. A couple of the people who will be at the party also read the blog.

The gift exchange is complicated and fun and secrecy is important. Everyone draws a number. The person who draws #1 chooses a wrapped present. The #2 person may choose a wrapped gift or "steal" the gift that #1 has unwrapped and revealed, in which case, #1 chooses another wrapped gift. And so on... It gets more complicated and more fun as more gifts are revealed and available for stealing. I can say modestly, that in past years there's been some mock fighting over the gift I brought. It may be second in popularity only to always coveted Home Depot gift certificate. I'm very happy with the gift I made this year. I hope it pleases someone as much as my past efforts have.

Holidays for Cats

Well, I have no decorations up yet except a beautiful wreath. Thanks to Amazon.com, I think I've got the gift giving under control but I haven't done a bit of wrapping yet. Haven't made the Holiday brunch and dinner shopping lists yet. Oh, well. Plenty of time. It's all about savoring the season.

For cats, it's really all about the boxes.

Word of the Year

Omigod! He wasn't kidding! Stephen Colbert pointed out tonight that "truthiness" is the Merriam Webster 2006 Word of the Year.

truthiness (noun)
1 : "truth that comes from the gut, not books" (Stephen
Colbert, Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," October 2005)
2 : "the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true" (American Dialect Society, January 2006)

Check out Merriam Webster for the rest of the top ten words of 2006:

google
decider
war
insurgent
terrorism
vendetta
sectarian
quagmire
corruption

Do we detect a theme?

Bad Days

We've all had them. My favorite, in a twisted way, was Maggy's. But last week I overheard a friend unwinding at dinner. I didn't hear the whole saga, but when she said "... and I've got six missile launchers coming in and I've got to figure out where to put them..." I thought, well, that's a problem most of us aren't going to have this week.

Speaking of friends at dinner... Coconut cream pie is a really good thing. We had this one last week.

Chocolate Macaroon Crust
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
6 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
Pinch of coarse salt
Nonstick cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly coat a 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine chocolate, butter, sugar, coconut, and salt. Using your hands, mix until well combined.

2. Press mixture into bottom and all the way up sides of prepared pie plate. Bake until firm but not yet browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Crust can be made up to 2 days ahead, and refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap.


Coconut Cream Pie
1 teaspoon gelatin
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure coconut extract
Pinch of coarse salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 large egg yolks
2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1 cup toasted shaved coconut, or as desired, for garnish

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a medium saucepan, whisk together coconut milk, sugar, gelatin mixture, coconut extract, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks with cornstarch until combined.

2. Slowly whisk one-fourth of the hot-milk mixture into egg yolks; return to saucepan. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture returns to a boil, about 1 minute. Stir in shredded coconut. Transfer to a large bowl; let stand 15 minutes.

3. Pour filling into the prepared crust. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours, and up to overnight. Spread whipped cream on top; garnish with toasted coconut, if desired.

Iraq Study Group

I would not have thought it was possible to feel as optimistic about national policy as I do this morning. I have a whole new list of names to research for possible inclusion in my list of heroes. One of the most wonderful aspects of yesterday's news about the report of the Iraq Study Group is the surprise factor. It's been a long time since Congress and the President accepted an independent report with such apparent open-mindedness as they have received the report of the Iraq Study Group. That indicates that the Iraq Study Group has done its job thoroughly. It's not enough to write the report if you can't get anyone to read it.

I'm comforted by the mere existence of United States Institute of Peace, facilitator of the Iraq Study Group; by the knowledge that not so long ago Congress acted on an idea, first stated in 1792, to establish "an office for promoting and preserving perpetual peace in our country." I am similarly comforted by the roles played by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Center for the Study of the Presidency (CSP.)

From the Timeline page of the Institute of Peace:

In March, Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) asks USIP to coordinate the Iraq Study Group and appropriates funds for its administration. Three other organizations are asked to assist: the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Center for the Study of the Presidency, and the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. Congressional organizers select former Secretary of State James A. Baker, III, and former chairman of the House International Relations Committee Lee Hamilton as co-chairs of the ISG. The co-chairs, in consultation with the supporting organizations, choose the other members of the ISG.

I recognize problems with the process. Why did we wait three years to start the study? Why did we wait 'til after elections to release the results? I question the use of the term "bipartisan" instead of "non-partisan." I'm horrified at even the suggestion of committing more troops to Iraq. But at some point I'm prepared to accept the work of well qualified people who seem to done a thorough job of collecting the facts and exploring the alternatives. I haven't read the entire report yet. I'm printing it out now. So far, it seems to be an example of the clearest thinking and clearest writing I've seen in a long time.

This image is a tile I've had since I was in high school. I bought it at the drug store around the corner from my best friend's house. On the back it's got sticky tape with remnants of sheetrock from someplace I lived in the past.

Picasso painted many versions of peace doves. This one, with the many colored people dancing, has always been my favorite. Doves are not enough. In fact, as Bill has explained to me, doves are not inherently peaceful at all. Having no meaningful weapons, they haven't developed any behavioral inhibitions for aggressive behavior. You may have seen them beating on each other at your feeder. In fact, in captivity, they engage in bloody battles. (Sidenote: For some reason Bill met the Postmaster General of the United Nations in the fifties and this dove issue came up in conversation. The Postmaster was so impressed that he declined to use any dove designs for UN stamps for the duration of his term in office.)

So, with fervent hope and a grain of optimism, today I'm hanging the peace dancers where I'll see them every day. Perhaps in some magical way, the energy of being reminded daily of the possibility of peace will coalesce and contribute to the peace effort. Or perhaps it will remind me to talk to everyone I know and lots of people I don't know yet, about the possibility of peace and the importance of working for it.

(Cross posted at Dryden Democrats)

Winter Solstice

Most Americans - most people worldwide - celebrating a winter holiday will overlook the centuries old traditions surrounding the natural phenomenon of Winter Solstice. No matter what other cultural or religious traditions people embrace, we would do well to celebrate the relationship of the sun and the earth, the foundation of our existence. This year at about 7:20 PM Eastern Standard Time on December 21 the tilt of the earth's axis will bring the northern hemisphere to its farthest distance from the sun resulting in the shortest possible span of daylight. From that point on daylight will increase until the height of summer.

The winter celebration is all about light. For decades we've mounted bigger and bigger displays of electric lights. They're beautiful and I love them. But I'm increasingly returning to the centuries old traditions of candles and fire. It doesn't take much thought to stick a battery operated candle-looking light in the window. And I like the sense of welcome it gives me when I come home after dark. But lighting a candle requires some attention and gives me a much more satisfying opportunity to reflect on the meaning of light in my life.

Making ice candles has become an important detail in my Solstice preparation. It requires paying attention to the outside temperature. (Well, I suppose I could make them in the freezer - but that would defeat half the purpose) The candle molds have to be outside just long enough to freeze partially. So, it all depends on how cold it is and I have to watch them somewhat closely to get it right.

This year Solstice nearly coincides with the New Moon. So, it will be very dark. Just as, despite my best intentions, I usually failed to go to Midnight Mass, now I generally fail to manage a Solstice bonfire. Maybe this year...

More Carnivals

I'm still hooked on Blog Carnivals.

First there was the Festival of Under 30 Finances. There are links to some good writing. What grabbed me was how similar the writers' circumstances are to Maggy's. While I was reading those posts I was also listening to a Washington Journal guest talking about student loans. A caller commented that young people take student loan debt for granted and it's just a short jump to consumer debt. And then where are you?

The Working at Home Carnival led to some interesting blogs. My favorite is SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution. Take a look at the Top 10 Brain Teasers.

The Dragon Slayer's Guide to Life was worth a look for the name alone and it didn't disappoint me. The post "Think Money Wouldn't Change You? Think Again." Led me full circle back to my initial concern about young people and debt.

When did we start thinking that the reason to go to college was to command a higher salary? When did we decide that made college loans a good investment? I understand why economists measure everything in dollars. It's a convenient common denominator. But I think Ms Lauria's idea for high school english students was better. She gave them extra credit for every time they reported something they heard outside of class that they had previously studied in class. Many kids became aware of references they wouldn't have understood if they hadn't talked about them in class. And isn't that really the point? Education makes our lives richer.

Blog Connections

There's a box in my sidebar that announces current blog carnivals. Carnivals, collections of blog posts on specific topics, are a great way to find people who write about things you're interested in.

The carnival that caught my eye this morning is Festival of the Trees. JLS writes a lovely blog about "trees, forests, and wood, and everything in between."

One of the fun things about discovering an interesting new blog is finding blog friends already there. I found Lene, Roger, Cindy, Bev, Karen, Greenman Tim, and many others whose blog names I recognize but whom I don't really know well yet.

JLS also writes Brainripples "discussing writing, art, creativity, and entrepreneurship." I'm off to visit there now.

Another Change of Season

The weather has been just great the past few weeks. Well, way too much rain and not enough sun, but it's been warm. It really feels like April and I'm not the only one feeling that way. Last week peepers were singing in the yard.

But the forecast is dire. It was in the 50's today. By Sunday the daytime high will be in the 20's. So today I covered the roses, emptied the big outdoor flowerpots and firmed up the deer fencing around the rhododendron. Tomorrow I'll turn off the outdoor water faucet and that will be that. It's time to hunker down.

So my thoughts are turning to decorating for the holiday. I found a terrific silver spray paint and I'm collecting things that with a coat of paint will be shiny tree ornaments. This oak leaf shows every vein through the paint. The berries are Multiflora Rose hips. I know the birds like them, too. But there are plenty to share.

I And The Bird #37

It was a great holiday. Maggy was here to help me cook the Thanksgiving meal "that couldn't be beat." Friends joined us for dinner. It was a beautiful day.

Many cultures have harvest festival traditions. In the United States the tradition has drifted away from thoughts of the harvest. We use the day to take time to reflect on the many things we’re thankful for.

As I began to hear from birders around the world I realized that people who love birds are great people to share Thanksgiving with.

I'm especially thankful for conservationist heros working to make the world safe for the birds we love.

My own hero is George Archibald who has led the incredible, successful effort to save Whooping Cranes from threat of extinction.

Bill Eley highlights the work of the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and asks How important is this habitat?

I also want to honor the work of Dr. Arthur Allen, his collegues and students. An example of their work is described by George Sutton in his book Birds in the Wilderness.

Birders give special thanks for the addition of each life list bird.

Kay at Don't Mess with Taxes gives Thanks for a Different Bird.

Mike was thankful for the mild Thanksgiving weather that he and the birds were enjoying. Still reaching for 10,000 birds, Mike added the Northern Shrike to his list.

John, from A DC Birding Blog was in New Jersey for the holiday where he also added the Northern Shrike to his life list.

Tho' Ben Cruachan didn't find the elusive Painted Snipe, his trip led to a surprise addition to his life list.

Likewise, Leigh's missed her intended target: the first recorded Ross's Gull in California but still garnered two lifers.

For lots of us there's a favorite bird or place or birdsong or photo opportunity to be thankful for.

From Snails Eye View A wonderful bird is the pelican

Trevor's Birding shares Great Birding Moment #18

Kevin at Natural Visions has gorgeous pictures of Vermilion Flycatchers at Whitewater Draw

Amy from Wildbird on the Fly has a great day at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival

Roger at Words and Pictures got a glimpse of Urban Goldcrests apparently amused by the nearby installation of the city's Christmas tree.

Clare at The House and other Actic musings reports a Falcon Attack

Patrick at the Hawk Owl's Nest appreciates the humor in The Onion's satirical bird stories.

Lillian Stokes got great pictures of a Forked Tail Flycatcher in New Hampshire.

Don't forget the profound lessons that come with many birding experiences.

Karen at Rurality got a close look at the plumage of a Virginia Rail, tho' not by the preferred method.

At Find the River Paul grapples with "to help or not to help" a Bird in the Hand .

John at Birds Etcetera looks closely at Redefining Extinction

Rob, the Birdchaser shares a lesson we should all take to heart: To Bird, or Not to Bird.

Nuthatch at Bootstrap Analysis got an unexpected lesson in Peregrines' cuckoo tastes.

At the end of the day we’ll all be saying thanks for the memories.

Cindy's memories of The Gentle Snowflake Band are recent.

Jayne at Journey Through Grace shares Memories from when she was a novice birder.

Pam at Tortoise Trail remembers bird songs in Taiwan from long before she was interested in birds at all.

I thank everyone for sharing their stories with me. It's been an honor.

Three Degrees of Separation

I know someone who knew someone who sketched this Ivory-bill woodpecker from life. My friend Bill Dilger, retired Cornell biologist, recently shared his copy of George Sutton's book, Birds in the Wilderness, with me. The book is inscribed: "To my friend Bill Dilger in celebration of his twenty-third, the most important, birthday of his life." It was 1946. After years in the Army in Burma and India, Bill was back in school at Cornell. To help pay his way through school, Bill worked with Sutton in the vertebrate collection. A large collection of mostly unlabeled bird skins had been donated by a hobbyist and they were fully occupied identifying and labeling them. Over the years of their friendship, Bill learned a great deal about drawing and painting.

One chapter of Birds in the Wilderness is devoted to Kints -- Ivory-bill woodpeckers. In the Tinsaw valley of Louisiana, in 1935, Sutton and Dr. Arthur Allen were introduced to a local attorney, Mr. Spencer, who offered to put them in touch with friends who would help them find the Ivory-bills. Sutton writes:

"We were amazed to learn that mammalogists consider wolves more common in this section of Louisiana than in any other part of the United States. Wild Turkeys were abundant. White-tailed deer thronged the swamplands. I was still in some doubt, however, about the Ivory-bills. Fearing that Mr. Spencer might, in his eagerness to help us, be confusing the Ivory-bill with the Pileated, which is also a large and showy woodpecker, I said, "Mr. Spencer, you're sure the bird
you're telling us about isn't the big Pileated Woodpecker, the bird the Florida Crackers call the 'Lord God Almighty'?"

"Man alive!" answered Mr. Spencer hotly, "These birds I'm tellin' you all about is Kints! Why, the Pileated Woodpecker's just a little bird about as big as that" -- he indicated with his fingers an object a few inches long -- "and a Kint's as big as that!" He moved his arms generously apart, fisherman fashion, and glared at me. "Why, man, I've known Kints all my life. My pappy showed 'em to me when I was just a kid. I see 'em every fall when I go deer huntin' down aroun' my place on the Tinsaw. They're big birds, I tell you, big and black and white; and they fly through the woods like Pintail Ducks!"

This colorful discourse left no doubt in our minds that Mr. Spencer's 'Kints' were genuine Ivory-bills.

After three days of wading through the swamps Sutton and his companions found a pair of Ivory-bills and their nest!

"The whole experience was like a dream. There we sat in the wild swamp, miles and miles from any highway, with two Ivory-billed Woodpeckers so close to us that we could see their eyes, their long toes, even their strongly curved claws with our binoculars. The male bird sighted me, called more rapidly, and then, instead of flying off in alarm, swung to a tree above me, looked at me first with one eye then with the other, and stationed himself not more than than thirty feet away. What a splendid creature he was! He called loudly, preened himself, shook out his plumage, rapped defiantly, then hitched down the trunk to look at me more closely. As I beheld his scarlet crest and white shoulder straps I felt that I had never seen a more strikingly handsome bird. His crest was gorgeous. But somehow what struck me most was the rich whiteness of his beak and the staring whiteness of his eye."

Sutton returned the next day and sketched for hours. "The mosquitoes were not bothersome." Dr. Allen took photographs and plotted how to get their unwieldy sound-recording equipment to this remote location.

"We had found our Ivory-bills and made drawings of them. Mr. Spencer's 'Kints' were no longer a new and funny word; they were an experience, an achievement, a memory."

Cross posted at Whorled Leaves

Long Time...

Good grief. It's been so long since I've written here, I feel like I'm starting from scratch. With apologies to my regular readers, let me introduce myself. Or at least my cats.

Clockwise from top left: Magda, the grey tiger who has a major seniority claim; Murphy the new SPCA cat; Tang, the old SPCA cat who really belongs to Maggy.

With toddlers, this would be called "parallel play" - doing the same thing side by side but not speaking to each other.

Murphy (who was Winston last week) watched Tang and learned to drink from the goldfish tub.




He's also learning to make himself perfectly comfortable every place he goes. This is the chair I'm trying to teach him not to scratch. It's a log house for heaven sake. He can scratch almost anywhere. Why does he have to choose the most expensive upholstery?


I wouldn't normally allow cats on a dining table. This is more like a writing table. I guess I can share, 'though it is an antique cutwork embroidered cloth centerpiece.



But I may have to draw the line at getting into the refrigerator every time I open it. For this I blame the person who fed him turkey in front of the open refrigerator. You know who you are.

All this talk of cats belies my sincere love for birds. I've been enjoying reviewing the submissions for I And The Bird #37 due out on Thursday. Eighteen articles so far. Today's the last chance to get yours in.

I And The Bird #36

The beautiful IATB #36 is up at Words and Pictures. Roger leads with a spectacular picture of a gray heron from the Netherlands. He continues with links to posts about birders' pursuit of life list birds from Brian at The Natural Stone and Otis at Another Place. There are tales of bird squabbles from Mike at 10,000 Birds and Ridger at The Greenbelt. Seth at Cup O'Books writes about the nearby Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Sharon at Birding in Maine supports legislation protecting shorebird habitat. Pam at Tortoise Trail has great pictures of the Cooper's Hawk hanging out around her feeders, giving new meaning to the concept of "bird feeder." And much, much more...

I will be hosting IATB #37. Please send me your best recent birding stories. Deadline for submissions is November 28 for the grand opening November 30.

Moving On

I'm elated over the results of the election. And I'm happy it's over for the moment and we can all talk about other things for a while.

On Monday, at Time Goes By, Ronnie posted a growing list of movies of interest to people over fifty. (She calls people over fifty "elders." I call them/us "grown-ups.") Each movie is linked to its entry on IMDB so you can easily get some information about it. Criteria for inclusion on the list are:

Films about being old or getting old

Films with elder characters that are well acted or portrayed

Films that may not be about aging overall, but include good scenes about or
with elders

Films that add to our understanding of or celebrate what getting older is
really like

A lot of my favorite movies are on this list. I'll definitely carry the list with me to the video store.