Walking Continues

Stalking along from log to log,  or blunging their long legs in the oozy swamp,  two large herons paid no attention to my presence,  but occupied themselves with their own fishing arrangements,  as if their wilderness were their own.  ~William Cowper Prime Just a few birds cooperated today...but what birds! THE HERON :  As I drove up I slowed, hoping the heron would not startle. It was right at the fence. Then I noticed the fish. Food was the focus. I don't think the bird even notice me as it juggled the fish to get it in the right position to swallow it whole. It was a nice catch! Open Wide! Line up those fins pointing away... Some things are hard to swallow. You can almost watch it go down... PIED-BILLED GREBE: These little water birds are almost always at the ponds. A pair swims together in the turtle pond. Often the camera will focus just before the bird dives...but not today. The "side eye" from this grebe gives it a little smirking look. THE NORTHERN ...

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body  love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things.  ―  Mary Oliver Where do I start? The early morning hike? The phone calls with friends? The fireants threatening? The stinging fly successfully driving me out of the garden? It's 76 degrees outside on this alternately bright and hazy January 1st and I started the day* cleaning up ...

Nature does not hurry,  yet everything is accomplished. ~ LaoTzu Christmas has been weird. Illnesses, travel issues, and the pandemic added to the normal holiday chaos of too many people with too much stress. It's just been hard. And then it got harder.  I was thrilled to get my invitation to the local Christmas Bird Count. Any time in the wild is therapeutic for me. I can feel my blood pressure ease. Even as it was a low count for me - I hope others did better.  But a few of the regulars birds can always be relied upon. One eagle or another is almost always at the ponds - there every time I visited for the last two weeks. So it seemed safe enough to invite the neighbors on a little adventure. We hope to see the eagles (hopefully) herons, egrets, mockingbirds, and ducks. I can pretty much count on that...although there weren't many ducks today.  Anyway, school starts back on Monday, no one will want to go on New Years (I'll be taking a FIRST DAY* hike of some ki...

  A brother is a gift to the heart,  a friend to the spirit.  ~ Unknown I don't get to go on adventures - even short adventures - with my brother very often.* But in the run-up to Thanksgiving we found ourselves in the same town with a little spare time. We met for breakfast twice. Each time we talked for hours. Once we even changed tables to allow others to sit inside.  And twice he brought me gifts!  ["But did you bring anything?" I know this question is one you want to ask. Look - this is about him, not me. I have racked by brain and examined my conscience. I think I might have brought him seeds - loofah.] The first gift was a bag of dried currants and a container of caraway seeds for the making of Irish soda bread. We have both been making bread and he used a recipe with these ingredients - and found it good. [And it just so happened that a friend had brought me bread with the same ingredients - so different from the flavor of the bread I'd been making - and...