I love this family picture by Mike Baird. How often do we get to see something like this brought in so close, and lighted well enough so we see it as if we were right there? Congratulations to MIke Baird.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Watching Me
I'm not familiar with a "saw." But what a cute bird! It was uploaded to Flickr by Charles Lam. Nice.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
eagle
I presume this is a golden eagle. Isn't it beautiful? What a majestic look! I don't know how jpockele, the photographer, got so close. Wonderful.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Reacting to Hatred
I am thinking about the shooting at the Holocaust Museum, and the hatred expressed by the shooter, not only in his action, but also in some of the documents investigators found among his things. How sad. I am also pondering the reactions to that act, some of which were reasoned, and some of which were also hateful. And that, too, is sad, because if we respond with hate to a hateful act, then aren't we descending to the level of the original hater?
It's hard not to feel anger towards people who put their hate into action by harming others, and yet, someone has to be able to rise above the tit for tat mentality, and to resist returning hate for hate. If I deplore acts of hate, then isn't it my responsibility to find another better, wiser way to react to wrong-doing? This must be what Ghandi was about, or Martin Luther King. It takes great courage to resist what is wrong without hatred or violence.
I couldn't fault the other guard, the one who shot Van Brunn--he was doing his job, doing what he had been taught to do. But for the rest of us, could we find another way? We can look at the world of the past and the world of today and see that violent action, whether by a person or state, seldom settles anything permanently, or improves the world in any lasting way. Violence creates more violence, and more Von Brunns full of hate. Every battle won sows seeds of hatred to engender battles for the next generation.
We now have such ridiculously deadly weapons at our disposal that if we continue these endless cycles of wars and hatred, we'll destroy both ourselves and our planet. It seems so stupid. Surely we can think of a better way to settle differences, both small and large. If we are ingenious enough to dream up and develop these awful weapons, can't we use our intelligence to find ways for the world to agree with itself?
It's hard not to feel anger towards people who put their hate into action by harming others, and yet, someone has to be able to rise above the tit for tat mentality, and to resist returning hate for hate. If I deplore acts of hate, then isn't it my responsibility to find another better, wiser way to react to wrong-doing? This must be what Ghandi was about, or Martin Luther King. It takes great courage to resist what is wrong without hatred or violence.
I couldn't fault the other guard, the one who shot Van Brunn--he was doing his job, doing what he had been taught to do. But for the rest of us, could we find another way? We can look at the world of the past and the world of today and see that violent action, whether by a person or state, seldom settles anything permanently, or improves the world in any lasting way. Violence creates more violence, and more Von Brunns full of hate. Every battle won sows seeds of hatred to engender battles for the next generation.
We now have such ridiculously deadly weapons at our disposal that if we continue these endless cycles of wars and hatred, we'll destroy both ourselves and our planet. It seems so stupid. Surely we can think of a better way to settle differences, both small and large. If we are ingenious enough to dream up and develop these awful weapons, can't we use our intelligence to find ways for the world to agree with itself?
Sunday, June 7, 2009
About Santeetlah
After I got the picture of the sunset below, I did some checking and found out Santeetlah is in North Carolina.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
I'm Painting Again
After not having painted for quite a while, I am painting again. I have started a new blog, "Unblocked Artist." I have posted three paintings there and will be posting more. There is a link on this page to the new art blog.
My son, Bill Jameson, is very ill in the hospital with pneumonia. Please pray for him if you are inclined to pray. Thank you.
My son, Bill Jameson, is very ill in the hospital with pneumonia. Please pray for him if you are inclined to pray. Thank you.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Blue Jay from Flickr
Here in California, our Blue Jays don't look like this, as to color and markings, but they look exactly like this, as to body language, when they are being sassy. They make me laugh all the time. If you give them peanuts in a shell, they shake it to find out if it's good. If it's not, they drop it, and wait for another. If you don't give them one, you're likely to get a loud protesting squawk. They look just like this Blue Jay. How they decide if the peanuts in the shell are good, I have no idea, but they know, and they can't be fooled with an old musty peanut.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Getting Old--It Can Be Fun
Today, I am 90! I remember when I was young, wondering how long I would live and what it would be like. The thought of being in my seventies seemed beyond the pale. As for 90, I never thought I would make it. But here I am, healthy, and much happier than I was in younger years. Now I know who I am and like it. I write every day, paint every day, and walk every day.
So this seems like the time to reassure those who fear getting old that it can be the best time of your life. The competition of youth is gone; people's expectations become more benign and generous; and you have time to pay attention to all the interesting and beautiful things you previously ignored. You can think about things that have always eluded you. You can be nicer to people. You can look at oddities of other people with an understanding heart.
I encourage anyone who is beginning to panic at signs of aging and at the thought of getting old, to take a different look. You have had the experience of being young. Now you are gradually moving toward experiences that are different, but not necessarily any less enjoyable. You don't have to deteriorate or fall apart. You can find new things to be interested in and do. You can make new friends. There are so many possibilities! You can have fun for the rest of your life, if you choose to. Then, whatever the quantity of life you have, the quality of it will be good.
I had a time when I wasn't walking and had a problem with weight. I was out of energy, and life seemed frustrating. Not being able to get into my largest pants was finally a wake-up call. In some of my future blogs, I will tell you what I did to change things, stabilize my weight, and get my energy and my joy in life back again.
I wish everyone an active, creative, and happy life in their sixties, seventies, and beyond.
So this seems like the time to reassure those who fear getting old that it can be the best time of your life. The competition of youth is gone; people's expectations become more benign and generous; and you have time to pay attention to all the interesting and beautiful things you previously ignored. You can think about things that have always eluded you. You can be nicer to people. You can look at oddities of other people with an understanding heart.
I encourage anyone who is beginning to panic at signs of aging and at the thought of getting old, to take a different look. You have had the experience of being young. Now you are gradually moving toward experiences that are different, but not necessarily any less enjoyable. You don't have to deteriorate or fall apart. You can find new things to be interested in and do. You can make new friends. There are so many possibilities! You can have fun for the rest of your life, if you choose to. Then, whatever the quantity of life you have, the quality of it will be good.
I had a time when I wasn't walking and had a problem with weight. I was out of energy, and life seemed frustrating. Not being able to get into my largest pants was finally a wake-up call. In some of my future blogs, I will tell you what I did to change things, stabilize my weight, and get my energy and my joy in life back again.
I wish everyone an active, creative, and happy life in their sixties, seventies, and beyond.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Gray Catbird
I don't know anything about catbirds, but saw this on Flickr and couldn't resist it.. I'll have to find out more about these birds--don't think I've ever seen one. Or maybe I have and didn't know what it was. Anyway, it's cute!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Autumn in December
This year the trees are wild with color
Trees that go from green to tan each year
Drop their dull dead leaves and stand bare
This year are brilliant reds and yellows
Explosions of color all over town
But this is California in winter
Not New England in the fall
What brought this opulent display?
The early frost perhaps
Conferred this gift of color
A gift not likely to come again
Until some other year of early frost
Brings autumn in December
Trees that go from green to tan each year
Drop their dull dead leaves and stand bare
This year are brilliant reds and yellows
Explosions of color all over town
But this is California in winter
Not New England in the fall
What brought this opulent display?
The early frost perhaps
Conferred this gift of color
A gift not likely to come again
Until some other year of early frost
Brings autumn in December
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
My Christmases Have Changed
I didn't send cards this year
Or last year
Or the year before
I used to send them faithfully
To everyone I knew and cared about
It seemed important
To remember them all each year
This year, I remember them all
And I miss them
Whose cards were returned in other years
Telling me they had moved
Not to a new address on this planet
But to the mystery
That lies beyond human life
This is the dilemma
That comes with living long
But the good part is
There are new friends
To appreciate and love
New ideas
To make life interesting
And music
To lift the soul
Or last year
Or the year before
I used to send them faithfully
To everyone I knew and cared about
It seemed important
To remember them all each year
This year, I remember them all
And I miss them
Whose cards were returned in other years
Telling me they had moved
Not to a new address on this planet
But to the mystery
That lies beyond human life
This is the dilemma
That comes with living long
But the good part is
There are new friends
To appreciate and love
New ideas
To make life interesting
And music
To lift the soul
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Where Have I Been?
No poems, no posts--shame on me! But I am getting in gear again, and will soon post the rest of the story of Nellie the Night Heron, who made friends with some people in Shell Beach, California.
Also, in addition to the rest of the saga of Nellie, I will be back with some pictures and poems and other things. I've been watching Turkey Vultures when I walk on Bob Jones trail, just south of San Luis Obispo. They roost in tall trees at the end of the day, and sometimes, before that, play in the wind currents, soaring for ever so long without even flapping their wings. I used to shudder at the thought of a vulture, but now I see them in a different way. For one thing, they keep the earth clean, and we shouldn't look down on them just because of the unattractiveness of the important niche they fill. Oddly enough, they have mild dispositions, and never kill anything. They just eat things that are already dead. In situations where they have to be under the care of people, they can become very fond of them, and follow them around like a dog.
Also, in addition to the rest of the saga of Nellie, I will be back with some pictures and poems and other things. I've been watching Turkey Vultures when I walk on Bob Jones trail, just south of San Luis Obispo. They roost in tall trees at the end of the day, and sometimes, before that, play in the wind currents, soaring for ever so long without even flapping their wings. I used to shudder at the thought of a vulture, but now I see them in a different way. For one thing, they keep the earth clean, and we shouldn't look down on them just because of the unattractiveness of the important niche they fill. Oddly enough, they have mild dispositions, and never kill anything. They just eat things that are already dead. In situations where they have to be under the care of people, they can become very fond of them, and follow them around like a dog.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Great Blue Heron in flight
Isn't this a beautiful sight? I've seen Great Blue Herons often near Laguna Lake in San Luis Obispo, but have never had a chance to get pbotograph, so when I saw this shot by Erica Marshall on Flickr I had to grab it.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
I just liked the way it looks
I used to live in Geneva, Illinois, near the Fox River. This is the way the trees looked then from our house. This picture brought it all back to my mind, and caused me to wonder if those magnificent trees could still be there, or has the push of development caused them to be cut down and replaced with houses or condos? As my life unfolded, and I lived in many different places doing different things, the one thing that was always missing was the beauty of those huge elms, and the river in the distance. Part of me is still there.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
1608c-night-heron-black-crowned-bairdphotos.com
I've been looking for a good photo of a night heron, and found this on flickr at Mike Baird's site. Perfect view. Mike is such a wonderful photographer. I think I'll paint this. I love it!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
a room with a view
I love tigers. They are magnificent. I traveled with a smell circus 2 months out of each year for four years, but it was quite a while ago. In the second year we had wonderful lions and tigers. The woman who had that act was from Poland. Her name was Olga. I asked her how she happened to become an animal trainer. Her face lit up, and she said she knew from the time she was a little girl that that's what she wanted to do.
Since she lived in Poland in communist times, she had to go to a state school to learn her life work. Her parents thought she was studying ballet! By the time they found out the truth, it was too late to change. She was very good at her job, and a nice, interesting person. I feel privileged to have known her, as well as her seven lions and six tigers.
Since she lived in Poland in communist times, she had to go to a state school to learn her life work. Her parents thought she was studying ballet! By the time they found out the truth, it was too late to change. She was very good at her job, and a nice, interesting person. I feel privileged to have known her, as well as her seven lions and six tigers.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Sparrow
Just a sparrow, but such a cute one. Back to write tomorrow.
Rather than write about this bird, cute as it is, I want to write about the adventures of a truly unusual night heron, named Nellie. So please look below for that post. Thanks.
Troy Parker Farr
Rather than write about this bird, cute as it is, I want to write about the adventures of a truly unusual night heron, named Nellie. So please look below for that post. Thanks.
Troy Parker Farr
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Story of Nellie the Night-Heron
I want to tell the story of Nellie the Night Heron. Night Herons are nocturnal birds, active evening, night, and early morning, and seldom seen during the day when they rest in trees.
In 2005, in Shell Beach, California (part of Pismo Beach), there were five nesting trees, and several trees occupied by fledglings after they have left the nest and start to fend for themselves. From trees near the bluffs overlooking the ocean, they can survey the tidepools and look for food. It was a difficult year for the fledglings due to unusually high waves and tides, and they had a hard time finding food on the reefs where they normally feed on small tidepool creatures at low tide. At high tide they feed along the high bluffs for rodents, bugs, and frogs, but development along the bluffs has shrunk their feeding places considerably.
I
These difficulties resulted in the eventual death of all of the 15 fledglings that left the rookery on Morro Street that year, except Nellie.
In November, 2005, a resident of Shell Beach, Terry Lilley, a biologist, and his research partner and neighbor, Sue Sloan, observed one of the still remaining night heron fledglings feeding on snails and worms in a neighbor's yard. This was unusual behavior for a night heron, and none of the other fledglings dared to do it, but would watch from nearby rooftops. For a month they watched this behavior, and finally realized the little heron was starving, so they decided to supplement its diet to help keep it alive. They bought night crawlers and threw some out to her every morning as they went on their usual walk with coffee to the beach. They named the heron "Nellie".
After a few weeks of morning feedings, they graduated from night crawlers to fish. They gave her one each morning, and she ate it with gusto. They made it a practice to feed her only a small amount in order not to interfere with her normal feeding.
Ever since first meeting Nellie three years ago, Terry and Sue have seen her almost every day. Although still a wild bird, she has become their friend in the sense that she interacts freely, and comes very close, sometimes even sitting on them. But she is still living a normal bird life, and in the spring of 2007, had her own three chicks. Interestingly, the chicks don't come close, even when their mother is sitting on a human lap getting a treat. This year, she is again showing her mating colors, and, chances are, will be a mother again in 2008.
Nellie was the only fledgling night heron to come down on the ground, the only one to eat worms, and the only one to survive.
In the summer of 2006, Andrews Real Estate hired Bunyon Brothers Tree Trimmers to cut down a mature healthy Monterey Pine at the end of Morro Street, the tree used by Nellie and other herons as their nesting and resting place during the day. Both were informed about the nests and the importance of the tree for all the resident herons, and that taking it down would be a violation of the federal Migratory Bird Act. A film crew came and filmed the realtor promising he wouldn't take down the tree, and aired it on KSBY TV News. In spite of his promise, the realtor had the tree trimming company go ahead, and the tree no longer exists. Nellie and all the other herons were dispossessed.
Shortly after this, Forister Tree Service cut ten long-term night heron nests out of another tree on Morro Street. Such colony nests are also protected under the Migratory Bird Act even if there are no eggs in them, but that was not enough to stop the destruction. The breeding night herons had to leave the tree when the trimmers showed up, and fled down the street to one of the last remaining trees with heron nests. The tree was on city property, but the home owner living near it squirted the herons and some of the nests out of the tree.
(To be continued.)
In 2005, in Shell Beach, California (part of Pismo Beach), there were five nesting trees, and several trees occupied by fledglings after they have left the nest and start to fend for themselves. From trees near the bluffs overlooking the ocean, they can survey the tidepools and look for food. It was a difficult year for the fledglings due to unusually high waves and tides, and they had a hard time finding food on the reefs where they normally feed on small tidepool creatures at low tide. At high tide they feed along the high bluffs for rodents, bugs, and frogs, but development along the bluffs has shrunk their feeding places considerably.
I
These difficulties resulted in the eventual death of all of the 15 fledglings that left the rookery on Morro Street that year, except Nellie.
In November, 2005, a resident of Shell Beach, Terry Lilley, a biologist, and his research partner and neighbor, Sue Sloan, observed one of the still remaining night heron fledglings feeding on snails and worms in a neighbor's yard. This was unusual behavior for a night heron, and none of the other fledglings dared to do it, but would watch from nearby rooftops. For a month they watched this behavior, and finally realized the little heron was starving, so they decided to supplement its diet to help keep it alive. They bought night crawlers and threw some out to her every morning as they went on their usual walk with coffee to the beach. They named the heron "Nellie".
After a few weeks of morning feedings, they graduated from night crawlers to fish. They gave her one each morning, and she ate it with gusto. They made it a practice to feed her only a small amount in order not to interfere with her normal feeding.
Ever since first meeting Nellie three years ago, Terry and Sue have seen her almost every day. Although still a wild bird, she has become their friend in the sense that she interacts freely, and comes very close, sometimes even sitting on them. But she is still living a normal bird life, and in the spring of 2007, had her own three chicks. Interestingly, the chicks don't come close, even when their mother is sitting on a human lap getting a treat. This year, she is again showing her mating colors, and, chances are, will be a mother again in 2008.
Nellie was the only fledgling night heron to come down on the ground, the only one to eat worms, and the only one to survive.
In the summer of 2006, Andrews Real Estate hired Bunyon Brothers Tree Trimmers to cut down a mature healthy Monterey Pine at the end of Morro Street, the tree used by Nellie and other herons as their nesting and resting place during the day. Both were informed about the nests and the importance of the tree for all the resident herons, and that taking it down would be a violation of the federal Migratory Bird Act. A film crew came and filmed the realtor promising he wouldn't take down the tree, and aired it on KSBY TV News. In spite of his promise, the realtor had the tree trimming company go ahead, and the tree no longer exists. Nellie and all the other herons were dispossessed.
Shortly after this, Forister Tree Service cut ten long-term night heron nests out of another tree on Morro Street. Such colony nests are also protected under the Migratory Bird Act even if there are no eggs in them, but that was not enough to stop the destruction. The breeding night herons had to leave the tree when the trimmers showed up, and fled down the street to one of the last remaining trees with heron nests. The tree was on city property, but the home owner living near it squirted the herons and some of the nests out of the tree.
(To be continued.)
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