Update

Not too much to write about at the moment. Life goes on, and many days I think life is too good. Why is my life good, and the lives of so many others, not so good? I don't know.

I've been posting a few things on my family blog; check it if you are interested in my day to day life, or at least parts of it. I've been enjoying a few birds that I hadn't seen in Dallas before this year, and a pair of spiny lizards has laid its clutch of eggs just under the edge of the sidewalk. I've ordered myself a new bird feeder, so no doubt I'll have photos of that up when it arrives.

We're praying about options for Rachel for housing after her current apartment contact expires. Lots of options are possibilities, so pray for God to give her and us wisdom as we process this with her.

Also, still no decision about where to settle for church. Lots of good churches around, but I confess, after our last church we're finding it hard to be satisfied with with less than high quality music and musicians. Most small churches try hard, but often with amateur results. And I admit, it is hard to not have a "consumer" mentality. Sigh.

Gary recently got a new computer for his home office, but I fear it is going to take weeks to get it set up such that he will get rid of the old one. He's happy to be getting a new large flat monitor.

Sweet and Beautiful, but...

The smell is sweet and seductive, especially after dark. The flower is beautiful. It even tastes good.

But, this is what it does:


Not hard to think of ways to apply this concept to real life.

(Click here for more info on the invasive species, Japanese Honeysuckle.)

Life Goes On

I'm plugging away at with my slide scanning project. It is so tedious that I try to do one row of the tray per day. Many of these slides are totally useless, but a few will be worth making a web album of for the sake of posterity (ha, as if anyone really cares about that!).

We've had lots of rain lately, and the lake level has even risen noticeably. But today is clear and sunny, one of those days that makes you glad you're alive.

Our renters plan to move out soon, so I'm hoping they finish painting the outside of our house before they go. It has been nice to have them doing this work instead of paying rent--jobs that are hard for Gary or I to do (or else, we're too lazy to try).

Speaking of renters, Rachel is actively looking for new accommodations--the apartment she is in now is great in many ways, but the 2nd-hand smoke is intolerable.

Buntings

These are not my photos, but a handful of indigo buntings have been hanging around my backyard, and twice this afternoon I saw a painting bunting there as well. Yay, two new birds for my life list.

Big Birds

Yesterday I forgot to mention two other birds I saw on our trip. These two are big birds, but they weren't in the wild. They were inside a very large pen. The two baby emus were rather cute, don't you think? Even though these specimens are captive, I have seen both of these species in the wild, so they are on my life list.

Some Additions to My Life List

We had a splendid time at Cherokee Trace Reserve Bed and Breakfast this weekend to celebrate our 1/3 century anniversary. I'll post all my trip photos eventually, but I first will start with a blog about the birds I saw. I was able to add a couple birds to my life list. We stopped along the road in East Texas to observe a colony of Cliff Swallows. We crawled under the bridge to see their mud nests.

They are hard to photography because they move so fast!

I also got a nice roadrunner photo, but, of course, this bird is not a new one to me.

This one was a new one for me. I didn't get a photo, but I did get a good look at a huge pileated woodpecker. He looks just like Woody.

One Third of a Century

Tomorrow is our 1/3 century anniversary. Yes, that is 33.3333333333 years. Or 33 years and 4 months if you don't like decimal numbers. I must be married to a mathphile to take notice of this event. Or, maybe he's just making up for the fact that since we were dumb enough to get married on Christmas Day, we must face the fact that our anniversary is just going to be trumped by the birth of the Holy Christ Child.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we are driving to the middle of nowhere in east Texas, someplace south of Tyler, to a Bed and Breakfast Safari Park called Cherokee Trace. And the best part of this is that Gary figured this out all by himself.

I'll no doubt post a bunch of photos of zebras and alligators on my next blog.

Another New Bird

I seem to have a difficult time finding anyone to go birdwatching with me. But today the weather was so lovely I just had to go. I often go by myself, but for safety I try to tell someone where I am going. Tonight I called Rachel to tell her I was headed for Joe Pool Lake and ended up taking her into going with me. Didn't she take a lovely photo of the sunset?

We watched a pile of terns flying around and diving straight down into the water. I saw one catch a small fish, then toss it, or maybe it dropped it, but then it caught it mid air again. I'm not certain, but I think they were Forster's terns, so I'm adding that to my life list.

Happy Blog Birthday to Me!

I nearly forgot to celebrate--this blog just had its 5th birthday this past Friday. In blog years that makes it ancient, you know. My first blog was a test message; the one later that day was about my grandma's funeral. I still miss her.


In other news, there's a lizard in the back yard who seems to like bird seed--I'm not sure the cardinal appreciates that. (Click on the photo for a better view.)

In even more news, I bought three tickets to Ethiopia a couple days ago. It wasn't easy convincing the credit card company to let me spend my money, but finally I succeeded in getting tickets for July 13-29. Baby Isabella will postpone the celebration of her 1st birthday until we arrive. The third ticket is for Rachel--she hates being left behind, you know. And since she has her own job, she can buy her own ticket. Next thing to do in the preparation list: get 5 immunizations! Yikes!!

And still yet more news, I'm proud to say that on Thursday my baby David passed his oral qualifying exam and is now an official Ph.D. candidate.

A Little Help From My Friends

Today I was doing a little community service by pulling weeds at the entrance to my neighborhood. A group of young boys came by, ages about 4-10, and started helping me. It was nice to have the help. It was also amusing to hear them discussing among themselves the pro and cons of homeschooling vs. public schooling. And, like typical males, they all wanted to use the heavy tools instead of pulling the weeds out with their hands.

Birdwatching on Easter

We went to church with the Martins in Arlington, then had a wonderful lunch with them and other friends. After we came home, I went to Joe Pool lake and did some birdwatching. You already know my camera isn't that great, but here's some birds I saw today:


At least two pairs of scissor-tailed flycatchers. They seemed to be playful and enjoying the nice weather.



I saw three great egrets, and got this one in flight.

I also got to add a new bird to my life list--a bluegray gnatcatcher. They are tiny, but I got a good look so I think I made a good observation.

Happy Easter - Easter Song

This is from a live recording, so the mixing isn't as good as in a studio, but this is the YouTube version of my favorite Easter song.

A Song for Good Friday

This week the mail brought us (and by "us," I mean Andrew the scalper) a gift from the U2 fan club. And since the CDs can't be of much use to Andrew in Ethiopia, I just took the liberty of adding them to my iTunes folder.

The song called Jesus Christ just seemed like a good song for today. Here's the lyrics:

Written by Woody Guthrie

One, two, three, four

Well Jesus was a man
Who traveled through the land
A hard working man and brave
Well he said to the rich 'Give your money to the poor'
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ is his grave

Well he went to the preacher
He went to the law
And told them all the same
He said sell all your jewelery and give it to the poor
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

When Jesus came to town all the working folks around
Believed what he did say
Well the bankers and the preachers
They nailed him on a cross
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

And [hard] working people
They followed him around
They sung and shouted gay
Well the cops and the soldiers
They nailed him in the head
And they layed Jesus Christ in his grave
Oh, hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

Well this song was written in New York City
A rich man, preacher and slave
Well if Jesus was to preach what he preached in Galilee
They would lay Jesus Christ in his grave
One, two, three, four!

Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
Hale, halelujah
For they layed Jesus Christ in his grave

And here's a couple links if you want to hear it yourself:

• A YouTube video
• Download it to Real Player

This song makes no mention of the resurrection--there'll be a different song for Sunday.

Smoky Skies

There are wild fires west and north of the Dallas area, so the skies were full of smoke this afternoon and early evening. After a quick dinner we drove to the dam at Joe Pool lake and wandered around. I may have even spotted a new bird for my life list, but I"m trying to get some help identifying it first.

Birds of the Equinox and My Personal 100

Several days ago I participated in Birdstack's community event to take note of birds during the spring equinox. I didn't really see many birds that day, but if you click the photo above, you'll see some reports of what we all saw along with a couple of cool bird photos and one evidence-of-bird photo.

Birdstack helps you to keep track of all the different species you've seen (called a 'life list') so I'm here to tell you that my list is up to 100. That sounds impressive until you realize that there are at least 10,000 different kinds of birds worldwide (in other words, 100 is pathetic!). Also, I'll readily admit that I might not really have identified all those 100 birds perfectly, because I'm strictly an untrained amateur. But I have fun trying.

Speaking of having fun, today I stopped off at the local duck park and immediately regretted not bringing my camera with me. There was a great egret that seemed quite tame even though lots of people were around. I saw it spear a rather large fish, maybe 6-8 inches long, and swallow it. I'm not sure, but I think it got stuck in the egret's throat for about 5 minutes. The bird just stood there with a big, uncomfortable looking bulge in its long and skinny throat.

Then as I walked around the tiny lake I saw a mama mallard with 15 miniature ducklings swimming at the mucky end of the lake away from everybody else.

Grooming

Did you know that my name in Malaitan languages means 'louse egg'?

Two Pizzas for Two People

The problem an empty nest has is that when one makes homemade pizza, who's to eat it?

Sympathy Card

A friend and colleague recently lost his wife and best friend. She was about my age and much more cheerful than me.

A card isn't much, and I used to think it was nothing. But when my own father passed away and people took the time to send a card and say a word or two about my dad, I did actually appreciate it. So now, I send cards myself instead of just saying, "Oh, it doesn't matter."

Birding at White Rock Lake Park

Click here to see the list of all 16 different birds I saw today while killing some time at White Rock Lake Park. Rachel needed a ride there for her school field trip, and I loved having the chance to skip work and enjoy the day outside. The weather was great.

This handy sign helped identify some of the birds I was seeing, but not all.


What do you call a congregation of cormorants?



I especially enjoyed watching a pair of huge white pelicans.


But I might need a better camera, eh?

No Naked Men Allowed

My daughter insists that some MKs have seen a naked man jogging on the trails behind the center. Well, it must be true or why would there be these signs posted along the trails??

Prairie Paintbrush

Click on the photo to see a larger, nicer version.

Gary and I gobbled our dinner down and then drove to Cedar Hill State Park for a lovely walk. The place was pretty much deserted. We went to the south end of the park where we knew there to be a patch of tall grass prairie left, and we found this beauty. It's cousin, Indian Paintbrush, is in bloom now too, along the highways we see them mixed in with the bluebonnets.

In other news, it looks like April will be the month for a physical overhaul--I've got appointments with eye doctor, dentist, and have scheduled my annual physical (which I missed last year due to being too busy with a wedding and a grandbaby). Yep, I'm getting old.

An Afternoon Stroll at the Park

I had a nice lunch and quick grocery shopping trip with Rachel today, then decided I had enough time to run over to Cedar Hill State Park for a walk and to do a bit of bird watching. I wasn't as lucky as David at Birdstack, but I did see quite a few birds. Also, I nearly ran over one!

Total observations: 18

1. Dark-eyed Junco
2. Fox Sparrow
3. Ring-billed Gull
4. Common Grackle
5. House Wren
6. American Crow
7. Turkey Vulture
8. Muscovy Duck
9. Eastern Bluebird
10. Great Blue Heron
11. Western Great Egret
12. Killdeer
13. Downy Woodpecker
14. Red-bellied Woodpecker
15. American Coot
16. Mallard
17. Northern Cardinal
18. Wild Turkey

Spring Road Trip

Gary used a very crummy disposable camera to take Flat Stanley photos in Hawaii, but even that poor equipment caught this whale's tail.

Shortly after he returned, we made an overnight road trip to Houston. If you want to see photos of the trip, you can check my family blog.

We stopped for a little hike along the way at a couple parks north of Houston.
We saw no alligators.

We saw no red-cockaded woodpeckers.

But we did see sorrel
and phlox wildflowers

Disappointing Birds of the Equinox

Today was the day I planned to observe a bunch of birds so I could participate in Birdstack's "Birds of the Equinox." I did participate, but I was very disappointed in that it seemed like all the birds were just hiding from me. I could hear them, but I couldn't see them. I know I've come to this conclusion before, and it seems true today: birdwatching is better done in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees. Spring has come to Dallas, and the trees are all budding out, obscuring the birds.

There was one bird of interest, which I saw twice, but I don't know what it was. I'll see if David from Birdstack can help me figure this one out with this sketchy description:

• location - back yard, near the forest edge
• size - small to medium, but not as small as a sparrow
• tail - notched
• bill - black and thin, not cone shaped
• colors - kind of hard to tell, but I think white breast and gray body
• behavior - swooped to snatch up flying insects in mid-flight

Tomorrow I'm hoping for better luck with bird watching. We're driving to Houston for a short visit and plan to stop at W.Goodrich Jones State Forest and see if we can find an endangered Red Cockaded Woodpecker.

A Trip to the Trinity River Audubon Center

Today was the third Thursday of the month, so that means it was free admission to the Trinity River Audubon Center. This was our first visit. It was an interesting place, built it an eco-green style (recycled blue jeans for insulation, solar panels for electricity, etc.) and some nice hands-on displays that kids love, as well as some classrooms and research places. The building was, in general, more impressive than the hiking trails, which were so short we did them all in slow motion in less than three hours.

There were way too many noisy people there to do see many birds (it is spring break, so lots of kids were there enjoying the place), but I did get a very cool photo of a killdeer scolding us for getting too close:


I don't know what kind of sparrow this is, but I think it is a sparrow. Anybody know?

Can't Sleep

It is 2:09am and I can't sleep. So I'm trying to find things to do to make myself sleepy.

I've already had some milk.

I've cleaned off my desk, paid some bills, tried to call Hawai'i, and written a blog. Maybe I'll go fold a basket of laundry--that should put anyone to sleep.