Wednesday, February 06, 2019

Birds Again... February 4 & 5

February 4 ::








Birding! Again... and I am sorry that despite all my talk of birds and birding, my posts rarely have pictures of the birds we are watching, like the Townsend's Warblers, or the Mountain Chickadees. I am seeing so many rare birds, and dear ones, and even spying the sparrows and finches makes me giddy. But I don't really have a camera that makes it worthwhile to snap pictures. I write the names of the birds in a Scout book, next to notes about where we are and what kind of weather we are trekking in. Then I follow the birders and look up. Some of them, amazing beings, can hear a bird's song and announce, "California towhee!" and someone else will spot the very bird that was heard. I think that's miraculous. Once, a birder laughed and amusedly described "Did you hear? That mockingbird is mimicking a sparrow?" Music in many other languages is playing, and some people can pick out the notes, name the composer, even sing along, and all I hear is "tweet tweet tweet." I love it... being a novice, being in the company of people who have these skills, retain their wonder. I love the birds, and the birders, the outings.

February 5 ::



Sometimes the birds are very near, or very big, then I can take a decent picture... of pelicans, and cormorants, gulls, and sea lions, and bluffs.










It was a beautiful winter day at La Jolla Cove.

And later, a beautiful visit to the metal shop, where the robotics team is about 4 weeks into their 6 week build season.

Darrahl and Myron, mentors~


Rookies often get the job of de-burring metal... and they do it with team spirit.

(This post was back-blogged on May 1, 2019.)

Monday, February 04, 2019

January 30-February 3

January 30 ::
Today felt like a first day of school, again. The high school begins four classes at the start of year, and those are finished in a semester, then four new classes begin mid-year. Maria was very sad to be done with English, to say good-bye to a favorite teacher. Now she's completed a year of Japanese, English, and a course that introduced many subjects, including auto shop, programming, theater, and photography. Ahead, she has math, biology, metals, and second year Japanese.

Between Max's school and home is Torrey Pines State Park, and sometimes I make time to visit...

Sometimes a Wednesday in winter quarter calls for splitting a slice of chocolate cake.

January 31 ::

Yeah... I think we still had that new start energy, which obviously calls for a special breakfast, like a hencake.




Another beautiful visit to Torrey Pines State Park, and this time with the company of William and Janece.


I love that when something exceptionally beautiful happens in our town, I can count on seeing a dozen or more views posted on IG or FB, from our friends. The best of social media is feeling connected, sharing beauty and wonder. This double rainbow over our town was seen by so many of us, and I loved the way our community were all basking in the delight of it.

William designed, made and finished these custom bases to hold the puppets he's collecting. I love how much respect he has for the work and artistry of these figures, and how much care and craftsmanship he put into displaying them.

February 1 ::

Can you believe I left the feed store without this little darling? Congratulating myself for being reasonable and responsible is a small consolation for not having this sweet baby goat in our care.


February 2 ::





Another Groundhog Day... as Walt Whitman said, "We were together. I forget the rest."

February 3 ::
I am loath to admit this, but I feel as though I have stopped reading. I read... articles, online, news, essays, cereal boxes, blurbs. But I am ages and miles behind on novels, and books. Real books. It's embarrassing, disappointing. Ruth gave Geoff this book for his birthday. And I am reading it, and it's such bliss and delight. Jonathan Drori is a botanist-historian-narrator and the stories are about culture and ecology, including fascinating anecdotes, scientific facts. It's romantic, tragic, hopeful, illuminating. The only reason I am reading it slowly, is to savor it and make the pleasure last. My favorite nights are when Geoff is home, and I am still awake, so I can read aloud, one or two tree stories.



Maria, Cairo, Alex, Max, and Lucas~

The big game was not football. Today's game... DnD.


(This post was back-blogged on May 1, 2019.)