Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Feeding the Birds

Our bird feeders have become quite the popular hangout spot. We are visited daily by many birds. They are too wary to let me take their pictures, but here they are as captured by others:

The Most Frequent Visitor: The House Finch


The Bossiest Visitor: The House Sparrow


The Flashiest Visitor: The Northern Cardinal


The Youngest Visitor (as far as we can tell): The Juvenile Northern Cardinal


The Laziest Visitor: The Brown-headed Cowbird
(He gets the award for the laziest bird because the cowbird is the only bird in our area that lays his eggs in other birds nest, leaving his chicks to be raised by other birds.)


The Largest Visitor: The Blue Jay
(We haven't seen too many of these guys at the feeder. They look awfully awkward when they try to perch up there with the little birds.)


The Smallest Visitor: The Gold Finch


The Strangest Visitor: The Downy Woodpecker
(We weren't expecting to see any woodpeckers at our feeder, but our bird book says these tiny woodpeckers are fans.)

The Shyest Visitor: The Tufted Titmouse
(It's a real coup when I actually get a chance to gaze at these timid birds for any length of time at all.)


The Cutest Visitor: The Black-capped Chickadee
(I don't know why I am so partial to these birds, but I just think it's so cute how they put the seeds in between their toes and then pry them open. They are also really small birds too, about the same size as the goldfinch. And they were the first birds to find our bird feeder. Plus, I think their cuteness is greatly enhanced by their precious-sounding name.)


The Most Unwelcome Visitor: The Squirrel
(So having our bird feeder up three flights deterred the squirrels for a long time, but they finally figured out that we had food up here. Every time I see one I bang on the window and then they jump off the feeder. They seem kind of suicidal to me. I keep wondering if they fall all the way to the ground. Zephyr sure thinks the squirrels are interesting. And, this is a picture of our bird feeder. I actually got a picture because the squirrels never see me as quickly as the birds do. Many mammals don't have eyes that are as sharps as a bird's.)

Why You Haven't Heard From Me

I've been spending all my time with my good friend Martha Graham.

Barbara Morgan, Martha Graham in Letter to the World, 1941

Paul Meltsner, Martha Graham Dance Class, c. 1939

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Fourth of July 2008

This year for the 4th we took another trip to my nearest family members, Jim's house in Minneapolis. It's always wonderful to be at Jim's house. There is so much to see and do and to talk about. Some of the things not photographed during this trip include watching Harry Potter in the movie room, doing doughnuts on the lawn with the riding lawn mower, going through the Weisman contemporary art museum, and picking up two pieces of furniture and a bamboo plant at Ikea.


We attended the local fireworks show that turned out to have a live band and some really great fireworks. The funny thing about the 4th in Minneapolis is that it starts so late in the evening due to the very long summer days. Here JoLee, Sarah, and Charlotte get ready for the show.

Jim bought some fireworks for the home and let me light them off. As with any good pack of fireworks, it came with its fair share of Piccolo Pete's.

I love lighting things on fire. Perhaps Aaron, Brodie, and Toby can help me with a post of all the things we've burned over the years. Or maybe not...

Sarah plays the bassoon (and she's really good at it). Her bassoon teacher performed at this concert at a nearby lake in Minneapolis. Charlotte listens below.


There are free outdoor concerts every night at this pavilion. The atmosphere is very casual. Again, I kept waiting for the sun to go down on us, but instead it just lingered on the horizon even after we left.

JoLee snapped this picture of me hanging out in the camp chairs at the concert. I wish we had a picture of the fantastic ice cream we got.

Finally, their cat, Oliver, recently decided to take up residence in the grandson's baby crib. The funny thing is that he blends in nicely with all the stuffed animals. What I like most about Oliver is that he's very polite and very quiet, unlike some other cat I know.

Who Ever Said Kansas Had Bad Weather

I can't contend against the accusation that Kansas weather is not as nice as California's (my home state), but I can say that Kansas weather is more varied and interesting. I've seen storms here that I didn't even see the likes of in Central America. We sometimes get electrical storms like the one in this video that last for hours.