 |
| Mr. Cardinal all puffed up for the winter. |
 |
| A nuthatch hops headfirst down a tree. |
 |
| Towering green bamboo |
So--this is January?? A day for open air knitting and bird watching.
When I was small, I lived in New Mexico and the birds I remember were robins, brown sparrows and crows. When I came here, I learned cardinals and blue jays and mockingbirds. I set out a feeder and learned tufted titmouse, chickadee, finches, wren, and so many others. But, I have become jaded. "Oh, just a cardinal," I say. "Just a mockingbird." But when I spy a ruby crowned kinglet or a bird I have to look up in my book (most recently yellow rumped warbler)--wheeee! I am ridiculously thrilled! I scramble to add it to an app in my phone.
Today is Martin Luther King Day. A holiday. MLK is a hero of mine. I remember my father telling me that all people were the same under their skin, that all people, no matter their color, felt pain and loneliness and humiliation all the same. I have never forgotten that.
I love the juxtaposition of bamboo and pine cones....
ReplyDeleteI feel about wildflowers as you do about birds. Some day I will tackle trees, and after that I hope to learn more bird varieties. It's very exciting to expand your knowledge of the natural world, isn't it?
Thanks for your comment on my "Chilly" post - I did think of those issues too when writing it - that children and teachers travel so much farther to school than they used to. And a teacher friend of mine is always telling me of kids in her (1st grade) class who come unprepared for the weather. She doesn't know why some parents can't send at least a jacket along in winter. It's a scary thought, really.
I just got back from a week in California where it was in the 80s. On our last night we went down to the beach where girls were running around in bikinis ... seemed all wrong for January! :)