I am an unwilling, nomadic soul looking for a place to put down some permanent roots. I have lived in many of these 50 states, as well as 3 Canadian provinces. So who am I?
I'm afraid you're asking the wrong person. It's been pointed out that I am harder on myself than the rest of the galaxy combined.
That's reassuring...
"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow." ~~
"The minute you start talking about what you're going to do if you lose, you've already lost."~~
Cree Prophecy - "When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money." ~~
Showing posts with label Just for fun (funny vids). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Just for fun (funny vids). Show all posts
I'm always asked why I feed the birds year round. I do it for their benefit when times are difficult like winter of course, but I continue feeding in the spring and summer because one, they are accustomed to always finding a meal at my house, and two, so I can view migrating birds and the generational passing of the seed.
My main reason for feeding the birds is rather selfish, I will admit to that. It’s the psychological benefit that comes from seeing their flamboyant colors on a dreary day. It’s listening to their music in the antelucan hour while everyone’s asleep and then waking up to their excited conversation. It’s knowing the families of birds find sanctuary in my yard for the summer, plus it really beats watching brain consuming TV anytime.
Catbird flashing me!
Junco taking shelter from the rain
It seems like bird activity is higher now than
it was in wintertime. If they’re not filling every conceivable cavity with
nesting material they’re feasting at the bird feeders. After shopping around,
the Bluebirds finally moved into a house hanging from my eave. The Wren house at the front of the house still is vacant but I'm sure not for much longer. Tree Swallows chaotically investigate
each nest box but as of yet have not made their mind up on one. My Chickadee has
already added her first layer of moss to her fairy nest. The Purple Martins
appreciate the new gourds I put up this year, a new one for me. Hopefully, with more nesting holes,
my colony will expand. The vibrant procession of spring is marching through the
fields and woods and it’s exciting to observe.
I consider our kitchen window
to be my personal television of the world I want to know. It doesn’t come with a
remote or have a thousand channels playing the staid documentary of humanity’s
shame and decline. It’s rather old fashioned in that it only gets one station and only
shows nature programs day and night. It has a regular cast of characters like
Chickadees, Titmice, Cardinals, Catbirds, Nuthatches and Blue Jays with occasional guest appearances by a
Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Thrasher or a Towhee. Lately a new series has started
playing; it’s called The Courtship of the Birds. It’s being billed as a
heartwarming avian soap opera of spring love with a spectacular cast.
Cardinal selecting the best seeds.
Watch as the male
Cardinals courts his paramour by passing a sunflower seed to her, beak to beak.
See the dandy little Goldfinches go round and round the finch feeders sporting the
latest in daffodilly frocks. So many Woodpeckers spar over the suet dough that
I actually have six suet feeders up. I’m keeping my seed feeders full in case
the Indigo Buntings and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks stop by on their journey north
too. It might only be a temporary visit but it sure is special.
Toward months’
end, one of my all time favorite feathered friends, the Catbirds will arrive, plus the Orioles and Hummingbirds will appear, so this is the time to get your fruit and
nectar feeders out. The Bluebirds will devour all the blocks with mealworms I
leave for them. While it's not a favorite thing for me to buy, their enjoyment makes
it all worthwhile. Some male birds are known to feed the female while she’s
incubating the eggs. Once the young fledge are up and about, they’ll follow the
adults around to find food, be it natural or what you provide at your feeders.
It’s quite enjoyable observing the tattered fledglings’ first visit to a bird
feeder.
My little patient - a victim of a cat who I nursed back to health!
And so having said all this, we need to protect those
youngsters as well as their parents. There is 'love
your cat, love your birds - keep your cats inside'. Those who go outside should
be belled and it shouldn’t be made overly easy for the others, the ferals, to feast
from your yard!
I will share with you a small gallery of my visitors and I hope you will consider making your yard a safe and healthy haven for all who wish to visit and grace your landscapes...!
Red Bellied Woodpecker
I love the colorful birds as most everyone does, but my favorites are really the little birds...the titmice, the Nuthatches...the Chickadees who will land on my head and shoulders when I'm at the feeders. And the Catbirds and finches, sparrows and sweet Juncos. I do think people don't pay enough attention to these little birds to realize how beautiful they really are!
This was just so much fun to watch that I had to add it as a post. I hope one day to be able to play Blackbird again myself, sans bird if possible, but any way would be fine. In the meantime I can enjoy this and I hope you do as well.
Oh yeah! Times this by three & you have my mornings! I suspect it even might include a bat, which might explain the pounding headaches some mornings.
This is a wonderful little piece of work entitled 'Wake Up Cat' and was done by the English animator Simon Tofield. Mr. Tofield works for an animation company called Tandem Films. This film won Best Comedy at the British Animation Awards. I just fell in love with it, hitting so close to home as it does.
Also the evening ritual...or afternoon, or morning or mid morning or...well I think you have the picture - the program you want to see comes at a time that just isn't appropriate for kitty.
And then of course there's the "let me in situation", which in Simon's video, the kitty actually does cross the threshold and come in. At our house, that's rarely the case. At out house they pat and paw, stretch and rub against the glass, mewing plaintively until someone takes pity and puts down whatever they're doing to goes to let them in. At which time kitty looks at us as if we're totally daft then turns and walks in the other direction. I think they are programmed to do these things. .
We used to have a kitty by the name of Dobie. Dobie wasn't allowed 'outside' outside, but was allowed in our screened-in porch. And 95% of the time, this was the best of both worlds for him...a place to enjoy the breeze and smell the smells, occasionally chasing an insect who was unfortunate enough to think the screened-in porch was a great safe place to take up residence. Dobie lived for those moments and was quite happy in his inside outdoors - until some human had to go to the outside 'outside' and mow the lawn or rake the leaves. This was unacceptable behavior! Leaving him behind while they walked in the grass? Gack, no!
He needed to work out some deal here so he was included in the excursion. First was the caterwaul. Well, that didn't work! All the human did was move further away from the screen so he wasn't heard! There needed to be some way of attracting attention. Running up and down the screen? Well that worked when we were tiny but resulted only in getting hollered at as he got larger...something about 'don't rip the screen, bad boy!' or something like that.
Okay, so tears in the screen weren't acceptable - humans have so many rules - 95% of them inane. So how about a pluck? He would pick-pick on the screen to get our attention and if that didn't work he would stand on his head. A fella's gotta do what a fella's gotta do.
I sure miss you, Dobie. You were truly one of a kind. I think of all those times I told you to be a good boy and get down off that screen and I would suck it all back right now for just one hour more with you. RIP my beauty. Having just four short years to share with you was not nearly enough time. I hope there are plastic springs in heaven and angels who know how to play 'fetchies'.
A person had to suspect that something special was taking form when they sat rink side and watched a 14 year old Sidney Crosby making older players look silly. Not only that, but the maturity to hold an interview which also could make some older players today look pretty silly too.
Now I don't see much difference in listening to him then as he is today...okay, a couple of octaves lower now maybe, but still with that same focus and knowledge he needs to do what he does in the game of hockey. If I'm going to touch on hockey, then it just seemed the right thing to do to add infant Sidney to my blog. No further buildup needed - enjoy.
Don Marco is an incredible artist who didn't let the little things like proper medium stop him from creating some beautiful visions for us to enjoy. How come my crayons never did this, hmmm?
I didn't inherit my uncles gift of taking 8 wax crayons either, like Don Marco, and creating wonderful images that belie their origins. C'est la vie. But who knows? Maybe someday I will select just the right colors and I too, will appear in someones blog with my masterpiece.
I want to do this someday too...drive to the airport in my Porsche Carrera GT and hop into my F18 or my F22 Raptor...
...or have someone drop me off at the local aircraft carrier and punch it out into the sky. Hey! A girl can dream right?
I might even let someone else pilot the thing.
I never understood the need for booze and drugs. I could get so high on so much in life - music, and speed...real miles per hour speed, not methamphetamines. Listening to someone who knows how to play blues just has me in the palm of their hand. I am putty...no, I am a cooked noodle! Bonnie can do that for me - and so can Steve with Joe.
And while it's a little loose, it's still two of my best together - Aerosmith & Zeppelin.
And bad vid but hey! I was there, so it's gotta go in.
There's not a lot to add to this one...Jackson and David doing what they do the best.
Oh, those Mercury Blooooooz....
And lastly, I want to learn to play my fav classical pieces like this guy!! Two of my favorites actually right from childhood. First Ready, set, go - Pachelbels Canon in D major, not quite like you've ever heard it before!
and then Antonio Vivaldi's Le Quattro Stagioni, better known as The Four Seasons suite, but never heard like this before, I'm sure.
This is funny, but since it comes so very close to the truth, I laugh with some apprehension. I'm surprised he doesn't have his head stuck in a hole in the ground while speaking. Then again, that's not as bad as where he has it most times.
Anyway, Will Ferrell, thank you for doing what you do so well.
Sometimes what's old is new again and sometimes it's even done well. A classic that my grandmother could recite verbatim, even getting the voices right. Yup, she was a wonderfully funny little woman, all 4'11" of her. But I digress...
Abbott and Costello's Who's On First ~
...and then the White House in all it's splendor ~
Maybe there's a job waiting for these two post government days?
