Squander Time

Hospital waiting room. Blocks of time and nowhere to go. Killing time. Should be writing, but can't

concentrate. Everyone stacked and racked in chairs is a story, has a story, and is awaiting a happy ending. I took notes on expectant faces - ultimately grinning from relief, or crumpled in grief.

Family members leafed

lackadais-

ically

through magazines, or read book pages

without

comprehen-

sion.

I kept my journal open and remembering fields of colors - gorgeous flowers from the aboretum -attempted to turn a phrase or create a happier place.

Surely a poem would erupt from my brain onto the page inspired by the plant name Poet's Laurel.

Alas, I sqandered time. It was there ... the clock ticking on the wall, the butt in the chair, the paper, and the pen.

But, at least, I got to smile at good news and now the fingers fly across the keyboard -free from worry, and eager to capture a few memorable characters.

You've gotta see this!

hee hee hee!

New (to me) Toy: eBird

Hey, gang; I just filed my first-ever birding report on eBird! I had looked at it a long time back and thought it was a little slow and not so user-friendly; I don't know if I was just impatient back then or if I'm just that much smarter now, because I was able to get in, check off the birds I saw with my BFF Gretchen this morning, and be done. I emailed the report to myself with the checking of a box, and here's my copied-and-pasted report:

Location: Bald Eagle SP
Observation date: 4/25/10
Number of species: 27

Mallard X
Common Loon 1
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey 1
Ring-billed Gull 2
Mourning Dove X
Eastern Phoebe 1
American Crow X
Common Raven X
Tree Swallow X
Bank Swallow X
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin X
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 3
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 6
Eastern Towhee 4
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 10
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

The Xs indicate that I saw the species but either didn't or couldn't count (or remember) the number I saw. It was a very dreary morning with a constant drizzle/sprinkle, but we had a good time.

I'm going to get into this whole eBird thing; it looks cool! Wish I'd gotten pics (we saw a lot of these birds at very close range!) but I still don't have my camera back. Had to use Gretchen's binocs, even. But it's coming soon.

But I Want To

I read this sign and instantly wanted to scramble along the rocks and dangle my feet in the babbling brook. Normally I'm a rule follower, but there are times when contrariness kicks in, and I want to break the barriers.

Rules are often meant to be broken. Why not have pretty flowers growing out of a rock wall, precariously clinging to life and eager for sunshine or raindrops? I guess that's why as writers, we read books about general rules on plots, character, dialogue, and the hero's journey. We hear "you'll never sell a book about (fill in the blank) in this market." Then a writer breaks the rules and is declared genius. It can boggle the mind.

So, if you love azaleas and want to write about azaleas, then go for it. Maybe azaleas are "out" this year, but like fashion, sooner or later they'll be back "in". (Just pick the winning color.) Or vampires are old hat, wizards have been done, and zombies roamed Pride and Prejudice.

Blare your horn, reach to the skies with your words, and trust your instinct. Then again, I've found that to have poetry published in journals or on-line, you have to follow many rules - nothing trite and no rhyming. I recently had two pocket poems published in River Poets Journal. My father emailed me that he enjoyed it. "However, don't tell anyone, but I prefer rhyming." Gasp! My own father.

So I responded:

Stay shushed

I'm crushed

All other poems

I flushed

Gotta break the rules and have fun.

Baby bird pics

Sleepy little me, about 8 years old, at one of my Tia Chelo's big parties.

Dorky me in fourth grade. I could fly to Cleveland on those collars, baby!

I'm probably 4 years old here, wearing my favorite green cordoroy dress and struttin' my stuff.

Well, baby ME pics, anyway!

I have been in Harrisburg all week at a sales training class, so I still don't have my binocs and camera back yet, nor have I had time to bird. I'm going birding this weekend with Baby G, though, so I'm excited! Hoping to see some good birds--my friend Hillel emailed and said he'd seen his FOY Yellow-rumped Warbler, so I'm hoping that the rest of the migrants aren't too far behind. We've had such mild weather that the trees are already starting to leaf a little bit, which means we won't be able to see the birds if they don't hurry up and get here.

I'm also planning to do the migration could on May 8 with my birding pal Roana, with whom I used to go atlassing all the time. I can't wait, because she can pick out birds I would never see on my own. So birding updates and pics are coming; I just have to be patient.

Ephemeral Art - More Balloon Fun

More pics from the World Festival of Balloons. I attended on Sunday 4/18/10 at the Dallas Sheraton.

Balloon sculptures - Is it art?

Had a discussion with a co-worker who enjoyed the pictures, thought they were cool, but said, "Stuff like this and sand sculptures, etc - I don't think that's really art. I mean, it doesn't last."

I disagreed with him, but it is interesting to ponder if something so fleeting that could be pricked into oblivion falls into the category of art. What do you think?

To me, the creative energy and effort that went into these balloon sculptures is artistic. Not everyone can do it - there's a skill, talent, finesse, and vision. Plus there was a palpable energy and joy in the room as folks roamed about to view the displays.

Indeed, balloon pieces are ephemeral. Now dismantled, they exist in my mind and in my computer as digital images. But, balloon sculpture design is art, in my opinion, however fleeting and it inspires me to pursue creative outlets. Don't let anyone pop those dreams.

Balloon Blast

Waterfall of dreams - all in balloons. The World Festival of Balloons was held in Dallas at the Sheraton Hotel. Ray and I attended the Sunday show day thinking we'd wander a bit and move on. Nope - a blip in the paper had attracted gobs of attention and we joined hordes of people for an hour long wait to enter a magical world.

Creative people and dreamers crusade for their art. This project took 29,000 balloons, sixteen people and twenty-five man hours. It won for large sculptural display. The balloon twist detail was phenomenal.

Sensory overload at the Sheraton. Colors, movement, kids, and jaw-dropping detail. One man while giving a balloon design demonstration said, "Runners run every day, athletes practice every day, musicians play their instruments daily, writers write, and balloon sculpturists blow up balloons every day seeking new twists and new designs. Quite the life!

Balloon whimsy and humor prevailed.

The First Ever World Balloon Festival proved welcoming indeed. I can only assume next year's will be bigger and better eye-popping displays. Contestants dream of new designs as they deflate their 2010 balloon fantasies.

UP, UP, and AWAY!

Post-Conference: A Week to Reflect

It's been a week since I attended the DFW Writers' Conference in Grapevine, and the challenge to utilize what I learned looms as large as the above shadow. Jodi Thomas, keynote speaker, regaled us with her life story - the twists and turns on her road to become a New York Times bestselling author. Like most author talks I've attended, her message is one of perseverance. To be a writer, you have to sit in your chair and write. And then ...

It's a balancing act. Yes, you have to write, but then your genius isn't immediately discovered. I attended talks on queries, synopsis, and if there'd been a class - tap dancing. You have to grab an agent or editor's attention. The biggest buzz, of course, is social media.

In the olden days, you sent your handwritten manuscript via pony express and hoped for a return letter. Now you enter the tunnel to build a platform - blog, website, facebook, twitter. All promotion, all the time until someone sees your light. It's daunting, time consuming, and hard work.

Writers juggle day jobs, market themselves and their writing, keep abreast of media changes, and attend conferences to mingle with word nerds. Then it's time to hunker down in one's nest and write. Peer out once in a while to absorb nature, sunlight, fresh air, and fill the eyes, ears, and nose with material to splash onto the page. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite and begin the process all over again.

See you at next year's conference -2/26 and 2/27/2011 - American Airlines Conference Center - DFW Writers are expanding the vision and hosting writer dreams.

(pictures once again from Morris Arboretum - my vacation glow only dims slightly)

Dangit, dangit, dangit!

I should have a beautiful post here with amazing pictures from our trip to Baltimore! But I forgot my bad-ass birding bag there!

It's in the mail somewhere, so I will soon have some cool pics -- though I think they're all of little flowers! We didn't see many birds, but we DID have some amazing food and fun and friends so stay tuned!

Travel Treats

Had an excellent week in PA to visit my father, enjoy Easter, and embrace spring. The time flew - walks, laughs sitting at the kitchen table, and hours spent with friends and family. All too soon, Dad dropped me at the airport for the return flight and the reality bell gonged. One hour delay. Vacation was OVER.
That was all right. I still had images in my head of fun times and good meals. The flowering trees inspired me to scribble some haiku (still tweaking them, David (my brother) ) and despite the annoyances of travel, there is a positive: permission to purchase magazines, books, and tic-tacs at the airport newstand. AT FULL PRICE. Hey, I'm captive, I'm delayed, and in theory, I was desperate.
I had mismanaged my reading during the week. Jeffrey Deaver's An Empty Chair proved riveting so rather than pace myself, I greedily finished it without a backup plan. Oops - hence the need to purchase reading material in case I was trapped at the Philly airport for days. True readers understand - at home I have a stack of books at the ready. I just didn't pack them.
An abundance. A plethora of print presented itself and I chose the latest Vanity Fair with Grace Kelly on the cover (her memory lives on in To Catch a Thief and Rear Window - yummy movies), a National Geographic Travel magazine featuring Italy's Amalfi Coast (hey, I might want to go there instead of back to DFW), and the book Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (haven't seen the movie, but he's a great writer. How did I miss this one at the library?). Thus the return flight was painless. I could escape (except during thirty minutes of turbulence - can't read or write when we're bumping along) into others' words. Travel treats are worth every penny. When's my next trip?



Note - Pictures from the University of PA - Morris Arboretum. Glorious place to wander.

Early spring birding at Millbrook Marsh

Millbrook Marsh is a beautiful little natural area just north of Beaver Stadium. Spring Creek flows through it, providing a wonderful little habitat within city limits.

I was hoping to see at least an early Yellow Warbler or something, but I neither saw nor heard any warblers. I did see some good birds, though:
Northern Flicker
Tree Swallow (they're back!)
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Red-winged Blackbird (they've been back for a while now)
Northern Cardinal
Mallard
Song Sparrow
Eastern Phoebe
Swamp Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Carolina Wren
Red-tailed Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
American Crow
Turkey Vulture
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Mockingbird
Bluejay
House Finch
American Goldfinch
European Starling
Rock Pigeon
House Sparrow
Common Grackle

I saw some evidence of maybe a Green Heron, or a very small Great Blue:It's hard to tell without anything for scale, but it was only a medium-sized marsh-dweller's print. Way too small for a Great Blue.

I also saw this cute little raccoon hand-print:Otherwise, I included all the bird pics with my spring post down below.

It was so nice to get out into the field again! I can't wait for more migrants to return; the Tree Swallow was a good one, but I've yet to see any of the hundreds of Chimney Swifts that usually fly over Bellefonte. It's still pretty early for us, though. Migration usually doesn't get going until late April/early May.

We've been having unusually warm (like +20 over normal temps) weather here, but I'm not sure that winter is quite done with us. It'll be interesting to see whether we get some more early migrants (or, god forbid, snow). AB and I are going to Baltimore this weekend to see some friends, so no birding (probably), but I plan to hit it hard when we get back. My new job starts Wednesday after next, so I'll have Monday and Tuesday to play around.

Until then, I hope you're seeing some good birds!

Niblet update

For the last couple of months, I've been noticing that Niblet's face looked a little strange:My mom noticed it first and asked me why his mouth looked crooked. I worried that he might have developed another abscess.

So when we got back to Pennsylvania, I knew we'd better go see Dr. Ellen Scholz, the Wonder Vet who took care of Nib when he had his ear abscess. Turns out, Niblet might have Bell's Palsy!

I've known people, including my dad, who've been hit with Bell's Palsy; Ellen the Wonder Vet said she'd seen it in dogs, but this was the first time she'd seen it in a bunny. We'll be going back for a head X-ray next month (after I start my job and start getting paid) to confirm that he doesn't have anything more serious wrong with him, like an abscess that can't be seen in an external exam.

Sometimes, it's not that noticeable:

But sometimes, it's pretty obvious:
unless you imagine that he's doing his Elvis impersonation:

Thank you, thank you very much.

In humans, it's temporary; I hope it's the same in bunnies. He is otherwise fit as a fiddle, strong and weighing in at a trim 4.2 lbs. (hee hee!)

On the bright side, his disapproval powers have become devastatingly potent!Don't say I didn't warn you!

Spring is sprung!

In case you hadn't noticed,spring is here!

Pussy willows are now in flower:

Trees that were just a bunch of twigs last month are now in full display:

Little shoots are sprouting from the ground:

Yards are full of flowers:




and trees are leafing out:
Bulbs planted last fall are fulfilling hopes:

And the birds are feelin' it too:
this sparrow was trilling his little heart out, sounding like a Swamp Sparrow but bearing a hatpin mark on his breast that confused me.

House Finches are looking for girlfriends and good nesting spots

and Eastern Phoebes are saying their name for all to hear.

Autumn's plants, bloated and picked apart, are busy providing nesting material and food for prospective families:
The ice has melted, and clear cool water is flowing all around us:
Twittering buzzing conversations fill the air:
And even the doleful cooing of Rock Pigeons makes my heart swell with springtime happiness:
Has spring sprung itself on you yet?