Earth Explorations

In April I felt like all the plates I'd kept spinning had gone winging off, some falling, some shattering, some disappearing. And now it's May and May in my corner of the world means migratory birds. I am not a particularly early riser but I do get up early enough to enjoy a bit of time with a cup of tea in the backyard watching the birds. I also am still working at home so whenever I can, I take my computer outside to enjoy the day when it's fine. Normalize the outside office, I say. These backyard excursions (emphasis on the backyard rather than excursion) have afforded me the opportunity to see the migrants, some passing through enroute to points further north and others here for the summer. Harris's sparrow. This bird has been called a showstopper and with the pink bill and dark face I'd have to agree. Clay colored sparrow. It's the gray neck. Spotted towhee. The white tips on the wings give kee a spotty appearance. White throated sparrow. I love kee's s...

While driving around looking for birds I came across this old building located on Lower Brule off reservation trust land. I believe it was a one room school. In the photo below, you can see the frame of a chalk board through the door.    Based on the plaster and lath, the space for the stove and the light fixtures (zoom in). I'm guessing this was built in the 30's or earlier. You can see more photos of the school house in this photo album .  

I use an app when I walk outside. After each walk logged you can take a photo which becomes part of your training record.  Instead of New Year's resolutions, I have themes which I sometimes call projects. These themes/projects aren't aspirational e.g. New Year, New You! but more reflective, giving me a way to think about my my life.  I can't really say how I pick these themes. It's an intuitive process of listening to my subconsious through reading my recent journals, casting an objective eye on what's going on in the world, and thinking about my core values. There's usually some Baader-Meinhoff phenomenon involved too. All I know is that when the theme/project appears it feels right. There has to be a certain satisfying click about it, as if it fits into my life the way the right puzzle piece fits in a large, complicated jigsaw. This year's theme or project, I'm not sure which, is Walking and Wayfinding. In reviewing my blog entries from the past 6 mont...

Two weeks and a few days on, the dress challenge is no more, undone mostly by the pandemic. No, I didn't get sick or even sick of the dress. Rather there were so few days when I actually put on the dress over the base layer to leave the house that I sorta forgot about it. I think I wore the dress three times.  So, the dress challenge turned into a leggings challenge and isn't that what we've been doing since COVID sent us home to work? I also was beset by taking on too much. I believe you  should set yourself little challenges to check in with where you are with regard to living out your values. The results can be revealing and should be fodder for reflection and self discovery even if you don't like what they say about you. Own your shit is one of my mantras. But also be kind to yourself. That's a different post, though. I've learned (and am still learning) take up just one or two of these challenges at a time. We all have only so much time and energy and somet...

 I am of the demographic, according to Facebook, that is interested in minimalism and clothing made of natural fibers. I believe the encompassing term is "crunchy", and yes, yes I am though if I'm honest I'm actually crunchy-aspiring.  Because I am who I am, I have been eyeing a dress challenge from Wooland where you wear a merino wool dress for 100 days straight, documenting your progress through social media or uploading photos to a google drive. Actually, I did more than eyeing. In a weak moment, I tried to start the challenge a few months ago by which I mean I tried to buy the dress. Alas, they were sold out which disappointed me at the time but in hindsight saved me money and buyer's remorse.  I see that ad a lot, more so since I clicked through to try to buy the dress. And every time I've seen it, I have considered doing the challenge thinking about what adaptations I might want to make. The last few times I've mulled it over, I didn't come up w...

When one has a bird feeder, one has small birds. And when one has small birds, one may have large birds like a hawk. I have an occasional hawk that visits the backyard. When the hawk--either a Sharp shinned or Coopers I'm not sure which--shows up the other birds flee. Except when they don't. This morning, I saw the hawk perched on the branches and a downy woodpecker, stock still, hiding from the hawk by clinging motionless to a bird food brick. The bird food brick was big enough to be a vision barrier between hawk and downy woodpecker (or DOWO using the American Ornithologic Union abbreviation) but would not have offered much protection had the hawk managed to spy the downy. The DOWO must have missed or ignored what is apparently the universal signal that a hawk was nearby.  I do not like to interfere in the affairs of animals, though you can make the case that in feeding the birds I've already meddled. Fair point. Also, full disclosure: in that moment I was Team Downy. (My...

Full disclosure. The pandemic is kinda kicking my butt when it comes to every day exploration. Acedia, torpor, and ennui have replaced zest, curiosity, and wonder in my emotional makeup. Getting out to explore feels like a huge amount of effort, made more effortful by the cold and short hours of daylight.  Thank goodness for my bird feeder. Well, actually bird feeders. Plural. I have three plus a bird food brick or two. And a heated bird bath. Things haven't gotten out of control. Yet. We'll see where things stand when the pandemic abates. We have a goodly assortment of birds that come visit, the inevitable house sparrows, finches both goldfinch and house finch (and once a purple finch). Juncos. We have woodpeckers of the downy, hairy, red bellied and flicker variety. The red male cardinal and greenish brown female cardinal come visit as do the blue jays. There are fox squirrels, of course, and in the middle of the night the trail cam tells me that skunks, opossum, an occasiona...