I got out for a (false) spring walk, with a sunhat on, whoa, and tremendous bird activity all around. Several woodpeckers pecking and calling, cardinal mating calls all over, wrens, just one or two juncoes -- they're probably leaving now, winter birds here.
Trees warming up in the sun
and a sad sight, trigger alert, scroll by here if you need to avoid sad sight
healthy looking Canada goose down. He doesn't look injured, and there aren't any overhead wires where he fell.
The turkey vultures will soon find him and return him to nature.
Back home I sat on the deck to rest a minute after walking and listen to the birds.
Then I had to think about lunch, the day before groceries are delivered, what to eat, what.
Cavatappi Alfredo. Just right. The butter seems to be cropped out, but the fresh grated Parmesan was very good. Plenty of black pepper, perfect. That's the last of the cavatappi, too. Hm.
I sometimes refrain from reordering right away when I run out of an item, so as to avoid a rut. That way I'll make something different. You have to trick yourself sometimes. Solo living is a rough game.
This afternoon I'm being interviewed yet again by a teenager with a survey to do for a community project on aging. I seem to be the chief Aged Person around here. I've done these for Girl scout projects, community outreach, high school papers.
So tempted to give outlandish answers which she'll solemnly write down. In the Old Country, I went to school by oxcart. We wore coarse smocks, and carried flintlocks in case of highwaymen, ate groats or was that currency. Nah, I'll be nice and tell her the truth, that we spoke Old English and danced around maypoles, but I won't explain the significance of the maypole, she's young .
Anyway here's good news
And happy day everyone, here's a good life in action, good old Mutts
I am deeply impressed by that milkweed corridor for the monarch butterflies. It's hard to believe that the same species that produces trump can also produce people who made something like this happen.
ReplyDeleteThat poor goose. Somebody has lost their mate.
Isn't it great? Very enlightened.
DeleteThe milkweed corridor! That's exciting!
ReplyDeleteI love it. Targeted and very hopeful.
DeleteThat milkweed corridor is a fabulous idea. I opened the door this morning to get some fresh and almost got blown away :) Winter is not over here as yet.
ReplyDeleteToo much of a good thing, that blast of fresh air.
DeleteI like to think it just died peacefully of old age...like I hope I will.
ReplyDeleteI've been in an ongoing old people survey for over a decade at the local university.
Hope your day was a good one. :)
My day was a good one, lovely weather, walking, nice kid interviewing me, thank you.
DeleteI wonder if the goose just gave out in flight. He showed no sign of attack or struggle.
I wondered that, too! If it had died flying...that would have been the perfect way for a goose to die...doing what it loved.
DeleteThe milkweed corridor is exciting! When we lived in Santa Barbara, we could walk to a migration stop of Monarch butterflies. It was incredible. But I read it was much less so in the years after we left. Your menus are always so unusual. We are in a bit of a rut here.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they're stepping the support for the monarch. I like variety in meals. It keeps me interested.
DeleteOh I laugh at the thought of telling little white lies.
ReplyDeleteI’d love to be the resident old person.
But I think I would rather be known as the old wise one. That sounds better.
I don't know how wise they think I am!
DeleteThe milkweed migration corridor is fantastic! Thanks for sharing that -- I hadn't seen it. You know what I did? Finish my family/work/everything stuff early and excitedly log in to Spoutible at exactly 7:30... Entirely forgetting no pod today, even though you also told me that! Oh well, more time to read :)
ReplyDeleteThere's a feeling of withdrawal when that happens. See you Friday then.
DeleteYes, withdrawal! I hope to be there Friday.
DeleteI had a plaintive little message from Gloria! Where was everyone? Wha' happen? She was there but missed the announcement.
DeleteI collected a pint of milk weed seeds. I plan to head to a wet area behind our creek and plant it full of milkweed. Sad about the goose. So much talk about bird flu that it is the first place my mind went.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the milkweed planting. We've lost a lot of milkweed to development. I hadn't thought of bird flu. Maybe I should report this goose.
DeleteYes. You should report it.
ReplyDeleteYour potential back in the ol' days is too funny. Such an interesting knitting group, I'd almost take up knitting to join. What decade of life are you in? (I will be impressed, won't I?)
I have now sent a full report plus picture to the state DEP. There are reports of bird flu in NJ though not in my township. I also reported to the HOA.
DeleteMy age is 87. So my memory goes back a way. Not to oxcarts though.
Bird flu was the first thought for me too. Glad you reported it. That milkweed corridor is a terrific idea. I volunteer at a xeric nursery, mostly native plants, and we can't keep any of the three species of native milkweeds in stock. Hoping that eventually we'll see more monarchs - all sightings are celebrated out here.
ReplyDeleteChris from Boise
PS Good on'ya for getting out again before the next cold snap!
I'm grateful to Debby for suggesting bird flu, because it hasn't been in the news for ages and I didn't make the connection. Anyway I've done my bit now.
DeleteI have local friends growing native milkweed, a great idea.
The weather is already cooling, thunderstorm a while ago. But our brief false spring was sweet.
Mooch knows how to live.
ReplyDeleteFood, play, sleep. Perfect.
DeleteI'm impressed. What's your secret?
ReplyDeleteI have posts on gaming grandma and Dr. Ilaria Capua that you might enjoy. Shame that milkweed is so toxic.
Thanks for the blog reminder. I'll check. No secret. Single happiness.
DeleteI volunteer with a group called Weed Ladies that make flower arrangements that we sell to support our local history museum. One of the clever ladies filled clear glass ornaments with milkweed seeds and attached a card describing how to plant the seeds in the Spring. So many customer bought them.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! That's so cool.
DeleteI have never found a dead Canada goose. Do you suppose they ever have heart attacks?
ReplyDeleteI love your idea of how to answer the earnest student's questions. She'd believe you, no doubt. My grandchildren have, at times, asked me if there were any cars when I was a child and astounded to hear that there were.
Misfits day! Hurray!
She was pretty stunned by the actual facts I gave her, anyway. One of my friends was asked the same thing about cars in her youth recently!
DeleteA beam of light and hope in the butterfly corridor. How wonderful is it to be a source of wisdom to the young!
ReplyDeleteShe was boggling at all the different work I've done!
DeleteWhat a shame about the goose. I know there's no shortage of them, but it's always sad to see an apparently healthy bird lying dead. I hope it's not avian 'flu - it's so contagious.
DeleteYou could have had such fun with your young interviewer, but it would have been cruel. 😂🤣
The goose looked fine, if you follow me. No injuries, not thin. I did feel sad, though we have flocks of them.
DeleteWell, it's always fun to be interviewed. A chance to tell stories! Do you have bird flu where you are? I wonder if that's what brought down your goose.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice, especially her look of amazement at hearing my actual mother, not ancestor, was born in 1895. She was too polite to argue but looked disbelieving!
DeleteI acted on the assumption that it was bird flu, all reports done.
Oh, I see others have already raised the specter of bird flu! Sorry to be repetitive. :)
ReplyDeleteNo problem, I'm grateful that you read the preceding comments.
DeleteHave you read Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behaviour? I learned so much on the Monarch and the migration through that book.
ReplyDeleteNo, but I've noted now
DeleteThe first robins have arrived up here. They always show up too early.
ReplyDeleteHere, too. I don't know how they manage, food in short supply for insect and fruit eaters.
Deleteabout 45 years ago I flatted with an immigrant from South Africa whose Mum had read (before moving) that in NZ children went to school on horseback. She made them take riding lessons before they moved. There had been a horse paddock at our school but many years retired and we all rode by bus. Some really remote parts of the North Island might still have been relying on horses back then. Her family moved to a city. Ox cart isn't so outlandish here - one generation before me they were still using a governess cart. Like so many of your commentors I'm impressed by the Monarch corridor.
ReplyDeletePeople's expectations of daily life in other countries can be a bit skewed! Friends visiting us from the UK were amazed at what ordinary lives we led. They'd expected Hollywood glamor, I think.
DeleteA nice warm walk (despite the body); a good lunch; a young person interested enough to interview you; AND a monarch corridor. Pretty much a great day!
ReplyDeleteYes, some days are full of good stuff. I think the trick is to realize it at the time.
Delete