Testing....1....2...

This platform seems to have undergone some changes in the seven years since I wrote here. I'm just checking in because yesterday I felt the urge for writing in a way I haven't in years, and I wanted to see if this blog was still an option, test out whatever features have changed, see if I like the format, figure out how to change the look, etc. Forgive me if this is a boring thing to read, or if you received a notification and what little I added is a disappointment. But maybe soon something interesting will happen here - it is springtime, after all. I may not be able to help myself. 

Close a door, open a window

Three years. I've just devoted three years of my life to something amazing -- the rest of my life and the rest of the world. As of 9:00 this morning, I hold an MA in Children's Literature and an MS in Library and Information Science. I have to say, I never thought I'd have an MS! I briefly considered ornithology, but that is some serious science. I love birds, but I couldn't make them my life's work. There are too many beautiful words to read and ideas to share and people to help. Librarianship is the way for me. I can't wait to start.

What am I going to do with my first few days? Well, not homework, that's for sure! I have a lot of neglected housework to catch up on, but what I'm really looking forward to is making the pie I've been planning for the last month. My freezer is full of hand-picked berries. Berry season was amazing this year. Juneberries - I must have picks two gallons! The juneberry season lasted so long that I had to switch to calling them saskatoons when July rolled around. Then the mulberries - oh, the mulberries! They were so sweet. And a friend of mine invited me to pick all of her black raspberries. So, basically, this pie is going to be incredible.

Since I'm moving away from all these free berry bushes before the next picking season, I'm trying to share their locations with as many people as possible. I wouldn't mind leaving a berry legacy. Let me know if you want the skinny on free berry locations around Watertown, MA!

accidental birding

Today was the first day that I went to my Tuesday class and it was still light out on my ride home, so I enjoyed my view of the river as we drove down Storrow Drive.  I was not even consciously looking for birds, but got a good glimpse of a male red-breasted merganser. What an unexpected and fleeting thrill, and in beautiful plumage, too. Nice hairdo, buddy.

Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be beautiful, so I am looking forward to taking Flash down to the river to look for signs of spring. Buds and shoots, here we come!

secret green space

Yesterday morning I got to take a walk by myself and check out a new neighborhood. I had brought my binoculars just in case, which turned out to be a great idea (and a habit I should adopt again). I walked up a big hill and meandered some streets until I found a secret golf course that I never noticed in my three years of living in Watertown. Not open to the public, of course, but a woman walking her dog told me they're pretty lax about the early mornings and the evenings. She also pointed out a grove of pine trees where I should look for a beautiful hawk's nest if I ever get in there. I haven't done any purposeful golf-course birding, but I was just excited by all those tall trees and open space. The air was loud with birdsong and truck rumblings, so it wasn't peaceful at that moment, but I expect it usually is. I'm not a trespasser, but I am tempted to take a look around from the inside. Maybe someday I'll get the chance.

sick day birding

My streak of perfect health has come to an abrupt end with this nasty head-cold. I felt so terrible today that I stayed home - never even went down for the mail (and I love getting the mail). This morning, Flash brought my binoculars in from the hallway and asked to use them. He's three and a half now, so a few conflicting things ran through my head:

1. My precious binoculars - if anything happens I can't afford to replace them!
2. Well, we're in the house - what can really happen? If he wears the neck strap and I tell him not to touch the glass parts, maybe I can teach him how to use them for real and wangle myself a birding buddy.

So #2 won out, and we practiced finding something to look at, raising the bins, and then finding the item through the lenses. He was particularly interested in making things look far away by using the binoculars backwards. I adjusted the spacing for the smaller distance between his eyes, but I have no way of knowing how clear the image was for him. It was just ten minutes of our morning but it would prove useful later in the day.

This afternoon I stood at the counter, looking out the kitchen window as I waited for my toast. Our driveway has several tall trees about 15 feet from our third-floor windows, so I always look to see who's around. Today it was a male downy woodpecker, and Flash got really excited about seeing it. We peeked at the bird together, and then ran for the binoculars to follow up on this morning's impromptu lesson. We watched the bird for about eight minutes and chatted about what it was doing.

Me: What do you think he's doing?
Flash: Looking for acorns.
Me: Why does he want acorns?
Flash: To eat.
Me: I don't think that kind of bird eats acorns. You know why he's called a woodpecker?
Flash: Why?
Me: Because he pecks the wood with his beak to find bugs and scare them out.
Flash: So he can eat them?
Me: Yeah, with his quick little tongue.

And so on. 

We also talked about the bird's markings, and the red patch that indicated that this one was a male. The best part, though, was that I could totally tell that he got to see the woodpecker through the binoculars. His face lit up as I imagine it all (how binoculars work, why people would ever look at birds) made sense to him in that instant. A happy first for both of us.