30 years ago – April 1991

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After the flurry of guests that we had in March 1991, we were back to being on our own in April….new challenges. My daughter was at a temporary family day care during the day for most of the month; it seemed to be working well but I rejoiced that not only did she remember her original day care provider after several weeks away, but she seemed thrilled to be back in that situation by the end of the month.

My husband was in the process of moving from Johns Hopkins to Applied Physics Lab for his work. It was a big ‘win’ in terms of work and a much shorter commute for him. We made a weekend trip to his Johns Hopkins office to move some items like plants and files. The heavier books were already on the way to the new office. We might have been the only people in the building. My daughter enjoyed pushing her stroller unimpeded in the hallways.

I was traveling to Atlanta frequently for work and by the end of the month was quickly getting to a stopping point on that project so that I could start the next one which would involve a longer commute. There was an announcement about a ‘work from home’ pilot and I wondered if I would be able to participate to avoid the long commute at least one day a week.

The trips to Atlanta – sometimes done in a long day (intense meetings in the middle) – were the first travel I’d done for work since my daughter was born. It felt odd to be so far away from her. At the same time – I savored the quiet time on the plane - enjoying good books. I was using a card I’d received from my Grandmother as a bookmark. It took some effort to carry enough reading material with me on those trips….it made the briefcase heavy since this was well before electronic books!

It also seemed like there were more letters exchanged that April – mostly with family. Everyone seemed to have a busy month – travel to San Francisco for a class, 2 people moving, another getting pregnant, ducklings escaping their enclosure to make friends with dogs, and birthday celebrations. Reading about the flurry of activity was quite a contrast with our lives this year during the pandemic and, to a lesser extent, without the challenge of careers. There were lots of comments about how pretty the spring trees and flowers were; that hasn’t changed.

Lessons from an Elderly Cat

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Our cat is 19 years old. He has been thoroughly pampered during the pandemic since we’re at home rather than traveling…or even venturing out very much. My husband is the ‘primary care person’ – but we both enjoy talking to the cat…observing the cat live well in his aging body. Here’s my list of lessons from our aging cat.

Sleep when you want…and not always in the same place. There are cat naps…and then longer periods of sleep. If he does go to sleep out on the screen deck – he is there for hours. He enjoys a longer sleep in his donut at least once a day – or he did during the winter months; that could change now that it is getting more inviting outside. He has a chair in the basement where he goes when he does not want to be disturbed and some darkness during the day. We humans sometimes put a lot of emphasis on ‘sleeping in our own bed’…but maybe the change of sleeping somewhere else is one of the things that makes travel appealing. For me – I like to vary where I do my mindfulness ‘rest’ which rejuvenates me as much as a ‘cat nap.’

Seek out sunshine. All cats like to find a spot of sunshine…and our elderly cat is no exception. Being warm probably makes him feel less achy. It works for humans too…but how often do we take advantage of a sunny place….sitting by a window or outdoors.

Drink water more frequently than you eat. We have a water fountain for our cat, and he uses it frequently. As we age, sometimes our thirst indicator is not as accurate, and we get dehydrated. I’m glad our cat seems to not have that problem…or maybe the water fountain is appealing enough to draw him over to it.

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Move about even if it sometimes hurts a little. Our cat still goes up and down the stairs although sometimes he looks reluctant. He seems to think about it…..then goes up or down quickly…get it over with. My husband and I are already talking about our next house not having stairs…that we want to age in place but not in our current house.

Occasionally revert to your younger self. The cat enjoys playing with wand toys – puffs and snakes. He would play with little prompting when he was younger. Now he sometimes just follows the toys with his eyes. We still try to entice him. Sometimes he surprises us and ‘catches’ the snake. Another time he followed we around as I dragged the snake behind me! When I think of the ‘lesson’ translated to humans I think about the effect younger children have on older people; it’s so easy to slip into the play mode when interacting with the child; it’s as beneficial to the older person as it is to the child!

Get the news from different perspectives. Our cat has windows that he uses to check out what is happening in the world. One of his favorite places is the windows on either side of the front door. From there he can see the birds and chipmunks on the porch or front yard, the school buses, the people walking their dogs. On the covered deck, he watched the birds building nests through a crack in the decking, birds at the feeder, the trees of the forest. I’m not sure how often he checks the area under the deck from the French door in the basement. It’s deep shade there…some ferns, maybe deer coming through at dawn or dusk. Sometimes I wonder if he knows when the racoons try to raid the bird feeder at night.

Give and get attention. The cat is vocal about what he wants – and doesn’t. He has become a picky eater…and he wants company (often in the middle of the night)…and does not like to be alone in the house even if he is napping. At the same time, he likes to interact – with different meows and trills (if only we could understand his language better) and often initiates conversation and cuddles and treats and play. Cat and people need interaction!

Keep doing things you’ve always enjoyed. Our cat has always enjoyed being outdoors on the screened deck. Sometimes he naps but he often just appears to be relaxed/attentive. Do cats meditate? They often appear to be awake and alert…but inwardly focused.

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Be curious. It’s easy to tell if the cat is just taking a quick look outside….or if there is something drawing his attention. Maybe sometimes it is just a deep territorial response…but it looks a lot like curiosity. With people – there is a browsing mode…and then an increased focus once that survey spots something of higher interest. It’s a good quality to practice….and think again about taking on a child-like approach to the way we perceive the world.

Savor the stretch. Cats have the best stretches! Stretching feels good to humans too!

Vary your gait. Our cat generally moves slower than he did when he was younger….but he has bursts of speed or faster walking frequently. Sometimes it surprises him. As we get older, we may want to increase our consciousness of how we move and hold ourselves (particularly our back and shoulders).

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Eat smaller meals. Our cat has always been a grazer rather than gobbling up a lot of food at one time. Now he seems to be eating smaller amounts than before…but more frequently. He doesn’t eat things that don’t taste good to him either. There is more wasted cat food. As we get older – maybe our own food choices need to change…increasing our attention on the nutritional value of what we eat along with savoring foods we like.

Relax. Cats are masters of relaxation…and we humans need to give ourselves opportunities to relax and enjoy our lives every day.

There’s a lot to learn about aging gracefully from our cat!

Cherry Blossoms

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While our plum tree is the first tree in our yard to bloom, the cherry is not far behind. There is a time when they are both blooming. The cherry blossoms are lighter pink and larger…in the foreground in the picture below with the cherry in the background.

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Early in the month I did some experimental pictures of the cherry blossoms – high key, dark background, and blurry green. I like the high key version to see the details of the flowers and the subtle color…pink buds, tinge of pink in the flowers, the star in the center, the green leaves.

We had a hard frost after the tree started to bloom and then some very breezy days. I noticed that the petals were whirling away from the flowers earlier than I thought they would. It was sunny enough to photograph the flowers even with the breeze moving them around (particularly if I zoom rather than trying to get close)!

We won’t be going down to see the cherry trees in Washington DC as we have in previous years; the pandemic has made it too difficult. The trees around the Tidal Basin generally bloom earlier than our tree. I’ve been reading articles about the flooding around the Tidal Basin trending up in recent years…killing some of the trees, flooding/damaging walkways. It’s sad to think about changes like that.

I am choosing to enjoy the cherry tree in my front yard….its blooms are always part of my celebration of spring.  

Mockingbird in our Backyard

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I see mockingbirds in other locations frequently…not often in our backyard. The yard has less open area; over the years the trees around the edges of the yard have grown…reducing the grassy space. But sometimes a mockingbird shows up. When I first saw one recently – it was on the gutter of the covered deck… looking around. It stayed in place long enough for a portrait.

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Then the bird flew down to the bird bath and stayed even longer...getting drinks. Even though we’ve had rain recently – the wind and temperatures have dried up puddles. This bird was thirsty!

A Second Road Trip Practice

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My first mini road trip for the initial hour of the route from my house in Maryland to Texas was back in March; I opted to change my route after the amount of highway construction I encountered on that day. The practice for second-choice route (up US 29 and then west on I-70) was a few days ago and easier/more enjoyable/the route I will take for the ‘the big road trip.’

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I set out just after sunrise as I had the first time. I took a picture of the fading blooms of the plum and cherry trees in our front yard…and the sunrise as seen from our driveway (oak tree on the right edge of the image) before I left.

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My destination was a rest stop about an hour from my house that I have stopped at many times before – the South Mountain Westbound Welcome Center. There were a few more clouds in the sky…the temperature was still a little cool. I took pictures of the playground I hadn’t noticed before (is it new?) and the fading daffodils.

After the rest stop and getting a soft drink from the vending machine - I got back in the car and went to the next exit to turn around and head back toward the east. I was back home again just a little over 2 hours since I left.

The lack of construction on route made for a much more pleasant drive that my first practice. I refined my set up in the passenger seat of the car based on that previous experience: a canvas gardening tote with short sides…lots of pockets for hand sanitizer, lip gloss, masks that I will need for when I am out of the car or going through a drive through for food, sunglasses. I’ll add snacks like peppermints and protein bars for the longer trip. The ice chest will be in the front floor of the passenger seat.

When I got home my husband had done a curbside grocery pickup that included cake; he enjoyed the carrot cake and I had the red velvet! It was a great splurge for a late morning snack.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 10, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Top 25 birds of the week: Green Colours! – So many beautiful birds…

150-Year-Old Boxwoods Lost To Blight At Carl Sandburg Home – My daughter and I visited the Carl Sandburg Historical Site in 2003 when we were on our way from Maryland to meet family members coming from Texas for a Georgia vacation. It was the first time I had driven a car with a nav system! We enjoyed walking the grounds and touring the house more than we expected. It’s sad that the boxwood there will be cut down.

What early-budding trees tell us about genetics, climate change -- ScienceDaily – Our plum and cherry trees are the ‘fruitless’ kind but they were in full bloom when our temperatures dipped into the mid-20s. I wonder how many orchards are going to have less fruit this year.

Hope and Peril for North America’s “Snow Parrot” – A parrot that lives in pine forests. Their range once extended into the US from northern Mexico, but they’ve been gone since the 1930s.It’s only in the past few years that their migration and winter grounds in the Mexican state of Durango have been discovered. There are efforts to safeguard the free-living birds and continue captive breeding programs in zoos (like the San Diego Zoo) with the plan to begin reintroducing birds into the wild in the future.

The Kodak Brownie: The Camera That Made Photography Accessible – My mother was taking pictures of her siblings in the 1940s….with a Brownie. There is one of her twin sisters (maybe 4 or 5 years old) peeking over the windowsill of the bathroom window (they were standing in the bathtub!); I always wondered if she had help on the inside positioning them while she got outside to get the picture. It must have been a warm day since the window was open!

Dangerous landfill pollutants ranked in order of toxicity -- ScienceDaily – The technique can help landfill managers mitigate risk for a particular site rather than taking generic actions that might not address the biggest problems.

For the First Time in 75 Years, a New Invasive Species of Mosquito Was Found in Florida | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine  - The mosquito that can carry yellow fever and other diseases was found in Florida last year. That does not bode well for keeping tropical diseases at bay in the US as the climate continues to warm.

Scythian people weren't just nomadic warriors, but sometimes settled down: Varied diets and limited mobility challenge stereotypes of ancient steppe populations -- ScienceDaily – Not all Scythians were nomadic. The majority of them might have remained local…farming millet and raising livestock!

Lessons from Darwin's "Mischievous" Birds | The Scientist Magazine® - The striated caracara of the Falkland Islands…we’re familiar with the crested caracara from the south Texas.

Newly Restored Pompeiian Frescoes Capture Hunting Scenes in Vivid Detail | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Part of an ongoing conservation initiative funded largely by the European Union launched in 2012.

Browsing a few Sabine Baring-Gould Books

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Sabine Baring-Gould was an Anglican priest and eclectic scholar that lived from 1834-1924…and a prolific author throughout his long life. This week I am featuring 12 of his books available from Internet Archive that I browsed in March. Evidently - he often did his own illustrations for most of the books. Pick one or several to browse through…a trip through time to a place through the eyes of Baring-Gould.

Germany (1886) with collaboration of Arthur Gilman

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A Book of Dartmoor (1900)  

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A Book of the Rhine from Cleve to Mainz (1906) with color illustrations by Trevor Hadden

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An Old English Home and Its Dependencies (1898) illustrated by F. Bligh Bond

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Frustrated Squirrel

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The squirrels in our yard attempt to get seed from our bird feeder periodically. Sometimes I watch them from my office window and wonder whether it is the same squirrel or different animals each time. They always leave frustrated unless they manage to tilt the feeder enough as they are jumping off to spill some seed to the deck below. That happens infrequently. When it does, the amount of seed is only a small snack for the squirrel.

Recently the bird feeder cam captured a frustrated squirrel. It started out reaching for the feeder as if it had figured out that the contraption would make the seed unavailable once it was touched. The squirrel made the leap…thoroughly explored the feeder from every orientation while it was swinging wildly as the squirrel moved around. The whole of the action took place in 3.5 minutes. And the squirrel left without a morsel. It interesting to notice the squirrel’s tail being curled as it finished the leap off the feeder….then straight out as it heads down and away from the feeder. Use the arrows to move back and forth in the sequence.

I’ve been reading about Salmonella transmission through bird feeders and baths. We haven’t found any dead birds and we’ve been more careful about keeping both clean….washing our hands after handling  them since there are some cases of transmission to humans too. My plan is to finish the bag of seed we have then take the feeder down this summer. It easier to keep the bird bath clean (and we check it frequently to avoid it fostering mosquito larvae). There’s enough seed to keep the feeder going during spring migration – which we’ll do unless we see dead birds.

Around the House Bouquets

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Even though we have trees and flowers blooming outdoors now, I’m still purchasing a bouquet of cut flowers in every grocery order. I divide them into smaller vases and put them in the rooms where we spend the most time – the kitchen/breakfast area, our offices. They are cheerful and great subjects for photography.

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Sometimes I take the whole vase of flowers…

But I enjoy the zoomed shots even more, often going into high key type photography with backlighting.

Other times I try a very dark background. It makes quite a difference!

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There are times that I like the color and curls of older flowers.

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The pink-green-white is my favorite color combination.

I remember buying some tulip bulbs that were those colors 25 years ago…planting them around the dogwood tree at the house before last; I wonder how many years after we moved away they continued to bloom.

13 months in COVID-19 Pandemic

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It’s been over a year now. I am doing the post for this month a few days early in celebration of getting my second Moderna vaccine shot and having only mild side-effects (sore arm, a few aches) that were gone in less than 48 hours. Our county did 2,190 second doses of vaccines on the day my husband and I got our shots…in the US 54.7% of the people over 65 years old had gotten a second dose.

In the past month:

  • Volunteering is on my radar again. It’s not the same or as much as pre-pandemic yet…just a start.

  • Taking mini road trips at highway speeds has become a prelude to anticipated longer road trips. The first ones were a little discombobulating….I need the practice. The little trips sometimes are primarily for the drive; it feels good to be out and about in the springtime too.

  • Continuing curbside pickup for groceries rather than shopping in the store was a reluctant decision but based on Maryland’s increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations and % positive tests. The state has ramped up to about 70K vaccinations per day; but, so far, there are not enough people vaccinated to start bringing the numbers down. Similar trends are being seen across the country – reversing the decline from the previous month.

  • Transitioning away from webinars is happening gradually. I enjoyed two from MoMA and one from Brookside Gardens…but am  drawn by the better weather to get out and about – leaving less time for webinars.

In the next month – I am anticipating a longer road trip …seeing family I haven’t seen since pre-pandemic ….enjoying the warming trend of spring!

The Cat in Springfield

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My daughter sends us photos of her cat with text messages. She’s had him for a year and we’ve yet to see him any other way since he’s in Missouri and we’re in Maryland….no one has been traveling.

Still – with the photos and texts…we are enjoying the cat vicariously….and I am sharing the bounty from this past month.

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3/2 Someone is enjoying the sunshine

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3/6 He sleeps in the most ridiculous positions sometimes

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3/11 He is so majestic in his tote bags

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3/14 Gotta monitor all the birds in the yard. They aren’t on daylight savings

3/15 Dude was snoring on my slippers last night

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3/16 Sunset filing cabinet nap

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3/21 At his desk, working hard

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3/28 He has several desks in his home office

3/31 Part of my office snoozes standing up too

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3/31 Normally he does this or splays out

4/1 My breakfast buddy. He got cold last night and slept against us the whole early AM

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Plum Blossoms

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Our Thundercloud Plum is the first tree in our yard to bloom after the red maple. The flowers are shades of pink…the blossoms overwhelming the tiny red leaves initially. Later, after the flowers are gone, the leaves will be almost purple. Sometimes the March winds are strong enough to blow the flowers off the tree early.

The large brood of periodic cicadas are due again this year. 17 years ago – the last time the brood emerged – the plum was a young tree and we covered it with netting to protect it; the netting worked. Now is it big enough it should be able to survive the damage the cicadas will cause – which is good since it is too big to cover.

I did two high key images of the tree on a cloudy day….a little ‘art’ photography.

Back in April 2013 I posted about a butterfly in the tree. Now I recognize it as a Mourning Cloak – a butterfly that overwinters as an adult and needs plants like the plum for early spring nectar.

The plum tree is easy to appreciate in the springtime….and then the cherry tree next to it starts to bloom too….our front yard at its springtime best.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 3, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

New wearable device turns the body into a battery -- ScienceDaily – I’m always forgetting to charge my Fitbit until the low battery warning message comes up. It would be great to never need to charge it!

Soot from Asia travels express on a highway to the high Arctic : Research Highlights – Soot in the Arctic traced back to its source.

Working outdoors linked to lower risk of breast cancer among older women -- ScienceDaily - Outdoor workers are able to make more vitamin D which may be protective, say researchers. This is an observation…but might indicate a thread for future research.

World's first dinosaur preserved sitting on nest of eggs with fossilized babies – An fossilized Oviraptorosaur, a bird-like theropod, found on a nest filled with its 24 eggs.

Stealth Chemicals: A Call to Action on a Threat to Human Fertility - Yale E360 and Air pollution: The silent killer called PM 2.5 -- ScienceDaily – Products of human ingenuity that are negatively impacting our health.

94% of older adults prescribed drugs that raise risk of falling: From 1999-2017, more than 7.8 billion fall-risk-increasing drugs were prescribed to older adults in the US, and deaths from falls doubled -- ScienceDaily – In my 50s, my doctor prescribed a blood pressure medication that made me dizzy. When I complained about it (citing the danger of becoming dizzy and falling down stairs being a greater risk than the benefit of lowering my blood pressure to the level she was attempting), she decided I didn’t need the medication since I was taking half the lowest dose tablet. I hope that the medical professionals prescribing the fall-risk-increasing drugs are more careful about how they are using them now for older people particularly…but for younger people too. Sometimes it seems like the trend is to always ‘treat with drugs’ to address a specific problem rather than integrating for the overall health of the individual.

Was This Helmet Worn by an Ancient Greek Soldier During the Persian Wars? | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Found by a dredging vessel off the coast of Haifa, Israel.

50 Birds: Adventures in Backyard Birding – Birding can be done anywhere. Many people have discovered the joy of bird watching from home during this pandemic year.

Joshua Trees: An Uncertain Future For A Mojave Desert Icon – A big fire and climate change….are the Joshua Trees doomed?

Health declining in Gen X and Gen Y, US study shows -- ScienceDaily – The long-term trends are not positive; the US was already seeing decreases in life expectancy and increases in disability/morbidity pre-pandemic. The study pointed to the increase in unhealthy behaviors over the past decades that medical treatment cannot overcome. Based on the response to public health measures attempted in the US for the pandemic, it’s difficult to be optimistic that any kind of intervention could be broadly effective.

eBotanical Prints – March 2021

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I finished browsing the rest of the Arnoldia volumes (from the Arnold Arboretum) available via Internet Archive in March; there are 24 of them. Sometimes the volumes are a single issue…sometimes groups of issues (not always divided on year boundaries). I am looking forward to the variety of botanical prints that are not from a series in April!

The whole list of 2,108 eBooks can be accessed here.

Click an any sample images below to get an enlarged version. Note that Arnoldia sometimes includes articles on historical botanical illustrations…sometimes includes traditional botanical drawings…and a lot of photography. Enjoy the March eBotanical Prints!

Arnoldia -  v.63:no.4 (2005) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2005

Arnoldia -  v.65-66 (2007-2009) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2009

Arnoldia -  v.64:(2005-2006) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2006

Arnoldia -  v.67:(2009-2010) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2010

Arnoldia -  v.68:(2010-2011) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2011

Arnoldia -  v.69:(2011-2012) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2012

Arnoldia -  v.70:(2012-2013) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2013

Arnoldia -  v.49:(1989) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1989

Arnoldia -  v.50:(1990) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1990

Arnoldia -  v.51 no. 1:(1991) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1991

Arnoldia -  v.51 no. 2:(1991) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1991

Arnoldia -  v.51 no. 3:(1991) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1991

Arnoldia -  v.51 no. 4:(1991) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1991

Arnoldia -  v.52:(1992) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1992

Arnoldia -  v.53:(1993) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1993

Arnoldia -  v.54:(1994) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1994

Arnoldia -  v.55:(1995) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1995

Arnoldia -  v.56:(1996) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1996

Arnoldia -  v.57:(1997) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1997

Arnoldia -  v.58:(1998) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1998

Arnoldia -  v.58-59:(1998-1999) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1999

Arnoldia -  v.59:(1999) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 1999

Arnoldia -  v.60:(2000) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2000

Arnoldia -  v.61:(2001) * Arnold Arboretum * sample image * 2001

Zentangle® – March 2021

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Even though I am getting outdoors more with the improved weather, there is still plenty of time to create a daily Zentangle tile – or two or three. My favorite tile material is the cardboard dividers from the boxes of cat food; it has a slight texture that I like…and the size/shape appeals as well. It’s thick enough that I can make patterns on both sides of the tile.

A tissue box makes for some odd tiles. I’m using this one as a bookmark in one of the few physical books am reading.

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The traditional square tiles are made on a mix of card stock, recycled cardboard (FedEx envelope, tissue box, and canned drink boxes).

I cut one sheet of blue card stock into 4 tiles…no wastage of the sheet. I’m not sure I like the larger size.

I bought some triangle tiles and use a few of them each month just for variety. They are on the small side

Making Zentangle tiles is something I do every day…it’s a positive habit….something I enjoy for the quiet focused time it creates in the day – a bubble of calm - and the result is enjoyed immediately/savored for longer. The tiles that are started without a clear plan and then emerge are my favorites.

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The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. “Zentangle” is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

Ten Little Celebrations – March 2021

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The overarching celebration of the past few months and March is family staying healthy. I’m listing 10 additional ‘little’ celebrations from my notes about March. The weather got warmer in March and 5 of the celebrations are outdoors!

  • Pine cones – Early in the month, before much was blooming – I celebrated finding pine cones on the ground at Centennial Park to photograph…quickly since there were too many people around to be comfortable for longer.

  • Howard County Conservancy outdoor greeter (volunteering) – I am beginning to volunteer again…outdoors and distanced and masked…but enjoying the interactions with people new to the place and the people I’ve met in prior years. I’m celebrating the small step toward a restart of activities I missed during the pandemic.

  • A day warm enough to walk without a coat – Celebrating springtime.

  • Finding a feather to photograph – Finding a feather is always a serendipity event. This time it was a tiny feather mixed in with tulip poplar seeds I was sweeping off the deck. It was a double celebration: finding the feather and then the photoshoot with a macro lens.

  • Skunk cabbage, shelf fungus, daffodils, crocus, plum blossoms – So many things to photograph. Celebrating the sights of spring.

There were two celebrations related to the vaccine:

  • My husband and I getting vaccinated – We were so relieved to get an appointment…and then to get the first dose of the Moderna vaccine 6 days later. It was something to celebrate….and a beacon of hope. We’ll get the second shot in early May.

  • My daughter and son-in-law getting vaccinated – Also a big relief because both are working at a university that has stayed open (with a mask mandate). They got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine a few hours after they were notified of the availability.

And then there are three miscellaneous celebrations:

  • Spice cake muffins – My husband was bored with our usual meals….so I made muffins as a special treat. We celebrated the tasty (and different than usual) treats.

  • Getting everything on the grocery list – It seems like there is always something that is not available in the store when our shopper fills our order….and then we had a time when everything was in stock. It was a celebration just because it hadn’t happened before!

Successful road trip practice – I am practicing driving at highway speeds to be ready – once I am fully vaccinated – to make road trip (and extended visit) to see my parents. I am celebrating the successful practice and the anticipation of seeing family that I haven’t seen for over a year.

Storm Water Pond

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Our neighborhood storm water pond has changed quite a bit over the course of March. Earlier in the month a few red-winged black birds were at the pond but were not making much noise yet. The colors around the pond were mostly brown – the cattails from last season and the grass. There wasn’t much going on.

A few weeks later – the gunk has been flushed from the pond by recent rains and the cattails are still the drab colors of the overwintered plant. The grass has turned green.

Quite a few more birds were around. I noticed some crows just before I got to the pond. There were robins searching for worms in the grass.

Grackles were around the edges of the pond in about equal numbers to the red-winged blackbirds.

The male red-winded blackbirds were assertive – showing their red and yellow shoulder patches as they defined their territory.

I only saw one female, but I’m sure there were more down in the cattails where the birds make their a nest.

So - The bird activity at the pond has increased this month but I haven’t seen any turtles or frogs yet…maybe it’s still a bit too cool for them to be active.

Zooming – March 2021

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The sunny March days have been so pleasant – great times to be outdoors and photographing what I see. I’ve been venturing out from home a bit more too – Brookside Gardens, Howard County Conservancy’s Mt Pleasant, and Centennial Park. There are still zoomed images taken through my office window (birds and the moon framed by tree branches); the sunrise and daffodils are from my house as well. Overall - this is just the beginning of the season for spring flowers. Can you find:

  • Skunk cabbage (Mt Pleasant)

  • Mourning Dove (my house)

  • Shelf fungus (2 of them - Mt Pleasant and my house)

  • Witch Hazel (Brookside)

  • Gingko tree trunk and branches (Centennial)

  • Blue jays (my house)

  • Dried hydrangea flowers (Brookside)

Enjoy the slideshow for March 2021!

Getting outdoors on these spring days is a mood boosting activity as well as good exercise. I’ve gotten comfortable enough wearing a mask that I just keep it on if I’ve in a place where I might encounter someone else on the trail. I enjoy it in the moment and then again when I view the images on my bigger screen monitor…and formulate the blog post. The activity is a bright core with tendrils of benefit that are longer lasting.

Road Trip Practice

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I drove 2 hours out-and-back along the route I would take to drive from my home in Maryland to Texas; the pandemic year dramatically reduced my driving as highway speeds…and I need practice before I set out on a longer drive!

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I started out around 6:50 AM…with the sunrise still a few minutes away and the clumps of daffodils set to welcome the morning light in front of our house.

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My idea was to drive to the first rest stop along the route – which is on I-66 going west from the Washington DC beltway. I was able to stay on cruise control for almost the whole hour even though the route has significant Saturday traffic. Construction stretches all along that route of I-66; it would be awful during a rush hour. I missed the exit for the westbound rest stop but needed to turn around anyway. I stopped at the east bound version after the exit and entering again going east – because I was watching very carefully for the exit.

There were cars and trucks at the stop, but I didn’t see anyone out and about. I put on my mask. There was a sign on the door to the restroom saying that a mask was required and a sign on the water fountain saying it had been turned off because of the pandemic. Part of the picnic area was roped off but the sign was unreadable; perhaps the new-looking stumps of two large trees and the muddy sidewalk might have been the reason for the closure rather than the pandemic.  I wondered if anyone stayed around long enough to sit on the Virginia benches.   

As I headed back toward home – I thought about what I’d learned from the road trip practice:

  • The I-70 to I-81 route might be better than I-95 to the Washington Beltway to I-66 to I-81 because of the miles of construction on I-66.

  • Plan to carry all the water needed for the hours on the road in the car rather than relying on opportunities to refill reusable bottles.

  • Rest stops are likely to be as well maintained as they were pre-pandemic, but I’ll still be using a lot of hand sanitizer rather than spending time washing hands and using the blower hand dryer.

  • There is more traffic than I anticipated at 7 AM on Saturday mornings on interstates – at least around Washington DC.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 27, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Alexander Calder – Modern from the Start – An exhibit at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). There are pictures and a videos of the exhibit on the site. I watched the webinar on the 25th  when it was live and am in the process of looking at the rest of the site now.

Doug Tallamy’s List of Best Plant Genera for Supporting Moths and Butterflies | pollinator-pathway – Arbor Day is coming up in most areas (it varies by state depending on the best tree planting time. If you are thinking about planting a tree (or trees), think native and ones that support moths and butterflies!

Top 25 birds of the week: Bird Colours! - Wild Bird Revolution and Top 25 birds of the week: Bird Communication! - Wild Bird Revolution – Enjoy a double dose of bird photographs this week.

New skin patch brings us closer to wearable, all-in-one health monitor -- ScienceDaily – Still in the research phase…but a step forward. I like the idea of a blood pressure measurement that can be linked with other data throughout the day.

Is the Western way of raising kids weird? - BBC Future – We tend to think that the cultural norms we grow up in are the ‘best’ – but that may not always be true.

On U.S. East Coast, Has Offshore Wind’s Moment Finally Arrived? - Yale E360 – Reliable source of wind and proximity to populous markets….maybe the false starts are finally in the past for this renewal source of energy.

10 virtual tours of spectacular buildings around the world | Top 10s | The Guardian – More places to visit virtually!

Slideshow: Watch Insects in Motion | The Scientist Magazine® - Some technologies researchers are applying to better understand how insects have become such successful fliers.

How the Loss of Soil Is Sacrificing America’s Natural Heritage - Yale E360 – At best 24% of Corn Belt topsoil is gone…at worst 46%....and topsoil is still being lost. The study found that the main source of erosion is not water runoff but tillage…and right now only 15% of acreage in the heart of the Corn Belt is ‘no-till.’

Oldest Known Wild Bird Hatches Chick at Age 70 | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – Wisdom, an Laysan albatross, returns to Midway Atoll again. Her chick for this year hatched on February 1. She has outlived the person that originally banded her!