Happy New Year!

"All old things must end, so new things can begin." 

James Russell Lowell*

That quote seemed like the perfect quote for the beginning of the year. Let go of the old things and welcome the new ones. I remembered it from when I used it in my high school graduation speech, another time when one lets go of old things and embraces new ones.

However, when I did a look for the quote on the Internet, I couldn't find it. Certainly, not associated with James Russell Lowell (or anyone else I could find.) Lowell lived in the 1800's and was an abolitionist, so it sounds like something he might have said. So I don't know if I am paraphrasing after all of these years, or I'm totally mixed up. Who knows?

But I do know that I'm ready for a new year and to see what wondrous things it has in store for me and you.

Happy New Year!

*James Russell Lowell may or may not have said it. :)

A Second Look--December 31, 2014

Crows

I took a break from the holiday celebrations and did a Second Look yesterday. And what did I see? Crows. Crows are abundant this time of year coming in flocks to see what tasty things they can get out of the ground.

I didn't really think much about crows until a few years ago when I heard how smart they are. Some consider them to be the smartest of all birds (including parrots). They are the only birds that can pick a person out of a crowd. Also, they use and make tools equivalent to the abilities of chimps. One group learned to drop nuts off an overpass and let cars run over them to crack them open. The crows then waited for a break in traffic and retrieved them. The stories go on and on. And now my own personal example.

Ward and I were on vacation in Yellowstone National Park and had stopped by the main lodge in hopes of seeing Old Faithful. Also stopping in the parking lot was a large group of motorcyclists who were traveling across the US. We watched from our car as the crows waited for the cyclists to get off their cycles and go inside. As soon as they left, the crows descended onto the bags that were strapped to the back, opened the zippers, and looked inside. Sometimes they found something to eat and sometimes they didn't. Let me go back. Yes, they unzipped the bags. And it wasn't random. They seemed to know just the right angle to pull for the zipper to open easily.  To tell you the truth, I was more excited to see this than I was to see Old Faithful. (Although that was pretty impressive too.) I wish I had time to watch the crows in my yard these days to see what tricks they are up to. But that will have to wait for another time.

Here are a few of the crows I saw this week

 during a Second Look.

Notice the little feathers around the crow's bill.

Notice the white patches on the wing of this crow. This occurs in about one in every hundred crows.

If you look closely, you will see white patches on the right wing of the bird in flight. I don't know if it is the same bird as above or not.

More Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvus_%28genus%29

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/id

Merry Christmas

 

 ^"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.^"

"...And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." 

 "A Charlie Brown Christmas" 

A Second Look--December 24, 2014

It's Christmas Eve, so a Second Look today was done from some of my Christmas decorations. Below you see a few ornaments on my tree that have a nature theme. 

Also, may these holidays be a safe, calm, and good time for you and your families whatever big or small celebrations or quiet time alone you have planned. I will be spending the next two weeks traveling, visiting, and hosting various holiday activities. I may or may not be checking in here before the new year. 

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

Note: I'm having a problem with Blogger this morning and there is a BIG space between the first and second pictures. Keep scrolling to see them all.

 

Queen Anne's Lace bloom pressed in epoxy

 

Turtles made from sea shells

This apple really is low hanging fruit. We hang several of these on the lowest branches of the tree for the cats to play with. You can see this one has a split in it from being played with.

This sheep was made by a friend with powder puffs and cinnamon sticks.

 


 

"Broken" Scales

Holidays are famous for both good eating and subsequent weight gain which often happens to Ward and sometimes to me. However, we don't usually realize our increased girth until January. So when Ward and I both weighed ourselves last week and found uncomfortably large increases, we were a little disturbed.

Ward weighed himself first and jokingly said that something must be wrong with the scales because he had gained several pounds. I then weighed myself and seriously agreed something must be wrong with them because I saw an upward change--not a huge jump, but bigger than I was used to seeing. In the meantime, Theodore was home and weighed himself. He also noticed a larger gain than he expected, so that confirmed there was a problem.

We decided that the scales probably needed a new battery and we would be close to our old weight as soon as we installed it. However, the new battery made no difference. Then we decided that they must need to be rebalanced because they had been moved around while the floor was being cleaned. So I set off to find the instructions for the scales to see about rebalancing them. However I couldn't find the instructions for our current scales, but I did find some for the ones we owned before these. (Note to self: the files really need to be cleaned.) So what to do? Maybe Ward or I could get a new set of scales for Christmas because these were obviously broken.

In the meantime, Theo, who was not part of any of this discussion, said he didn't want any of the brownies we had that evening. He didn't say why but when pressed, he said that he had gained a few pounds and that he'd was going to cut back a bit. Well, that was an interesting way to look at things.

We have also cut back this week and “surprisingly” the scales don't seem to be broken anymore. They still weigh more than we'd like but they're on a downward trend. Cause and effect seem to be alive and well.

This whole episode made me feel pretty silly. I'd like to believe that I am a logical, rational thinker, but I guess not this time. It must be too many Christmas cookies have affected my thinking. :)

P.S. Ward here. I still think it's broken.