Of A Feather

I've added another book to my fav list. Of A Feather, by Scott Weidensaul. It's a history of birding in America, and before you yawn and click off, stay with me. The history of birding actually followed our nation's frontier expansion and the fight for conservationism, as talked about recently in Ken Burns' National Parks special on PBS. In fact, at the turn of the 20th century, it was women fresh on the suffrage movement who saved the birds of our country through legislation, and relaunched the Audubon Society as we know it today.

While we were in Boise last weekend, we stopped at the Snake River Birds of Prey Refuge and saw some amazing raptors. The best part was sitting in the van, (with the Sound of Music blaring in the back seat for the kids) watching an enormous Bald Eagle perched in a tree eating a fish it had just pulled from the river, not 20 yards away. We had seen them at a distance in the Colombia River Gorge, but to see one this close was really something!

On the long car drive, I read the second half of the book outloud to Paul (now with Seven Brides For Seven Brothers blaring). Just as we were pulling into Salt Lake City, I was reading the end of the book. Weidensaul is telling about the saw-whet owl tagging program he runs each fall. They put huge nets through a forest and run the owl's song through speakers to catch them during migration and number them for biological research. He's been doing it for ten years. These owls are one of the cuter birds around, about fist-sized. The last few pages of his book, he's describing an elementary school class who has come in the middle of the night with their parents and teachers to see the owls. He pulls open the bags and the children get so excited. His writing really shines. He expounds on the future of birding, hoping these children will see birds for the gift they truly are.

After reading this entire book in a short period of time, and then seeing those amazing birds of prey that morning, my hoarse voice turned to tears and I melted with the end of the book. I could just see those children peppering him with questions about the owls as he pulled them out of each bag. What an amazing experience. I don't know why it struck me so hard, but it did. Birding is just beginning for me, but it can because others protected them and researched them and loved them before me. And to have my own children pour birdseed in our backyard and get excited when juncos, finches, sparrows and towhees come, priceless. Oh, and I hope they can hold an owl someday, too.

Man, They're OLD!!

The day after Christmas we drove to Boise, Idaho to be with an old friend for the blessing of his first baby. I talked about my oldest friend, Laura, recently. We've been friends since we were twelve. For my husband Paul, it's Travis. I actually met Travis the same day I met Paul, the first week of college 1996. It was so great to be with our "other" family in Idaho. And special to see our old friend bless his first baby with shaky hands and a nervous voice. I know he's going to be a great dad!

I was searching through Paul's scrapbook from college for a picture to include from those days, and I honestly couldn't find one I care to use on my blog, if you catch my drift. They did have fun. I did find this one, from 2002. Everyone did a lot of growing up during those six years.

Travis, Mike, Mike, Eric, Paul

And now we've all grown up a lot. Travis teaches Ag at his high school in Kuna, Idaho. Mike flies jets for the Army in Iraq. Our other Mike is an account manager at an electrical supply company here in SLC. Eric tromps around for the DOT in Washington. And Paul flies to the west coast for T-Mobile. They all married and had kids and seem to be functioning adults, which after reviewing that first year together, just goes to show that there are miracles after all.

Christmas Quilts

I like the tradition of giving my children a quilt for Christmas each year. That might seem like overkill to you, but I want them to grow up and have a pile of love and batting from me when they get married. This year my youngest is getting the baseball quilt with minky on the back, because he didn't get one last year. My older two are just getting a solid piece of fabric quilted with minky. They'll be delighted. My son is getting guitars and my daugther is getting this quilty panel in the middle.

Incidentally, I also hope that when they grow up and get married I will have also given them the gift of hard work and the ability to cook a decent meal.

Rouenneries

I finished my snail's tail using Rouenneries, by French General. It's sort of Christmasy, sort of Valentine's Day-ish. Which means I can wait to quilt it for a while and not feel guilty.

I went to Rouen on my way to le Mont St. Michel with Tracey and my mom on my 21st birthday. We didn't buy reserved seat tickets on the train, so we ended up sitting in the room between cars on our luggage with a local student who spoke four languages. St. Michel was wonderful, but Rouen was a surprise treat for me. It's the city where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, and also a pivotal city in WWII since it was the historical capital of Normandy. It's got an old cathedral (I guess they all do) that I remember being especially beautiful on the Seine River. I love that this quilt reminds me of that petites vacances.

November Leaves

Our house turns 40 in the new year. We bought an old house because we wanted old trees, and boy do we have trees. We've removed eight, and still have plenty. It takes us about 50 black garbage bags each fall. It's a lot of raking, but our kids dig in and I love that they work with us. Plus in the summer, we have plenty of shade.

I went to Portland to visit family and friends last month, and caught their leaves just falling. I'm sorry, but no matter how beautiful my leaves are all over my yard, nothing compares to NW leaves. All of the leaves in this picture are from the same tree!!

Also while I was there I saw the dark-eyed junco for the first time. It's a small sparrow-like bird with a dramatic black hood that pecks at seeds on the ground. The females have a dark circle around their eyes (me too!), and they both have white streaks down the sides of their tail that shows better in flight. I'd never seen them in Utah until last week. They started showing up in our backyard. It must have taken them a few extra weeks to migrate this far inland. I love watching them and wondering where they spent the summer.

The Government Can

This video by Tim Hawkins on YouTube is so funny, it almost doesn't matter what political party you belong to.

The Mangroomer

While flipping through one of the Christmas catalogs that came in the mail, my five-year old spotted the Mangroomer, a back shaving monstrosity. It caught his eye because a topless man was pictured rubbing his back with it. Here's how the conversation went.

My Son: "Whoa Mom. What is this?"
Me: (In an effort to never lie to my children) "Well, it shaves hairs off your back. When you get older."
My Son: (who by the way, already thinks getting hair anywhere is a sign of manhood, if you catch my drift) "When do I get back hair?"
And before I could answer him,
My three-year old Daughter, from the next room: (who never misses a beat) "Will I have to get back hair too?"

Ah the foreshadowing of puberty. Shoot me now.