I'm in meetings all day today. This should keep you jackals busy:
These were all made for the ITFS festival coming up in April!
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birds. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
News From My Neighborhood: It's just not fair
Weeds. Pretty soon we're going on vacation, and when we get home I leave in a matter of days for a work trip. I told Krista I would work for her today doing whatever chores were most important, so I spent a large portion of today weeding our garden. One thought that came up several times was THANKS A LOT, ADAM! We really appreciate you providing weeds for us. Not that I would have done better, I'm sure. But I have my least charitable thoughts about you, Father Adam, when I am weeding. Especially when I am trying to carefully hand-pick those little weeds that have the explosive seeds that when you touch the weed they leap off like monstrous fleas and hit you in the face or burrow into the soil and then send out their tiny little maniacal laughs.
Words Kids Love But Don't Understand. I've been teaching the kids new words I think are useful for them. For instance, A was pleased to learn the word risible, and it's a word that is often useful for her. The one word my kids use multiple times a day but seem not to understand is the word "fair." For instance, A told me today that it was not fair that she has to use a car seat but that her older sister doesn't. I explained that it was, in fact, fair because when she reached Z's age, she, too, would be allowed to do away with her booster seat. I asked her if it was fair that Z was at school and she wasn't. I asked her if it was fair that we were going to the grocery store and she was going to get a cookie. Then she started laughing like crazy.
And then I saw a mom and her kid at the school having this conversation...
Kid: That's not fair!
Mom: Yes, it is!
Kid: It's not!
Mom: It is!
Kid: Not!
Mom: Yes, it is!
I personally think it's not fair of an adult to use their superior intellect and reasoning against a child like that, don't you agree?
I think I have a future in ornithology. I love it when the birds start returning to our neighborhood. We've been getting a lot of new birds at our feeder this year, and a good number of our old friends from last year, including a big bunch of yellow warblers. Today this black bird with red wings came to our back yard to say conk-a-lee! It seemed to have a message just for me. I wondered what sort of bird it was. Maybe a scarlet banded conkalee. Or a Crimson Midnight. Or an ebony feathered garnet winged backyard bird. So I decided to look it up. And, as it turns out, that black bird with the red wings is called... a red winged black bird. I am never looking up a bird's name again. What's that bird? Oh, that's a little brown speckled bird.
Words Kids Love But Don't Understand. I've been teaching the kids new words I think are useful for them. For instance, A was pleased to learn the word risible, and it's a word that is often useful for her. The one word my kids use multiple times a day but seem not to understand is the word "fair." For instance, A told me today that it was not fair that she has to use a car seat but that her older sister doesn't. I explained that it was, in fact, fair because when she reached Z's age, she, too, would be allowed to do away with her booster seat. I asked her if it was fair that Z was at school and she wasn't. I asked her if it was fair that we were going to the grocery store and she was going to get a cookie. Then she started laughing like crazy.
And then I saw a mom and her kid at the school having this conversation...
Kid: That's not fair!
Mom: Yes, it is!
Kid: It's not!
Mom: It is!
Kid: Not!
Mom: Yes, it is!
I personally think it's not fair of an adult to use their superior intellect and reasoning against a child like that, don't you agree?
I think I have a future in ornithology. I love it when the birds start returning to our neighborhood. We've been getting a lot of new birds at our feeder this year, and a good number of our old friends from last year, including a big bunch of yellow warblers. Today this black bird with red wings came to our back yard to say conk-a-lee! It seemed to have a message just for me. I wondered what sort of bird it was. Maybe a scarlet banded conkalee. Or a Crimson Midnight. Or an ebony feathered garnet winged backyard bird. So I decided to look it up. And, as it turns out, that black bird with the red wings is called... a red winged black bird. I am never looking up a bird's name again. What's that bird? Oh, that's a little brown speckled bird.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Holy stratosphere, Batman! If we were only birds...
Krista and I should be on the plane for Australia right now... flying high above you all and hopefully awake for a few more hours to help with jet lag on the far side.
So it's terribly apropos that you watch this clip from the much beloved Batman television show. HOLY STRATOSPHERE!
So it's terribly apropos that you watch this clip from the much beloved Batman television show. HOLY STRATOSPHERE!
Thursday, June 05, 2008
News From My Neighborhood
Make New Friends. A pair of yellow warblers has moved into our maple tree. They have a lovely nest all settled in the higher branches, and, I trust, some tiny little eggs. Of course we will update you. The maple tree, by the way, is one that I planted when we first moved in, and it has at least doubled in height. It's certainly my favorite tree (please don't tell the other trees in our yard). It's beautiful in every season, grows quickly, casts a cool and pleasant shadow, and I like to go outside and project upon it all the Good Feelings I can muster.
And Keep the Old. The youngest Ukranian girl next door has been coming over pretty much every day to hang out with A and Z. She's rapidly becoming a family favorite as she entertains the girls and is a pleasant young lady. Krista was invited into the neighbor's house for tea today as a result, somehow, of the deeper relationship between our kids. Nice to be making a deeper connection. Of course I forgot the Mother's name today (I called her "Nadia"). Krista laughed and told me that I was making a mistake in assuming that every Slavic woman was named Nadia.
One Is Silver. If you recall the silver car that kept getting marked by the police... well, that roommate moved out from across the street, so her car is gone now.
And the Other is Gold. I don't really have anything to say about gold. Um. Hmmmm. The compost pile has a giant weed with yellow flowers growing over the top of it. But I wouldn't call that news, precisely.
And Keep the Old. The youngest Ukranian girl next door has been coming over pretty much every day to hang out with A and Z. She's rapidly becoming a family favorite as she entertains the girls and is a pleasant young lady. Krista was invited into the neighbor's house for tea today as a result, somehow, of the deeper relationship between our kids. Nice to be making a deeper connection. Of course I forgot the Mother's name today (I called her "Nadia"). Krista laughed and told me that I was making a mistake in assuming that every Slavic woman was named Nadia.
One Is Silver. If you recall the silver car that kept getting marked by the police... well, that roommate moved out from across the street, so her car is gone now.
And the Other is Gold. I don't really have anything to say about gold. Um. Hmmmm. The compost pile has a giant weed with yellow flowers growing over the top of it. But I wouldn't call that news, precisely.
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