Udaho’s Neighborhood

On June 6, 2010 it will be 20 years since I graduated high school. You know what that means, right? Yeah, yeah I'm old. I don't fucking care. It also means that this summer is my 20th High School Reunion an auspicious event rendered totally pointless and infinitely more annoying by the advent of Facebook.

Tonight I've put up with the incessant nagging of someone I don't even remember. Apparently this yahoo has scanned in our senior yearbook and was puzzled that he couldn't find my picture. I told him I was too busy designing the yearbook (nerd, I know) to get my picture taken. He was convinced I had a maiden name I was unwilling to reveal.

I never thought I'd be that person, but here I am. The person who has absolutely no desire at all to attend any of their high school reunions. People tell me I'll regret not going that I should totally go, it's so fun. Maybe I'm close-minded but I don't see how hanging out in some godforsaken bar in East Fucking Bethel, MN with people I don't know is going to be fun.

And really wasn't the whole point of the reunion to see who married whom, who got fat and how many kids they had? I know all that already, from Facebook. I like Facebook infinitely more than I liked high school. And thanks to Facebook I won't have to drive to East Fucking Bethel, MN to attend the reunion, I'll can just look at all the pictures and judge people from the comfort of my own home.

a christmasy post before christmas

jeffington
2 days ago

My christmass tree

the old christmas tree and the new christmas tree

Mishmash

new tree under fish

plus an animation i made for christmas a while back

Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Katiebell
3 days ago
4 comments

This weekend, I spent a very chilly windy day at one small part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. It's about two hours from where I live. I was a little worried that I might get there and find acres of just grass. Not so!

The Refuge is incredible. It is 140,000 acres sharing a boundary with the National Space Center. It was originally set aside as a Buffer Zone for the Space Center in the 1950's.

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The terrain is not impressive, but the entire place is massive.

Since that time It has been tinkered with in a variety of ways to make it more habitable for both wildlife and people. I was really really impressed with the entire set up!

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Not only are there areas that are attractive to birds,it also contains an area of undeveloped beach which is popular with Loggerhead Turtles during breeding times, and the endangered West Indian Manatee. There are several miles of hiking trails, as well as a Manatee observation area.

In the winter the Wildlife Service allows the area to essentially "flood" the marsh areas. The flooding allows

for the growth of foods attractive to water birds and attracts many many water birds, big and small to the area. During the other months, when birds are not hanging out so predominantly in warm, sunny Florida the waters are allowed to ebb and flow with the tides of the rivers, which I think reduces Mosquitos as well as is a more natural state I suppose for the area.

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(Above is a Flock of Pelicans, on their way to Pelican Island another wildlife refuge adjacent to Merritt Island).

What impressed me most is that a great deal of the wildlife is very accessible to people who are not huge hikers. There is a 7 mile "wildlife observation drive" which has been placed so that one actually can observe a ton of activity just from the road. In fact, almost all of my photos were taken from the road. I think sometimes that Wildlife areas are so lovely, but that many people don't even get a chance to get interested because if they cruise through by auto they see nothing, and think Booorrrrring This drive would have gotten anyone excited about seeing more. Not only that, but, access to this area is free! It really is accessible to all who can physically arrive in Florida on the Space Coast.

So without Further Ado, let me show you all what a real Anhinga, snake bird, should look like!

Angh

1 comment

Anhingas are a little unusual. Once they get wet, they really have to dry their wings, so it's pretty easy to get this photo. I think thousands of amateurs like myself have this photo! It's so dramatic, but frankly, unless you really really purposely disturb this bird, it is not going too far until those wings dry up!

Anhingadry

I can't help but share two photos, I couldn't decide which I liked better.

GrBlueHeron

It was a very very windy day, making things rather chilly and sometimes blowing me around as I tried to hold the camera steady, you can see the feathers of this Great Blue Heron being upswept by the wind.

By far the most exciting thing I saw all day was the field of Roseate Spoonbills. I knew of the bird, but had never seen it.

SpoonbillCity

A lot of Florida tourists mistake these odd looking birds for Flamingos. But, as Flamingo Dancer will tell you, a Flamingo has longer legs and a dark blackish heavy bill. Like the Flamingo, the Roseate Spoonbill gets it's pink color from the foods it eats. The Spoonbill mostly eats crustaceans. The algae that the crustaceans eat gives the birds their wild pink coloration.

Spoonbill

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They use their shovel like Bill to sweep from side to side...there are actually odd little sensors in their bills allowing them to sense their dinner.

They are really funny looking birds, who are extra social, and seem to spend most of their time in huge groups, unlike the Great Egret , which can be seen all over Florida, usually alone.

White

The Spoonbills are so social, they will even hang out with any other wading birds. They aren;t judgemental about others not being quite so pink and pretty!

I caught these Ibises flaying out of a group of Spoonbills.

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The White Ibis birds are very common in Florida, and hang out at pretty much every retention pond in my area. I loved seeing them in a more natural atmosphere. They are easily known by the very obvious curved beak.

Most of the birds pictured here (with the exception I think of the Pelicans) were at one time threatened or endangered due to Hat fashions of the Victorian Era.

Victfeath

Thankfully, these hats have gone

rather out of fashion....and the birds have subsequently recovered.

All of the birds pictured here are considered "LC" or of the least concern these days.

And I am quite pleased to not have to wear such hats

to stay in fashion!

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So, thanks to changes in fashion and sensibilities, we now have flocks and flocks of these impressive birds to challenge my photography skills.

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I love this photo, If you look at it carefully, you will notice the bird, which was flying oddly solo, has the oddest little tilt to it's head. This tilt made me laugh, it gives the image of an aviator trying to navigate.

Most of the time, however, the Roseate Spoonbill in flight appears more graceful than the above photo.

FlightSPB

This is the same spoonbill, with its head in a less cocked position. As you can see, they really are very very pink,

but they are clearly not Flamingos!

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As I said, I was really really impressed with the area of the Wildlife preserve I visited. I was a bit concerned that I was going to prepare my camera, make a long drive, and find that the wildlife, being wildlife, would have retreated to areas that can't be accessed by humans, either on foot or in a vehicle! Instead, most of the photos were taken right off of the "wildlife viewing drive". The Drive is seven miles of gravel road, with 14 or so stops that are marked. At several of the stops are short 1-2 mile looping trails that allow people to get out deeper into the habitat. At stop nine (where the Spoonbill in flight pics were taken) is a 5 mile loop with an awesome observation deck). I walked the 5 mile loop. While the loop was fun...there were so many mosquitos, I actually eventually wanted to rip off my pants (which were being bitten through) and roll in the scratchy grass.

I would really recommend this to anyone who has even a passing interest in birds and wildlife. It's free, so you won't feel like you wasted a ton of cash on a short visit. I regret that I didn't have binoculars!!!

And on that note.....

Cloudscape

I'll share the view I had, as the light started to go.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! (I'm a little overly proud of myself...)

Forgiveness

Ben
3 days ago
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I tweeted this link yesterday about the forgiveness of a family that lost their daughter to a car accident.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/79698172.html?page=1&c=y

Forgiveness is so crucial to healing, both for the person wronged and the person that did the wronging. By holding on to the pain caused by being wronged, illness is created throughout a person’s entire being—biological, psychological, sociological, & spiritual realms. Negative energy is created and emitted, causing further suffering and illness. As a future holistic health practitioner and energy healer, I have learned about the necessity of positive energy in creating and maintaining a healthy person.

The only way to reverse the effects of this is to practice radical & complete forgiveness. However, one needs to learn how to do this. Forgiveness isn’t simply saying I forgive you. It’s not just words. It is a process of letting go of one’s attachment to the security of their pain.

It is scary to radically and completely forgive someone because it opens you up to be vulnerable. Many people are afraid of being hurt again, and they believe holding on to the pain of being wronged acts as a protective shield. However, the perceived shield only blocks healing love from being both emitted and received.

One needs to let go of their pain. One needs to let go of their fear. One needs to learn how to do this, and there are many ways to figure this out. I use two ways: the example of Jesus Christ as the forgiving healer in the Gospels and mindfulness as practiced by Thich Nhat Hanh. These two have helped me realize the healing power of forgiveness. The negative forces of bitterness, resentment, and anger no longer bind me. If someone wrongs me, I recall the healing power of forgiveness as explained and witnessed by Jesus. I use mindfulness to be awake in the present, which helps me see the wronging for what it is and the reasons for its existence. By seeing the causes and dealing with them, I can let it all go to history, where it no longer emits negative energy.

a sculpture down town

jeffington
4 days ago

screwthingy

if i had time to read the thingy on the front i could say more but it looks like it moves

the view from a room

hotrod
4 days ago
4 comments

blizzard of '09

1 comment

Just what I wanted

Jodi
4 days ago
3 comments

Even though I babysit the Tibbles every Friday, I rarely get to see my nephew Cade. He's at school by the time I get there and I leave before he gets home. I spend the time in between talking about bats with Nolan and listening to Liam tell me everything I say is boring and that he likes Katie Lou much better (this, of course, cracks me up and I argue with him incessantly about it).

Yesterday Cade and I passed briefly in the living room.

He stood in front of me wrapped in his snow gear, backpack still affixed to his back. "Did you want really want an electric pencil sharpener for Christmas?" He asked, looking up at me from under the Superman hat.
"Yes."
"Good!" He pointed at the Christmas tree. "That's what we got you."

Sweet!