Caution! Don't Read This! Time Waster!

Maggie is thinking about homeschooling, and typical of me I troll the internet for thoughts about the subject. In doing so, I stumble upon this blog. And this quote, by Stephanie Waldron, emphasis & pictures mine:

"I used to be so involved in unschooling discussions. I used to debate. I used to share my political views. I used to talk about parenting respectfully and I used to just be active online and in person. I used to promote my thoughts and opinions.

Then....peri-menopause hit me like a two ton heavy thing. Also life has thrown lots of punches in the last few years.

Now I'm just some crazy whacked out hormone imbalance that can't get it together anymore. My emotions are all over the map and I can't seem to pull myself together.

I used to be so strong and confident and determined. Now I feel weak and down. I don't want circumstances to beat me down. They are and I don't know how to stop them.

I don't know how to get out of this funk that I'm in."

I know how this lady feels. What the hell happened? It's like you're forging ahead with life, getting things done, raising your kids, loving your husband, and suddenly the light turns off. You're standing in the dark, not knowing which way to turn. Every damn thing makes you want to cry.  You can't make decisions, can't think straight.

I hate it. 

In the midst of it all, I've worked a few jobs out of the home and have been moderately successful, but in the end, I wanna come home. I've been a stay-at-home mom for over 30 years. It's what I do. But some stupid inside voice taunts me with insecurities, guilt, second-guessing, failures, if-onlys and what-ifs. Do I fight back? Hell yeah, like a ninja, (Justin) but I still cry.

I know, I know, there's help for that you know. But I am very, very cautious about messing with hormones. If I am consistent (ha!) {Wait. Who said that?} with some natural hormone therapy, vitamins and exercise it helps, but the rip-tide is just under the surface, hidden, pulling.

But I'm still fighting:

1. I'm going to continue to enjoy my easy mornings of coffee, listening to and watching the birds as  the day comes. When I'm ready to get dressed, I will.

2. I know that I know that I know my God loves me no matter what and that fills my heart and helps me fight.

3. I'll go hiking whenever I want to. Or not.

4. I'll stand in one place in the woods for 5 hours and take 555 pictures of the same bird. (Look at this one! See?)

5. If I want my life to be bossed around by Robins wanting mealworms NOW, fine. "Chir-d-lurp!"

6.  I'm proud of the fact I've successfully raised 7 great children and 3 great step-children with my 11th child still in the process. Homeschooling for 17 years. Even though sometimes I only feel qualified to raise puppies.

7. I still see God's beauty in everything I look at. There is always something good.

8. I will continue to be adventurous, spontaneous, unpredictable - in a good way. Let's Go!

9. Yes, after 15 years of marriage, I'm still crazy in love with my husband Al, and love it when he wears tight jeans. And boots. Yikes.

10. I like me. Yes, I'm fatter and slower than I've been in the past. But I'm funny, even if I'm the only one that gets the joke.

If you've read this far, I make no apologies, but probably should. Wait. No. I shouldn't. 

Stick around awhile, I can assure you it won't be boring.

 

Love.

Day 2, Bosque del Apache to Tucson

Bosque del Apache and Beyond

The day started out amazing with thousands of geese flying in the deep orange sky, but of course I missed the photo op because of the gawking I was doing.

We drove directly to the Flight Deck where we enjoyed early morning views of the cranes and a pair of bald eagles. Not to mention numerous birders.

Then we began the driving tour (did I mention it was COLD?) and were entertained by numerous Red-tailed Hawks, Sparrows, Juncos, hundreds of Pintail Ducks, Green-winged Teal, Juv Bald Eagle, Bufflehead and a passel of Bushtits.

 We arrived at the Farm Deck to thousands of Sandhill Cranes, Snow Geese and Ross's Geese, plus Vesper Sparrows, Meadowlarks.

 It was so incredible. If you watched long enough, you could actually pick out family groups.

Like this family of Snow Geese.

And this family of Sandhills.

And this family of Blue Snow Geese. (So beautiful!)

We stayed nearly 4 hours enjoying the spectacle, and for me to practice my birds-in-flight photography.

I obviously need much more practice.

 Then we visited the awesome Gift Shop and Store there and headed out our way to Tucson via Silver City.

We stopped past mms 53 on Highway 152 for some wake-up refreshment and spotted a bird! We were AWAKE!

We chased it for a bit, watching it rustle around just out of sight, but it finally revealed itself; Rufous-crowned Sparrow! Lifer! It was very fun to follow and ID this bird out in the middle of absolute nowhere in southeastern New Mexico. Upon further research after returning home, I learned that I had seen this bird in 1984 in Arizona when I lived there. Long enough ago to recount as a lifer, don'tcha think?

We motored on into a little town called Hillsboro where I saw a bird swoop by as we were driving, which turned out to be a Ladder-backed Woodpecker, a lifer for both! We got out and walked around adding another Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Phainopepla pair - lifers for Lauren, YB Sapsucker and Downy Woodpecker.

 Quite a nice interlude to break up a long drive.

Then we wound our way to Silver City, not seeing much else but being delighted and surprised by a Collared Peccary!

Winding our way out of Hillsboro, we startled a flock of Wild Turkey.

We stopped at the AZ NM state line. Last bird of New Mexico was our own Colorado State Bird; Lark Buntings. First Bird of Arizona? Lark Buntings!!  Then we stopped at a rest area and saw Says Phoebe, YR warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, Brewer's Sparrow and YH Blackbird. We hit Tucson by a little after 7 and enjoyed Lauren's 55th birthday dinner and bed! What a completely fabulous day. What would we find tomorrow in Tucson?

Day 1, New Mexico - Arizona Birding Trip

Today started out early. I picked Lauren up at 3:30, we were off shortly after that. Before you knew it we were in New Mexico and the sun was coming up. Took a nice mid morning lunch break in Santa Fe and decided to try for the Rosy Finches at Sandia Crest today rather than wait until the way back. We took the back road, Hwy 14, out of town and it was a gorgeous drive to the top of Sandia Crest. Near the top, snow was blowing across the road, creating a slushy, snowy mess that caused a bottleneck of scared drivers to back up and park along the 5 foot snow banks. We manuvered around them easily, slurring through the snow-pack to the top.

The abundance of radio and cell towers at the top caused the car key remote not to work, big signs let you know of that possibility.We savored the views from the top in a freezing wind before we went inside the Sandia Crest House to enjoy the Rosy View.

Lots of birds were there, and I foolishly got (delicious!) hot chocolate for us before stopping to enjoy them so I didn't get great pics of the numbers of birds.But Oh! The Rosies! They were there and they were gorgeous. The Black Rosy Finch has to be my favorite of the trio. Lauren and I spent about an hour there, enjoying the birds and the gift shop.

We also saw more Mountain Chickadees in one place than we've ever seen before. At least 8-10 of them, along with Gray-headed Juncos, a Red-breasted Nuthatch and a gorgeous but shy Stellar's Jay.

The drive back down the mountain was gorgeous and we made our way to Socorro where we met up with some friends of mine, Gabrielle and Hans Heynekemp that I hadn't seen for at least 25 years. It was so great to see them and we picked up and had conversation like it had only been last week. They have a great place only minutes from Socorro in the Rio Grande Valley that is host to numerous beautiful birds and their family collection of dogs and livestock.
A fantastic end to a lovely day. Now to bed and sleep. Gotta be refreshed for Bosque del Apache and Tucson tomorrow!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year & Arizona!

Arizona? Yeppers. December 28th, my sister Lauren and I are departing for a week long adventure of birding in Southeast Arizona. We can hardly wait! Our husbands will be holding the home fort down while we're gone. We've got a full itinerary:

Wed, Dec 28, depart drive to Socorro, NM.
Thurs, Dec 29, Bird Bosque del Apache - Celebrating Lauren's fifty-----something birthday! Then drive to Tucson.
Friday, Dec 30, Bird all around Tucson, stay the night in Madera Canyon's Santa Rita Lodge
Saturday, Dec 31, Bird Madera Canyon area - stay the night in Patagonia, AZ.
Sunday, Jan 1, Bird Patagonia, Patagonia Lake State Park and vicinity - drive all the way to Portal, stay at Cave Creek Ranch.
Monday, Jan 2, Bird Portal area, then drive to Santa Fe, weather permitting, try to visit Sandia Crest House.

Whew! Lots of driving, lots of birds!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Aslan's Own Birds O' The Morning

If you are looking for Birds O' The Morning Blog, you'll find it at www.aslansown.com. I hope you'll follow me here.

Aslan's Own has been my main domain name for many years. I would like to keep life simple and have directed all my domains to this one.

I won't only be talking about birds, but mostly!

The Robins are back and are insistent that I feed them again. I don't mind being bossed by Robins.

Piefke! Red Wire-hair Mini Dachshund

Piefke 4.5 weeks old
I can walk AND wag my tail - but not at the same time yet!!

Piefke is out of my lovely red mini wire-hair Dachshund, Winnie, sired by Ruger Finish Line. Both are AKC pointed and Winnie is a UKC finished Best-in-Show Champion. Piefke has found a wonderful home.

My Take on The Crossley ID Guide

Can I just say I flat-out love this book? Far too heavy to carry in the field in my opinion, but oh what value this book has to birders of all skill levels.

In the very front of the book little bird pictures representing each bird family type gives you a real close look on SIZE, one of the critical elements in bird identification. I LOVE this. The extremely informative introduction is worth digging into. It tells you how to use the book, how to be a better birder by sharing ways of improving your skills, and where to focus your learning. The Bird topography section covers the various types of birds and their individual and collective layout.

I also really enjoy the way the book is laid out. Waterbirds are divided into three categories;
Swimming, Flying and Walking.

Landbirds are divided into:
Upland Gamebirds, Raptors, Miscellaneous Larger Landbirds, Aerial Landbirds and Songbirds.

Something unique to any of the field guides I know is a section on decoding the "four letter words" or Alpha Codes that can be used to record birds. A complete list is in the back. Sweet!

Hmm. Let's see am I forgetting something?? Oh Yeah! The plates! Wowee Zowee, I have spent far too much time gazing at the plates for each bird. Absolutely fantastic. I love how Richard has blended the different plumage types, distances from the birds, size of the birds and also the habitat. This really gives you an idea where you might find them! Just studying this book is going to give any birder a leg up on bird ID in the field.

Over 10,000 something pictures were used in this book. You get views up close, in flight, silhouette, distance, in habitat. Odd bits views that are typical of what we see in the field.

I'm impressed, Richard, when's the Western Version coming out??