| June 03 2008 |
| Visit The New Home
Please remember to come over here: http://jpm14.wordpress.com/ The bluebirds fledged! A parent was still there. A turkey hunt. More baby birds. snakes. Gardens. Coming soon: Sourdough bread from the starter Angela gave me. (General) Posted by jpm14 at 2 : 58 pm | Leave a note {0} |
| May 28 2008 |
| Sad Story
This afternoon while the girl was outside reading she noticed a chipping sparrow pop into the bluebird nest box. Then she saw a bluebird head pop out, followed by the rest of its body, and fall to the ground. Thinking the pesky sparrow was pushing out babies, she rushed over and picked up…a dead adult male bluebird. She rushed down to me. The bird could not have been dead that long as it had no fly eggs on it and Jay saw the male just last evening. Yet its eyes were deeply sunken, and Jay says it looked hunched and cold yesterday. We had a frost last night, but that should have had no effect on a bird in a box. We looked in the box. There are at least two live, nearly fledged young. There is no sign of a female. No one from Lab of O has yet returned my call asking “What shall I do?” The sparrow continued to enter the box the rest of the day. Unfortunately the young are old enough they may not take handouts from strangers. We will try tomorrow if there is no sign of a female feeding them in the morning. What could have happened? Did the female die after the eggs were laid? Has the male been rearing the young all by himself and it was just too much? It is very dry. Could he not catch enough food for himself and the young and he didn’t eat? (Natural History) Posted by jpm14 at 9 : 27 pm | Leave a note {0} |
| May 27 2008 |
| Memorial Day Move
Surprise! Angela did all the packing and most of the moving. I am trying to figure out where all the boxes now go and make it all pretty and interesting. So come on over to... wait a minute, let me check the address... abstractions at http://jpm14.wordpress.com/ Book mark it, please. Come to the new digs. Here is what is there, sort of: We went to the farm. We took Hawthorne on his inaugural trip. We worked. We saw relatives. We ate. We went to Angela’s. Isabelle got eaten by crocodiles. Angela did most of the work to move the blog to this location. We ate. We came home. Lots of fun things happened at the farm, including feeding baby birds, a power parachute visit, a flying farmer flying in for a visit, the parade, eating fresh asparagus, taking flower pictures. Can you tell I do not know how to put both words and photos together here yet? More photos when I can figure out how to not lose them. (General) Posted by jpm14 at 9 : 07 pm | Leave a note {0} |
| May 23 2008 |
| What's Up with Hawthorne?
As of today he has been with us less than six weeks. He is changing more rapidly now--and we have a better handle on him. Hawthorne is feeling more at home. Asks to be petted now. Wanted this morning to be in where we all were before the guys leave. Jay's "strong hand of love'" techniques seem to be bearing fruit. Hawthorne's nicknames: Mr. Wiggles and Stumpy (for his tail) Isabelle is constantly amazed at how puppy-like he is. He is like a 50+ lb. toddler. Last weekend he was left home alone for more than the usual amount of time. (it was about 4 hours) There was a large mess to clean up--plants and stuff from a table in the kitchen, urine puddle in the dining room. And he was beside himself with fear when I got home. I could not connect with him he was so afraid. He spent the night in the crate. He had not eaten anything that fell. He was trying to get out of the windows. We are pretty confident now that he is freaked out by the low sound the furnace boiler makes when it runs. Last night we forgot to turn the heat to 'off' when we went to bed, and within an hour I woke up and ran down because I heard him scratching and whining at the door leading to the living room. (He and Pounce sleep in the kitchen/dining rooms) He was frantic. I took him outside, thinking he had to pee. Nope. He started digging near the lilac. I moved him away. Maybe he needed to poop? Nope. Fine starry night out. He just stood gazing around and at me. After I had peed and when I decided I was cold enough, and we should go back in (obviously I was not 'getting it'), Hawthorne again wanted to dig near the tree. Ah! He wanted to bed down outside. Then I 'got it' and wondered if the furnace had been left on. Sure enough. Turned it off and all was well. I have been feeding him a ball with treats in it when the furnace comes on during the day or making him stay right with me and comforting him, or putting him outside. It was so warm when he first came the heat was off, but it has cooled down to spring-like temps here now. Any other ideas to help reduce his anxiety about this sound or train him to endure it better will be appreciated. In other Hawthorne news: with little trouble I trimmed his toenails yesterday. He didn't object very much. I kept him standing and did the front and back at different times. He has all his feet dried with a towel when he comes in, so maybe that has helped. And I purposefully handle his feet when he is sleepy. He is still so skinny. Maybe anxiety? So as of yesterday I started adding crumbled bits of cheese crackers or other treats in with his dry food to entice him to eat more. It worked yesterday, but is too soon to tell if will increase his overall intake. Full bellies seem to be less anxious, I think. He does love to help with dishes after supper. He is on the first rinse duty, before they are washed. He wanted to go in the car with me yesterday on errands, so I took him. He was less anxious than he had been another time. He loves to go in the truck. This weekend he will accompany us to my folks' farm. There is another dog there. What fun! I hope. Last night I had to go down on my knees, pick his front end up and schlep him along the rug in the living room towards the dining room and his bed as he indicated he was just too tired to move by himself. Once we hit bare floor he decided to walk the rest of the way. He is vocalizing much more. Groaning and sighing when he is tired. He is a silly dear and we are coming to love him.  (Family) Posted by jpm14 at 2 : 13 pm | Leave a note {0} |
| May 20 2008 |
| A Fork in the Road
Listening to the outstanding high school senior oboist who performed a Mozart concerto with the Youth Orchestra of the Fingerlakes, I was reminded of a turning point in my life. Back in 4th grade after a time of learning flutaphone, students were encouraged to choose and instrument to play. I chose clarinet. Then, a few years later, Karen and Margie were chosen from among our clarinet numbers to play oboe and bassoon, respectively. I do not know how Miss ___, our teacher, chose to whom the exotic instruments were given. I was exceedingly jealous of Karen. The clarinet seemed then, and still to me now does seem a less refined, doudier cousin of the willowy ethereal sound produced by the graceful oboe. I never saw a future in clarinet. I could have seen a musical future with oboe. Karen never gave it the attention it deserved. I was given no opportunity, and back then, one did not ask if it was not offered. So when the music teachers in high school encouraged me to attend Eastman School of Music, it was not a difficult choice to refuse. Maybe if I had played oboe, or heard of Klezmer music, or heard more jazz, my life would be different; it is all long past now. (Forks in the Road) Posted by jpm14 at 6 : 50 pm | Leave a note {2} |
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