November 2011
11 posts
Golden Eagles
One of the nice things about bird watching is the serendipity involved. We went walking today in the Bafflin Sanctuary, a nice old farm with fields and woods, a couple of small ponds, and two good streams. No birds spotted except the occasional sparrow and jay and a pair of cardinals.
We were on our way back to the car when we spotted several big raptors. Really big, but probably turkey vultures...
Angels
I read with interest about a group of young people who have been picketing murder sites around Ciudad Juarez dressed as angels.
This struck me as brave, if quixotic, and an interesting way to return a religious symbol to some of its value. Angels have recently become warm and fuzzy and companionable. But check out the medieval sculptures of St. Michael or the paintings showing Mary’s...
Wild Turkeys
I watched Joe Hutto’s film “My Life as a Turkey” the other night on PBS’s Nature with real interest because of the many turkeys in our area. It was fascinating to learn that they have more than 30 distinct calls and that different inflections change the meaning of some of the vocalizations.
One thing that surprised him but did not surprise me was the vigilance required of...
Sports "Programs"
Years ago colleges and schools had teams, football teams, basketball teams, baseball and softball teams. Their coaches were paid like the rest of the academic staff, that is, not very much, and if they won a lot they might be venerated but not rich.
Somewhere along the line, some promotional geniuses recast simple teams as programs. Now we have a basketball program or a football program or a...
After storm
The big storm has come and gone and Connecticut is powered back up. The Courant has created a special section with storm pictures – as if the afflicted have forgotten- and the occasional cry has gone up to put lines underground.
Too expensive is the response, although we are presently supporting the vastly expensive Electric Boat in Groton, not because we need more subs, but because it offers...
Tchaikovsky's Pathetique
The first serious piece of music I can remember was the Pathetique and despite its beauty it does not have good memories because I was home sick in bed at the time. This must have been middle of elementary school and my mom had put the radio on to amuse me. Low strings rumbling and then the sweeping, melancholy entry of the violins with the first big theme of the symphony to be every after...
British Painting
I was at RISD- the Rhode Island School of Design Museum this weekend to see the Richard Brown Baker collection of British art- a mouthful for sure, but an interesting exhibit of work from the 1950’s to the present, including some nice work from Anish Kapoor, Hockney and Howard Hodgkin, whom I like a lot.
I was particularly pleased to see work by some Scottish artists whose paintings I had...
Migration
We hear geese flying now in the night and some of our winter birds are returning, along with transients like the two big grackles that about emptied our sunflower feeder, tardy myrtle warblers, and a nice little Carolina wren. Juncos have been back for a couple of weeks, but we saw a yellow bellied sapsucker the other day. This is a small woodpecker that nests to our north and migrates, usually,...
