On Hiatus

Well, I know in my last post I said "still here", but really, it seems silly to have two blogs when I don't have enough stuff to chat about in one blog.  Unfortunately, while this blog is more attractive and doesn't have annoying ads, my other blog is read by many more of my friends and relations.  So this is the logical one to ditch.

I won't delete it entirely on the off-chance the other blog becomes obsolete someday, but don't hold your breath -- I won't be posting here in the foreseeable future.

One final note -- the Master Birder class is going really well -- good lectures, challenging homework, and incredible field trips.  I leave you with a picture from our trip on September 29 to Whidbey Island:

My Other Blog on LiveJournal

Still Here!

I know I've neglected this blog for some time, mostly because I have another blog and don't like repeating myself!  But I'm going to try using this one for the next few months to make notes about the Seattle Audubon Master Birder program, which I'm in, and which started last night.

The program intensively educates intermediate to advanced birders about the birds of Washington state in exchange for volunteer hours.  The application process is competitive.  Twenty-four students were admitted.  For the next ten weeks, we meet two evenings a week for two hours of lecture, and we have three required field trips.  Then we take a break over winter, and resume in April for 10 more weeks of once-weekly lectures and more field trips.

Last night was the first class night, where we did introductions (fascinating folks, and TWO of them did the same Scientific Illustration program that I did!), and had a short taste of the instructor's lecture style.  He broke us up into groups and had us describe a common bird (ours was the American Robin) without aids and with as much detail as possible.  We did pretty well, except we couldn't remember the leg color.  Then we got to see slides of our birds and get details on what we missed.  Which was quite a lot.

There are weekly homeworks, a midterm, and a final exam each session.  We just got our first homework assignment, due in one week, and there are 11 questions on it, all quite detailed!  (Example: 

"You are watching loons fly by.  List at least three features (for each species -- Common, Pacific, Red-throated) that you can use to separate our three most common loons in flight."

Argh!  Homework!  What was I thinking?

Well, truly, all in all it was a fun evening.  Our first field trip is this Saturday to Whidbey Island.  Just in time, I imagine, for the return of the rainy season.

Get A Long Little Doggie

Today the new pupster came home with me -- he's a four-month-old black-and-cream longhaired dachshund named Truman (because he is Hairy...).  So far so good, though I predict exciting times ahead.

He's been ever so sweet and calm.  I'm sure that won't last but I'm enjoying it while I can!

Not about art, birds, or books

I haven't posted in a while because I've been dealing with dog loss -- in the space of three months, I lost both of my elderly dachshunds (apparently, you just can't keep them going forever). 

Bodie Boo (left) was 16, and Georgie was 15.  They were my best buds, and I've been missing them terribly.  I live by myself, and the house has been so very empty without a dog underfoot.  My routine feels all out of kilter, too -- I still occasionally catch myself automatically opening the back door first thing in the morning, since the first thing I always used to do was let the dogs out.  And when the sun is shining and it's a beautiful day, I think fondly of taking the hounds to the park.  It's not the same by yourself.

But one can only mope so long.  I've recently auditioned a couple of dachshund pups for the job of Running My Life.  At this point, I only want one dog.  A second may come later, but I don't want two dogs so close in age again. 

Here is the current frontrunner for the job:

He's a four-month-old black and cream longhair, and ever so sweet.  He doesn't even play-bite, and he's well along on the road to housebreaking.

I hope my house will feel like a home again soon.

Art, Birds, Books

Art
I haven't been painting lately (I routinely go through productive/non-productive artistic periods) so I bought some art instead.  This is "Dachshund at the Beach" by David J. Rogers:

It should be arriving today in a nice plain light-colored (pine) frame (no mat) and will go on the wall next to my favorite beach print -- this is "Tide's Out" by Sharole Ewing:

I love beaches.  I have a pretty fabulous lighthouse knickknack collection, too.

Birds

We are in the birding "doldrums" -- not migration season, fewer birds about, and the regulars are all busy raising the kids.  Mostly when I go out birding, I see ducks, crows, swallows, robins, and other assorted regulars.  Soon it will be migration season again, though, and things should be picking up.  In the meantime, I get to see things like this a lot:

Books

I'm currently reading "Sibley's Birding Basics" as preparation for the Master Birder program in the fall.  They sent us a list of resources with a helpful note saying "you aren't required to purchase any of these books or CDs but we will be taking most of the homework assignments and test questions from them."  Thanks.  Fortunately, I already owned 8 of the 10 reference books.  Not that I've read them, mind you.  But I'm reading them now!

I'm also busy listening to Pacific NW Bird Songs.  We only need to learn 100 of them for the program, which I've downloaded to both home and work computers.  My coworkers are used to seeing me at my desk with the headphones on, rocking out to Clark's Nutcracker. 

Sorry for not updating more often -- I don't really have much to say about anything most days other than "I read a bit, I petted the dog a lot, and I looked at birds."    Works for me!





Whew!

As you may remember, I've been accepted into the Seattle Audubon Master Birder program (starts late September).  I'd been fretting for some time about the class location --in past years it was held not too far from my home, but they told us this would change this year due to expense.  I noticed that Seattle Audubon had been holding other classes in two new locations lately -- one of which was WAY down south of downtown which would have required a freeway drive on a weekday evening.  Argh.  Thus, I fretted, as is my wont.

Well, all is now well.  I just got the news that the classes will be held up north, and while it's still about a 20-minute drive, none of it involves freeways and I'm very familiar with the drive and the neighborhood.  Whew. 

The birds, meanwhile, have been quiet of late.  It is one of the irksome aspects of birdwatching that during the time of year when the weather is best (warm! sunny!), the birds go AWOL.  The migrants are not migrating, and the regulars are hunkered down raising their young.  Interesting things can still be seen, though, so I go out to my Local Patch regularly despite the quietness.  Yesterday I got to see the Pied-billed Grebe pair changing places on their nest -- I think there are 3 or possibly 4 eggs. 

And this morning, I got to see a Marsh Wren taking a sand bath -- I've seen sparrows doing this, but I'd never seen a wren do it so that was, as I like to say, worth the price of admission!

Climbing Kanchenjunga

I love to read children’s books, and I favor the classics, and of all the ones I’ve read (and reread) my all-time favorites are the 12-book Swallows and Amazons series by British author (and illustrator) Arthur Ransome (1884-1967), written in the 1930s/40s.

Most of the books follow the adventures of the Walker family children John, Susan, Titty and Roger (the “Swallows”, called after their small sailboat) and their friends Nancy and Peggy Blackett (the Amazons).  A few books focus on Dick and Dorothea Callum, who appear as side characters in earlier books.  And two of the books are oddities in that while they read like one of the regular adventures, they are actually invented tales by the children themselves during the winter holidays and have rather outlandish elements.

Why do I love these books?  Well, first, they are full of old-fashioned, simple activities, and take place in a time when children were allowed to go off by themselves and invent their own fun.  The Walker children are often near water and love to sail (by themselves), with stories set in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads.  They get to camp on a small island in a lake for days and days at a time, or camp out on the nearby hills, or on the low lands of Norfolk, without adult interference.  They love to imagine they are explorers and the rest of the world consists of “natives” (some friendly, some not), and they love to turn ordinary activities into fantastic ones by “sailing to Rio” (instead of the more normal-named town) or “battling pirates” (instead of having a faux battle with the Blackett sisters’ uncle who lives on a houseboat) or “climbing Kanchenjunga” (instead of hiking up a much less daunting hill). 

John is the elder of the Walker clan, a resourceful leader who loves sailing above all else; Susan is the next oldest and she keeps the younger two in line and takes care that things don’t ever get too far out of hand; Titty is the younger girl who loves to draw maps and tell stories; Roger is the youngest of all and is mostly just a ball of energy who throws himself with gusto at every challenge.  They are not deep characters, but they are engaging and each has his or her moment in the sun, and they each have what I like to call “small revelations” about their place in the world which may not be momentous, yet are nonetheless affecting.

I love the settings and feeling for the natural world in these books.  The children pay close attention to the woods and water and animals and birds around them, and are clearly more comfortable in the outdoors than stuck in the “civilized” world.  The Blackett sisters are downright tomboys, eager to sail, hike, camp, get dirty – and loath to don silly frocks whenever their detested Great Aunt turns up for a visit.  One of the side characters, Dick Callum, is a diehard bird lover who gets his own starring role in the final book (Great Northern) when he goes head-to-head with an evil egg collector.   A passion for all things wild and free runs throughout the stories.

Each book can stand on its own though the children do age a little and learn from their previous experiences.  There are no major villains, or complex overarching plots, or fantasy elements, or romantic entanglements.  These are simple tales featuring inventive and very resourceful children in a British landscape where every school break is a call to adventure.   I’m reading them through for the third time*, with great joy.

*I admit to not caring for two of the twelve but batting ten out of twelve isn’t bad!

BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Swallows and Amazons  (introduces the Walker and Blackett children who camp on Wild Cat Island and have sailing adventures)

Swallowdale (the Walkers and Blacketts are forced to camp on land after the Swallow is nearly wrecked)

Peter Duck (a story made up by the children, about themselves tracking down buried treasure in the Caribbean, but very realistically done and quite exciting)

Winter Holiday (the Walker and Blackett children meet Dick and Dorothea Callum during a winter stay in the Lake District, when they explore the “Arctic” and look for the North Pole)

Coot Club  (Dick and Dorothea have their own adventure about a larger sailboat on the Norfolk Broads)

Pigeon Post (All the children re-unite in the Lake District where they search the nearby mines for gold)

We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea (the Walker children must sail a large boat across the Channel after being accidentally set adrift)

Secret Water (the Walker and Blackett children camping and sailing on uninhabited islands off Essex)

The Big Six (I don’t care for this one – while Dick and Dorothea are involved, it heavily features other children in the Norfolk Broads who I do not find as engaging)

Missee Lee  (another made-up story set improbably in the China Seas, with pirates – not a favorite)

The Picts & the Martyrs (the dreaded Great Aunt messes up the holidays for the Blackett sisters and Dick and Dorothea)

Great Northern?  (the children battle an egg collector on an island off the coast of Scotland)

All readily available in trade paperback from Godine (with illustrations by the author which are simple yet charming).