For the Birds

This week, life has been for the birds...in a good way. Sunday we discovered this mama dove building a nest right on top of my 10 year old spider plant.

Yesterday, when she flew off for a brief break, we saw these two beautiful eggs. I wonder if she is the same dove who built her nest in another hanging flower pot last year. She fledged two pairs of babies, although one of them flew into the pool and drowned.

Meanwhile, we have been inundated by all kinds of finches at our bird feeders, much to Sophie's consternation. Here, she's intently watching about 8 finches (you can't see all of them; they are just out of range of the camera) and chattering madly at them through the window all the while. There is one who likes to taunt her by flying close to the window. Every now and again, she makes a lunge at it, unsuccessfully of course . . .

Life in the Time of Corona--Week 7

We are now in the 8th week of Arizona's Stay at Home order in response to the Coronavirus--7th week of school-at-home.  During these weeks of sitting (quite a lot) in front of a computer for hours at a time, it's been hard to find time to get my steps in.  And yet we occasionally get out for a saunter around the neighborhood.  Here's one of the more interesting plants we've seen.  Looks kind of like the virus!

My Country

It's an interesting time to be an American, however you came by that moniker.  With Supreme Court rulings challenging and being challenged, immigration laws changing, election campaigns spewing out rhetoric...the privilege of being an American sometimes gets lost in all the muddle.  There's nothing like traveling abroad to give you perspective--even travel to exotic countries, but of course most especially to third-world countries.  Wherever you go, though, you will invariably be glad to come back, no matter where it is you call home.  That has been my experience at least.

Years ago, I learned a song in choir--7th grade vaguely sticks in my mind.  I'd forgotten about it until I heard it again this morning, sung by the legendary Mormon Tabernacle Choir on their program "Music and the Spoken Word."  As I listened to the words sung against the photographic backdrop of sites all over the country (most of which I recognized for having seen them in person), I realized anew that no matter the charms of other places, there is still no place like home, and I'm not only glad, I'm proud, to call the United States of America my home.

This Is My Country

This is my country! Land of my birth!
This is my country! Grandest on earth!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country to have and to hold.

What diff'rence if I hail from North or South
Or from the East or West?
My heart is filled with love for all of these.
I only know I swell with pride and deep within my breast
I thrill to see Old Glory paint the breeze.

With hand upon heart I thank the Lord For this my native land,
For all I love is here within her gates.
My soul is rooted deeply in the soil on which I stand,
For these are mine own United States.

This is my country! Land of my choice!
This is my country! Hear my proud voice!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country! To have and to hold.

Red Rock Road Trip

I was doing so well in writing regularly here, and then my iPhoto crashed and I started having other computer issues, which put an end to my daily photo post for more than a month.  I finally got things back under some kind of control so am able to post again.  Which brings me to my road trip of last weekend.  On a whim, I decided to check out Sedona, so drove 2 hours north for the day last Saturday.  I have seen pictures of the red rock formations, but nothing compares to seeing them in person.  They are quite something to behold.

I drove the loop throughout the area and saw most of the famous formations, stopping frequently to take pictures, ending up with nearly 300!  My favorite stop was at the Chapel of the Holy Cross.  There's something about a small chapel like that--about walking into a space so completely and obviously there for heart-healing--a space so clearly meant to bring peace of mind and heart and soul.  The view of the cross and beyond, the scent of candles, the overwhelming presences of God the comforter and the creator...it was just what I needed.

I enjoyed walking through the arts and crafts village of Tlaquepaque (pronounced Tla-keh-pah-keh).  Built in the 1970s after a Mexican village, the word means "the best of everything."  There are some 40 shops and restaurants to explore.  I had lunch at the Secret Garden Cafe--an amazing garden burger like none I've ever had.  Delicious!  I met a man there who said he had "flown up from Phoenix" to have lunch there.  Made me laugh...probably took him as long to fly as it took me to drive...although it would have ben a beautiful day to fly.

As I was driving from photo op to photo op, eyes wide open to all there was to see, my mind was busy running through graduation talk topics.  Yes, the seniors have asked me to speak for their graduation.  I am beyond honored to have been asked.  I've spoken for graduations before, so it shouldn't be a big deal.  Only it is.  I've literally given hours and hours of thought to what I would speak about and have yet to land on the perfect thing.  All this pre-writing, though, it's been good for me.  Just hope it turns into something written soon!

Morning Rays · 365 Project

Morning Rays by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

lyrics by Eleanor Farjean

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

The sun was streaming through a misty spot this morning, right in front of my front door.  I love how it poured through the mist and the tree leaves to create a lovely feel.  The sight brought to my mind this inspiring hymn that I first remember hearing when I was in high school (more than a few years ago).

Curving my Enthusiasm · 365 Project

Curving my Enthusiasm by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I was very excited to see this Curve Billed Thrasher at my suet feeder this morning. Normally, I hear but don't see them, so I hurried to get this picture (which explains the blinds). There were other pictures that showed the extreme curve better, but this was the overall best shot.

I also had an Abert's Towhee at the suet, which was  a first as well.

Another beautiful sunset · 365 Project

Another beautiful sunset by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I keep thinking I've seen the most beautiful sunset ever. And then another one comes along. It's not always easy to take a picture that does the real thing justice, but this one comes pretty close. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with sunsets. I must have hundreds of pictures of them by now from Arizona and Maine, primarily--oh, and Massachusetts. My drive to work usually takes place during the sunrise and my drive back home takes place during the sunset often..so...I see a lot of beauty. But you have to be in the right time and place to get a good shot. Tonight, I actually stopped to get this one...

And speaking of sunsets, this time figuratively, another of my life's inspirational suns set last night--the husband of my friend Virginia, who passed away in August.  Harvey was a kind a gentle man.  I never heard him say a cross word or make a complaint.  He was the consumate supportive husband, a true Christian gentleman.  He went as peacefully as he lived, with loved ones at his bedside.  He will sleep in Jesus...  "One short sleep pasts, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die."  I look forward to that day when we all wake eternally...

Molten Gold · 365 Project

Molten Gold by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

There's a house a couple of blocks from school that has an amazing yard in the spring (I say spring because that what it looks and feel like to me right now, even if it is still technically winter). What is otherwise a yard full of small stone, for several weeks in February and March it is filled with flowers. First, it's just green, but now, it's all yellow and orange...giving it the look of gold almost! It's quite pretty (an understatement).

Down the street from this house is another house with the same flowers, but not as many. And down another street there are a few flowers, obviously brought there randomly by the wind. Definitely a pleasurable sight!

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost

OH, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orcahrd white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
To which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends he will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Full Snow Moon · 365 Project

Full Snow Moon by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

February's Full Moon is called the "Snow Moon" or "Hunger Moon." Native American tribes from the north and east. Clearly not from the desert southwest!

I'm thinking tonight of the famous "Blizzard of '78" that occurred in Massachusetts on this date 34 years ago. I remember when it was first starting to snow that afternoon. I was skipping across campus with my boyfriend (literally) when we noticed we were in a kind of snowy fog. By the time I got home later that afternoon, we knew this was not going to be the usual snowstorm. Hours later it was still snowing. The snow piled up so high that my sisters and I jumped out our second story bedroom window the next day, just because we could without fear of injury! Our collie dog got lost in the snow when we let him out. He actually disappeared from sight!

Schools were closed for days. My college closed for the first and only time in its entire history. So did Harvard University. When it was finally clear and safe to drive again, we found ourselves driving along streets piled so high with snow that you could not see over the walls of snow. Snow mobile owners were kept busy delivering doctors and other essential personnel to hospitals all over the Boston area. It was crazy. Exciting. Fun. Memorable. A once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm I'm thinking...

Desert Sunset · 365 Project

Desert Sunset by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

Tonight I took a drive up to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West to watch the sun set. It was amazingly beautiful and I got some good shots except for the power lines streaking through most of them. I was reminded of what I heard on the tour a year ago...how upset he was about the power lines as he was building his home overlooking the valley...so upset that he actually turned his house plans around so that he would have a view of the mountains instead of the power lines. I get it now =) Still, it was a beautiful sunset...

At Last! · 365 Project

At Last! by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

My paper whites have finally bloomed. I think they were slowed down a bit because I had them outside. I brought them in today...to my classroom so my students could enjoy them. Quite a few commented on they. They are pretty...if only they didn't smell so funky!

Tiny grains of Earth · 365 Project

Tiny grains of Earth by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

A mountain is composed of tiny grains of earth. The ocean is made up of tiny drops of water. Even so, life is but an endless series of little details, actions, speeches, and thoughts. And the consequences whether good or bad of even the least of them are far-reaching.

~ Sivananda

Tonight's view of the mountain at dusk...

Twelve Angry Doves · 365 Project

Twelve angry doves by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

We've had a wonderfully warm weekend--80s yesterday and high 70s today. This afternoon I decided to sit outside on my patio for awhile, but upset a host of birds who were happily feeding at their feeders at the time. I planted some petunias and pansies and then sat in the sun, soaking up its warmth with great content...until I noticed a dozen doves sitting on the wall across the way from "their" patio. It was so funny the way they were lined up, watching...and waiting for me to vacate the patio so they could get back to their feeding frenzy.

The finches and sparrows were waiting, too, but not quite so obviously. I could hear them chattering to each other in the trees, no doubt commenting on the uselessness of someone just sitting there with their eyes closed ;)

Seconds after I went inside...and I do mean seconds...they were back at the feeders, indulging in my generosity contentedly...

(The last photo is that same wall at sunset)

Patio purple · 365 Project

Patio purple by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I've been enjoying having flowers in my little gardens year-round. Gets me a little mixed up, though, about what season we're in when there is no true winter here in Arizona. My nasturtiums are growing, the paper whites are ready to bloom. And then there are these lovelies.

House and Home · 365 Project

House and Home by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

My birds are eating me out of house and home! Not literally, of course, but they sure do have enormous appetites! They start coming to the feeders around sunup and gorge themselves until about 5 or so. I'm having to refill the feeders every two days or so. I should just feed them on the weekends when I can watch them, but that's hardly fair to them...

Dust of Snow · 365 Project

Snow! by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

My mother sent me pictures of the snow that blanketed her house and yard this morning. Made me homesick for winter! I haven't seen snow since last Christmas (there was no snow when I was there this time), and I have to admit to missing it. Not driving in it, but certainly watching it fall and pile up on the trees.

Here's one of my favorite poems about snow:

Dust of Snow

Roberto Frost (1923)

The way a crow

Shook down on me

The dust of snow

From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood

And saved some part

Of a day I had rued.

Like a Red, Red Rose · 365 Project

Like a Red, Red Rose by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

Since my school is a boarding school, we had to "have" school on Monday, Martin Luther King Day. We honored King's memory by doing various service projects throughout Scottsdale and Phoenix. Some groups went to elementary schools and cleaned up the playgrounds or worked in classrooms with teachers. Other groups cleaned up nearby streets and parks, and three groups stayed at school. My group worked in the neglected rose garden and three other flower beds on campus. It was hard but satisfying work. I rescued several of the roses we had to clip for my classroom. They are beautiful and smell heavenly!

One of my students took the photos of the roses before their trimming.  You'll notice in the one where the boy is clipping how neglected the beds really were.  They look infinitely better now!

Start of a new day · 365 Project

 Start of a new day by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I'm going to kill two birds with one stone tonight and post a 365 Project picture about beginning of my day for my NaBloPoMo entry. I've found that one harder to keep up with than the daily photo project...but on the whole, I think I've done pretty well writing on most days so far.

Today's photos were taken on my way to work this morning. It had rained much of the night and clouds of fog were rolling around the mountain tops, which intrigued me, so I tried to capture it--yes, while driving. I was careful, though, don't worry. Of course it was much prettier in reality than I could capture through the windshield, but I like it all the same. I don't do it on purpose--it just happens coincidentally--but usually I find myself driving to work into the sunrise and driving home into the sunset. Given the stunning beauty of most sunrises and sunsets here in AZ, I consider the beginning and ending to my work days rather glorious!

Yellow and Gray · 365 Project

Yellow and Gray by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I went for a walk in the late afternoon, knowing that I would see some interesting things. I always do. This time I saw more than I could capture with my camera, but I got enough to share all the same.  This mockingbird was my first find. He was perched atop a lemon tree, standing out, the gray against the yellow.

Next, I saw a flock of Abert's Towhees, but couldn't get them to sit still long enough for a good close photo. They were very talkative, though.  I could hear them long after I had gone past them (they were flitting around the pool area of this condo complex on the golf course).

Further along, I saw the cutest winter wren hopping around atop a boulder.

On the ground, just past the wren's boulder, a ground squirrel froze long enough for me to shoot him.  He's right outside his hole and when I moved, he popped down into safety.

Across the walkway on the golf course, a large flock of doves gorged themselves on something tasty in this patch of dirt.

And finally, back home again, a mockingbird enjoyed the suet on my back patio in the shadow of the bougainvilea.  It was a good walk =)