Purple is the new Red

So...I put up two new bird feeders outside my office window, one yesterday and one today. Yesterday's feeder was filled with finch food because I had seen two goldfinch on the other side of the building last week. Mind you, I've never seen goldfinch on our property before this. So, I thought I'd see if I could entice them to the other side. Within minutes of putting out the finch food, I had my first purple finch, but no golds came.

Today, I put up another feeder, and almost before I could get out of the way, dozens of purple finches were swarming both feeders. By afternoon, there was also a pair of gold finch! Also, about 1/2 a dozen red winged blackbirds came to feed. Again, I've never seen them on this side of the building. We have a swamp on the other side of the building and across the parking lot, and I see them there all the time. But never on this side until today.

All this bird activity has been so much fun! And the baby cardinal visited again and came right to my window and was peering in at my office, very curious about what was happening on the other side of the window =)

Baby, Baby!

One of the baby cardinals got really brave today and visited my feeder several times, even getting so bold as to get up close and personal with the window, looking into my office rather fearlessly. A couple of times, he (or she) came with his father, too, and I was able to capture a few fuzzy-through-the rain-streaked-glass picture of them.

I'm almost embarassed to post them, considering I have many blogging friends who are outstanding bird photographers, but I consider these shots major triumphs given how shy the father cardinal was for months prior to this week. If I even slightly moved, he would take off. If he could see me in the office, he wouldn't come near. Only in the past week has he been comfortable eating while I was moving around in the room. The baby...is just precious. I've never seen one up close like this...

Bed in Summer

Bed in Summer by Robert Louis Stevenson

In winter I get up at night

And dress by yellow candle-light.

In summer quite the other way

I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown up people's feet

Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should so much like to play

To have to go to bed by day?

I was looking up poetry about summer today and I saw the title of this poem. Immediately I was jettisoned back to my childhood and hearing my mother quote this poem to my sisters and me as she tried to convince us that we needed to come inside and go to bed on summer days. We loved playing outside, so it was hard to get us to come inside. I have to say the poem didn't make it any easier, but it did let us know we weren't the only ones having to "go to bed by day."

Summer here in MA has been rainy, cloudy, and kind of dreary. The major outdoor bright spot has been the amazing bird activity at my office window bird feeder. I have several families who are regulars--nuthatches, cardinals, song sparrows, grosbeaks and others. The feeder reminds me of a very busy airport with planes/birds landing and taking off constantly =)

Supersize your Faith

I had the privilege of hearing Senate Chaplain Barry Black speak not once, but twice yesterday. Hundreds of people crowded into an old-fashioned campmeeting pavillion to hear what he had to say...and were not disappointed.

The chaplain is interesting, funny, dynamic and inspiring. His first talk was entitled "Supersize Your Faith" and he detailed 4 steps by which this could be done. His second talk was about dealing with adversity and not worrying. When he finished this talk, he spent about 30 minutes taking questions. I was impressed with his diplomacy in handling some of the things he was asked.

Summer "Snow"

Every year at about this time, some kind of plant sends its fluff flying through the air for days. It is so thick, sometimes, that it looks like we are in the middle of a Nor'easter. It piles up in corners and under trees. It gets caught in the grass and bushes. I'm not sure what it is. It's not milkweed, and I don't see enough dandelions around to pile up this much (although this picture will somewhat belie that statement). Maybe it's from cattails, but I don't see them either. In fact, I have not seen anything it could come from. Yet there is the evidence that somewhere nearby, there's a plant that likes to "snow." Any ideas anyone?

Long time no see...

The past couple of months have been crazy for me. Not bad, just overly full and draining. What a difference between January when I wrote every single day and the subsequent months when I wrote less and less! Actually, I've been writing nearly as much as usual, just not here on the blog. I'm going to try to get back to it this summer.

We had our last day of school this past Friday. It is a strange kind of relief to walk out

the door that last day. Even though I know I'll be back the following Monday, it's a whole different kind of rhythm, a whole different kind of mood. Between May 31 and June 7 we had 6 different graduation services. Each of them was beautiful...so sweet and spiritual. The students worked hard to make everything go smoothly. I was so proud of them! Everything went off without a major hitch, and the minor ones were known only to a few. That, too, was a relief.

This week, we have staff meetings each day, but they are loose and focused and productive. We enjoy being and working together. Good thing! We see a lot of each other!

On a side note, my bird feeder went through a two week lull where I did not see one single bird there. Then, all of a sudden last week, they came back and have emptied the feeder about every other day! I don't know where they went, but it's nice to see them back...

Photos are of the flowers in my sister's gardens

Moose at the Mall

Two of my colleagues were at a local mall about a mile from my house on Friday.  They were in the parking lot when a strange looking animal went running by them.  Imagine their shock when they realized it was a moose!  They've never seen one in the wild, and, I dare say neither had others.  the poor thing was a long, long way from home, wasn't she?!

This is the proof...I borrowed it from my friend's Facebook page =)

The Iris Have It

The iris are blooming all over campus.  I took some shots Friday morning of the various shades and colors.

I have had a repeat performance today of another Friday a couple of years ago where I injured my eye.  Then, I got straight shampoo in my eye just as I was going off on a weekend writing retreat to Cape Cod.  This time, I somehow got my hairbrush in my eye this morning as I was getting ready for school.  I cried the whole day, literally.  Made for a strange day of teaching, with the students thinking they'd brought me to tears!

I came home early and just closed my eyes and rested them.  It felt good, although I also felt guilty for leaving early when I know it was adding to the burden of others.  Fortunately, I stuck it out until just before school got out, so it wasn't too bad (I hope!).

Meanwhile, my poor neglected blog!  I have had things to blog about...all the lovely birds I've seen in two weekend visits to my parents...the joy of sitting on their back patio and just listening, and watching, and reveling in the colorful birdlife around me:  humming birds, goldfinch, bluebirds, orioles, indigo buntings, purple finches, tree swallows to name a few...  

But school is just sucking the energy out of me right now.  There are just three more weeks left.  Sometimes I think that's too much time, others I think it's not enough...  All I know is that the time will pass quickly, and then I will be able to catch my breath and get back to regular blogging.

For now, some of the birds I've been enjoying...except that blogger won't upload them right now.  I'll have to do that later =(

Wings at my Window

When I was young, I remember reading a book called Wings at my Window about an invalid who befriended birds at her window.  I was fascinated and inspired by the story and from then on have always wanted a bird feeder at my window.  My parents have always had nice feeders around their windows, but not until this winter have I had one.

You've seen my pretty little feeder that is on my office window, and it attracts birds, but unfortunately, the design doesn't let me get good pictures of the birds.  Try as I might, I just can't get good pictures.  Today, though, a new bird proved to be most accommodating.  A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak came to feed for the first time.  He was the total opposite of the cardinals, who have been coming all along, but are very shy of any movement through the glass.  

This guy peered through the feeder at me, and stayed for quite awhile each of the 4 times I saw him throughout the day.  The last time he came, he jumped down on the window sill and peered into my office!  I was so excited!  He was not afraid at all, a delightful rainy day visitor at my window.

Recommended Recent Reads

I've been on the receiving end of two books from author-friends within the past couple of months.  A former student wrote one of them, chronicling her struggle with anorexia.  A blogger friend wrote the other, a collection of short essays about women in the Bible.  Both books were interesting and inspiring, both were about real women's struggles, even though they lived centuries apart.

Tiffany Schroeder Bartell's book, Healing a Hungry Heart, is honest, poignant, and, ultimately inspiring, especially for young women who struggle with the same issues of self-esteem and perfectionism that Tiffany did.  It is also instructive for people like me, someone who is "in" the book as one of her teachers who had no idea what she was going through at the time, although I remember wondering at things I now understand after reading the book.  Tiffany found her way out of the depths her despair and now helps others with similar struggles.

Trudy Morgan-Cole's lovely devotional/inspirational book, Daughters of Grace, is the perfect book to give your mother, your sister, your daughter, your best friend.  But it is also a great book to share with the men in your life.  It's a collection of essays about 26 women in the Bible, their struggles, their triumphs, and how they relate to 21st century Christian women...and men, too.  Beautifully illustrated, the book paints amazing pictures of lives that inspire.  More to the point, Trudy's words paint the pictures clearly and beautifully.

Both these books are good reads--for you and a friend!

West Point travels

I've just returned from a 4-day visit to West Point.  To be honest, it's not a place I ever thought to visit, and I was only there for meetings, but am glad I had the opportunity to see this interesting and beautiful campus.  I learned so much, about the history of the school, but even more about our country.  I had no idea on some of it...

Tuesday afternoon, we took a tour of the campus.  There was so much to see and learn!  From the buildings to the chapels to the sports venues to the "million dollar view," it was all very impressive.

Wednesdsay morning, we spent time at the Jewish Chapel with the rabbi who happens to be a graduate from my father's high school alma mater (Greater New York Academy) and his and my college alma mater (Atlantic Union College) (both of them  Christian schools).  He was a physics major in college, but found his way to serving his country, first in Iraq and now at West Point.  

Rabbi Huerta talked with us (about 35 educators and pastors from all over New England and New York) about the language of The Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes.  The original language, that is.  Aramaic.  He reminded us of the inadequacy of the English language when it comes to shades of meaning.  For example, in English, The Lord's Prayer begins "Our Father."  A formal and rather distant term.  In the original language, it reads "My Daddy."  Such a different connotation!  Such a close and intimate reference!  Starting that prayer off in such a manner totally turns that prayer on its ear, doesn't it?!  His discussion on The Beatitudes was much longer (there are more of them after all), but was equally as astounding.  Maybe even more so.  It had all of us talking about it for hours afterwards.  Reinforced for me the importance of context and original text when you are dealing with translations...

Wednesday afternoon we toured the West Point Museum, the largest military museum in the country.  There were many, many fascinating items on display.  Much to my dismay and frustration, my camera battery went dead, and I forgot to bring my spare with me, so had to make do with my phone camera (which I was at least glad I had).  As a result, I was only able to preserve the impression of some of the amazing things I saw instead of the details.  

Some of the things that still stand out include a bomb like the one that was dropped on Hiroshima, a carved eagle captured from Hitler's holdings during WWII, a drum used in the Revolutionary War, pistols belonging to George Washington, a life mask of Sitting Bull, and more.

Whenever I see such memorabilia, I am filled with awe just being near evidence that amazing people really do live and change the world, one way or the other, literally affecting the way I live now.

Photos:  Cadets and the "million dollar view" of the Hudson River; inside the Cadet Chapel (flags are replicas of flags taken into major battles from the 1700s on); the book (scroll) of Esther on velum in the Jewish Chapel; Rabbi Huerta; life mask of Sitting Bull; giant carved eagle captured from Hitler.

Fog on the Hudson

It was a foggy morning.  I sat in the Hudson Gallery of The Thayer Hotel at West Point (yes, the West Point) this morning trying to listen to the discussion, but all I could do was look out the window, fascinated by the way the trees stood out starkly against the fog.  

I wanted to get out of my seat and go outside and take pictures.  But of course I couldn't.  Instead, I tried to sneak pictures from where I was.  In essence, through a glass darkly.  And yet you get the idea, in spite of lights reflected in the glass.

Later, as the morning wore on and the fog wore off, the opposite bank of the river (the Hudson) began to emerge.  I can imagine this is spectacular in the fall.  Still, for having to spend 4/5ths of my spring break in meetings, there's at least a view to take me away.

Patriot Day Trilogy

Listen my children and you shall hear

of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

on the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Paul Revere's Ride

By the rude bridge that arched the flood

Here once th'embattled farmers stood.

Their flags to April's breeze unfurled

And fired the shot heard 'round the world.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord Hymn

If you're a patriotic sports fan living in New England, there is almost nothing better than Patriots Day, a day, celebrated mostly in New England states, that honors the bravery of the colonial soldiers during the battles of Concord and Lexinton on April 18, 1775.  On any givenyear, if you do it right, you can go to the 11 a.m. Red Sox game, catch the end of the Boston Marathon(it's the 113th running today) sometime between 1:30 and 2 (depending on who's pitching), take a leisurely stroll across town, grab something tasty to eat in Quincy Market, and then catch either a Bruins or a Celtics play-off game that evening.

Crazy as it sounds, I actually did that once, a number of years ago now.  Then, it was a Bruins game.  Today, it will be a Celtics game vs. the Bulls if you're so inclined.  Several times, I've done the 1-2, Red Sox and Marathon.  On top of all this, if you're a real early bird, you can witness the re-enactment of the famous battles and then go downtown for the atletic events.  The re-enactment starts before dawn when "Paul" and his friend "Samuel Dawes" ride "sound the alarm to every Middlesex village and farm."  As the sun rises, the British march on the two towns and the patriots rise to the challenge while hundreds, perhaps even thousands, stand along the way to gawk and marvel at the antiquated warfare tactics that set this country on the road to the democracy we now enjoy and flourish in.  And yes, I've done that, too.  More than once

No matter the weather (and it's often cloudy, overcast and/or rainy), there's nothing like this day for community warmth and friendliness.  It's one of my favorite holidays.

Easter Greetings

Lonely (or vain) Turkey

This afternoon as I was about to go out the door from school, I saw what I thought, at first, was a big lump on the ground beside a car in the parking lot.  On closer examination, I realized that it was a turkey...huddled beside the car, looking at his reflection!  

While I watched, he pecked at himself, or gave himself a kiss???  Normally, we see a flock of turkeys, so maybe his was lonely and trying to make friends with the reflected turkey.  

He was so distracted with the mirror-turkey that I was able to get quite close before he got up and strolled away.

Instrument of God's Peace

Last weekend I watched a movie about a man I knew almost nothing about except that he wrote a prayer that has been beautifully set to music that I have played and sung many times.  I love the words, but never knew the story behind them until I saw the movie.  I've even been to the place where the author lived and worked.  It is as picturesque and beautiful a place as you might imagine, nestled in the int rugged mountains of Italy.  But it took watching the story of Giovanni Francesco Bernardonek and simultaneously finding myself in a dark enough place to crave desperately what he wrote about, that I came to understand what Francis of Assisi meant when he wrote this prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek 

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

It was more than 800 years ago that Saint Francis penned those words  No doubt they were very appropriate words for his time.  But I think they are just as important, and necessary, for us today.  Now, more than ever, we need to be understanding, we need to be looking out for each other.  With all the sadness andd stress of the world around us, there has never been a greater need for peace, the peafce of Jesus Christ.  And there has never been a better place or time than right here, right now.

Catching Up

It seems like it's been feast or famine with me on this blog the past three months.  In January, I wrote every day, but in February and March the entries have been few and far between.  It's not like I have nothing to share.  Rather, the time has just not been there to think things out for blogging.  I have also been reading a lot more than usual, and that generally means I write less as a result.

While that was going on, Spring has finally made its way to New England.  All our snow is melted in Massachusetts, but in Maine, at my parents' place in Alfred, they still have a couple of feet of snow in their front yard and almost as much in the back.  It's not very pretty anymore, unfortunately.  I was up there yesterday and captured a funny little chipmunk stuffing his face with bird seed and a Harry Woodpecker flying away just as I snapped the picture.  

Meanwhile, back at the . . . condo, I've also been watching movies.  One was Lawrence of Arabia.   I'm almost embarassed to admit that I have never seen it before.  It was amazing.  I would never have watched it even now, though, except that I read a book recently called Dreamers of the Day where he figures rather prominently.  Until that book, I had no idea that Lawrence was a real person and that the movie was about his real experiences.  The book was beautifully written, by the way.  I highly recommend it.

Saturday Sunbathers

While making the rounds to my favorite North Shore towns, I saw a number of birds.  Not as many as I thought I might, but some interesting poses all the same.  

And even though the pigeons and sea gulls are fairly common, I love their contrasting and irridescent colors...never mind their cool demeanor.  

The pigeons were...well...let's just say they were in a loving mood.  This is the most decent of the pictures I took of them =)  

Rockport Rocks

My trip to the North Shore on Saturday was inspiring and refreshing.  I stopped in a number of towns, each for a different reason.  I shared yesterday how Gloucester seemed to mirror Jane Austen's Lyme for me this time.  My last stop before going back home was Rockport, home to the famous Motif #1, beloved ov artists and photographers alike.  Here's why: