Author: turndoozie

Well we are just rolling into the New Year.

January 1st we were in a very cold Delaware. Not as cold as Michigan, but way colder,  for a longer period of time, than Delaware is supposed to be.

We spent most of the New Year’s Day daylight hours birding with Anita. Because of the  wicked cold we were mostly hopping in and out of the car. At one point we were on the jetty rocks at Indian River Inlet, hoping to see a greater cormorant and a common eider.  A right nasty wind made the cold even worse. The conditions were bad enough that this  may be the first time I have ever been there and there were no fishermen. Standing on  the rocks was a major challenge. The wind was so bad that it knocked over the tripod  holding the scope. The scope went flying off the tripod and landed between some of the jetty rocks. A bit banged up but it still works. We got a very quick glimpse of the birds,  plus a few others like long-tailed duck, purple sandpiper, sanderling, and ruddy  turnstone and did a quick retreat to the car. We were out for maybe 15 minutes and it  felt like my sinuses froze up. I couldn’t breathe through my nose for about 10 minutes  after getting into the car.

We ended the daylight hours at Fowler Beach getting great views of short-eared owls. All  old we got 46 species to start the year. Nothing close to what we could have gotten on a  normal Delaware New Year’s Day, but not bad.

Great blue heron from December 30, before it got really nasty cold.

January 1st Yellow-rumped warbler, puffed up to stay warm.

Yellow-rumped warbler, checking us out.

Thousands of snow geese. These birds shimmer in the right light. This is a common sight  in winter Delaware but I don’t tire of it.

Why you don’t look up into a flock of flying snow geese. Especially with your mouth  open.

After seeing the short-eared owls we drove up to Pennsylvania to spend the night at Lynn’s house in Jonestown. Yesterday was the long drive back to Michigan and today was  the required catching up on everything that has been ignored for the past 12 days.  And now it’s time for the rest of the year.

We are closing out the year in Lewes, Delaware. Came down
here to spend Christmas with Anita, Lynn, and Lee. Did a nice traditional
Christmas turkey dinner, with about enough food to feed an army division.
Leftovers have been a mainstay.

It got cold here, but
nowhere near as cold as in Lansing. Despite the cold we’ve been getting out,
mostly for birding. Got a couple new species for the year, like western sandpiper
and saw-whet owl. Also got some nice looks at a snowy owl on the beach. They
are being seen back in the Lansing area right now, but this seems better. Just
a little more of that Zen thing when you see one on a beach dune as compared to
seeing one a telephone pole or barn roof.

Snowy owl on Fowler Beach.

Western Sandpiper.

Sanderlings.

Sanderling feeding frenzy.

We plan to finish the year doing the Cape HenlopenPrime Hook Christmas
Bird Count. Part of this count is going out on a small boat, past the
breakwater protecting Cape Henlopen. There’s a potential for frostbite but should
be well worth the risk. Certainly, a better time than watching television.

With due deference to Clement Moore……….

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the trailer,
Not a creature was stirring, only this old sailor.
Our stockings were filled, we had not a care,
Tomorrow’s the turkey, which I will prepare.
Everyone is nestled, snug in their beds,
While visions of scrapple dance in their heads

Lise in the bedroom, I poured a nightcap,
To settle my brains for a long winter’s nap.
My mind started wandering, an internal clatter
A little voice saying, did anything matter?

This year has gone by, quick as a flash
But I didn’t do anything one could call brash.
The glow from my laptop soon led me to know,
There had to be something that I could really show.

When what to my wondering mind should appear,
Twelve months laid out, very domestic this year.
Now Lindsay’s a driver, so lively and quick,
She can do automatic, not ready for stick.

Started working with wood, the hardwoods they came,
I saw and I plane, and I call them by name.
Now maple, now walnut, now oak and ebony,
Some cherry, some redwood, some ash and mahogany.
Filling the porch, and stacked on the wall,
I must have them, must have them, must have them all.

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
The dust and the woodchips filled the sky.
Made a nice dulcimer stand, so shiny and new,
Cutting boards, serving trays, temple swings too.

But our travel this year seems kind of mundane
No big adventures, it’s domestically tame
But then in a twinkling, the thought did appear
It’s not where you go, it’s the people my dear!
Moo got a bug, so to St. Louis we flew
Saw Stefan and Kasey, much partying too
Trip two to St. Louie was no casual run
Saw a celestial event, the moon blocked the sun
Anita turned 60, to Hawk Mountain we went
She used her new binos, ‘twas money well spent.
Walked to the north lookout, no easy trail,
Diabetes be damned, she never did fail.

Twice to Marquette, thanks to Joanna,
To such a good friend, we sing a hosanna
Company both times made each trip quite special
Hosted Ellen and Barb, then Molly and Mitchell
Delaware with Joanna, and then Stefan too
Good birding, good eating, Dogfish Head for brew
Pennsylvania with Lynn, she was quite gracious,
Jonestown and Lock Haven, she has two places.
Lebanon is old, we have deep family ties,
Nothing I see there is any surprise.
Her place in Lock Haven is really quite slick,
By the Susquehanna, one mighty big crick

The year seems mundane, a soft easy whistle.
To that statement I give a categorical dismissal.
We have such good friends, they made everything right.
So happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night

We woke up yesterday to the first snow of the year. Then to our
horror we realized we were out of scrapple too. I expected wolves to be showing
up next. We really need to do a restocking run back east.

Today we did a little trip with Molly and Mitchell down to
Pokagon State Park for the brunch buffet and some hiking. I was in line at the omelet
station when someone asked the cook what kind of meat they had. The cook
replied, “Ham, sausage, and bacon. Good Indiana pigs.” Now how can one resist that?
No scrapple though. Indiana never was a very cultured state.

The hiking was fun. Light snow and some small hills. Post-glacial
features like kames and eskers, not steep ridges like in southern Indiana. Just
enough to add some variety to the landscape. And the park has the seemingly obligatory
feature with a name somehow associated with Satan or the underworld. In this
case it’s Hell’s Point. At 1,093 feet in elevation it’s the highest point in the
park. Not quite nose bleed territory.

Molly and Mitchell on Hell’s Point.

The view from Hell’s Point.

Going down the steps at Hell’s Point.

The end of the semester is fast approaching. A couple more
labs, grading next weekend, and I’m done. I really do like the teaching, and
getting some income is nice, but everything gets old by the end of the semester.
I like the students, I like interacting with them, and I like imparting some
knowledge to them. But there’s the dark side. I would be one happy camper if I
didn’t ever have to do any course administrative stuff or grading.

Happy Thanksgiving all. Hope everything
went well for everyone. This is a time to reflect, and to give thanks to
whatever entity you want to give thanks to.

We did Thanksgiving Day with the
Hall family. Much good food and merriment. We have some good friends, here and other
places. Good friends are something to be thankful for.

Except for a few minor aches and pains,
we’re in reasonably good health. That’s something to be thankful for. I am suffering
from what the doctor called “Little League Elbow”. Can’t figure where that came
from. It’s only about five decades too late.

Molly is doing really well. That’s something
to be thankful for. She is being recruited by two universities for graduate
work. Not something that ever happened to either Lise or I.

We haven’t been getting out much
because we always seem to be too busy. There’s an upside though. Except for
finishing the basement, we are pretty much busy with things we want to be busy
with. That’s something to be thankful for. Getting the basement finished is definitely
something I will be thankful for.

Our bearded dragon Rover seems to
be doing well. That’s something to be thankful for.

We have some scrapple in the
freezer. That’s something to be thankful for.

We don’t live in Alabama. That’s
something to be thankful for. Not living in any place where Evangelical Christians
support a pedophile to be their U.S. Senator is something to be thankful for.

Little Hands is still the president
but at least he hasn’t started a nuclear war with North Korea yet. That’s something
to be thankful for. I figure he wants to wait until the end of the Christmas
shopping season first. Might be too harmful to the economy otherwise. And every day we get through without him doing something really stupid with the military or the nuclear arsenal is one day closer to his last day in office. That’s really something to be thankful for.

We’ve been busy here at la Casa Schools. Rover is settling
into his new home. I’m minorly concerned that, like most teenagers, he doesn’t
eat his vegetables. Loves his meat in the form of wax worms or meal worms, but
just doesn’t do the veggies.

We haven’t gotten out for much birding lately. Just been too
darn busy. During some unseasonably warm October weather a couple of weeks ago we
got in a trip down to Michigan Audubon’s Haehnle Sanctuary. We were hoping to
see migrating sandhill cranes pop in. It was a lovely warm evening, but sans
cranes. There was one interesting spectacle right at sundown.  A huge flock of blackbirds came up out of the
trees and flew around. Easily a couple thousand. I was sitting there mesmerized
with the camera behind me before I thought to try for some pictures. 

. 

Flocking blackbirds,
Haehnle Sanctuary.

Raptor migration is still going strong. At the Holiday Beach
Conservation Area, across the river in Canada, over 4,000 raptors came through on
Friday. Around here things have settled down a bit and we now have the winter juncos
at our feeders. It’s time for the dreary long gray spell here in Mid-Michigan.

During the warm October weather I got out to do some
milkweed photos. They’re weeds to a lot of people but I just love them when
they go to seed. They just seem to lend themselves to black and white
photography.

Milkweed

Not too much other photography except for a group picture of
Molly’s water polo buddies. These are the girls that came in as freshmen the
same year Molly did. Don’t let the sweet smiles fool you. These are some tough
cookies that would probably put a knife in your ribs if it would lead to a
score without the refs calling a foul.

Water polo seniors, 2017.

Woodworking has slowed down so I can focus more on finishing
the basement. Between the two,  I like
the woodworking a lot better.  I finished
the Hindu temple swings I was working on. At least I think it’s a Hindu temple
they were made for. An acquaintance at the gym named Depaak needed them built. Apparently,
he had two made 20 years ago, one for himself, and one he donated to the
Temple. He moved, so he donated his to the Temple and went to join a new
Temple. From what I understand, the new Temple needed a swin, but when they asked
the old Temple to borrow a swing or give them plans for a swing there arose a “squabble”.
I guess religions are just about the same no matter where you go. So Depaak
asked me to make a new swing for him and one for the  new Temple. I used white ash, the same wood used
in Louisville Sluggers, a religious icon in some circles.

Temple swing.

Big doings in the Schools’ household. Meet Rover, the newest
member of Clan Schools. Rover, formally known as Opal, is a year and a half
old, male bearded dragon. He probably has some issues with being called Opal
for the past year and a half. As with our other bearded dragons, Molly named
him.

Rover. (Lise cell phone picture)

Rover was not totally an impulse. I have been wanting to get
another bearded dragon since Sparky passed away. Then we saw a video of a bearded dragon
and a corgi playing tug-of-war with a toy. The corgi pretty much threw the
beardy around, but the beardy wouldn’t let go. If the corgi dropped the toy the
beardy would run over and grab it, challenging the corgi. Highly amusing. So,
we walked into Pruess Pets empty handed and walked out with Rover. While the
decision wasn’t a total impulse, it doesn’t hurt that Zoobie’s Old Town Bar is
right by Pruess Pets. For complete disclosure, yes, we did hit Zoobie’s first.

We’ve been staying busy. Lise’s business has picked up a bit
and I’ve been spending time in the workshop. I call it the workshop, Lise calls
it the garage. She makes me share it with the cars.  My last project was a cheese board/serving
tray made with scraps from Lise’s dulcimer stand and the temple swings I’m
working on. Black walnut, cherry, and white ash.

Cheese boardserving tray. Whatever, it was fun to make.

Saw a harbinger of winter today. Our first junco of the
season was at the bird feeders, meaning gin and tonic season is fading into the
dreary Mid-Michigan winter. Loud sigh!

October 7^th already. We just passed the Harvest
Moon. Little Hands is still the president, going out of his way to remove every
shred of dignity from the Oval Office.

Lately I’ve been in a bit of a creativity slump, in
particular for writing. My slump seems to extend to photography too. Something
just hasn’t been clicking the past couple of weeks. Probably a scrapple
deficiency. I’ve been keeping busy, and teaching two classes, but there hasn’t
been much creative spark. I did photograph some artwork for the cover of
Ellen’s book. It was challenging; bad lighting in a hallway of the Physics
department. But taking pictures of someone else’s work doesn’t really count
towards creativity. I haven’t walked the halls of a Physics department since I
got my Physics degree. You could just feel the GPAs dropping.

Tania’s artwork

This afternoon I attended a friend’s funeral service. This
was our neighbor who’s dogs I was walking earlier this year. Her service was at
a Catholic church in Lansing and I rode with our friend Roy. I warned him that
if the ground opened up, with some hellfire and brimstone thrown in for effect,
it’s me they were after. He should do what he could to save himself. Like
pushing me into the hole would probably be a good start.

On a positive note, I’ve been getting in some woodworking
time, and learning bunches of new things. A lot has changed since I had 7^th
grade woodshop. Like electricity. Power tools make it so much easier to get
things done. Easier to cut off a finger too, but hey, ya gotta go with
progress.

My latest wood project was a stand for Lise’s hammered
dulcimer. Walnut and cherry, the same woods as her dulcimer. I think it came
out OK and I’m happy it. My current project is an alter swing for some Eastern
religion temple. An acquaintance at the gym needed it built so I volunteered.
Not sure what religion it’s for but I may as well try to cover all the bases. I’m
making it out of white ash, the same wood Louisville Sluggers are made from.
That’s kind of a sacred thing.

Dulcimer stand, with and without the dulcimer.

We did a quick weekend trip back to PA for Anita’s 60^th
birthday. Her siblings, nieces, and nephews, all chipped in to get her a pair of
really good binoculars. For a bonus, Lise and I took her to Hawk Mountain to
catch a sample of the fall hawk migration. Yes, Anita “climbed” all the way to
the North Lookout. And contrary to local legend, I didn’t leave her behind to
die. We’ve been to hawk mountain a
number of times but haven’t been there for a couple years. It’s a great place
and this trip was no exception. 

Anita, at the summit, with her new binoculars. Can you hear the National Geo music in the background? Happy 60th.

Lise and Anita, scanning for hawks. 

View from the North Lookout.

Hawks migrate through along the Kittatinny ridgelines pretty
much September through November, but different species tend to come in through during
different time frames. The middle of September is the peak of the broad-winged
hawk migration. We summitted the North Lookout about 11:00. Prior to our
arrival the official counters tallied about 1,000 broad-wings coming through.
We had a lull of about an hour then the broad-wings started coming again. One
kettle that had at least a hundred hawks in it, plus several smaller kettles.
Pretty cool. Approximately 1600 broad-wings passed through the day we were there.
To date 8866 broad-wings have been tallied. Other hawks came through while we
there too, and Lise got her sharp-shinned hawk for the year. Great experience
and well worth the “climb”.

Broad-winged hawk kettle.

Hawk Mountain is one of those great stories of a single
person effecting a change for the better. Hawk Mountain was once used as a
place to shoot migrating hawks. Every migration thousands were blasted out of
the sky by the sportsmen of the time. Rosalie Edge got so disgusted with the
slaughter that she bought the mountain and hired a warden to ban hunting. Her
actions led to establishment of the first sanctuary for migrating hawks and an
internationally known research and education facility. One person can make a
difference.  

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve written. It’s
not like there’s nothing to write about. Little Hands is still the president,
making the U.S. look like some banana republic. tRump himself gives volumes to
write about, none of it good.

I started teaching two classes at Lansing Community College.
I’m getting back into the drill of prepping lectures and demonstrations,
getting the courses set up, doing administrative work, and oh, actually
teaching. Teaching would be a lot more fun if there wasn’t any administration
and accountability. Familiar lament, I’m sure.

I’ve been plugging away at the woodworking thing too. I
built a 6’ work table with adjustable in-feed and out-feed tables for my new planer. Supposedly
a portable table, this beast takes two humans to lift. It’s hell for solid, but
not really portable unless you have a big red S on your chest.

My portable planer table with planer, in-feed and out-feed tables.

Last weekend I attended a two-day Wood Expo, at a lumber
mill down in Charlotte.  There were several
hundred people in attendance, mostly old retired guys with beards. There were two
bathrooms; a single port-a-pot out in the lumber yard and a single men’s and a single
woman’s one seater in the retail building. First time I can recall the men’s
room line being longer than the woman’s room line. The women on attendance
found this highly amusing.

I’m finding that woodworking tends towards being an expensive
hobby. Especially if you want to keep all your fingers. I have come into some
power tools but they are mostly missing their safety equipment. The scariest is
the table saw. There’s the obvious possibility of accidently removing your
fingers with a rapidly spinning saw blade. Then there’s a hazard called
kickback. Not the kind of kickback associated with say, building a Trump Tower
in Moscow. This kickback is when a board jams, then flies at high speed back towards
your face. In woodworking circle this is also known as, “eating a board”. As a
bonus, a kickback event often rakes your fingers across the spinning saw blade.
Naturally my saw is missing the equipment to minimize both these little hazards.

To reduce the
possibility of these hazards I ordered a set of nifty table saw push blocks. The
set cost a bit over $100. The second time I used them I got distracted and hit
the saw blade with a block. This would have been pretty nasty had I been suing
my hands without the push blocks to feed the saw. At the Expo a company called
Stopsaw was demonstrating their finger saving table saw technology. As a finger
surrogate, they shove a hotdog into a spinning table saw blade. The saw senses
the hotdog, stops the blade, and drops the blade off the table, all within in 5
milliseconds. That’s 0.005 seconds. It’s pretty stunning to watch this spinning
blade just disappear right before your eyes. You don’t really see it happen.
The blade is there, then with a loud bang, it’s gone. The hotdog just gets scratched. At worst, a
band-aid fix. Unfortunately, the saw cost about $2,500. Not exactly chump
change.

Push block gouges.

Between teaching, Lise’s work, Wood Expos, working around
the house, and the usual distractions, we just have not been getting out for
birds or odanates recently. We slipped in one trip to Shiawassee National
Wildlife Refuge where we scored a Baird’s sandpiper. That puts me at 248
species for the year and Lise at 242. With a couple months left to go.