The Contrariness of the Mad Gardener

The Garden, Before

The Garden, After

I received my Mantis tiller (seen in the front bed, left side of photo) via UPS Thursday evening. Friday from 10 AM-2 PM or so I was a tilling maniac. By my count from the photos, I tilled seventeen of my 21 4 x 8 raised beds. My verdict on the Mantis: Best piece of power equipment I have ever owned. It's light enough to lift in and out of the beds, powerful enough to work through most grass roots, and easy to handle. I don't know how I gardened without it.

The one thing the Mantis won't do is dig out boulders and carry them off to some new rock garden. I encountered a surprising number of rocks in the garden beds, ranging from golf ball size to too big for me to dig up.

But wait, there's more! In the photos above, you can see 21 raised garden beds. I have an additional 5 raised beds for potatoes that are not shown. I did an inventory of my tomato plants today, and decided I needed a minimum of 9 dedicated beds for tomatoes. The most I have ever planted was six beds, at eight plants per bed. That would put a squeeze on everything else I could plant, so...I'm adding four more raised beds. Insane. And I'll probably still plant some tomatoes in containers.

So what are all these tomatoes I'm planting? I had to take inventory this morning, since I hadn't kept track of just how many varieties I started and transplanted to pots. I have perhaps a record 21 tomato varieties, all open pollinated heirlooms, and 74+ plants. That's not counting the ones I did not transplant from their little starting cells. Here's the list; most are chosen for being under 80 days:

Stupice
Break o'Day
Sioux
Fireworks
Grandma Mary's Paste
Igegnoli Gigante
Polish Linguisa (paste)
Taxi (yellow, of course)
Rose
Mountain Princess (Baker Creek lists this at 48 days!!!)
Yellow Pear
Cuor di Bue
Principe Borghese (supposed to be great for drying)
Soldacki
Ropreco Paste
Ivory Egg
Black Cherry
Pantano Romanesco
Siletz
Glacier
Cosmonaut Volkov

On top of that, I have nine kinds of peppers and three eggplant varieties. Insanity, I tell ya!

By the way, none of these tomatoes were planted out today. It's supposed to freeze tonight. More insanity!

Won't you be my neighbor?

Today as I was taking the kids to school (actually 2 out of 3; Starflower has been waking up early and taking the bus) I saw something that made my heart sink: a "for sale" sign at the property just to the south of us. A family from a suburb of St. Paul owns the land, but we had not seen them around for a while. They were pretty good neighbors, up for an occasional weekend, some deer hunting, all in all pretty quiet.

Of course I am a bit curious as to the circumstances, but also worried about who might eventually buy the land. We have been blessed with good neighbors here, although the ones across the road are quirky but in a benign way. I would hate to see a weekend warrior come in, equipped with a bunch of ATV's intent on "mud bogging" the substantial wetland on the property. Or some careless deer hunters who just might be careless enough to put my family in danger. I'm not incriminating all deer hunters here; I'm just saying that is a possibility.

So I'm reaching out to anyone who reads this blog: Do you want 40 acres of peace and quiet, with magnificent white pines, just a short drive up I-35 from the Cities? Birding is great with the mix of white pines, aspens and shrub swamp. There is a trailer with electricity already on the place, and driveway with gate, so it's ready for you to come up and stay a weekend. If you look at the header photo, it is the land to the left. And the best part is, you would have great neighbors!!! :)

Seriously, I would like to see this property fall into the right hands. So if you're interested, my e-mail is on the sidebar.

that wonderful time of year

Some time I'll put it all in words...

Heeere's Granny!

Yep. I'm a step grandma now. But isn't he CUTE? I had a hard time believing this was my stepson's own child, the child of the boy whom I watched grow up since he was six or so. Wow.

Calvin, Mr. Attitude, and Starflower are thrilled as can be to be uncles and aunt. And they were happy to be reunited with the proud father, Tom, for a good game of catch and baseball. The newborn, of course, slept most of the time. I hear he's a night baby though. Ah the memories.

Mental health day off

Friday off to make it a four day weekend. Yeah! Lots of mental health recuperating and gardening to be done. Not to mention visiting STEP grandkids. :)

I'm a step grandma!

Jordan Patrick Sewell was born this afternoon to Tom and Abbi, my stepson and daughter in law. Six pounds 14 ounces, and apparently healthy! And the crew here is delighted to be uncles and aunt. I'm hoping to see some Facebook pictures before the night is over!

Wow. The G-word. I'm too young for this! Although I'm looking forward to holding a baby without assuming all the mom duties. :)

Okay, I actually read the link and my exact words on June 8, 2008 were: "They better wait to have kids until I'm good and ready!" :) Life is funny.

I'm getting a Mantis!

My enthusiasm for gardening has been waning lately. Mostly it has to do with the fact that it is physically difficult, and painful, to prepare all of my raised beds by the usual shoveling and hand hoeing methods. One day in the garden equals three days on heavy ibuprofen therapy. And a lot of my weeds are rhizome-running varieties, which are especially tenacious.

I started dreaming about mini-tillers some time last fall. But all of our money was going for getting the new house in livable condition, and I deferred my dream. I hand prepared a couple of beds this spring, and looked on with dread as the usual grasses crept in the others.

Finally this spring I decided I wasn't going to torture myself any further. I was going to get a mini tiller, and it was to be my Mother's Day present. But I'm so bad at shopping, or more precisely, at finally opening up my wallet and buying something. So this morning The Hermit started comparing mini tillers online, and before I knew it he said "I ordered a Mantis!" After comparing consumer reports online, he decided it was worth the money, and they have a 4 payment program, which helps a lot. Free 2-day shipping, it should be here by my planned day off on Friday!

Watch out, woman with power garden tools! :)

You'll never guess what my new yard bird is...(updated with photo)

...and I'm going to make you wait until the end of this post to reveal it. And you Facebook friends may have an unfair advantage. Sorry, I couldn't resist a quick status post. ;)

It's been a crazy week here. Started off with a flat tire on the way to work Monday morning, which of course ended up with me having to buy a new tire, which came today. I drove The Hermit's vehicle until now. Four Calvin baseball games (one of which is tomorrow), Calvin staying up until after midnight when the Twins game went 13 innings (they won, thanks to a walk off grand slam by another great Joe), lots of stuff going on at work, and to top it off, tonight's triple header of ball game, piano recital, and band concert. I got home after my bedtime.

At least I have been out on lakes at work, which is good. I like driving a boat around, looking at stuff, even if I have to somehow systematically record the presence of curlyleaf pondweed. Yesterday at lunch time I parked the boat on the shore of an island which I believe was Minnesota's first designated Scientific and Natural Area, because it hosts a great blue heron rookery. I practically grew up on that lake, so I know personally that the herons have been there at least close to 40 years, probably longer. Now it also hosts a bald eagle nest, and I saw one eagle bring a fish or something to the nest. There were warblers flitting about, mostly yellow rumped, but I heard a warbling vireo.

Today I learned an important lesson: Don't park your boat downwind of a flock of white pelicans. They must ferment those fish in their beaks for a LONG time!

Okay, on to the yard bird. The other day, I think it was a Tuesday if I remember right, I was driving home with the kids after one of Calvin's ball games, and a mile and a half away from our house I spotted something that made me do a double take. It turned out to be a preview of THE YARD BIRD. Fast forward to this morning. The Hermit tells me he heard a really loud, exotic sounding bird call from our woods that may have been the bird I had seen before. I walked out, heard nothing, and told him it may have been a yellow bellied sapsucker; after all they do get kind of sassy this time of year. Later today, when I got back from the lake and was checking my email at work, I had a note from The Hermit saying he had visual confirmation, and it was most definitely NOT a sapsucker.

It was a peacock. A real live, honest to God blue peacock. Right here in our woods. I only believed him because my preview bird happened to be a peacock, albeit a mile and a half away from here.

No photos yet; I happened to have the camera stashed in one of those obvious places that neither of us could remember. Camera found tonight, hope to get some early morning photographic evidence. I didn't arrive home until twilight, which is pretty late these days, but I was fortunate to get audio confirmation several times over. Those suckers are LOUD!

This is surreal. I would not be more surprised if I happened to see a manatee surfacing in our pool on Sand Creek. Or a flock of flamingoes foraging in the shallows of the pond.

Friday morning update:

woodpeckers know no boundaries

common loons

Marsh marigold

It is Spring in a big way, that week or two when everything bursts forth in green, the drab grays and tans of bare trees and dead grasses fade under new growth. It is the time while, as the everyday business of human life rushes forward, I just want to pause somewhere in a sunny meadow near a laughing brook and BE a part of this world that does not concern itself with human economies. I also see clearly, in stark contrast, the ideal life I want versus the present reality, lost in the details. But the renewal of spring gives me hope and courage to pursue that good life as I plant my garden and play the ancient music.

another osprey nest

A long time ago, in that dark season we call winter, which I don't want to think about now, while doing the Christmas Bird Count, I noticed a large nest atop a power line pole. I figured it was either an eagle or an osprey nest, and made a mental note to check it in the spring.

Today I was in the area, driving home from a short day's work pulling nets. I can hardly call it work when I'm getting paid to ride around in a boat on a nice day like today. Oh yeah, I had to help wrestle a muskie or two, but I saw lots of ducks, and some loons.

I decided to drive by the nest, if I could remember which road it was on. I happened to find the right road, and lo and behold Mrs. Osprey was peeking over the top at me!

This nest is a few miles from the Web cam nest, and probably a mile or more from the nearest big body of water. Apparently the osprey pair thought it was a good spot though. It's nice they picked the power pole closest to the road!

osprey web cam

I have been out and about on lakes in the last two weeks, which has been kind of fun despite the fickle weather. Yesterday we didn't get much for fish in our nets (we're doing a survey for muskellunge, the barracuda of the north) but I did see lots of birds, including bufflehead, goldeneye and bluebill (scaup) ducks, loons, broad winged and sharp shinned hawks, and the first yellow rumped warblers and ruby crowned kinglets of the spring for me. And osprey. We saw two of them, and they seemed to be following us for a while, maybe looking for a dead fish or two.

It later dawned on me that I had seen an osprey nest platform at a farm not too far from the lake we were on, and I recalled seeing a sign that said they had a Web cam on the nest. So when I got back to the office I Googled it and found this site:

http://www.osprey-webcam.com/ (For some reason the video only shows up on Internet Explorer; not so good for a Firefox fan like me)

I believe this is the same osprey pair we saw. The female is sitting on the nest and they have three eggs! I'm going to be following this site; thanks to the Schjeldahls of Windemere Township for providing a nest site and sharing the results with everyone!

pond dog

"Please take me to the pond? Oh will you please? I love the pond! Oh please?"

That is how I have been greeted the last few afternoons. Sally is relentless. So I even caved in today, when it was about 40 degrees and windy. That's how dogs are.

northern prairie skink

We have a new addition to the list of Wildlife Known To Inhabit Sand Creek. Which is always good. Hooray for biodiversity!

Starflower and Mr. Attitude found this little lizard hanging out by the pond yesterday. The photo is larger than life; the red jasper stone in the upper right hand corner is about an inch long. I don't know how they managed to find something that small! But then again, these kids are no strangers to critters of all shapes and sizes around here. They thought it was a cross between a snake and a salamander at first.

I did not even think we had any lizard species around here. The northern prairie skink is one of the only, if not THE only, lizards found in Minnesota, and I think we're at the northern extreme of its range. But to see such a little one suggests that there are more, and they are reproducing.

Once again, the photo credit goes to Starflower. I have pretty much relinquished my Canon Powershot A520 to her, while I'm using the Kodak EasyShare Z740 more lately.

treasure found

Wow. This is the BIGGEST agate I have ever found!

This morning at work I had an unexpected errand across the river to our fish rearing ponds. We had some major work done there last fall, re-routing the drainage and stuff, so there was a lot of loose gravel and rock there, either recently placed or dug up from the work. I don't know. Anyway, as I was surveying the new layout I glanced at the ground and saw a stone that demanded picking up. I have been walking gravel roads for over thirty years now, and I know a Lake Superior agate when I see one!


This one is incredible. It has nice fine lines, and viewed from the end the lines form a heart shape. It is about four times the size of most of the agates I have picked up over the years.

For a rockhound like me, this is SWEET!

P.S. I hate to have the frog chorus as an afterthought ever, but tonight the sound is beautiful here. Peepers, wood frogs and Western chorus frogs.

budding out

I have this wonderful place to stop and watch the Kettle River while I'm waiting for Calvin's baseball practice to be over. The school is just up the hill, but this land is all part of Banning State Park. Lovely. This willow was in a spring mood yesterday. We've had highs in the 60's and sunny weather all week. I have to remind myself that I'm not too busy to enjoy it, and the enjoyment is free.

play ball!

(look at beyond the outfield. Nothing but woods! I love it!)

Calvin had his first baseball game yesterday. Although he is in sixth grade, the school is hard up for ball players so he is playing with seventh and eighth graders on a combined middle school team. That did not bode well for their first matchup; the opponents' team consisted of mostly eighth graders, or beyond. Calvin's team is about 50 percent sixth graders, most of whom have not played organized ball more than one season.

I won't dwell on the final score, and neither did the coaches. Calvin did get the first (of two) runs for his team, on a walk and stolen bases. He is third in the starting pitching rotation, so expect to hear a pitching scouting report next week!

The red winged blackbirds were reluctant to give up the field to human activities.

the long awaited day

With a string of sunny days with temperatures in the 50's, the ice is finally losing its grip on lakes. I've been watching the ice on the pond darken and pull away from shore further each day. Yesterday there was finally enough open water for a very excited Labrador to do what she enjoys best.

Sally was wondering why Mr. Attitude and I were standing on shore. Cold? What cold?

She was shivering just a bit as she did the shakeoff.

I came across something unusual a few feet from the water:

These remains were once a fairly good sized black crappie. From time to time a few odd bluegills have ended up in the pond, never to be seen again. I vaguely recall helping a few very small crappies find their way to this body of water at least two years ago, but I never saw any sign of them. Until now. I'm guessing this one succumbed to low oxygen levels, and floated up on shore when the ice receded. Some lucky critter made a meal of it.

It's another beautiful day here. I hope you enjoy your day!

Killdeer conference

While I was waiting at the school parking lot to pick up Calvin from baseball practice (An activity I am getting used to this week), I heard a commotion by the side of the road, near one of those nice mitigation ponds they dug when they developed the school site. I looked and saw this group of three killdeers. What could they be discussing?

It has been a busy week, with baseball practice, parent teacher conferences, and of course Twins games to watch. I have been running whenever I get a chance, but not two days in a row yet. Tonight was the best run in a long time; I heard the first frogs of the season! 1.2 miles, running hard a lot of the way.

Tonight we have clear skies and a full moon will be rising shortly. The woodcock will be displaying, and the ruffed grouse will be drumming all night. This is the real spring moon.

The kids have tomorrow off of school; I'm not so lucky.

are we fans?

Ummm. yeah. Rabid fans at that.

Although the boys were actively celebrating, notice Starflower, lower left corner. She had had enough by close to 10 PM.

The Twins pulled off a ninth inning, two out victory over the Mariners tonight. Way to go Casilla!

dueling woodpeckers

We were at my uncle's lake home today for an early Easter family get together. After the meal, as we were all sitting around in a post-meal stupor, the kids excitedly told me there was a huge woodpecker at the feeder. I grabbed the camera, and I was so excited to get a shot of a pileated woodpecker I didn't even notice the downy in the photo! I rounded out the day by seeing hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers. And some first-of-year great blue herons, common mergansers, and oh yes, the trumpeter swans. Great birding day!

New bird at Sand Creek

This morning as I was walking to the house from the cabin after checking my seedlings, I heard a strange honking sound coming from out by the road. It wasn't Canada geese, it wasn't even our obnoxious gray geese. Was something wrong with one of the neighbor's cows?

I looked down the driveway just in time to see two enormous white birds flying low, their raucous bugle calls filling the air. Trumpeter swans! WOW!

Trumpeter swans have made a comeback in Minnesota during my lifetime, thanks to the efforts of the Department of Natural Resources and Hennepin County Parks. They are still relatively rare but their numbers are increasing and it's not unusual to see breeding pairs in small lakes around here. With luck I'll find a breeding pair this summer to document for the Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas.

milestones

The night before last, Mr. Attitude lost the second of his top front teeth. His toothless smile is adorable, and I'm glad this all happened well before sweet corn eatin' season. Still I can't help but think, this is the last of my children to lose his baby front teeth.

Today Calvin starts baseball practice. He will be playing for a combined-grade middle school team. I think he will be one of the more prepared sixth graders there; in the last few days he has described details of the batting stances of all of baseball's top hitters, and ever since it has been warm enough to go outside he has been practicing pitching and fielding. Still I can't help but think, my oldest kid is now playing on a sports team for his school!

And I can't forget Starflower. Today I took her to the doctor with her 100th case of strep throat. Okay, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but it seems she comes down with strep pretty often!

Morning run

The morning air was still chilly, in the 20's, when I set out, but the sun already had warmth to it and the eaves were dripping.

About a hundred yards from where I started, an immature bald eagle took flight and crossed the road ahead of me. Of course the camera was not ready. But I anticipated what I saw next, and the camera was ready:

These two pairs of Canada geese have been enjoying the deep pool on Sand Creek for the last few days. One day I saw a pair of hooded mergansers with them, but they were not there today.

Further up the road I was serenaded by bluebirds.
blue on blue

I was doing my "creek run", where I cross Sand Creek, run up to the corner, turn right and run to where that road crosses Sand Creek, upstream from the first crossing. The creek was flowing strong with the spring runoff, but from the ice suspended above the water surface I could tell it had been higher a few days ago.

I have forgotten the exact length of this run; perhaps 2 1/2 miles. The middle of the run is uphill, with the corner being the highest point. Even if I have been a slacker at running the last few months, today felt good and even after I turned the corner and headed for home, I felt as if I could go on much further.

Running gets me into this meditative state that is hard to describe. Words form in my head, poetry comes effortlessly, and I feel during that time that all is right in my corner of the world. Indeed I have the luxury of beautiful surroundings, and of rarely having to contend with traffic. There is no need to listen to my iPod while I run; it would only be a distraction from what is real.

New 'puter!

I came home from work and hooked the whole thing up. Now we're online in the new house, and if I want to blog at 3 AM there isn't a long walk thru cold and mud to stop me!

Ahem...more coherent posts are forthcoming. :)

Spring unfolds...

...and it's hard to keep up. Within a week we've gone from redpolls to juncos, robins, and bluebirds. Kestrels, killdeers, and sandhill cranes. Woodcock, the original twitterers. And lots of eagles lately.

Me, I've been slogging through the mud between the house and the cabin, hearing the rain on the roof and dreading more mud. But mud is a fact of life.

I've been playing flute and banjo more, hoping to establish a good habit in my life. I've decided my new musical goal is to learn to play on flute, completely up to speed, The Bothy Band's set "A Jig and Five Reels". I downloaded and arranged a two page copy of the tunes, and tonight I sat down and learned them. Not up to speed by any means, but I have a core understanding of the tunes now.

Too bad the nice weather will come along soon and take away my music learning momentum!

more posts coming...soon

I have been quieter than usual on this blog lately, and I apologize for it. There are a few reasons, including:

Spring is in the air, and I want to be out experiencing it. Heard my first sandhill cranes today!

I am uncomfortable with doing more than a quick post from work lately...I'm sure there's already a file on me...

I am on Facebook now, which makes it easier for me to write a quick "what's on my mind" there rather than write a coherent blog post here about every little thing that happens. I think it's a win win situation; I get the instant gratification, this blog gets the stuff I've actually taken time to think about. Don't worry, I still enjoy all of your blogs, even if you're not my Facebook friend. :)

Our home computer, a monstrously slow beast, is still in the cabin so I have to slog through the mud to see the "low disk space" alert that pops up every minute. I've worked on the disk space, but I think it comes down to the fact this thing has a small brain to begin with. The computer, not me. :)

By the time I get to the cabin, I don't feel like typing out a thoughtfully long blog post and fighting to upload pictures.

The last couple of reasons will soon change. The Hermit and I, after much discussion, have decided to buy a new 'puter. There's a local business ten miles away that puts together custom systems at a reasonable price, and we'd rather give them our business than buy something on the Internet. It will be ready on Friday, and we will set it up in the new house. One less reason to go to the cabin, although I still have my seed starting shelf in here. I think with the computer in the house I will be more inclined to sit down in the evening, maybe even morning, and compose a blog post or two.

One for the life list!

There are some advantages to not having indoor plumbing yet.

This morning I was outside at 4 AM, and besides the usual rumble of freight trains off in the distance (4 AM seems like the usual time for them), I heard something from nearby in the woods. It sounded like someone blowing the same note on a pennywhistle over and over.

Northern Saw-whet Owl!

I have been hoping to hear one of these little owls here; we are right within their year round range and we have the mixed conifer/hardwood forest that is their preferred habitat. Now if I could only find it and take a look; I've seen photos and they are so cute. Of course, I should probably not use the word "cute" to describe something that could rip my flesh apart with its talons and bill.

wonder

Mr. Attitude is my Birdman! :)

Robin!

Yes, I saw my first robin since Christmas today. It was in the 50's here. Spring has arrived. :)

I took a nice run/walk this morning and the new header photo is one of the results. I had to spend way too much time loading Kodak Easyshare, which somehow disappeared from our hard drive, so by the time I was done with that I didn't feel like blogging about my walk. I'll try to do it tomorrow.

I have a new post up on Under the Blue Roof. I have lots more ideas for posts there, so stay tuned.

Tonight I'm cooking stuffed pork chops, probably with peas and an oriental cabbage salad. I actually made out a meal plan for the entire week, and meat is thawing in the refrigerator. I guess spring weather does that to me.

UPDATE: There is enough leftover pork to make fried rice tomorrow! Which bumps my meal plan, which I guess is okay.

Geese!

I took off work two hours early just because. Just because I was tired of being there, and it was so nice outside, and I really had no pressing need to be there.

When I got home, The Hermit asked if I wanted to drive with him to Moose Lake, where he needed to pick up a couple prescriptions. I was up for a ride.

On the way we saw three snow buntings. I had not seen any of them in about a month. Then, as we drove into town, crossing the river and seeing open water, we saw them. Two Canada geese.

Spring is here!

fun on a freezing day

Just for fun, go to Google and type in "Minnesotans for". You don't have to type anything else. The top search match that shows up in the drop down list is...

"Minnesotans for Global Warming"

For more fun, Google "if we had some global warming" and watch the YouTube video that shows up. I'm too lazy to embed it here, but it is hilarious.

I'm all for it. The temp got down to 20 below zero last night. Even when winters were more "normal" back when I was a kid, I don't remember it being that cold in March.

pffffftt!

Humans, ur doin it rong.

Gratitude

A few things I'm thankful for lately:

The weather. It has been melting, thawing, sun feels warm on your face March weather. Don't expect it to last forever though.

The birds I saw today: black capped chickadees, white breasted nuthatches, red breasted nuthatches, blue jays, crows, ravens, one cardinal, goldfinches, one female purple finch, one American tree sparrow, and the redpolls. Lots of them. And I saw a juvenile bald eagle yesterday morning. And turkey tracks today when I took my run.

Running. I am easily able to talk myself into it when the weather is nice, and I am always rewarded.

Neighbors. While I was running, I had a brief chat with the best neighbors in the world. Must invite them over soon.

Music. I played my banjo briefly today , but I recall a practice session yesterday when I was doing some incredible things. Too bad I can't recall most of them.

House. I love my house. Even though it isn't finished yet, we don't even have indoor plumbing for God's sake! I love it. And no mortgage.

Husband. He told me today how much he loves me. We are made for each other; nobody else would be crazy enough to love either of us!!

Kids. They are wonderful. They all cleaned and rearranged their rooms today. Perhaps my housecleaning efforts inspired them. I doubt it. Calvin insists on my practicing pitching and catching with him every day in our slushy driveway. Today he got his saxophone out, in part to annoy his siblings, but he got into a playing groove and I heard some really good stuff. Stuff you would not expect from an eleven year old! So I'm going to try and encourage him, and maybe lead by example, to practice every day.

This day. I am so glad I got to spend this day at home, rediscovering the every day wonder it is to be here. That is all.

Spring training

This made me smile when I uploaded it this morning. If you have your sound turned on, you can hear Sally bark and hear the crack of the bat.



On a sad note, Starflower's pet rabbit Cocoa died last night. Cocoa was the rabbit who had an eye problem last summer. Her eye never quite returned to normal, and I think it may have been bulging due to a tumor underneath. Cocoa had been losing weight recently, and last night she looked very listless. Poor thing.

backyard grouse

Yesterday afternoon, just before sunset, I looked out my back door and saw something in the tamaracks and birches. I took four photos, all blurry, but this one is the best:

Ruffed grouse! There were four of them (only two in the picture) eating buds. These are the first grouse I've seen around the house this year. They do tend to be more visible this time of year for some reason; I recall blogging about them before.

After I took the pictures, Calvin persuaded me to come outdoors to catch while he worked on his slider. It's spring training time, after all!

It is March. Let the optimism begin!

...Thoreau's Journal: 2-Mar-1859
As I go through Cassandra Ponds, I look round on the young oak woods still clad with rustling leaves as in winter, with a feeling as if it were their last rustle before the spring, but then I reflect how faraway still is the time when the new buds swelling will cause these leaves to fall. We thus commonly antedate the spring more than any other season, for we look forward to it with more longing. We talk about spring as at hand before the end of February, and yet it will be two good months, one sixth part of the whole year, before we can go a-maying. There may be a month of solid and uninterrupted winter yet, plenty of ice and good sleighing. We may not even see the bare ground, and hardly the water, and yet we sit down and warm our spirits annually with distant prospect of spring. As if a man were to warm his hands by stretching them toward the rising sun and rubbing them.

-From The Blog of Henry David Thoreau

When winter lasts nearly six months out of the year, one tends to greet any sign of the warmer half with gratitude. Whether it is the higher angle of the sun, the paired flight of ravens, or even just the date on the calendar, the distant prospect of spring does warm the soul.

This morning the thermometer read fifteen degrees below zero. I had to look at the calendar to make sure what day it was, as if the lightening eastern sky at 6 AM didn't tip me off. It is March. The month of thawing, freezing, and thawing some more. The month when, early one morning, the first pair of Canada geese will announce their arrival with raucous calls. The month of sandhill cranes, of red winged blackbirds, robins, juncos, hooded mergansers, and woodcock peenting at twilight. The month when one bright sunny day the temperature will rise to 50 degrees and Minnesotans will drop their daily business and head outdoors to bask in the promise of warmth.

These thoughts warmed me as much as the fire in the wood stove and the wool socks on my feet. Sure there will be more snow; it would not be March without it. There will be ice, and slush, and mud, and rain. But we're getting there. Our spirits are thawing with the rising sun.

gray jay

There is something I love about gray jays. Their buoyant, effortless flight, the way they glide in on silent wings, messengers from within the dark spruce bogs.

Barefoot said it

I haven't been feeling particularly eloquent lately. I have been blaming it on the long Minnesota winter, but fellow Minnesotan Barefoot Gardener has blown that excuse right out of the water. Her latest blog post, Poetry in the Soul, is some of the best writing I have ever read. Anywhere.

the missing pictures

This is what happens when you leave a bottle of home brew out on the step overnight in 0 degree weather. I sure hate to waste good beer like that!

Common redpolls, ~8 AM

Common redpolls, ~3 PM and still eating.

Sunday miscellany

I was going to post a really weird, funny picture of something that happened overnight, but my camera is not communicating well with the computer. So I'll leave you in suspense.

Some time today, 11:47 AM to be exact, Sand Creek Almanac had its 100,000th visitor. Hooray!

I am not a good outdoor Minnesotan. I spent the majority of the weekend indoors. I was going to go for a walk on the nicely crusted-over snow in our woods, but it was a bit windy and chilly and the walk just never materialized. I'm waiting for a sunny, calm 30 degree day for my outdoor fun.

Instead, I played banjo. I realized I was hitting a rut with that instrument, thinking I would maybe have to drive to the cities for a lesson, but today I went through my books and found a few songs I could maybe learn. I tried a few, and assigned myself two of them to learn within a week. I need to get back into the groove of practicing.

My bird feeders are being visited by about a hundred common redpolls, and I am going through an incredible amount of Nyjer seed every day. I had pictures of that too, but...oh well.

I'll try to get this camera thing resolved soon!

Northern hawk owls

The Sax Zim Bog is well known as the place to see northern owl species in Minnesota in winter. Even when there isn't a spectacular owl irruption like in the winter of 2004-2005, great gray owls and northern hawk owls are regularly seen around the bog. Mike Hendrickson, organizer of the Winter Bird Festival, has been posting maps of owl sightings in Minnesota this winter on his blog, Colder By The Lake. Many of these sightings are concentrated in and around the Sax Zim bog. I'm not sure if that's because there are in fact more owls there, or if it's because that's where people tend to go to look for owls. Northern Minnesota has extensive areas of coniferous forests and open lowlands, where these owls like to hang out, so I suspect there are many more owls in remote areas that go unseen by humans.

On a cold winter day, however, it is nice to ride around in a school bus and see birds from the road. Lynne and I spent Saturday riding around the bog, occasionally stopping at feeding stations. We saw white winged crossbills, pine grosbeaks, evening grosbeaks, a bald eagle, common and hoary redpolls (see Lynne's post for some great photos!), gray jays, black capped chickadees, and at last, my first-ever boreal chickadee.

We stopped by this abandoned farmstead when someone spotted a speck in a treetop across the field. Spotting scopes were set up, and after much discussion it was decided the speck was definitely northern hawk owl-shaped. In the meantime, we saw a northern shrike. I stayed in the bus because my feet were freezing...long story. When you're birding in northern Minnesota in winter, it is never a good idea to wear athletic shoes, even if you do have wool socks. But I sacrificed my warm boots to Calvin so his feet wouldn't freeze when his class went ice fishing on Friday. Good mom, right?

The bus didn't get a quarter mile down the road when someone spotted a northern hawk owl in a tree very close to the road!

I was happy to get such a good look at this one. Before last weekend, I had only seen a northern hawk owl once before, in 2005, and I didn't get to see it close up. On this trip I got good looks at three northern hawk owls, including one near Hasty Brook. The great gray owls were being more secretive; not a one was spotted during the festival, although some individuals were seen that week. Oh well, birding is never a sure thing!

female pine grosbeak

The bright red males usually get all the attention, but isn't she pretty with her gray body and rusty head?

This photo was taken Saturday at a feeding station along Arkola Road in the Sax Zim bog.

Sax Zim Festival, Part 1

After being sick for the majority of the week, I was starting to have doubts about whether I would be up for a whole weekend of birding. I was never officially diagnosed, but I think I had the flu which was trying to morph into pneumonia, until I found the magic pills on Thursday.

I was glad Lynne was driving for the weekend. The flu just kind of knocks you out, so even when you feel better it ain't all that great. She picked me up around 1 on Friday, and I got to give her a tour of our new living quarters, which she saw last year in a much more primitive state, when we were not living there. I suggested the scenic route to Duluth, and we had a good drive. Really, I get nervous around people but Lynne is definitely someone I can relax with and enjoy some good conversation.

We got to our motel across from the Miller Hill Mall in Duluth, checked in, then proceeded to Meadowlands some forty minutes away. We got there with plenty of time to check in, buy sweatshirts (I'm wearing mine right now; they are so comfortable!) and find good seats for the evening presentation. The speaker for the night was Larry Weber, a retired science teacher who does a weekly radio program for the morning show on KUMD, my favorite radio station.

Little did I know, with a strange twist of fate we got to sit with Larry during dinner! He is a fascinating person. One of the things I like about his radio show is, the colder it gets, the more enthusiastic he gets about nature. It is all genuine. He really does get up and go for a walk at 5 AM every day...and here in Minnesota, that's quite an accomplishment. His program was accompanied by old fashioned slides... no PowerPoint here!

The program was over about 8:30, and given the 45 minute drive to our motel, and the 6:30 bus boarding time the next day, we had no time to relax. We were about to go look for some serious birds in the morning.

test nuthatch

I'm just testing Picasa Web Albums here. I was frustrated to the point of shouting obscenities with the photo editing and sharing software provided by the makers of the two digital cameras we have, so I downloaded Picasa 3. So far, so good. Now maybe editing my Sax Zim photos will go more smoothly.

This picture was also taken to test my skills with the Kodak EasyShare Z760 before I took it to Sax Zim. I have mostly been using a Canon PowerShot A540 for the photos on this blog, but the zoom capabilities are limited. I don't know why I haven't used the Kodak more often. Oh yeah, the EasyShare software is a pain. I like the results I get with the camera though, so I think from now on it will be my default camera.

back from the bog

Good birds. Good times. And yes, there just do happen to be deer rib cages hanging from trees every now and then. The gray jays and boreal chickadees like it.

More later. I just arrived home and had a wonderful salmon anniversary dinner with cheesecake and Merlot to top it off. That, and the fact that I had to wake up at 4:30 this morning (to see something absolutely amazing, and sort of out of season!), makes me kind of woozy.

emerging

I finally feel good this morning. Yesterday I cheated and took some penicillin that we had lying around here, and two hours later my fever was gone and I actually felt alive. If I had gone to the doctor I would probably have had to pay the $22 copay, $150 deductible, with no guarantee of getting anything more than advice to rest, drink fluids, etc.

It's a beautiful sunny day, and I'm off to Sax Zim in a few hours with Lynne! I hope to share a picture of a boreal chickadee, or gray jay, or northern hawk owl when I get back! Have a great weekend!

still resting up...

Just a quick note to say I'm home again today, still not feeling quite right. I've been resting, drinking lots of fluids, and trying to let a fever run its course every now and then before I snuff it out with ibuprofen so I can sleep. I am determined, however, to be feeling better by tomorrow so I can make it to the Sax Zim Winter Birding Festival with Lynne of Hasty Brook!

I'm getting bored. I've watched nearly all the Cheers and Northern Exposure I can handle. I finally have the TV to myself, only to realize in hundreds of channels of satellite TV there is really nothing on. Well, except maybe Sponge Bob.

You're up one day, the next you're down

That's the way that the world goes round
You're up one day, the next you're down
It's a half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown
But that's the way that the world goes round

-John Prine

I was going to write last weekend about how amazingly good I felt physically. I went out running both Saturday and Sunday right after sunset, which I have decided is my favorite time to run, at least this time of year. I spent some time outdoors Sunday afternoon catching pitches for Calvin. I sat cross legged on my yoga mat, playing Irish tunes on flute. I felt positively giddy.

Then on Monday I started coughing and could not stop. Today, Wednesday, I still feel pretty miserable; in fact I should be in bed right now. Oh well, maybe something's trying to tell me I need some down time. I spent yesterday sleeping and watching Cheers and Northern Exposure DVD's on the laptop computer. I also watched the huge flock of redpolls at the feeder, and I think maybe, just maybe, I saw one hoary redpoll mixed in with the common ones. But how do you know when redpolls are constantly in motion, flying off into the trees at the least little cue?

I listened to most of Obama's press conference the other night. All I can say is, I have a lot of respect for the man for taking on this enormous mess we're in. I just wish Congress would heed his pleas to end the bipartisan bickering! I heard one Republican congressman use the term "our side" to describe voting on the economic stimulus package. We're all in this together folks. There is no "us" and "them". We're not still in high school throwing a pep rally for the big game against "them". It's our country's future at stake, not the future of the Democratic or Republican or Green or Pink or Purple Party. Not that I agree with everything about the stimulus package, and I don't know enough about economics to know if it will work or not, but then again, does anyone?

I do like some of the things Obama is talking about, like making our buildings more energy efficient. I think it is insane to build any structure that is going to waste energy in its everyday functioning. But I felt it was ironic he was speaking in Elkhart, Indiana, the RV capitol of the USA. Is it really about getting back on track and fixing credit so Americans can start buying gas guzzling behemoths again? Where does the question "how much is enough?" enter the picture? Can we expect the economy to grow indefinitely, without eventually killing its host?

We need a paradigm shift here. And I don't think Obama, or any mere mortal, can single handedly accomplish that.

Just the ramblings of a sick woman here. Time for some more Northern Exposure.

Dirty Snow Moon

I didn't see the full moon last night. I think the entire state of Minnesota was shrouded in thick rain clouds that kept the cold air out and sent intermittent downbursts of rain pushed by gusts of wind. This morning the snow level is down considerably, revealing all that was covered up and forgotten when the first layer of snow fell.

It was strange to hear the wind and rain on the roof last night. Both Starflower and Mr. Attitude were awakened by it and came to me for reassurance. After months of winter quiet, the wind and rain had the restless sound of a giant creature awakening. Spring is on its way.

I am staying home today. I could use the rest, and I figured my coworkers could use a day without me coughing and hacking in the same room.

redpoll rescue

Just when I thought I had absolutely nothing to blog about, except for whining about the 24 hour flu bug that kept me in bed all day yesterday with Sally and Bloof--and you really didn't want to hear the details of that now did you?--something amazing happens.

It was time to leave for work and school with Mr. Attitude. He hasn't been too keen on waking up for the 6:50 bus lately, so I let him sleep in until 7:10 and drop him off on my way to work. Just as he was getting his socks on by the woodstove, I heard:

"Mom, there's a bird on the ground outside the window!"

I ran to take a look. There was indeed a common redpoll that looked like it had flown into the window. We haven't had too many bird/window collisions here; our feeders are far enough away from the patio door that birds tend not to mistake window reflections for open space.

I went outside to check on it. As I gently picked it up, it made a loud, complaining noise I've never heard from a redpoll. That was a good sign. Its neck, wings and legs looked like they were supposed to, and its eyes were open. It was just stunned, and it would probably be okay after resting up a bit.

My camera just happened to be in the car, a few steps away, and of course I thought: "Bloggable moment!"



I was amazed at how tiny this bird was; no more than a golf ball sized bit of feathers with wings, head and tail. I've seen huge flocks of common redpolls at the feeders lately, but never had the chance to examine one up close. This is a female; she does not have any pink on her breast like the males.

I could have left the bird by the seed tray in the first rays of morning sun and it may have been all right, but there was one problem. We have a few outdoor cats that hang around here, and one of them would likely have made a meal of a sluggish bird. Mr. Attitude and The Hermit insisted that they did not want that to happen, so I found a shoe box, lined it with some paper towels, and put the bird inside. Mr. Attitude carried the box on his lap on the way to school, all the while checking on it while I told him about redpolls. The little bird was alert and sitting up by the time we got to school.

When I got to work I found a spot near the edge of the parking lot where there were trees nearby. I set the box on the ground, opened it up, and the redpoll took one look and flew into the trees. More than likely there are a few flocks of redpolls at feeders in town here, and I hope this bird finds them. I think it will; these birds are wired to hang out in groups.

A redpoll by itself isn't really significant. Or is it? The great words of our times carry a message:

That which you do unto the least of these, you have done unto me. -Jesus

No act of kindness, however small, is ever forgotten. -Aesop

I am proud of Mr. Attitude for his kind heart.