This is perhaps my favorite video ever sent to me on the internet. Nothing like birdsong to cheer a gal up!!!
Everybody Needs a Bit of Cheering Up!
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Category Archives: Animals
Rat Receives Gold Medal for Bravery in Cambodia
Read why by clicking on the link below. Amazing story:
Dog Days of August: Stella’s Best Leaf Jumps of All Time
This video makes me regret having never lived in a place with enough leaves to do this. One of the best short videos I’ve ever seen. I watched it four times! Joyful.
Kleptoparasitic Tendencies
Kleptoparasitic Tendencies
At first sight of the sperm whales, the fishermen all cringe,
for these felons of the ocean loiter on the fringe,
and when they hear the motors hauling in the lines,
each poacher dives to steal the fish, hook after hook, and dines.
The perils of the ocean include gale-force wind and rain,
but this larceny of sperm whales is the larger pain.
To see sperm whales targeting fishing boats for an easy meal, go HERE.
Prompt words for the day are fringe, rain, first, felon and fish.
Bird of the Day: Female Vermilion Flycatcher May 29, 2020
I’ve been outside so much during this Shelter in Place period that I’ve been seeing lots of birds. I think Granny’s Bird of the Day prompt has ended so I’m just going to do my own private bird of the day for awhile. If anyone else wants to do so and link to it, just do so in comments. My friend Paul Hart, an avid birdwatcher and genius photographer, identified this for me.
Dogs and Cats, NaPoWriMo 2020, Day 29
Dogs and Cats
Cats are more bendable, dogs more dependable.
Cats are more stretchable, dogs much more fetchable.
Dogs rip and tear and their kisses are wetter.
Cats donate hair to your favorite sweater.
Dogs howl at the moon and bark at the neighbors.
Curling and stretching the extent of the labors
of cats whereas dogs display energy plus––
harassing the mailman or chasing a bus.
Both species have four feet, fur and a tail,
fall into two classes: female and male,
and when there is breakage, neither is to blame.
But that’s the extent of the ways they’re the same.
For day 29 of NaPoWriMo 2020, we were to write a poem about our pets.
Midnight Safari
Midnight Safari
Tonight when I came into my house after a swim, maybe around 11:30 p.m., I went into the kitchen and there was a snake about a foot long and a half inch thick coiled in my sink! It slithered under a plate and for some reason I ran water in the sink and he slipped down the drain onto the blades of the garbage disposal which were about five inches below the level of the sink!! It took some time for the water to drain, and then the flaps on the drain kept me from being able to look down and see if I could see him–and if he was moving. I put my ear close, trying to hear him, but heard no movement. Finally, I went to get a flashlight, put on long gloves and got a set of long-handled kitchen tongs. When I pushed back the rubber flaps on the drain and turned on the flashlight, I could see the snake coiled and it was moving! So it hadn’t drowned. I went and got a wastebasket with a plastic liner bag and after 6 tries, finally picked up the snake with the tongs, dropped it in the can and released it outside. What a relief!!! This is only the second snake I’ve found inside in 19 years. No, it didn’t even occur to me to turn on the garbage disposal. Ew!!!
P.S. No, this isn’t a photo of tonight’s snake. There wasn’t time to take a photo. This is the first snake I found in the house, coiled behind the umbrella stand. The one tonight was shades of brown. Always a new thrill.
Cat Meditation
(Click on first photo and then on arrows to enlarge photos.)
Cat Meditation
Entwined in my jacket, spread out on my quilt,
my cats take up the space they frequent with so little guilt.
I wonder what they visualize in their cache of dreams?
Is their sleep as peaceful as it always seems?
The dogs may twitch and bark and reach out paws in times of rest,
but cat sleep is so tranquil. They “do” their sleep the best.
They need no permission to tuck their chores away
and wander inward to their dreams, be it night or day.
Oh that I could rest away from all the world’s mad clatter.
The dreams they dream upon your lap are helpful in the latter—
their purr the loveliest mantra to help your mind unfurl
as you become their mattress, pinned beneath their curl.
Words for the day are purr, visualize, helpful, cache and jacket.
Annie
Annie
My wild girl
gone so tame,
when repeatedly
you bleat
Now, Now, Now.
What is it
you ask for?
Perhaps
this planned sleep
after 18
long years together?
There is
no way to meet
your demands
but one.
Good-bye
old friend.
Go to sleep.
The Wild Life
The Wild Life
If you’re yearning for the wild life but haven’t a clue
about how to go about it, here’s a hint for you.
Gratify your need by visiting the zoo
to ogle hippopotami and maybe get a view
of zebra or a lion or a cheetah or a gnu.
Snap photos of a reindeer or a caribou.
See monkeys in their cages or an eagle in its aerie.
Hang out at the petting zoo if eagles are too scary.
Give the lambs sweet clover and all the ponies oats.
Pat their little heads and stroke their hairy coats.
Stop by aerated pools to touch a koi’s smooth scales,
keeping a proper distance from the killer whales.
In this modern world where violence is rife,
one need not act out to enjoy the wild life.
So put away your crossbow, your rifle or your knife
and head out to the game park with your kids and wife.
You need not stalk your game through the forest or the fens.
Better to hunt your wildlife through a camera lens.
Prompt words today are aerate, scary, zoo, gratify and give.
