Hummingbirds

How nice to spot -- and photograph -- the first hummingbird I see this year.

Mallards on Gnome's Front Lawn

Gnome Pulls Four Gs

Mac invited me to fly in his biplane.

I enjoy this photo taken by my Mr. Mallory because it looks as if I am piloting Mac's biplane.

Waiting for Mac to board the biplane. I am buckled in and ready to roll -- if you pardon the pun.

I look as if I belong in the biplane!

Instrument panel in the cockpit of an acrobatic plane.

I look pretty perky, so I think Mr. Mallory took this photo before we pulled four Gs in acrobatics.

Mac teaches Mr. Mallory to use the film camera which he will use to film the acrobatic biplane in the air.

Note the serendipitous butterfly above the cockpit.

The biplane seems quick and its engine sounds smooth. We did a barrel roll, an aerelon and a loop before I felt a bit queasy; otherwise I would have stayed in the air doing acrobatics for as long as Mac wanted to fly that afternoon. At the same time, I had to return to town to read as part of the induction ceremony for Alpha Chi, and I did not want to look a bit green while I stood at the podium.

Kettled Gnome

I photographed these fantastical creatures outside my back door this week. The garden seemed eerily quiet as the smaller birds hunkered down to wait for the threatening figures circling above or resting in the Pecan tree to leave.



A group of vultures is called a venue; a venue circling overhead is called a kettle.

Gnome's Thursday Evening

Wild Bird Rescue held its first celebrity roast as a fundraiser -- a marked success with potential for more in years to come. Our MC, pictured below with Mr. Roastee, made us chuckle and laugh throughout the evening. I look forward to next year's fund raiser, and have started to wonder who will serve as our celebrity guest.

Wide-angled Gnome

I found collaboration from the hound when I looked for a photograph with the wide-angle lens.

New Patient at Wild Bird Rescue

Gnome Rustles Feathers

The gang in between feeder runs.

White-winged doves visit us daily.

A pair of quail live at Riverbend.

First time I have seen Cedar Waxwings here, but then, first time I look through a new pair of binoculars instead of my old smokey-lensed pair I found in the garage decades ago.

Below, the dachs has his thoughts on the bird chase of the day.

Life on the Gnome

I made my way across the street after looking at the T3 owned by Guy with Beard.

Fluff has been around for while helping me pick up pecans. I noticed this morning she has found a mate; the two of them have been cavorting along the fence and in the courtyard. As they say, he found himself a good catch, for she lives in a nice tree, protected all around by fencing, and has a bowl of water nearby. Entertainment is provided by the spaniel's constant attempts to climb the fence.

Upon leaving the building, John scampered down ahead of me, as he often does, frisky fellow; I asked him to look up for me.

Yesterday I spotted the elusive Petunia the Skunk skulking among the petunias. After all these years, I discovered that Petunia is really a male, so I've renamed him Petunio.

I've kept my nose in books lately. Victorian Period with Dr. Ponytail and History of the English Language with Dr. Hair have delighted me these past few weeks. I've managed, though, to squeeze in a bit of photography. I'm delighted with the new Nikons D3 and D300 which I use alternately.

Libro de Arena

Teresa ha escrito:

Hoy he recibido este correo, quizá explique algunas cosas... y aunque al ponerlo aquí me esté saltando su principal mensaje... ahí va:

"Usted tiene el hábito de juntar objetos inútiles en este momento, creyendo que un día (no sabe cuando) podrá precisar de ellos.

Usted tiene el hábito de juntar dinero sólo para no gastarlo, pues piensa en el futuro podrá hacer falta.

Usted tiene hábito de guardar ropa, zapatos, muebles, utensilios domésticos y otras cosas del hogar que ya no usa hace bastante tiempo.

..Y dentro suyo?...Usted tiene el hábito de guardar broncas, resentimientos, tristezas, miedos, etc.

No haga eso. Es anti-prosperidad.

Es preciso crear un espacio, un vacío, para que las cosas nuevas lleguen a su vida.

Es preciso eliminar lo que es inútil en usted y en su vida, para que la prosperidad venga.

Es la fuerza de ese vacío que absorberá y atraerá todo lo que usted desea.

Mientras usted está material o emocionalmente cargando cosas viejas e inútiles, no habrá espacio abierto para nuevas oportunidades.

Los bienes precisan circular. Limpie los cajones, los armarios, el cuarto del fondo, el garaje.

Dé lo que usted no usa más.

La actitud de guardar un montón de cosas inútiles amarra su vida.

No son los objetos guardados que estancan su vida, sino el significado de la actitud de guardar.

Cuando se guarda, se considera la posibilidad de falta, de carencia.

Es creer que mañana podrá faltar, y usted no tendrá medios de proveer sus necesidades.

Con esa postura, usted está enviando dos mensajes para su cerebro y para su vida:

1º... usted no confía en el mañana

2º... usted cree que lo nuevo y lo mejor NO son para usted, ya que se alegra con guardar cosas viejas e inútiles.

Deshágase de lo que perdió el color y el brillo y deje entrar lo nuevo en su casa... y dentro de si mismo...

Amigos queridos, después de leer esto, no lo guarden".

http://www.librodearena.com/materiaoscura/post/2008/02/23/el-principio-del-vacio-

New Yorker Gnome

I have long made staying at the Algonquin one of the highlights of my visits to Manhattan. Last week, Galway Kinnell's visit with Lee Quinn embellished my experience. Among many clever things, he said that "to tell the truth, I was getting sick of rhymes and meter, just plain sick of it, and I quit writing rhyme and meter forever." He is a memorizer and recited Yeats' Innisfree poem; later he recited Dylan Thomas' work. To answer another of Lee's questions he said he was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, and that he felt, as a young man, that no one had written poetry after Poe. Then, and this one went over most people's heads, that he "fell upon Emily Dickinson with great joy." Upon saying that, he looked out into the audience with a grin, a mischevious grin that prompted people to laugh. He told about the time he was asked to teach a year of Walt Whitman's work. The book they sent him lay "around the house for a while and then picked it up and read it and realized why he [Whitman] was so unpopular. His poems were awful." But the sixteenth poem he read was beautiful." He added that "Whitman is appealing because of the music in his poetry" and "Whitman had shown himself to be an adventurer close to Dickinson" an observation that echoes remarks I've heard my dear professor of poetry say during lecture. Lee asked him if there was a poet he considered risky. I do not know what she meant by "risky," but Kinnell thought for a moment and began to say Dylan Thomas, but folks in the audience had to remind him of the name. He said Thomas's work was so beautiful that he read him only once per week to give himself time to forget his style. Hold on and don't follow someone else's music, he implied. It was at this point that he began to recite one of Dylan's poems. Afterwards, he said he "felt thrilled when one of my students wrote a great poem . . . and properly morose when they did not." What is something to tell an emerging poet asked Lee: Keep your senses alert; maintain sense power and facilities, the alertness that you were born with.

Gnome in Diner

Love diners. Do not love the pain in my belly after eating the food. Sally said the oil they use to cook affects her belly, too. I adore the romantic notions now behind Route 66, its diners, and all that they imply: A part of Americana that is cherished by many people; a part of Americana that entices some folks to hop in car and drive to other states down Route 66, stopping at diners for a friendly experience while they rest from the images flashing past as they roll down the highways.

Slideshow

Evelyn sent me a slideshow of beautiful photographs. Don't know who took them to thank her/him. I began to wonder about what she had to do to put herself in the position to take these wonderful photos. There is a clue in the mention in one of the captions of a snowmobile. Click on link above to watch the slideshow.

At Photo Club

We practiced Black & White photography this evening at our local photography club. Indy explained that for digital we can fiddle with the contrast during post processing on the computer. This is my fave photo, black & and white or color.

Sunset and Clouds

Gnome at Sunset

I went out to the lake to photograph the sunset when a fisherman appeared with his net. I told him that if he stopped by the Wild Bird Rescue Center nearby, he would find some of the photos I took of him. I like to share my photos with my subjects.


A nice man brought an injured pigeon to Wild Bird Rescue Center. I had just finished practicing photography. While chatting with BirdManBob the man drove up in a Cadillac. "Maybe he'll donate some money," I said to BirdManBob. The man handed us a pet carrier containing a white pigeon. He said his dog had caught her and that he'd chased the dog around for a while. BirdManBob lead him inside the center. When folks bring injured birds, they fill out a form with information on the bird's situation, such as where they found it, what more or less occurred to cause its injuries, and then if they wish they include their address. Sometimes they leave a donation. Inside the nursing room in the center, I held the pigeon while BirdManBob checked her for injuries, then dabbed antibiotic ointment on her wound, after which he weighed her, and then tucked her in her cage. Aside from looking frightened, I think she'll do okay.

Bird Doo on Gnome's Car

Someone buy my T-bird so that I can park my station wagon in the garage again.

Gnome's Afternoon with Hodge

Time spent as a blur: Time goes by fast when you are having fun.

Gnome Downtown with Soos and Ellen

Good Grief, Goes Gnome

This is a photo of one of the fellows with whom I share my crop of pecans every year. Since we had a bumper crop this year, we had enough to take to Jean and Jack, who nibble on pecans every day for breakfast.


A large monument marks the original resting place of long gone -- but never forgotten -- cousin William.


The marker for an unknown departed seemed especially thought-provoking.


Good Grief! Not sellable, and so I remain the proud owner of this thing. No one wanted it as much as I do, and it reflected in the final amount at the auction: Not even close to its Blue Book value, which is the least I expected. Fine, I'll keep it in my garage and I will do so gladly, for surely I have better business sense than to let go of this car for a pittance.