Christmas Day Feasting

      Our bird feeders received an exciting number of birds on Christmas Day. Inca and White-winged doves, Red-winged Blackbirds, Cardinals, House finches, Goldfinches, Carolina Wren, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Common Grackle, English Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows (first time I spot this one), Spotted Towhee, and Juncos, included the pink-sided.

Sim Time in T-38

H.-P. demonstrated an air show. Four minutes long and fascinating for those of us who enjoy aviation. 

Please allow for some time to upload.

        The instructors at Sheppard Air Force Base honored me by allowing me some time in the simulators (sim time) for the T-6 and the T-38. I found it a unique experience that helped me know more about what our aviators see when they are slicing through the sky at 400 mph. The complexities of flying those amazing aircraft, the T-6 and the T-38, gave me greater appreciation for aviation and for my own plane, the 180- horsepower Cherokee I call The Scissortail. But I noted simplicities about them, too, such as the ease with which I could handle the power settings and let the plane glide toward the runway, which deepened my understanding to the power settings in my plane. All that I learned in the simulator, including all that I cannot yet articulate and continue to assimilate, I can employ now during my flying.

The control station for one of the simulators. The instructors can input weather conditions, emergency situations -- including the image of a burning truck in the middle of the runway -- place the aircraft anywhere on the globe and at any altitude, or pause the simulations.

Bud took off and right away did a couple of aileron turns. Here he is upside-down.

H.-P. tossed in a few surprising glitches into the flights, such as a thunderstorm that he kept moving in front of the aircraft, or severe meteorological conditions for landing. 

(Note the mischievous smirk upon his lips!)

H.-P. demonstrates flying alongside another T-38.

Bud took this image from above me. 

The purple gloves Ily gave me for Christmas kept me warm during my sim time.

We took all these images with the Nikon V 1 and did zero post processing in the digital darkroom.

Poetry: Blues at Sunrise





Barred Owl at sunrise.





Blues at Sunrise

The band of blue jays outside my window
played raucous tunes in the winds
dancing from branch to branch
trumpets blaring, horns resonating
clarinets agitating in the tree
as if they were jazz men tone deaf
They played until the barred owl
swooped then blue feathers skedaddled
into the blue sky and finally in silence
the owl faced the sun and slept.

Sky's Eyes Say Save God's Creatures

      A dog, Sky, looks after things as the executive director's assistant at Wild Bird Rescue. He greets volunteers, gleefully, welcomes visitors, watches over patients, and in between everything carries his toys around the sanctuary. The marvel about Sky is that he is deaf and was rescued from Craig's List where he was offered for free, a potential victim for dog-fighting. Sky needs assistance operating the rescue center, which, is, for rescuing birds, which, a dog would rather be chasing around, but not this dog. He may chase birds around if they are in need of medical assistance, and that's where you come in. Please donate to Wild Bird Rescue so that Sky can continue the organization's mission to save and rehabilitate wild birds.

Scampering Under the Trees

Albino Goose at the Christmas Bird Count

Penny studying sparrows. 

       I joined Penny's group for the Christmas Bird Count. Penny took charge of the area around Lake Wichita, a hot spot for shore birds. I took along the new Nikon V 1 with the 30-110mm lens. Fortunately for us, the wind blew at less than four knots in 30 F temps. The sun had not risen, and on the glass-like water we could already see hundreds of birds. For a complete list of our count compiled by Penny, see her blog post.

The Chat Trail at Lake Wichita.

       From the spillway of Lake Wichita, along the Barrow Pit, through the Chat Trail to the parking lot, we counted birds from the grasses to the sky above us. Penny has the final count, but I think I can say with confidence that over one thousand cormorants flew in flocks overhead for most of the morning, some flocks with about two hundred birds. Canada Geese seemed numerous, too, in the water and flying overhead.

An albino Canada Goose in a small flock flying overhead. 

      Of note, we spotted Wood Ducks, Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, the awesome Great Blue Heron, a snipe, a Rock Wren, the Ring-billed and Bonapart Gulls, American Pelicans, and a Belted Kingfisher. East of the bridge along the old part of Taft Boulevard, I spotted another kingfisher. He was hunting, hovering over the water, and then suddenly diving into the surface.
      We spotted, too, a bullfinch, White-crowned, Song, and Harris' Sparrows, a Red-tailed Hawk, and the usual gang: Bewick's Wren, Mallards, Pied-billed Grebes, Meadowlarks, Blue Jays, American Robins, Starlings Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds, Coots, and Eurasian-collared Doves.

One of the coves along Lake Wichita. 

Tundra Swans and Company

     Waterfowl days, yesterday and today. Today's count: Forty-eight Tundra Swans, including many juveniles, in a wheat field off FM 1180. Accompanying them, an impressive list: Canada, Cackling, Snow, and Greater White-fronted Geese. Ducks, such as the northern shoveler, avocets, and gulls, too.

                                        

Terrarium

     Couldn't help myself when I spotted everything one needs to create a terrarium at Smith's Farms. I scooped up a nice glass dome and three plants to build a new terrarium. I had a little statue in a drawer for at least a decade, and when I saw my new terrarium, I knew he had to stand now in the middle of the plants. Moss I found in the driveway went into it, too, as well as a stone I picked up during a hike somewhere.

Rainy These Days, and Loving it

An old hangar viewed from inside the truck, rain sprinkling on the window. 

Driving past one of the bunkers on a golf course.

Wreaths Across America in Vernon

      The Civil Air Patrol members placed wreaths on the graves of the fallen heroes, young and old. Below, a young cadet salutes after placing a wreath upon a soldier's grave.

Photo by Captain Mary Latimer.

Poetry with Matthew: Infinity

           Professor Matthew introduced me to Juan Felipe Herrera's work. Inspiring. Herrera writes and sings Hispanic, Jazz, Egyptian, color, images, sounds -- everything he experiences. He photographs angles that pop out to him and to no one else. I felt entranced by the new work in my life, by my new hero. Later, Matthew said, Herrera wrote, "She got me," about my poem, an honor to me.

Infinity
After Juan Felipe Herrera

Lists of abstracts I thought
as I pondered Juan's poems
Adjectives placed before nouns
that in such proximity
astound
Some lines astound this reader
meandering the skyways
in lazy eights, then in chanderelles
an astounded reader pilots her plane
Where to go while we are up here?
In my mind I hear the sounds
of the hooves as the horses pass by
pulling the Christmas carriages
the couples tiddly with Champagne
the children giddy by the ride
their laughter gleesome to me --
turn again my eyes to my book
and to Juan's astounding line I succumb --

first, you must know the secret, there is no poem.

Port's Cold Ears

        Port will turn twenty years of age in 2012. He still jumps around friskily, and loudly exclaims his desire for food, cookies, bones, and his need to visit the boy's room outdoors. BARK! He has lost some of his hearing -- which he milks to no end when he wants his own way -- and some of his sight. He has lost, too, some of that extra adiposity that used to keep him warm during the winter days. So for those fewer and fewer times he shuffles outside to relieve himself, sniff things, and do all those doggy things about which I'd rather not know, he wears a sweater. Here he is returning from his few minutes outside in the cold temps of winter.

Fast Asleep

In the warm morning sun.

Owl in the Morning, Ready for Bed

Barred Owl.

Of Owl, Squirrels, and Blue Jays

        Quite a bit of activity in the trees this morning. Three squirrels chased each other, and Blue Jays pounced on the Barred Owl, until the owl chased them away.

Emissions Go Global

        An article written by Justin Gillis and published in the New York Times states that emissions rose by 5.9 percent in 2010. Coal represents more than half that growth.

A power power plant near Vernon, Texas, burns coal to produce electricity.

Power lines run along power plant.

Harold Cemetery in the foreground; power plant in the background.

A long coal train along the highway near the power plant.

         Clouds, dead trees, a cemetery, and HDR technology show the ominous effect of the pollution of emissions. 

Clouds Remained After an Inch of Rain

Old hangars at Kickapoo Downtown Airport.

Wheat fields of runway 33L under the sun's rays.

Attebury Grain Elevator.

To Fly During a Break in the Rain

    Rain. The sweet, sweet, cherished sound upon my roof, and then, looking outside into the garden, the droplets of rain glistening in the sun! An angel is celebrating a birthday, a friend used to say. Hodge, my dog, climbed up on the top of the sofa, and along with Coco and me, watched it rain.
    It was after lunch and a couple of rain showers that the sky lifted. "Gotta go," said MyMrMallory. To fly, he meant, for no other reason could exist when the clouds lift and the rain stops.

Aircraft ready to go.

Focussing on the task at hand; actually, when flying an airplane one focusses on several tasks at hand.

The clouds and the sun, with a bit of rain in the distance. What a view!

Turning to base.

On base turning to final for runway one-seven.