I awoke to the chickens clucking today. I wonder, since cocks crow, do crows cock? And do hummingbirds really need all of that sugar because they are so hyper, or are they hyper because they keep drinking all of that sugar water?

Belated Pics

from the morning of my birthday, while I sat outside enjoying an espresso....


It flew directly overhead.


Then there was a brief flyby of white doves. (Or are they snow geese? They flew in a triangular formation. Do doves do that?)


Followed by three more balloons.

Yesterday was my first dip of the summer into the pool. Missed attending my high school 25th reunion in Indiana.

Today: church, rock-hounding, attending a vigil for the grandfather who died of one of my staff, and talking by phone with friends.

House is getting a face lift: painted biege with cream trim and new window frames (was white with blue trim), and viga-style porch supports. A mess right now, but will be nice.

Still lots of birds feeding in my yard as hundreds of wildflowers (are they really wild if I deliberately seeded them?) bloom in a small patch by my porch. The morning glories seem particularly healthy.

Had a great birthday yesterday (actually, I've manage to celebrate it over two weeks!). Wanted to post a pic or two, but can't get the time today to download from camera, resize and upload to computer. Maybe I'm too old for these things!

I heard the word "legitimated" on the radio this morning. Drove me nuts! Isn't it supposed to be "legitimize"?

Looked it up in the dictionary. "Legitimate" is an actual word. In fact, to "legitimize" is defined as "to legitimate," and "legitimate" is the word that the dictionary goes on to define.

Ooo, if I was in charge of that English language....

A beautiful, red finch
Inspects an empty feeder.
I fill the feeder
Common sparrows come to feed.

This is not a teaching.
It is what happens.

Why does windshield wiper fluid come in quantities of one gallon when my car only holds 7/8s of one gallon?

The word "entitled" bothers me. It makes it sound like a book is deserving of something, rather than just "titled."

Roses grow behind my house.
Splashes of hot color
on green
on brown.

I can see them through window and screen
bespeckled by water droplets
as I take my morning shower.

If I cut them, arrange them
beautifully in a vase on my table
I will enjoy them more
often as I pass by
throughout the day.

I will miss concentrated moments
of beauty in the morning
in the shower.

Roses grow still behind my house.

yeh. still posting. just quiet these days. actually, i am writing lots in my head. have simply been too busy to get it to the web. please stand by.

When to Use a Cell Phone

My friend, Jeff, suggests the following:

Use of a cell phone and texting is appropriate only at times when you would feel comfortable pulling out a crossword puzzle and doing that.

If someone is talking to you, would you start doing a crossword puzzle in that middle of that conversation? Would you do a crossword puzzle while driving?

My Old Boss

Trish, from my Dancing Deer bakery days in Boston.... She, too, is involved in ending homelessness. Check out her very creative approach.

And you can click the "Donate" button to the right in my FirstGiving box to support my sleeping out in the Duke City Sleep Out. I will be sleeping out this Friday. If you are in town, join us at Menaul School. We will be featuring The Mad Kings live, showing "Skid Row" and "The Pursuit of Happiness," plus speakers and lots of activities!

Number Twenty-Five

My favorite author is Hermann Hesse. My favorite musician is Bob Dylan. My favorite movie is “Babette’s Feast.” My favorite color is purple. I don’t have a favorite number.

Number Twenty-Four

I try to live with what I call “travel mind.” You know that experience of being in another country and letting everything be, just as it is? Of having curiosity to see how it is that people do what they do? Of noticing conversations, buildings, the sound of crinkling paper as the grocer packages a purchase, the light, traditions, the flow of traffic…all without judgment? Travel does that for me. It allows me to be present in a different way, one that is really part of the moment without the need to control it. I try to live that way here at home in my day-to-day routines. I try to have “travel mind” always.

Number Twenty-Three

I am annoyed when people bounce one of their legs continuously in a nervous jitter while seated.