Be Not Idle

One of the Baby Rabbits - the quality is poor either because I was moving too much or the camera was zoomed in too close.

Mother Rabbit and her brood - the only photo in which her head was up. The rest of the time, she was grooming the heck out of them. She actually managed to flip one of them (on the far left) onto its back. It kept nursing, its white belly exposed and its legs kicking  a little.

Memo to everyone: Neither dogs nor cats are children.  As lovable as they may be, taking them to work will not teach them to apply themselves more in (obedience) school so they can follow in the footsteps of their Old Man (or Old Lady, as the case may be).  To do that, you will need to “engineer” your pet a la the Underpeople in Cordwainer Smith’s excellent stories. 

Yes, yes, I know that “Take Your Dog to Work Day” was originally conceived as a way to encourage people to adopt unwanted animals. But really, I think it would be counterproductive. When I worked in Cubicle Land(tm), the last thing I’d want was a pet after comforting my co-worker crying because our manager’s dog had killed and eaten hers.

This segues nicely to a clip on WUSA (Channel 9 in Washington DC). The blonde babe in the sunglasses is my cousin Anne. She loves her dogs (or “brown dogz” as she calls them) but knows they’re not kids.

http://www.wusa9.com/video/default.aspx?aid=62191&storyid=73 037

Indonesian ornithologists identified an extremely rare bird. It’s Zosterops somadikartai, or Togian white-eye. Its range seems to be limited to the coasts of three small islands of the Togian Islands.

Dr. Pamela Rasmussen, a Michigan State University taxonomist, completed the formal classification.  She commented, “The world still holds avian surprises for us.”

 You may think, “This isn’t about faith! It’s about your weird obsession with birds!”  To the contrary - my obsession is the black phase Eastern gray squirrel.

Plus, the discovery of a new bird complements today’s homily. It was very short, since the presiding priest is one of our five “senior priests” (retired yet tireless Fathers On Extended Loan From God). They know that a few choice words are all it takes to  reach our hearts.

Father’s homily reminded us that we get so used to the Gospel that we forget that the Passion is the most important event in history. We need to re-read the accounts in order to see it with new eyes. In other words, we have to be like those ornithologists who spent years distinguishing the Togian white-eye from flocks of  similar birds.

To that end, Father gave us all what he called a “homework assignment”. We are to read Matthew’s account on Tuesday, Luke’s account on Wednesday, and then listen to John’s account on Good Friday.

The story is here:

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080314/sc_nm/bird_indonesia_d c

Fill us with Your love that all our days we may sing for joy. - Psalm 90:14

For a few days, I have heard the familiar chirp of the robin. However, the first robin of spring is never official until I see it. Yesterday I finally did.

Often people make disparaging remarks about the climate of the Midwestern States. They speak of ice and snow as if those were all there are to life here. But there’s a beauty to autumn - the changing of the light, the particular crispness of the air, the glowing color of maple leaves against a gray sky - that’s more pronounced than in warmer climes.

I spent one spring in Florida and noticed that the season wasn’t as astonishing as it is Michigan or Ohio. When crocuses poke out of the snow, even if it seems too early - perhaps ESPECIALLY if it’s too early -  joy alights in the heart. Even if you like winter, there’s still a certain childlike sense of anticipation for those first signs of spring.

 Perhaps the best example I’ve ever had occurred when I was taking classes at Wayne State University in Detroit.  It was early February, an overcast day in which the only brightness seemed to be the dull white of snowbanks. I was walking past  the School of Education when I heard a robin singing. I stopped and looked for it.

I wasn’t the only one.  The sidewalk was dotted with people, heading in different directions, and several paused. The robin was on a bare tree, singing its song to attract a mate. Someone commented that it was the first robin; another that spring was coming. We smiled at each other as we went on our way.  No matter the forecast, we knew winter was at its end.

Early this morning, I woke to what sounded like a redwing blackbird’s trill. When I looked out the window, I saw all the snow that had fallen (and was continuing to fall).  I must have been dreaming of spring.

Late this afternoon, I saw that the juncos, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and other regulars had eaten all the suetcake and all but a few inches of seeds in the birdfeeder. The snow was (and is) still coming down, so I decided to forego the trip to the shed for more food. Instead, I opened a bag that I had in the front closet. I filled a shallow baking pan and set it squarely in the snow on my deck. (Nothing says “bachelorette” like pouring a mix of seeds and freeze-dried beetle larva into a baking dish on one’s diningroom table. A hubby would have felt a bit ill, I’m sure!)

Almost instantly there was a large flock of dark birds covering the pan, some hopping high up and landing in a tight spot in their attempts to jockey a better position. The were at least 12 pairs: glossy black males and barred brown females. I’d never seen their like, so I got out the bird books and checked.

While I was peering out, I saw him: a male redwinged blackbird. He alternated between joining the crowd and perching aloof on the nearby shepherd’s crook. He must have gotten mixed in with the flock in more southerly climes and migrated north. He’s awfully early.

After a bit of searching, I found that the other birds are Brewer’s blackbird (named after Thomas Mayo Brewer, who studied eggs). From the Michigan birding book, I learned that it’s extremely rare to see them in Michigan - but sometimes they’re seen during their migration from mid-March onward. There are a couple of grackles with them, too, it seems.