2015: most precious moment

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2015: The Best & Worst! This is the time of the year when writers coast. They dream up their totally subjective best and worse lists for the year that's rapidly coming to a close. Why? So they can focus on the important things...the holidays. So with that in mind, here's my annual look back:

Most precious moment of 2015? This one is easy. It was last night when I attended the ballet recital of 3-year-old Sarah Cate, daughter of my friends Jennifer and Wayne.

Sarah Cate danced, pranced, spun, hopped (she's an especially robust hopper), pointed and toe stepped. She performed at the barre. Her petit allegro is progressing, her pirouette à la seconde is just beginning to blossom but, hey, she's only been in the class for two months. We can only imagine her future arabesque.

Did I mention she is only three? I couldn't walk a straight line at three. And it was her first dance with a real audience. Her constant smile and showmanship were très bien. She blew kisses to her parents.

The grand finale, her interpretation of "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas," had us begging for more. We laughed. We cried. It became a part of us. Look out Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, we're on our way.

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2015: best vampirish moment

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2015: The Best & Worst! This is the time of the year when writers coast. They dream up their totally subjective best and worse lists for the year that's rapidly coming to a close. Why? So they can focus on the important things...the holidays. So with that in mind, here's my annual look back:

The best vampiric moment came in June, when the summer camp kids got to visit Sad Vlad, the vegetarian vampire that lives in the catacombs of Ijams.

"A vampire is an undead being from folklore who subsists by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures," states Wiki.

Being a vegetarian, Vlad abhors the taste of blood and opts for the life essence of the forest. He feeds on the sap of trees. The adventurous campers empathized with the poor nocturnal creature, his lonely 400 year existence, his pallid skin and dusty crypt. 

They also learned his favorite trees to sip: sweet gum, tuliptree and sugar maple. (Hickory actually has a subtle but noticeable piquant, not unlike Palmolive hand soap.)

For more details of their adventure, click: Sad Vlad.  

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2015: favorite sunset in December

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Sunset. Downtown Knoxville. 12 December 2015

2015: The Best & Worst! This is the time of the year when writers coast. They dream up their totally subjective best and worse lists for the year that's rapidly coming to a close. Why? So they can focus on the important things...the holidays. So with that in mind, here's my annual look back:

Not to add to the Star Wars hysteria, but if we lived on Tatooine—in a galaxy a long time ago far far away—we'd have a double sunset every day. But no river or riverfront city, just desert and those creepy Jawas.

There's no place like home.

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2015: favorite snapshot of the year

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2015: The Best & Worst! This is the time of the year when writers coast. They dream up their totally subjective best and worse lists for the year that's rapidly coming to a close. Why? So they can focus on the important things...the holidays. So with that in mind:

My favorite snapshot of 2015 came in June.

Just a quick push of a button.

The summer camp kids had been visited by Lord Roch Vole-Téck, supreme ruler of Mars during Monster! Monster! Nature Day Camp Week. When one of the campers wanted to get his Martian on.

For more about the visit, click: Vole-Téck.

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sugary white owl

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Albino barred owl named "Sugar." Photo by Jason Dykes.

Snowy white and it's not even winter.

An exquisitely recherché albino barred owl named "Sugar" caused quite a stir at my last Owl-ology 101 class at Ijams in October. Recently rescued, the snow white Strix varia is under the care of local animal rehabilitator Lynne McCoy.  

Click here for more details: Owl-ology.

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tenacity

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I guess you could call it pure stubbornness. The last two leaves that cling to a flowering dogwood long after the rest have flown the coop or dropped to terra firma.

Not ready to give up the ghost, you somehow have to admire their tenacity.

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jack or jill frost

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It feels and looks like winter. Cold. Dark. Gray. More of a time to hibernate like a Smoky Mountain black bear, hit the snooze alarm and curl up with a good book and a cup of chamomile, that sort of thing.


And yet, the early morning tableaux of Jack or Jill frost — whichever gender you like to assign it — fills me with a certain ardor that I cannot find indoors.


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missing in action

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Have you seen this bird?

Evening grosbeaks are found in the mountains of the western United States and Canada; their breeding grounds the boreal forest of Canada and along the northern edge of the United States. In the winter, they migrate south but historically, these chunky grosbeaks were virtually unknown east of the Mississippi River until about 1850. Then their range expanded toward the Atlantic—peaking in the mid 1980s.

Perhaps illustrating the fluidity of nature, the rather large, even rotund yellow finches are now experiencing a sharp decline in population: 78 percent in 40 years. This places this grosbeak as number two on Audubon's list of Common Birds in Decline.

An irruptive species, evening grosbeaks were one of the birds that sometimes could be found in the Tennessee Valley in the winter. They eat invertebrates, especially spruce budworm larvae, and small fruits and seeds, particularly from maples. In the non-breeding season, i.e. this time of the year, they feed on both coniferous and deciduous tree seeds and buds, and are common visitors to backyard birdfeeders stocked with sunflower seeds.

Growing up in Gatlinburg, gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains, some winters large flocks would be move into the area but it’s been years since anyone locally has seen one.

Today, seeing a flock or even just one would be big news. Be one the lookout!

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three to look for

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Hermit Thrush

New birds have moved into the low lands of the Volunteer State. They spend there winters here.

In your backyards, if you look past the cardinals, the chickadees, the titmice, the jays, in the shrubs or under them. There are three interesting species that can only be found in the winter. Their breeding grounds are much farther north or much higher upslope in the Smokies. All three are overall brownish to better blend into the dead leaves and thick branches of a good shrubby border. All have their own innate charm.“Solitary the thrush,
 The hermit withdrawn to himself, avoiding the 
settlements,
 Sings by himself a song.

 Song of the bleeding throat!” Wrote poet and bel ami Walt Whitman in "When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d." And the bird with the “bleeding throat,” is the first of our triumvirate, the hermit thrush, (Catharus guttatus). Their songs are beautiful and haunting but here in the South in winter the birds are loners and sing very little. They usually appear in the shrubs about eye-level or hoping along the ground in the open looking for a meal. They are larger than sparrows but smaller than robins. Look for their brown backs, rusty tails and spotted breasts.

I just spotted one hopping around the Visitor Center behind the classroom. 

Perhaps the least shy of the trio is the white-throated sparrow, (Zonotrichia albicollis). Brown backed with grayish under-parts; the species gets its name from its dazzling white throat, but also look for its black and white (or brown and buff) stripes on the noggin or cap. They also have flashy yellow spots in front of their eyes that vary from individual to individual. Also listen for their plaintive song, “poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.” No one is quite sure who poor Sam was, but it’s the mnemonic to remember.

The most diminutive (in fact, they are quite small) of the threesome, and perhaps the hardest to locate, is the winter wren, (Troglodytes hiemalis). Almost always very low to the ground, on first glance you might think you’ve seen a mouse. But their overall shape with erect tail reminds you of the ever present Carolina wren, but these passerines are much smaller, overall speckled brown and minus the white eye stripe of the Carolina. Winter wrens nest in the high elevations of the Smokies. Listen for their long rambling songs in spring along any of the trails to Mt. LeConte. But, in the winter, here in the valley, they tend to be mute with no territories to define or defend and no desire to impress the ladies.

Three birds to look for around your house hidden in the bushes, here’s some tips:

• White-throated sparrows will feed on the ground under your birdfeeders, eating the seeds cast off by others

• Although they are loners, hermit thrushes tend not to be skittish; they often give you a good long look

• Winter wrens love your brush piles, the bigger the better, along your property’s edge, especially if the refuse is near water.

White-throated sparrow

Winter wren

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Today at Ijams

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Join us today at Ijams. Here's our creature feature schedule:

1 PM Meet a feisty American kestrel, 

the smallest bird of prey in the Tennessee Valley

If the female kestrel (4 oz.) weighed as much as a local female bald eagle (9+ lbs.) she would dismember me with nary a sigh, instead she simply eyes my outstretched finger.

2 PM Meet a bristly Chilean rose tarantula, 

and learn all about spiders.

Eight legs, eight eyes, two body parts and spinnerets, oh my.

3 PM Meet an impressive red-tailed hawk

with an injured wing that we care for at Ijams

Redtails are the largest true hawk found in the Tennessee Valley. 

Red-tailed hawk     Photo by Karen Claussen 

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Leaving a mark on space-time

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One hundred years ago today, Albert Einstein presented his theory of general relatively. And science and the world itself has never been the same. 

"Einstein showed that even though space and time can independently differ for different observers, the four-dimensional space-time reality is the same for everyone. This implies that events in space-time have a permanence to them that cannot be taken away. Once an event occurs, in essence it becomes part of the fabric of our universe. Every human life is a series of events, and this means that when we put them all together, each of us is creating our own, indelible mark on the universe. Perhaps if everyone understood that, we might all be a little more careful to make sure that the mark we leave is one that we are proud of," writes Jeffrey Bennett for CNN. 

Think about it. 

No. Actually take time to think about it. What do you want to leave behind to show your mark in space-time?

For the rest of Bennett's essay go to: Space-Time.

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22 November 2015

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Sunset: Downtown Knoxville, yesterday

“There's a sunrise and a sunset every single day, 

and they're absolutely free. Don't miss so many of them.” 

- Jo Walton, Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet.

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This p.m. at Ijams

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Albino box turtle cared for by the Ijams education staff

Join us today at Ijams. Here's our program schedule:

1 PM Meet a feisty American kestrel, 

the smallest bird of prey in the TN Valley

If the female kestrel (4 oz.) weighed as much as a local female bald eagle (9+ lbs.) she would dismember me with nary a sigh, instead she simply eyes my outstretched finger. She's focused. Watch me contain her. Free to public.

2 PM Get eyeball-to-eyeball with a precious albino box turtle, and learn about her rare genetic disorder

Found six years ago in a little boy's backyard, she has lived protected at Ijams ever since. For her backstory, click: foundling.

2 PM Make a Gourd Biscuit Warmer 

Just in time for Thanksgiving! Come out for a fun class as we transform gourds into beautiful and useful centerpieces for your table that can be filled with biscuits, rolls, or any other holiday treat. Learn techniques from local artist, Jackie Hardin, on how to cut and decorate the gourds to last for years to come. Class fee is $22. Must register by calling 577-4717 ex 110.

3 PM Junior Girl Scouts Scribe Badge Workshop 

Words are powerful tools. Great writing can make people feel encouraged, entertained, or excited. It can create fantasy worlds or preserve events from history. And just writing down your feelings actually makes you feel better! Join me for this badge workshop, we’ll find out what you can do with words.

Such fun!

Gourd Biscuit Warmer

stabilimenta?

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I lucked out when I took this photo of an orb web; the individual strands of silk illuminated by the early morning sunlight. Normally an orb web is practically invisible. That’s why they are such effective traps.

But there’s one group of orb weavers—the writing spiders—that decorate their creations with highly visible patterns. These conspicuous silk structures are called “stabilimenta” or singular: stabilimentum, a great word to drop into any casual conversation.

Why go to so much trouble making a normally invisible web visible?

Why indeed?

Theories vary. And the weavers themselves are mute on the topic. Writing spiders like the ones in the genus Argiope tend to be brightly colored and they often position themselves in the center of the web. The stabilimenta may help camouflage the orb-weaver or make them look larger. The patterns also reflect UV light, which may serve as a lure to possible prey. Plus, the pattern may help keep birds from flying through the web, tearing it down.

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leaf and cloud

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"It is the nature of stone

to be satisfied.

It is the nature of water

to want to be somewhere else."

- From "The Leaf and the Cloud" by poet Mary Oliver

This begs the question: Are you made of stone or water?

-Photo taken in the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River in the Sugarlands. 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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walking

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"Walking in nature added more to the spiritual pot than to the cognitive, and there everything seemed in place. So I trekked often to creeks, waterfalls, and parks within the city. At least there, I could relax in the present and renew my relationship with my own breath."

-From Sacred Paths and Muddy Places, By Stephen Altschuler

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This afternoon at Ijams

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Get up close with a red-tailed hawk.

Join us today at Ijams. Here's our program schedule:

1 PM Meet a regal red-tailed hawk, 

the largest hawk found in the TN Valley

With a wingspan of almost four feet and weighing three pounds, the red-tail hawk is the largest true hawk found in the Tennessee Valley. Meet an injured one we care for at Ijams. Free to public.

2 PM Meet a feisty American kestrel, 

the smallest bird of prey in the TN Valley

If the female kestrel (4 oz.) weighed as much as a local female bald eagle (9+ lbs.) she would dismember me with nary a sigh, instead she simply eyes my outstretched finger. She's focused. Watch me contain her. Free to public.

2 PM Gunless Turkey Hunt While it is a commonly held myth that Benjamin Franklin nominated the turkey to be our national symbol, he did indeed remark that the turkey is a “more respectable bird” than the eagle. Since Turkey Day is almost here, Ijams though they’d celebrate in their own turkey way with a gun-less turkey “hunt.” Join me on a trip to Seven Islands State Birding Park in search of these proud, feathered fowl, and try and decide if Mr. Franklin was correct in his assertion that the turkey is “though a little vain and silly, a bird of courage.” Fee: Ijams members $3, non-members $5. To register call 577-4717, ext. 110.

Such fun!

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poor Sam?

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The temperatures have chilled.

An early harbinger of winter is the arrival of white-throated sparrows in late October. They spend the cold weather months here in the Tennessee Valley but nest to our north. (Great Lakes and New England into southern Canada.)

Likewise, as spring nears, I begin to hear their plaintive song more often as the birds tune up, practicing the proclamations they'll need to claim territories on their breeding grounds. Longing for home, they supposedly sing "pure-sweet-Canada, Canada, Canada." In the fall, they seem to be looking for a "poor, Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody."

But who is poor Sam?

- Photo taken at Ijams Nature Center


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red white oak

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Yikes. It comes down to this. Most of the fall color has come and gone. The golds and yellows of October have given way to deep crimsons, maroons and scarlets.

This white oak--note the rounded lobes--with red leaves has become the focal point of the parking lot at the nature center.

One of the most famous white oaks in the country was the old Charter Oak that grew in Hartford, Connecticut until 1856. The name “Charter” comes from the local legend that a cavity within the tree was used in late 1687 as a hiding place for the Constitution charter.





Historic Charter Oak in Connecticut.






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nothing gold

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"Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay."

As much as we try to hold on to it, nothing gold can last.

- "Nothing Gold Can Stay" poem by Robert Frost

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