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I love cardinals. I like their color, and implied boldness. I like the orange of their beaks. But I am most grateful to them in mid-March when they come winging through a bleak gray landscape like some escaped Christmas tree ornament. It is sure sign that the weather is trending toward spring even if it isn't clear yet.
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A tree swallow was sitting on a post outside Bread Euphoria (isn't that a great name for a bakery?) when I was last there, close enough that I could take a picture with my phone, but far enough away that the picture was pretty grainy. I managed to identify it using a great bird ID site.
A pileated woodpecker is a larger creature than I expected. this one startled me, flying across the road in front of the car as I was going up to ride. I thought it was a crow, except it had that bright red flash on the head.
I was extremely productive today: I cut out another 60 circles, which should take me to the end of the summer. I also finished a bolt of interfacing I was using, that I bought at the beginning of 2010. So 20 yards of 22" interfacing went about 30 months. I've found if I don't have blanks ready to go, it is harder to get organized to make the daily thing. So a stack of them makes me feel rich, and well prepared.
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A blue heron on the wing. They always make me think of pterodactyls, so profoundly prehistoric looking…
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This one is for Red Kate because she and I have this thing going with Blue Herons. Actually with almost any bird you can recognize. If you recognize the bird, you get luck points for it, and herons are worth 10. Crows are worth 2. Redtailed hawks are worth 5, except Kate thought they were more common than that. Bald Eagles are probably worth more but we didn't get to test that theory.
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I finished this June 4th, and had it stuck to the board. The board holds the picture in the frame – if you see what I mean? I'm particularly pleased with the colors in this one. I'll get the frame on this weekend, and take it up to the gallery next week.
My father is home in his house, with his wife and cats and books. He looks tired but happier than I've seen him in weeks.
No circle today, blue heron tomorrow.
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I looked up today as I was driving around, and saw a row of little black birds sitting on the phone wires.
It was strange weather: mostly sunny, but dark clouds and spitting rain would roll though briefly, and then the sun would come out again.
My father saw a pile of official doctor people yesterday, and was declared stabilized in the back such that he could ditch the back brace, and requiring little enough of the rehab services that he could go home. He was pretty jolly when I took him out for breakfast this morning. I told Alice I thought he'd take the brace out into the parking lot and set it on fire, but he seemed to prefer the idea of running over it with the car. He's got one or two more days in rehab, but it has more to do with making sure he's got the skills and strength he needs to be at home. That, and filling out paperwork.
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Today I did what I started to do yesterday but didn't because it felt like cheating – I just stitched a real feather to the circle. It is a beautiful feather. I lovelovelove the polka dots on it, and how they remain visible towards the ends of the feather barba.
The little picture is the disaster (a disaster along multiple axes) from yesterday.
In the simple amusements department, I have a new camera. I took my old one to see if they could fix the lens cover not opening. They said they couldn't, and told me things to do, and I realized I really needed a reliable camera. So I started testing the next ones. I turned mine on, to see about a feature it had, and it opened FINE. The sales woman said "bummer, I mean, good? I mean…" and then we both started laughing and laughing. I decided reliable mattered, so Alice has my camera, and I have a lovely new one, and the old one is working just fine now.
Lee Thomson 