The Grinch is one of the latest additions to the household. He is a Tokay Gecko of uknown age. I know that he is over two years old, because he has lived in my office at BSU for that long. He belonged to, and was named by Kelly Jones. Kelly did not have room for all of his pets after graduation. The Grinch was so named because he is not the kind of pet who likes to be held.
Fair Blows the Wind by Louis L'Amour is a very good book. Despite Louis L'Amour being predictable, I always enjoy reading his stories. Fair Blows the Wind is not a western and most of the action takes place in Great Britain during the late 1500's, much like the first two Sackett novels. In my opinion, L'Amour books are better than any action movie. Also, the details are well-researched and you can learn a bit if you read with an encyclopedia open nearby. (Online encyclopedia, of course.) I finished the Sackett series last year and would highly recommend them, also.
I was so excited to see and hear Dickcissels at the Mt. Comfort Airport. They are a pretty relative of our Cardinal.
Kelly Jones, Kirk Roth, and I took a trip up to the Northern Lower Peninsula to do some birding. It was great time and we got some great birds and other wildlife. Without adding in common Indiana birds, we saw ninety species. Some of the avian highlights were Kirtland's Warbler, Black Terns, Northern Goshawk, hearing the Ruffed Grouse song, an Upland Sandpiper, several nesting Ospreys, Ravens, and Vesper Sparrows. The weather was perfect for camping, also.
Kelly found this little guy while looking for butterflies. You can see that he is getting ready to shed by looking at the skin covering his eye.
We found this "puff adder" while cruising around. I like his cobra act with the hood. He was very cooperative and pretty.
The Kirtland's Warbler was the goal of our trip. This warbler is the most rare warbler and nests only in short Jack Pine forests in Michigan. You can see Kirk scanning the habitat from the top of Kelly's car and in the bottom you can see a Kirtland's singing from a song perch. (I know you can't make out what kind of warbler it is from the picture, but it is still a picture of a Kirtland's warbler.)
It was very cool to see RBGs all over the place up in Michigan. They are such a pretty bird. This was at someone's feeder in their front yard.
I took this while birding at Fort Harrison. It was a joyful day, I saw my first Black-throated Blue Warbler. But this was my best picture. You can even see the rusty orange under-tail coverts.
Today, Kelly Jones and I birded Muscatatuck, NWR. We didn't have all day to spend there, but it was time well spent. We saw a Bald Eagle, a Barred Owl, some Wild Turkeys, lots of warblers, several Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Swainson's, Grey-cheeked, and Wood Thrushes, Acadian, Willow, and Great-crested Flycatchers, Pewees, Phoebes, Kingbirds, plus many other birds. Plus, we got to see an otter up pretty close as he crossed the road.
Zoe is about 8 weeks old. Today was her first day at the Hunter's house. Don't let the pictures fool you, she was not sitting still for any amount of time.
I just finished Jude the Obscure (1895) by Thomas Hardy. I have enjoyed other Hardy novels; Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Woodlanders, and Tess of the d’Urbervilles . If you are not familiar with Hardy, he seems to enjoy putting his characters in futile, fatalistic, tragedies in which they struggle through endless hardships for some goal they never reach. But he is such a good describer of nature and human nature that the novels are enjoyable. Jude the Obscure seems to follow the trend of the other novels I have read.
It seems like the main theme of Jude the Obscure is that the practiced Christianity of the time did not work in real life, except to stabilize the class society. Christian society (or God) relentlessly works against anyone who dares to raise their goals, dreams, station in life, philosophy, or morals. Intrinsically flawed is the institution of marriage. Repeatedly it is suggested that the more thought and solemnity that are given marriage (and Christian life), the more difficult or impossible it becomes. The book follows an ill-fated Jude. Nothing goes right for him and his lover, Sue. Sue eventually decides that all the misfortunes come from a hostile God. Jude rejects this interpretation of God (and also rejects God) and instead blames nature and society. Religion, marriage, and society are not portrayed positively. More than once in the book Jude makes the prophetic comment that they are 50 years ahead of their time. Jude and his morals would have fit in nicely during the second half of the 20th century. The book makes a point out of having characters struggle to do “what is right in their own eyes” and to push futilely against a blind religion (God) that has no compassion. Just like Jude and his son, everyone is assumed to be better off dead.
I always enjoy reading a well-thought out and descriptive portrayal of life without the saving grace of Jesus. (I maintain that Jude the Obscure is logical description because a Christian worldview is “foolishness” or hidden to those whom the Holy Spirit has not called and revealed.) Clearly Jude and the “Christians” he interacts with do not have a relationship with Jesus. Life is ultimately meaningless to Jude, and a Christ-less Christian society is cold and cruel.
Top picture: The pair of Beckys that Joy walked with.
Middle picture: From left to right; Pamela, Rich, Andrew, Ben, and Paul.
Bottom picture: In this picture, I am relating race stories to Andrew Irwin and Clay Cooper. Clay really helped me by staying with me.
Joy and I both finished the mini this year. It was my best time yet, 1:53:08 and Joy had a good time walking with Becky Flink and Becky Cooper. To look up official results, click here.
I took these pictures from the top of the Soldiers and Sailors monument downtown. The windows up there are so dirty that I had to play with the contrast and brightness some, but I am happy with the result.
The statehouse was a happening place for migrants this morning. I hear it was better earlier in the week. Here is a Scarlet Tanager. Both male and female were present. Other birds of note seen from the statehouse; Kestrel, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, lots of catbirds, white-throats and swamp sparrows, ovenbirds, a common yellowthroat, and a yellow-breasted chat.
This is an adult Five-Lined Skink. Immature individuals have the blue tail. Possibly, this is a female because it does not have the pink jaw of the adult male. Here is a great site about this species.
The autumn olive shrubs are in full flower now and they are quite fragrant. These non-native shrubs are very common and produce small, edible, sweet olives in the fall.
I like these little flowers that grow in our lawn. If they were bigger, I am sure they would carry them in the florist shops. You can see how tiny they are when you compare the flower to my finger prints. For me, it is another reason to avoid lawn herbicides.
