The Nature of Things

I've featured this one here before, but it is a particular favorite of mine. It is what I aspire to as I grow old, and so here it is again. When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple by Jenny Joseph When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain And pick flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit. You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat And eat three pounds of sausages at a go Or only bread and pickle for a week And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. But now we must have clothes that keep us dry And pay our rent and not swear in the street An...

 "This Week in Birds" is taking a vacation this week. It will return next weekend.

 This seems somehow particularly appropriate at the moment.

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : Since I didn't post a TWIB last weekend, we actually have two "Birds of the Week."                               Canada Jay The Canada Jay was the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week for last week. The Canada Jay is, of course, a cousin of the very familiar Blue Jay and is of approximately the same size. Like all jays they are clever and opportunistic and are generally very tame and bold around humans. They are residents of boreal and subalpine forests from Alaska all across Canada and in mountain forests of the western United States from Washington and Utah to New Mexico and California.                                          Lewis's Woodpecker Lewis's Woodpecker is the Bird of the Week for this week. It is a bird of the western United S...

Political cartoonists are very adept at making their point with a few strokes of a pen, and of course they have a rich trove to draw from (literally) in our current situation. Here are a couple that I thought hit their mark pretty squarely in the last week.

Some of you may have actually noticed that I have been absent from these pages for a few days. The reason is that I have been in the grip of a seriously nasty bug which has kept me feeling quite miserable. I am recovering slowly. Perhaps my age is slowing my recovery - I just don't bounce back like I did when I was younger. At any rate the recovery is much too slow to suit me, but I'm doing my best to be patient and to be a good patient. And I hope to return to regular posting here quite soon. Thank you to those who have noticed and have actually asked about my absence. I appreciate you more than I can possibly express.