Every time I pass a river or creek I want to look upstream or downstream. I don’t know always know why. On certain bridges, I hope to spot a great egret or a snowy egret, a considerably smaller bird, although both are completely white.
It always has something to do with the unknown. I never know exactly what to expect. Even when the river is parallel to the road I still try to peer between the rapidly passing trees to see what I could see.
Every body of water fascinates me from no matter from what vantage point I view it–car, train, whatever. I have been this way as long as I remember.
I keep my eyes peeled for any ducks or other kind of birds that I pass always wanting to identify them. I was amazed that one of two visiting friends (from NYC) could not identify a bird as common as a male cardinal. I guess you do not see many birds in the middle of the city.
I have always made it my business to name the birds I see. And if I see one I don’t recognize, I try to remember some distinct feature of it so I can consult my bird book and properly identify it.
I always pay attention to the birds around me. I grew up in the city but my Mom had a garden with all kinds of things in it including tomatoes and all kind of flowers, an apricot tree and even a fig tree. And that is, of course, an incomplete list.
On weekends my Dad often took us to the mountains and seashore and lakes. I owe both of my parents a great debt for introducing me to nature. I grew to love birds and took care studying them and loved to identify them–even from a speeding car. I learned to respect nature and the wild.
Tags: apricot tree, bird book, bird-watching, birds, body of water, creek, ducks, fig tree, flowers, garden, great egret, identify birds, introducing me to nature, lakes, male cardinal, mountains, my Dad, my Mom, my parents, nature, NYC, river, seashore, snowy egret, studying birds, tomatoes
Posted in beauty, birds, knowledge&learning, nature, time |
My birthday was actually two weeks long this year. My sisters (and their husbands) threw me a birthday bash at a beautiful restaurant with the Susquehanna River in the background. My sister in California arranged her itinerary (she and her husband were going to Spain) to be there. 
The last time were were all together was two summers ago although this time my nephew and wife were there. We were a party of thirteen. I also invited some friends. The weather was perfect (we ate on the deck of the restaurant) and so was the food. We were commemorating my sixty-fifth birthday. My one sister made the same cake my Mom used to make for our birthdays. She went to a lot of trouble for me. I don’t have many relatives but they are scattered from Shore to Shore. Maybe if I make it we will have a seventieth birthday party. We will see.