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This week in birds - #609

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A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment :  This magnificent bird is the American Bird Conservancy's Bird of the Week . It is the Zone-tailed Hawk , a resident of the American Southwest, Central America, right down into South America. The bird's status is threatened by habitat loss. *~*~*~* Drought conditions now cover as much as 87 percent of the United States. Moreover, severe drought has put at risk nearly half a million children in the Amazon region. The drought is also a threat to the Panama Canal as well as to the entire country of Panama.  *~*~*~* With all of that as a background, this year's U.N. climate summit has been taking place . Meanwhile, the U.N. Secretary-General warns that we are still underestimating the threat of catastrophic climate breakdown and ecosystem collapse.  *~*~*~* A new agreement would shift some of the profits from the use of genetic information to help pay for global conservation efforts. *~*~*~* It will not come a

Margaret Renkl wants you to vote to save the planet

What she said:  The Future of the Planet Hangs on This Vote I've voted already. I've done all I can do. Now I can only wait... 

Remembering "Like Water for Chocolate" by Laura Esquivel

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I just read in The Washington Post that there is a new television series based on Laura Esquivel's debut novel, Like Water for Chocolate , which I read and reviewed in February 2018. I remembered that I had liked the book but wanted to see what exactly I had to say about it back then. Here is that review: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel: A review February 27, 2018 This (mostly) delightful little book had languished in my reading queue for quite a while. Time to move it on up and tick that box. This was the writer's debut novel, first published in 1989, and it has enjoyed continuing popularity over the years. The story takes place at the turn of the 20th century in Mexico. Rebellion and revolution are abroad in the land. Pancho Villa and his army of followers have captured the imagination of many, while the government's army pushes back against them. The Garza family with its three daughters, Rosaura, Gertrudis, and Tita, live quietly on their ancestral lands ou

Poetry Sunday: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe

When I first learned to love poetry as a high school student, I was especially enamored of the sonnets of Shakespeare and the poems of Christopher Marlowe. This was one of my favorites then and it remains so.  The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe Come live with me and be my love,  And we will all the pleasures prove,  That Valleys, groves, hills, and fields,  Woods, or steepy mountain yields. And we will sit upon the Rocks,  Seeing the Shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow Rivers to whose falls  Melodious birds sing Madrigals. And I will make thee beds of Roses  And a thousand fragrant posies,  A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of Myrtle; A gown made of the finest wool  Which from our pretty Lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold,  With buckles of the purest gold; A belt of straw and Ivy buds,  With Coral clasps and Amber studs: And if these pleasures may thee move,  Come live with me, and be my love. The Shepherds' Swains s

This week in birds - #608

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A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : I'm not adept at spider identification but I believe this is some kind of Argiope - possibly Argiope aurantia (?). Correct me if you know better. Whatever it is, I think it's beautiful. I believe I'll call her Charlotte. *~*~*~* The planet-heating pollution of Earth's atmosphere hit its highest level in human history last year. And climate change is making extreme weather events even more deadly .  *~*~*~* Scientists have documented Earth's climate over the last 485 million years, revealing a history of wild shifts and hotter temperatures than had previously been believed. *~*~*~* An aim of the COP 16 conference is to have the nations create a unified pledge on climate and biodiversity. *~*~*~* COP 16 created the "Tropical Forest Forever Facility," an innovative new fund to help tropical nations conserve their native forests .  *~*~*~* Have you heard of the Doomsday Plant Vault ? It is a s

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver: A review

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In 2022, I read Barbara Kingsolver's book The Bean Trees and I loved it, awarding it four out of five stars. When I heard  realized that Kingsolver had written  a new  another book featuring some of the Bean Tree characters, I wasted no time getting hold of it. I'm happy to say that it did not disappoint. This one, too, is certainly worthy of four stars. Once again we meet Taylor and her (maybe not legally) adopted daughter, Turtle. They are happily living in Tucson. Taylor is White with perhaps a drop of Cherokee blood from a great-grandparent. Turtle is a Cherokee child who had been "given" to Taylor in Oklahoma by the child's aunt who was trying to rescue her from an abusive situation.  The events of this novel take place three years later. When Turtle is witness to an accident and a Cherokee lawyer named Annawake, who has a personal stake in the Indian Child Welfare Act, becomes involved and learns of Turtle's story, the lawyer realizes that things with

Poetry Sunday: Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver

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Here's a lovely ode to the morning sun, the star that "just happens" to be where it is in the universe and that spreads its light even on "the miserable and crotchety." Enjoy. Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who make the morning and spread it over the fields and into the faces of the tulips and the nodding morning glories, and into the windows of, even, the miserable and crotchety– best preacher that ever was, dear star, that just happens to be where you are in the universe to keep us from ever-darkness, to ease us with warm touching, to hold us in the great hands of light– good morning, good morning, good morning. Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.