Note to my readers

"This week in birds" and "Poetry Sunday" will return next weekend. On Monday, I'll give you my "Best of 2018" list of books.

I hope you and your loved ones are enjoying a wonderful holiday season because you deserve it! And may your 2019 be happy and healthy.

2016

I hope that the new year will bring good

things to you and those you love.

Happy New Year!

A new year is always a chance to begin anew and

 do it better this time. May 2015 bring you joy, 

peace, good health and all good things. 

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'M BUSILY PLANNING A NEW YEAR'S DAY BIRDING TRIP AND MAKING MY LONG LIST OF RESOLUTIONS FOR 2014. YES, THEY ARE THE SAME RESOLUTIONS I MAKE EVERY YEAR - IMPROVEMENTS THAT I KNOW I NEED TO MAKE TO MY HABITS AND MY CHARACTER. I KEEP HOPING THAT ONE OF THESE YEARS THE MAGIC WILL TAKE EFFECT AND I WILL BECOME THAT NEW AND IMPROVED PERSON THAT I LONG TO SEE WHEN I LOOK IN THE MIRROR.

BUT I CAN'T LET 2013 END WITHOUT TAKING A MOMENT FROM MY PLANNING AND MY RESOLVING TO DO BETTER TO WISH YOU, DEAR READER, A HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2014. SO FROM MY HOUSE TO YOURS -

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

'Cherry Nymph' amaryllis

I am resolved

“Tonight’s December thirty-first,
Something is about to burst.
The clock is crouching, dark and small,
Like a time bomb in the hall.
Hark, it's midnight, children dear.
Duck! Here comes another year!

— Ogden Nash

From Collected Verse from 1929 on

Yes, we've finally reached that fateful day, the day when the clock takes on the aura of a time bomb as it counts down the final hours of the old year and points toward the new year to come with all of its possibilities.

It's a time for retrospection as we think of the year 2012, now almost finished. What did we accomplish this year? What did we fail to do that we should have done? What are our triumphs? What are our despairs? And, most importantly, how can we improve and get it all right in the bright, shiny new year just peeking over our windowsills? That's where resolutions come in, of course.

As I think about what I would like to do to perfect myself in 2013, several things come to mind that I might resolve. A number of them have to do with reading.

Read more classics. I have to accept the fact that there are more great books out there than I will ever be able to complete reading in my lifetime, but that's no reason not to try, starting perhaps with American classics. I read one Faulkner book this year and was amazed once again by its power. There are others of his books that I've never read. I've never read Henry James. I've never read Saul Bellow. I've only read a couple of Toni Morrison's books. So many... I can't wait to get started.

Stick closer to my diet. This is a natural, the resolution that so many, myself included, make every year. I just got good news from my doctor concerning my latest lab work, a good incentive for me to be ever more diligent for the sake of my health.

Take more birding trips. So many birds, so little time. I added a few life birds this year, but not as many as I might have if I had tried just a little harder. I resolve to try harder in 2013.

Spend time every day writing. I'll never win the Pulitizer Prize or write the great American novel, but I can perfect the small skill that I have. It just takes practice and dedication. Expressing myself through the written word is an important part of my life and I need to work on it every day of my life.

Be diligent in support of the causes I care about. The environment, better schools for children, animals' rights, food safety, reducing gun violence, promoting peace in the world, and so many more - they are all big issues, bigger than I can get my arms around, but I must do what I can. That is the most - and the least - I can do.

Learn more about photography. I enjoy photography, especially photographing birds, but I'm strictly self-taught. I could benefit from actually getting some classroom instruction on how to be a better photographer. Maybe this will be the year that I finally sign up for that photography course at the local college.

Read Louise Erdrich from the beginning. I just got her latest book, The Round House, for Christmas and it has reminded me of what a great writer she is and of how much I've probably missed by reading her works, helter-skelter over the years. I think it would be wonderful to start with Love Medicine and read all the way through The Round House. I hope to do that this year.

Read more non-fiction. I am addicted to fiction, especially literary fiction and I read it voraciously. Normally, I spend less time in the non-fiction world. My aim in 2013 is to read at least one non-fiction book a month.

Exercise! Yes, I know, this is another one that we make every year, but exercise is so important for the brain as well as the body that it is necessary to keep rededicating ourselves to try to get more of it into our routines. We are much too sedentary.

Read more poetry. Poets have special insights, a unique way of seeing the world and I need to take advantage of their wisdom. I have my favorites that I return to from time to time, but this year I will make more of an effort to branch out, to get to know new poets and see what they have to teach me.

Be a better friend. I'm really not a good friend, too selfish, I think, but this year I am going to try my hardest to do better for all the people that I love. We all need a friend, but, as our mothers always told us, to have a friend you must first be a friend. Maybe it's not too late for me to put into practice the wisdom of my mother's words.

Let us hope that 2013 will finally be the year when we put all of our good intentions into practice!

HAPPY NEW  YEAR!!!

Happier New Year!

Let's face it: 2010 was pretty much a downer of a year. From the earthquake in Haiti at the beginning of the year to the earthquake in our domestic politics at the end, the year just didn't have a lot to recommend it. And looking ahead to 2011, one can't muster any optimism that the new year is going to get much better.

Still, time and events have a capacity for surprising us and of working out in highly unexpected ways. As we stand on the cusp of this new year, perhaps we would do well to remember the Desiderata and its assurance that whether or not it is clear to us, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should...

DESIDERATA
-written by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.


With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

May we remember to look for the beauty in the world in 2011 and may we strive to protect and preserve that beauty. Here's to a happier New Year for us all.