Hello friends – I’m back! I landed in Cleveland last night after spending a week in Connecticut. It was a lovely visit. You would think that by now I would be used to missing my loved ones – I moved to Colorado at age 22 (Air Force training) and since then have lived in six different states, never any closer than 500 miles from my parents. Never close enough to “pop over” for a visit or a Sunday dinner or even a quick weekend catch-up. Most of the time I am so caught up in my own life that the “missing” is well in the background, but then a visit like this one brings it to the forefront and heightens the feelings, making me wish that everyone I love could live close by.
Lest I get too maudlin, let’s switch to the subject of this post’s photos.
On Friday my sister Paula brought Mom and me to Harkness Memorial State Park and she and Mom waited in the car while I walked the marshland trail looking for birds. There were two man-made nesting platforms for ospreys at the park, and both of them appeared to be in use. As I was walking along, I saw three large birds having an altercation of some kind whilst airborne – I was too far away to be able to see much detail, but it seemed like one of the birds was holding a fish. I just assumed that they were all ospreys and clicked away.
It wasn’t until we returned to my sister’s house and I downloaded the photos to my laptop that I realized one of the birds was a bald eagle! Amazing. I feel like I was given an incredible gift to have been there to see it, even if I didn’t quite know in the moment what exactly I was seeing!
Tomorrow I am back to work and my normal routines. I’m staying put for a few months, concentrating on my photography (I’m starting to learn how to use the photo editing software Affinity), this blog, getting our garden looking neat and tidy, and some other projects that have been on the back burner.
My next few posts will look back on my New Zealand trip. I still have so many photos and experiences I want to share with you!
Hello, friends! It’s been a while! Where to begin…
I flew to New Zealand on March 4 for a two week vacation. It was my first time visiting New Zealand and I’m still processing the trip (literally, I’m still editing my photos). Chris had flown over at the end of January – a much anticipated reunion with his daughter Chloe, whom he had not seen in person since before Covid. I could only take two weeks of vacation time, so we filled the days to the brim, seeing and doing as much as we could during my stay. At the end of my two weeks, Chris and I flew back to Ohio together.
Now, two weeks later, I am flying to Connecticut tomorrow to see my mother and sisters. I’ll be there for a week, after which life will certainly slow down for a bit and I will be able to take more time to spend here on the blog. I want to do the New Zealand trip justice with a few posts, but I just don’t have time at the moment. So, today I will just share a few photos of some of the gorgeous birds I saw there.
One of the things on my 23 for 2023 list was “Meatless February” which I am close to completing successfully. During this month I have had eggs and dairy (I don’t drink cow’s milk because I lost my taste for it some time ago, but I do eat cheese and yogurt) but no animal flesh of any kind.
I’ve flirted with vegetarianism and veganism several times over the last few years, but I never went an entire month without meat. This month I went to the library several times to check out vegetarian cookbooks and spent hours on Pinterest and other websites researching recipes. My goal was to find food that I absolutely loved – not to gag down endless salads and lentil casseroles.
I’ve enjoyed this month so much! I don’t eat soy products, so I couldn’t use tofu as a source of protein, but thankfully I absolutely love beans (not a huge lentil fan, though). Cold salads don’t really appeal to me when the weather is cold, but I found several warm salads that were fabulous. I feel great and I’m excited to continue eating this way for the foreseeable future. Chris and I both love roasted vegetables of all kinds, and we’ve discussed how most of the recipes I’ve made can simply have a piece of salmon or chicken added if he wants that. Will I ever have bacon, a beef burger, steak, or chicken again? Probably. Or maybe. Who knows? But right now I love eating this way, so I’ll continue and see how it goes.
As you can see from the photos, I’ve been out birding several times since my last blog post — both weekend days and some evenings after work. I’ve discovered wildlife photography FOMO is a thing – “The herons have started building their nests! I need to get over there TODAY!” And I love having something I look forward to every single day.
Going out onto the trails, or even sitting in my own kitchen with my camera watching for birds in my back yard, is so meditative for me. When I’m on the trails, I move slowly, constantly scanning, stopping often. This is not a work out. I do my workout walking five mornings a week – on the weekends I might walk a total of 5 or more miles each day, but they are slow miles. I’ve read before about something called a state of “flow” – when you are so immersed in an activity that you don’t even notice time passing. When I’m out looking for birds I’m definitely in a state of flow.
I won’t be putting up a new blog post for about three weeks. I’m going to be busy with something that I will tell you all about when I return to this space!
I’m doing really well on my “23 for 2023” list. Number five on the list was “Baking Lesson with Howard and Beth”, which was a bit cryptic, I know. So now I’ll tell you all about it because it happened today!
My friend Beth introduced me to The Great British Baking Show (or The Great British Bake-Off, as it’s known in the UK). I’m generally not one for reality or competition shows, but Beth’s enthusiasm for the series (“Everyone is so nice!”) won me over, and I’ve watched a few of the seasons over the last year. I absolutely love it. I was quite happy that I was able to return the favor and introduce Beth to a podcast related to the show, called “The Bake Down,” in which former contestants discuss each episode. The podcast is run by a company called “Bake with a Legend”, which runs online and in-person baking classes with former contestants on the show.
Around Christmas time, Beth said, “I’d really love to take one of those classes.” “Let’s do it!” I replied. 🙂
And so we did! Howard Middleton was our instructor. He was in season 2 (or 4 if you are in the US). We were provided with the recipe and a list of required/suggested kitchen tools for the class several weeks in advance. It was a Zoom class, with about 25 participants from all over the US and the UK.
I was so nervous before it started! I don’t know why – I guess because it was a completely new experience and I didn’t quite know what to expect. It turns out it was a total joy from start to finish. Howard was so lovely and Sarah, the facilitator, kept things going smoothly. I highly recommend taking one of their classes (link to their website here).
Yesterday I went in search of the elusive (to me) Eastern screech-owl. I had heard that there was at least one on a certain trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but information was sketchy as to where exactly it might be found. I walked a couple of miles down the (very muddy) path scanning every tree for a possible owl tenant with no luck. I turned back and got nearly to the parking lot when I was distracted by a tree just full of small birds I don’t ever remember seeing before (it turns out they were cedar waxwings). Instead of going straight to my car after those birds flew away, for some reason I climbed to the top of a small hill and, lo and behold, there was a screech owl sunning itself in a hollow of a tree. Four miles of searching and the owl was literally living next to the parking lot!
Screech owls are quite small, about 6-10 inches tall. They are adorable and I am completely smitten.
One of my 23 for 2023 goals was to get a new zoom-ier lens for my camera. I did a good amount of research before buying this lens – I wanted something that would give me further reach than the zoom lens that came with my camera; I wanted a high quality lens, but I did not want to spend more than $1,000. My price range filtered out major brand names like Canon, but there are some very good third party lens manufacturers out there, and I chose Sigma for their excellent reviews.
This weekend was the first chance I had to take it out into the field, and I am so happy with my purchase. I visited three different areas in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park – the Bath Road Heronry, the Beaver Marsh, and Station Road Bridge. The great blue herons are due back very soon, with the males beginning to prepare the nests sometime in mid-February. I didn’t see much action there, but one pair did circle around a while, and a single heron landed in one of the trees and hung out for a while. Beaver Marsh is a place I have also seen great blue herons in the past, but this time I only saw Canada geese and mallard ducks.
I have visited the Station Road Bridge trail several times since mid-January and while I had seen the eagles’ nest, I didn’t see any eagles. I was thrilled to see a nesting pair both yesterday and today. They apparently have some eggs, because they appear to be taking turns sitting on the nest (the nest is very large and very deep so you can’t actually see an eagle when they are sitting on the nest, only when they pop their head up or leave the nest). The nest is across the Cuyahoga River from the best viewing area, which I am happy about because it means that I could take my photos and not bother the birds.
I’m finding that wildlife photography is mainly just waiting around for something to show up, and I did have to wait several hours both days to get the photos I’m sharing here. What was really lovely is the fact that I met some other birders/photographers while we waited and heard some of their stories/tips. I still have an enormous learning curve, but I’m so excited to go to the next level with my photos – I hope you enjoy them!
Hello, friends. I thought that, as the year goes by, I would share with you what I’ve checked off of my “23 for 2023” list so far. One of the things on my list is to review the list on the 23rd of each month. As today is the 22nd and I will be unlikely to write a blog post on a weekday, I am checking in now.
I have bought a pair of high quality walking/hiking shoes. One of the things I was looking for in a shoe was a wide, natural-shaped toe box, as I have trouble with bunions and want to be nicer to my feet now than I was in my younger years. I bought these shoes by Topo, a company known for making hiking and trail running shoes that have a natural shape to them. I got a blister the first time I wore them for a one-hour walk, which cooled my ardor, but I think I just have to be patient and break them in.
I went to Hallmark last weekend and bought my Valentine’s Day cards, so I’m planning to write those out and mail them at the beginning of February.
January Joy Box I told you about in my last post – I’m enjoying it so much and plan to put in an order for some more perfume samples when January is over.
I’ve planned when my first visit to see my mother will be – for her 92nd birthday in April! I’m really looking forward to that. Just have to buy my tickets.
I went to the trailhead where the eagle’s nest is again (just to clarify, the nest is across the river from the trail, so no eagles will be disturbed in this quest). No eagles yet, but I did see a red-shouldered hawk and a lovely duck couple.
Oh! And I’ve already read 4 novels since January first! A dear friend recommended the book “Other Birds” by Sarah Addison Allen. There was a waiting list for that particular book at the library, so I checked out a couple of the author’s other books while I waited (“Garden Spells” and “First Frost”). After finishing these and Other Birds I read “The Girl Who Chased the Moon.” Lovely. All of this author’s books I’ve read so far are in a genre called magical realism. I will be sad when I’ve read everything she’s written so far, but she’s young so there’s a lot to look forward to.
Tomorrow begins a busy-season-within-a-busy-season for me at work. It will be five weeks long. I’m hoping to not have to do any overtime this time, but that is probably unlikely. We’ll see!
I love a good Advent calendar – even if the chocolates are dodgy, even if there are no chocolates, opening that little door each day is such a perfect, simple pleasure. For Advent 2022 a friend gave Chris and me a coffee advent calendar, with a different K-Cup coffee each day. Two years ago I got Sam a Moomin advent calendar – each door revealing a tiny, plastic Moomin figure. That year we decorated our Yule Log cake with meringue mushrooms and Moomins.
The January Joy Box is like an Advent calendar — but a perfume advent calendar meant to be opened in January. When you think about it, it’s a brilliant idea; January can be such a dismal month. The only good thing I can say about January is that it is on the right side of Winter Solstice – I have actually printed out a list of sunrise/sunset times so that I can see how far we’ve come since the solstice.
If you read my post about my “23 for 2023” list, you saw both “Find a signature scent” and “January Joy Box.” They are related endeavors. In addition to 2023 being a year of Focus, Order, Serenity, and Joy, it will be my “Year of Scent.” I will read about scent/perfume, try many different scents, and learn as much as I can about perfume, perfume ingredients, and the history of perfume. January Joy Box sort of jump starts this entire project.
January Joy Box is the invention of independent perfumer Sarah McCartney. Sarah has had one of those circuitous life paths that seems random until it reaches a point where all of the experiences and skills learned coalesce into an “of course she ended up here” destination – perfumer and founder of the independent perfume company, 4160 Tuesdays (website here). A maths and science major in university, head writer for 14 years at Lush – a company whose marketing was so creative, playful, and unique at the time it burst upon the scene that it spawned many imitators. Sarah embodies the word “creative” – it just seems to be how she lives her life, from the moment her feet hit the bedroom floor each morning. I so admire true creatives like that.
Anyway – January Joy Box. There are fifteen little tester bottles, each one labeled and wrapped in colorful tissue. Every two days in January you pick the scent for that day and fully experience it for 48 hours before moving on to the next one (and if you are like me, making notes so that you remember which ones you loved most and why). Everything about the January Joy Box truly brings me joy – the colorful wrappers, the scents themselves (even when I decide one isn’t “me”), and the names. Oh my goodness, the names: Evil Max, Be Careful What You Wish For, Fruits of the Tree of Knowledge, Burnt Cedar Rainbow Doves, Clouds Illusion – I know that cheeky product names have been a “thing” for several years, but somehow Sarah elevates even that to a more creative level.
There is a catch (for me) – in order to fully jump into the experience you really need to participate in the 4160 Tuesdays News Group on Facebook. That’s where people discuss that day’s fragrance. As you know, dear Reader, I quit all social media in 2019. Dipped my toes gingerly back into Instagram in early September 2022 and three months later dumped it again. I was not eager to enter the kingdom of Zuckerberg again. But I wanted to be a part of this group, so I created a pretty anonymous account on FB and will delete it on the first day of February. The 4160 Tuesdays group fascinates me – I love to read all of the discussions about the different scents – it’s like being in a room full of wine experts describing different vintages, using a language I sort of understand but sort of don’t. I still couldn’t identify a “mossy” note all on its own versus an “amber” note. I assume that comes from lots of experience and experimentation with different scents, so that eventually I will be able to conjure up an impression of an “amber” scent as easily as I can conjure up a feeling for citrus, or vanilla. I’m a life-long learner. If I could get paid to go to school every day for the rest of my life, I would jump at the chance – so I am enjoying this January journey and these teachers so much. I am soaking up as much as I can, because on February first I will be deleting my account. 🙂
The January Joy Box is the beginning of my “year of scent” and my search for a scent which fills me with joy and which I will want to wear always. I recently read in someone’s review of a perfume that it surrounded them in “a bubble of delight.” Sign me up for traveling through the rest of my life in a bubble of delight.
Today I went for a walk in a part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park that is known for eagle sightings. One of my 23 for 2023 goals is to see an eagle and photograph it. It wasn’t easy, but I found a nest! It was across the Cuyahoga river from the path I was on – it actually wasn’t visible from the main path; I had to follow a horse trail to the river. But now that I know where it is I will keep returning until I see an eagle – they re-use old nests, so this will be a good place to hopefully catch a glimpse.
Without further ado, the following is my 23 for 2023 list – a list of 23 things I want to accomplish or experience this year. Some of them are already completed or underway, which I think helps get the momentum going for such a project. The idea for this list comes from a favorite podcast, “Happier with Gretchen Rubin.” If you want to learn more about this type of list, here is a link to Gretchen’s most recent podcast, where she and her sister Elizabeth reveal and discuss their own 23 for 2023 lists.
January Joy Box
Get a pair of high quality walking/hiking shoes
Meatless February
Send Valentines cards
Baking lesson with Howard and Beth
Trip to New Zealand
See my mom
Buy a new, super-duper camera lens
Photograph the entire nesting season of the great blue herons
Visit 12 different parts of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (or other local park or nature preserve)
Use up the last of my massage gift cards
Find a way to celebrate my 60th birthday in a special way
Spend a day at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
Go thrifting
Find a signature scent
Plant hummingbird friendly plants in the garden
Go eagle watching until I actually see and can photograph an eagle
Read 23 novels
Compile a list of simple joys/delights
Celebrate Summer Solstice
Trip to NYC and Washington DC with Chloe
Ruthlessly edit the basement, the loft, my wardrobe, and my desk
Review my 23 for 2023 list on the 23rd of each month
I realise that some of these entries are rather cryptic, so I will be explaining them as they arise. One that is already underway is the January Joy Box, and I will write about that in my next blog post.
This post was supposed to be about my “23 for 2023” (that will come tomorrow) but I just had to devote a post to this beautiful mourning dove. I searched birding sites online to see if I could identify it as male or female, but there seem to be very few differences between the two. I *think* it’s a female because the males are supposed to have a slightly iridescent patch of feathers on their necks that this one doesn’t seem to have.
Anyway, I came home for lunch one day to find this beauty perching nonchalantly on top of my bird feeder. We do get doves in our backyard – being so large, they tend to scrounge around the fallen seeds under the feeder. Seeing one just hanging out ON the feeder was surprising, and as she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave I was able to snap several photos.
I’ve never been too excited about doves. I do love the call of the mourning dove — for many years I thought they were called “morning doves” because that’s when I tended to hear their calls. Doves have always reminded me of pigeons, though – like a slightly more refined relative of the pigeon. And pigeons have never really done it for me.
Having these photos now, though, I am head over heels in love. The subtle browns/tans/grays and the random black spots – gorgeous. But what really gets me is the turquoise around the eyes. I can’t stop looking at these photos and at the “pop” of that turquoise against the more subdued shades. That Mother Nature – she really knows how to accessorize.
Love,
Michelle xoxo
p.s. I know those first two pictures are nearly identical, but to me they are different and I couldn’t choose between the two!
