Click .....clicking.....click....pause.... Walk over and view out. No, I don't see a Little Black Dress but I do see a black bird, very lovely and very frightened and so utterly alone except for some nameless, well..... for now.... in the Mesquite tree in my courtyard, my house here. No fire escape to land upon, but only the twisted branches of the Mesquite as the moonlight, oh....perhaps wider than a mile it might seem, has come to rest upon and crossed, in style I might add....the dark color of this black bird. 

I straighten.....and I too with a bit of style....I lean into the outside as my first look at a lonely one, again....not in a black dress, although perhaps someday that might be. Yet the black bird now, who sits in that Mesquite tree, criss-crossed with light from the moon, ....now appears to be just a dream. No bird...no black bird, just a dream-maker as I am fooled by the fold of branches. Oh, such a Heart Breaker I must admit; for where-ever you're going, I am going your way. 

Like two drifters, we have become, one who is now further sunken into the branches of the Mesquite...though not of this world at present,  yet 'off to see the world' is best to pre-suppose, for there is such a lot of world to see. Sometimes I sense, more so than think, that the bird and I, when together...we are after the same rainbow's end. 

So I wait some more, ....just like one would be waiting around the bend in hopes of meeting their once 'huckleberry friend'....In the river of a moon, and me.....Hi. 

I had....if you can scroll down one blog, .....a New Years birding resolution, but now, as I sit here and  ponder a bit, and admittedly sometimes I just stare or take that big move and just leave to take a nap. Why not? But I want to simply 'strike that'...

No, no birding New Year's resolution for me. In fact, I really don't like the concept behind resolutions or the whole process inherent within.

So with that in mind; my 'striking' of any birding resolution just fits me. This is Jim,  this is me. I am not you, nor them. "Winging it' ...is just plain old me. Too much planning creates Chaos. I used to plan, and in fact even have blogged on the perils of.  I might have dwelled on all possible variables to the situation, which inevitably brought upon a written matrix to guide me to the best possible  end result. In the past, as a younger man falling victim to 'what was supposed to be' or to the 'teachings of others', that dang matrix would just drive me nuts. Yes be it written on paper or done on (egads) the digital world of the computer, ....lines and columns and data would be collected or written upon.  But I am telling you; Planning  creates Chaos. Winging it creates Adventure.

So, no planning, no resolutions. Just pure 'winging' it. The term 'Winging' it' comes from the theater. Oh yes, "the theater, the theater....oh what happened to the theater". Forward to 45 seconds and listen to Danny Kaye. 

But the term 'winging it' stemmed from the 19 century theater, way prior to Danny Kaye although I bet he was born pretty close to it.  When an actor/actress was called upon to fill in for another, and they 'nay not the lines', well....they improvised, or winged it.

But as a birder.....winging it at least sounds very appropriate given the subject matter. If I plan and create a resolution as I did in 2017 with birding, I just confuse myself. My birding becomes 'birding with intent' and we all know that if you go looking for something, you shall never find. For instance, have you ever gone looking for a 'Road Runner' and found it? Or a Goshawk? Or just about any bird with the exception of the 'usual'? So when creating a resolution filled of that 'type of bird', I just set myself up for failure. Chaos...is derived from planning. 

The year 2022..... Birding. I am just winging it. I have a pair of binoculars to look out the window....I will go birding when I want, when I choose. I will enjoy nature as natural instead of planned. I will hear the crunch of iced snow beneath my feet or feel the sponginess of moss. I will have bitter wind brush against my face or hear the boring yet melancholy call of a mourning dove. Alone or in a group. The sea or the desert or even a mountain might call. Do birds go in the ocean? Any continent might due, yet one. A pure chaotic adventure is the only One I might ever know. Yes, I might bird alone, yet it won't be lonely. Someplace in those last few lines hit upon this below. Anyhow, enjoy 'winging it'. 

Two things....2....and only two my dear feathered delighted friends, just to set you down a straight fly-zone as we work towards the depth of 2022.

I was talking with Deb the other day as we reminisced about past 'turns of a year'. Remember in 2000, when essentially the technology world was going to fall apart since no one quite knew how computers would 'accept and address' the new century? But even as 2000 came, and went...and sadly computers were still with us, .... we then postponed the 'conspiracy theory' that the world was coming to a close since the new century doesn't technically start until 2001. 

Speaking of 'world coming to an end'....what happened to that Maya Calendar thing? 

Anyhow....2022 it is now, and let me ask of you; do you have your birding goals set? I bring that as a question---for a goal is not that bad of a thing to have. As I perused thru one of my old journals, and this one dating from 2017, this is what I found.

Birding goals for 2018 were in New Jersey: Northern Goshawk, Virginia Rail, Cackling goose, Brown Pelican, Least Bittern, Cliff Swallow, Sedge Wren, Vesper Sparrow, Kentucky Warbler, Least Flycatcher and Northern Waterthrush.   Now being a relatively new-comer to the fine state of Jersey, those were birds that were on my jersey list.

Since that time I have seen the Goshawk, I have heard the Virginia Rail several times (not bad), seen the Cackling Goose as well as the Pelican and the Cliff Swallow, but have woefully fallen short on the rest. So, am I to just assume that the remaining are just carried over like some old accounting trick on taxes to the following year? Perhaps my tax situation has changed and that particular bird, while nice to have, is not on my list anymore. 

Wasn't it Alfred Tennyson who said:

"Ring out, wild bells....to the Wild Sky." 

If such is true, the wild sky being my upcoming cycle of birding would most likely include the 'rest' on that dated list from 2017. Looking at that list, I don't think the Sedge Wren at Jakes Landing will occur since I will be in Australia for the balance of the upcoming months and Sedge Wrens are winter wrens around here. The elusive Northern Waterthrush, so seemingly easy to find...has just not made a visual impression upon me. I really feel it is one of those types of birds that just 'appear' and are not sought after. 

The least bittern? ...while nice...it might also fall under the same category of a bird not easily sought, but just accidentally found. I feel I have a shot at the Kentucky Warbler if I make a point to bird some of the 'tall' trees upwards. The vesper sparrow? ...  That is asking for one. The flycatcher? Ditto... 

So my list has dwindled down to the Kentucky Warbler. If I tackle just one....just one...and only that sole creature, well...I might have a chance.

The other thing I would like to do as a goal is to 'bird' at least once per week. That isn't asking a lot and is doable since nature, is nature creeps towards us with every step we take. Bird the wires, the bushes....the lawns, let alone the refuges or parks or the shore or mountains or the skies. I just want to document these within my journal as I reflect from day to day, week to week...and certainly they add up to a year. 

The second thing I wanted to point to you; beyond that of your birding goal'.... is that of visiting the Bird Forum. I have supported this forum since 2006 and have used it to find birds here in the US as I travel, to discuss optics and equipment...to find birding pals in South America and  Australia..to sell or buy birding cameras's / binoculars etc...  Truly a valuable resource. I don't like to participate much on e-bird but find the Bird Forum a nice resting spot for my attention when inclement weather hits and I can't bird in the field. Give it a shot.

Bottom line...two things. Your birding goals and Birding Forum. 

This was Polly.....born Feb 12th, 1919 and passed away August 16th, 2021. She was my mom.....

You know, a mom leaves a mighty large impression on a person....all the little things said and done and taught and scolded upon, as one lives life. It also seems that a mom does 'just that' their entire life. Their influence is not bestowed upon just the 'under 10 crowd' but throughout life, as long as we can stretch it. 

But to go back....to when I was under 10, well....5 in this case. We were living in Stockton, California at the time. In our back yard we had fruit trees of all varieties, sticking up in the grass, sometimes with tall grass and fruit droppings nestled down or perhaps stepped on and embedded in the This was a haven for worms and insects.  Birds too... and I only wish I could recall what species visited us. Yet I do recall one and that was because my mom told me once....she said' 'Jimmy jones (as she called me), when the Robins come in the yard, that means that spring is here', (apparently even in California at the time). 

So my love of birds started with that statement and from then, a yearly reflection of that story as I view a robin anytime in the year.  My mom started me in the 'bird business' and it has been a life long passion.

But my mom also taught me about nature in general. While I am not one that can rattle off like others might, I do appreciate and perhaps more so than others do, that of nature. My mom taught me how to pick up bees without getting stung. You see, it is crucial that you become part of the habitat. They 'find you' and you don't go chasing them. Once you are in their habitat, and yes, those same fruit trees that attracted Robins and worms and other things, also was an attraction for bumble bees. They stirred around the trees and landed on peaches and apricots; on and off the ground. As I would find a dry spot to sit on the grass, I would lay still and move my hand, ever so slowly to a bee resting on a failed fruit. My fingers would approach them and the fruit, and I would be that fruit. They would just transfer their body to my fingers and devour the juices stuck to my 5 year old hands.  Birds and bees. My mom introduced me to that; of all things. 

My mom was a naturalist in her own way....didn't really know the names of birds as she would ask me. She grew up on the Wishka, which was a polish community located on the Olympic Peninsula, north of Aberdeen, WA. Here, on the farm......she learned about nature. She was especially aware of cows, which to them....was part of life but also part of nature. She would tell me that as a kid, it was her job to bring in the cows, especially when it was going to storm. But bringing in the cows is no easy task, and although she had a portion of her 10 siblings to help her, they had to 'know the cows' and understand them. She had to know where they would be on the property and once there, how does a kid 'bring them in?". From the pastures, to the trails, to the barn..... so in some sense, she was a Cow Whisperer. 

As an adult....she would go on 3-4 mile walks every day, even when she neared 100 years old. Her tales coming home always included something of nature. Perhaps the Kingbird resting on the wires before bellowing out it's call, or a snake on the path that she would spook and then, for some reason unknown to her, would be able to slither into a hole. I remember her asking me...'how does that snake know where that hole is, when they are both on the ground and the snake can't see the hole, like I can standing here?". I never had a reply. One time on her walks she was spotting by a mountain lion as it was nestled under a tree on a bluff. She just kept walking. Her walk passed near the Mill Creek River and fish ladders were in place and yes, she wondered about the fish. How do they know to swim to their place of birth? How can they jump those 'ladders'....  The osprey was another topic of thought with my mom. For days she would walk and watch and count the times the osprey made a dive for a fish, and she would tally up the times it dove and came up empty or bird in beak'. 

Nature was part of my mom since she was a little girl. Just like nature has been part of my life since I too, was a little guy. My mom still talked of Robins and she even recalled me (jimmy jones) picking up bees and never getting stung. 

Thanks mom..... you were such a huge part of my life and now, while passed, you still are. love jimmy jones. 

I took a walk today....in the rain no less with Just a drizzle barely touching me it seemed, and yet this was after the entirety of a day in which no sun shone, just water falling.

I passed a man on my left as I walked, ....who had his red car pulled outside and he was here washing it. Strange I thought. I walked on.....

And next to him was a pine, ....still not showing signs of new growth but long in mourning for spring I suppose. Embedded within the boughs was a slight movement as it caught my eye. I paused my walk; it then occurred to me that the colors were of a titmouse as it just sat and watched me pass, but mostly I suppose it was looking at the man washing the car, in the rain. The bird most likely could witness him and me, at the same time. With their eyes on either side, I imagine they view 360 or close....

Moving further along....I passed some long, thin brown lines, strewn along the path haphazardly on the pavement. Worms....escaping their underground encampments which by now are mostly washed away. Worms escape to be on top and survive another day, as they have learned. And yet, someday...one day....they will perform that same act and perhaps will find the sun, suddenly escaping from the clouds, and emit heat upon the pavement and those upon it.  At that time, the worm becomes scorched, will dry out....shrivel up.... and lay etched into the stone sidewalk as its last days caught up to it.

A long ways on and I come across goose poop..... wet now. I wonder if I could follow a flock of geese simply by following their trails? Do you think as such? Do geese poop in flight or does the act of flight tighten them up enough to not so poop? Not sure....

Around the bend I again look down and find this time, just water. It rolls around and is transparent and reflective as well. I often wonder about water as while we need it, we also discard it. My discarded water will become, one day.....years from now I am sure, ....water that someone else will drink. Just as I am drinking that of a lost soul, isn't that a strange thought....

Next as I continue to walk around that bend once more....as I repeat my steps....I look upon the trees, all laden with dead leaves or totally blank with only twigs silhouetted against the sky. But I see little water droplets, hugging the limbs where a bud will soon be, and begging for the wind to crop up, just so they can fall to the ground and settle in. 

​My walk.......not bad. 

I have lived a good life...no doubt. Great daughters and grandkids....a life that I can be proud of as a teacher. It doesn't matter of what age, for I know I touched a few at every age I taught. I have had the opportunity to travel the world and do what I want to do.

Ha...I always say that I have 'led myself' as opposed to having someone or some corporation or some boss etc, ....lead me. No, that didn't happen with me after I wised up to it. 

I can say I found the secret to life although even knowing the secret, it doesn't come easy. But each of us can find that secret and you have to find it yourself, even though I could tell you. You wouldn't recognize it, or...you wouldn't see it, understand or grasp it, unless and until, you do so on your own. 

I loved my involvement with nature ....even though earlier I had grand thoughts of helping the world and saving the planet and joining the Sierra Club etc, well, I found that just by walking the land and rubbing my hands against the tall grasses, or smelling the trees. Or looking at a sunset or a bird in flight and all type of animals doing whatever they do. Nah, I don't know the scientific names for hardly anything and am lucky now to remember what grass blade is what. I do better with birds though. I have learned to appreciate wildlife and habitat and environment and behavior. Sure, I like to find a new bird, but even an everyday bird like a Robin or Chickadee is good enough for me. I can remember when I was just a lad of 4 or 5 and my mom telling me about Robins and migration. I think that started it all. Way to go mom, thanks.....really, thanks.

I felt like I have learned to appreciate many things in my life, whether it is art, or just myself for when the bottom line is here, it is only you that you have to convince of , of anything. Learn to appreciate yourself and your existence within this world of ours. As Mars is being discovered, one meter at a time, you should be able to discover just a bit more about you on a daily basis too. Try it, you might like it. 

We live in strange times, although isn't any time a bit strange with humans floating around? But yes, we live in strange times where much of 'ethics' might escape most people, most of our land is just abused so someone can make a buck if allowed....our wildlife is taken for granted and if in fact, we could put them on a postcard and remember that in that manner, I think most people might accept that. Oh, isn't that so sad.

But today my friends....yes today, well...yesterday too and perhaps even a week ago or two, and I am sure in the future too, it isn't quite time for me to say Adios to the world. No sir....I have important things to do such as losing money in the market or drinking a new glass of wine to celebrate the same, or....listen to music and wonder why I can't sing like that. No, not adios yet for yes, I do have things to conquer as of still. I haven't met a person yet I wouldn't meet again, just to meet. I haven't seen a land, or a bird or an adventure I might turn down too, for anything I run up against is an adventure which I need to experience. 

For one day when I truly might have to say Adios....I want to review my life with a glance within me and know that I have lived 'a life' and not just 'life'. Then when I say 'adios'....I am comfortable saying it. ........... 

By the way....I am not really going anywhere, nor anything wrong.... But I was listening to Glen Campbell's final album he sang with his daughter before he passed away due to Alzheimers. He actually made an album even in his final days.  I grew up listing to this guy; being a country boy from back west.