This morning the temperature was around 8°F with a wind chill of -10°. I noticed a group of four ravens that kept zipping by and performing all sorts of aerial stunts. I don’t think they were fighting… merely enjoying an acrobatic flight in the high winds.
A reminder that Nature will always be here no matter how cold and dark.
I walked out this very cold evening to find this little fellow at our bird bath. He was very cooperative in letting me take photos while he sat still. First time I’ve seen this type of owl here and I hope he’ll stick around and eat plenty of mice and pack rats!
Sending the year out with some sunset shots and nice time lapses of lenticular clouds and Christmas sunsets. Happy New Year!
The first election I was eligible to vote in was in 1976 and I voted for Jimmy Carter. He represented a new way forward in politics and a rejection of the stale politics of Nixon and Ford. He was youthful and optimistic and gave the younger generation a new hope. He wasn’t perfect but I always felt he was sincere and honest.
He put a solar water heater on top of the White House in an attempt to show how we could move away from fossil fuels (I still remember the long lines to get gas in 1973 due to the Arab Oil Embargo and that was in Houston). He worked to pass lots of great environmental legislation including protecting the Alaska wilderness and expanding public lands and parks.
He tried to steer American foreign policy to include human rights and basic morality in its implementation. He pardoned the Vietnam draft protesters. He was a Christian who never used his religion to oppress or deny others their basic rights. He rejected the segregationists in the South that helped elect him. He created a lasting peace in the Middle East between Egypt and Israel.
Sadly, America decided to return to the same old tired politics of power and money after his first and only term.
Upon leaving office, he didn’t spend his time fundraising and selling books. He set up the Carter Center to help promote democracy around the world. He worked to end diseases and poverty around the world, including eradicating the awful dracunculiasis (guinea worm). And as most who know him now, worked tirelessly with his wife Rosalynn to build homes for the poor and bring recognition to the Habitat for Humanity organization.
Jimmy and Rosalynn made America a better place.
Beautiful choir music – O Magnum Mysterium – St. Olaf Chapel Choir & St. Olaf Orchestra
Happy Winter Solstice!
We traveled down to Bernardo to see if many Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese were wintering there and we were not disappointed. The weather was perfect and we had the observation deck all to ourselves. We ate lunch and listened to the noisy cackles and whistles of the cranes while the honking snow geese flew off to the nearby pond. We even saw a lone juvenile Red Tail Hawk soaring high overhead. A great day of bird watching and we may come back later to visit the Bosque del Apache located farther South from here.
We traveled downtown to see the lights on the Plaza and go to the Christmas celebration at the Palace of the Governors. Also including this year Yule Tree and fire. We left the ornaments off for now to let Maizey get used to the holiday cheer and so far she’s been cooperating!
