Existence

 

“A seagull flying beautifully is heaven; a seagull hunting an innocent fish is hell!

 Existence is heaven and hell, joy and horror!” 

~Mehmet Murat ildan 

 

Right? A little later today, I will be attending a meeting of the Democratic club of Lodi. Sigh. I want to go, but I am unsure of how diplomatic I can be anymore, and to make it all worse, I have a big opinionated mouth. Can I hold my tongue and how some folks want to dump Joe Biden over the Israel/Hamas war? The economy? His age? Will we have another protest vote over these things? Maybe! And wouldn't that suck? Yes, yes it would. I guess my real concern is the fact that if you put any number of people in the same room, there will be someone who thinks radically different than you do. Which is okay, but I am passionate about my politics, and all I really want is to help defeat Donald Trump. I am not in it to shoot myself in the foot by picking apart our best hope for survival. Joe Biden isn't too old for me. Joe Biden is smart enough for me. Joe Biden is handling the middle east well enough... for now... but I may revisit that subject at a later date. Joe Biden is our best hope for saving democracy, and he has Kamala Harris at his side. If he should pass away in office, I am completely at ease with her becoming president. That's how our government works, and I was proud to vote for a Biden/Harris ticket in 2020 and will happily do so again. So, I have high hopes for my first meeting, I really do, but I am also prepared to run from the crazy!

Go Joe!

Guilty... Again!

Via the New York Times

 “A president cannot defend a nation

 if he is not held accountable to its laws.”

 
~DaShanne Stokes 

 

Trump has been convicted, for a second time, for defaming E. Jean Carroll. He is currently going for a third time! He cannot keep his mouth shut. I hope she sees the money, but I am doubtful she will ever see a dime, because he is a fucking slime ball deadbeat. But at least he was found guilty and that provides all of us, including justice, a brighter day. I will keep a good thought for her!

 

Read the story here.

 

This post is via Keith Olbermann on (X)

Loser J. Trump's response to the verdict...

Will Trump ever shut up?

 

 

B/W 2024 #4

 

“Your desire to be near to window is your desire to be close to life!” 

~Mehmet Murat ildan 

Color or Black/White?

I can't decide. But windows, and window treatments have been on my mind a lot lately, because I am decorating the spare room, and not one set of my curtains has looked good. I have about 35 sets of curtains, that were for 3 different homes, but somehow the windows in my condo are demanding something different! Unfortunately, what it is wanting is absolutely eluding me! Anyway. here is a color and black and white window. I suppose with the natural color version, a nice warm cream color would look good, maybe in Damask. With the black and white, you can let your mind wander, personally for that I see a nice mid-century look, maybe Atomic Cat. I think I will photograph more windows for inspiration, as my quest continues! Is it me, or wasn't the curtains in my living room lovely? You couldn't beat the light that came through those windows! Autumn light was especially pretty! I smiled a lot in that room!

My office curtains as we were packing to move.

Snowy Egret Then And Now

 

“Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development,

 invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.” 

~Edgar Allan Poe 

 

The Snowy Egret is my favorite bird, and here I bet you thought the Sandhill crane held that status! No, it's this gorgeous egret. It has been since I photographed my very first one, in the autumn of 2007, long before I took up birding. They are smallish egrets, and fairly common around the areas I tend to frequent when searching for birds, but they always catch my photographers eye, especially in winter. I always photograph them when I see them now, almost as good luck. And don't you just love those big yellow feet?

November 28th 2007

A Woman Who Stares At Ducks

 

“I once taught a duck how to swim.

 I'm such a good coach that in no time at all it learned how to fly.” 

~Jarod Kintz

  Eggs, they’re not just for breakfast

 

As uninspired as I have been feeling lately, I found a lot of happiness in photographing this gorgeous Bufflehead duck, at the Clifton Court Forebay. There was still a shocking lack of birds, but I still managed to photograph two new birds. The Shrike and the Song sparrow. That brings the total for January to 80! Not too shabby. The Shrike photo is blurry, so hopefully I will get a chance to redo that at some time later this year. I have seen one at the forebay on other occasions, so I am pretty sure it will happen. It's something to look forward to. Sigh. This lack of inspiration will pass, I just need to get there. 

 

By the way, this also happened yesterday...

 

The Oscar Nominations were announced.

 

Biggest snub... Margot Robbie. But Ryan Gosling was surely nominated. In case you didn't know, he played Ken. Don't get me wrong, I like Ryan Gosling very much, but holy HELL! I won't give anything away, but that whole dynamic sure drives home the whole point of the movie! If you haven't seen, Barbie, go watch it. You will enjoy it, I promise! See the full list of nominees here. All I have to say is, FUCK THE OSCARS!

 

 

 

And also, this happened...

 

Sigh...

 

 

Don't Wanna

 

“The world is beautiful and dangerous, and joyful and sad, and ungrateful and giving, and full of so, so many things. The world is new and it is old. It is big and it is small. The world is fierce and it is kind, and we, every one of us, are in it.” 

  ~Mark Twain & Philip Stead 

 

Don't wanna. Nothing is really wrong, in fact I am doing worlds better than I was last Autumn, and it's not that I am uninspired, not at all, but I am feeling quiet, so this is the post. Just a photograph of a beautiful Black-necked stilt. My quiet mood will pass, but until it does expect a picture, and fewer words in my post. That's a good thing I think. It leaves more time to enjoy the birds. Don't you just love their long pink legs? They make me want to buy tights in the same color!

 

 

 

 

 

B/W 2024 #3

 

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” 

~Friedrich Nietzsche 

 

I went to the archives for this one. I just didn't do anything this past week that inspired me, so I thought maybe I missed an opportunity in the past, and yes I had. We visited Alameda a couple years ago, in search of some nifty little shorebirds and ducks. Well, we weren't very lucky about finding the birds, but we did find a magnificent view of San Francisco and the bay, and in the case of this photograph, Mount Tamalpias peeking out of the fog that was surrounding the bay! I think the black and white gives it a haunting feel. Not scary necessarily but rather in terms of history. That view has been there forever. Just think about how many folks stood in the spot I did, and appreciated the natural beauty in front of them. 

 

One of them might have been my dad, who worked his whole career in Alameda, at the Navel Air Station. He and I both enjoyed a love fort the bay, and the mountains surrounding the Bay Area. Mount Tam is just one of the mountains that inspires me, and it does in almost every way! We have been to the top only once, so I think this summer would be a good time to maybe do some photos of the gorgeous views that go on forever, and of course a sunset over San Francisco would absolutely fill my heart. In fact, Mount Diablo, Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara County, Mount Lassen, all the way up in Lassen County, and finally gorgeous Mount Shasta, might also be a fun way to shake up the subjects a bit. And in that there are birds everywhere, well, that just makes for one beautiful day! Black and White or color is just beside the point!

 

 Elevations

 

Mount Tamalpias... 2,571

Mount Diablo... 3,849

Mount Hamilton... 4,265

Mount Shasta... 14,179

I hope I can move beyond my fears and go. I really want to break out of the box of reluctance and travel anxiety I live in. I want to experience new things, especially when my love of birds and photography calls me at the same time.

 

 

Power Lunches

 

“Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us.

 Life is so endlessly delicious.” 

~Ruth Reichl 

 

Here is the downside to birding, occasionally you come across the circle of life on full display. Hey, they do the clean up, and all of it fits together in the greater scheme of things, but oh my, my heart breaks for the animal that was hit by a car, or a bird that may have been affected by the recent bird influenza, that has been affecting the ducks, geese and other migratory species. Sigh. The lack of huge number of birds everywhere, drives home the scary point that a life without birds could be an eventuality. If you look at the reported declines in different bird species, due to both environmental factors and disease, it's not just depressing, but deeply concerning for our future. But on this day, this pair of turkey vultures was doing their thing, and that is a good thing!