The Nature of Things

Today we say goodbye to one of the most exciting months of the year for birders along the Gulf Coast. It has been a month filled with a constant stream of migrating birds. Even birders who haven't been able to get out of their own backyards have been in the "catbird seat" of bird viewing this month. Of course, here at the end of the month, we are getting a little more excitement than we bargained for with the oil spill that threatens the wildlife that we love. But that's a topic for another day. Today I want to talk about poetry. Did you know that April is National Poetry Month ? April, also, marks my fourth anniversary as a blogger. I started the Backyard Birder blog for the Houston Chronicle on April 3, 2006. So, today, before I let April go, I want to honor National Poetry Month with a poem and also to mark my blogging anniversary with a poem about one of my favorite backyard birds. Enjoy. Mockingbirds by Mary Oliver This morning two mockingbirds in the gr...

When I heard about the racial profiling bill passed by the Arizona legislature and signed into law by their accidental governor, I remarked to my husband that it was a good thing that the Texas legislature was not in session, else they would be tripping over themselves to follow suit. Well, that didn't take long, did it? It seems that the execrable state representative Debbie Riddle of Tomball, TX is all set to introduce such a bill just as soon as the legislature meets again next year. In fact, there are said to be five or six states around the country that are considering similar laws. So what is it with state legislatures anyway ? Why are they so bad? Very many of them, including states like Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, as well as New York, seem totally incompetent to manage their state's finances. Had it not been for the Federal government coming to their rescue with stimulus money in the past year, many of them would be even more broke than they are....

Last week a deep water oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, my backyard, exploded and sank. The reasons that this happened are still to be determined. Was it simply an accident? Was it sabotage? Was it an attempt at terror? Or is there even some other explanation that hasn't surfaced yet? Whatever the reason for the explosion may have been, the consequences are horrendous . First of all, eleven human lives lost, lives of people who accepted those risky jobs on the rig - as the dead coal miners in West Virginia accepted their risky jobs - to support themselves and their families and to try to make better lives for them all. The jobs were there because of our insane addiction to oil. But that's just the cost in human lives. The cost in animal life and in degradation of the environment because of the oil now spilling from that wrecked rig is incalculable and is ongoing. Where will it all end? Will the oil reach the Gulf Coast to damage the birds and turtles and other wildlife ...

The debate about immigration reform in this country is driven by the attitudes of liberals and conservatives toward immigrants. Liberals, like myself, are generally open to the idea of a multicultural and multiracial society. When we look at immigrants today, we see people not unlike ourselves or our ancestors - people who are working hard to make a better life for themselves and their children. We feel an empathy with these people, even with those who may be here illegally, because we understand some of the hardships that have impelled them to make the difficult decision to leave their homes and loved ones and to emigrate to an alien country where they are not always welcomed. We see them as people who work and pay taxes in our country and thus contribute to society to the benefit of all of us. In return, they receive little protection or assistance. Conservatives, on the other hand, hate the very idea of having alien-looking, alien-sounding people in this country. They see them...

Finally, after all these months of debate about health care reform and after final passage of the bill, the Republicans have come out with their own plan for paying for medical care. It is simplicity itself. Instead of money, you are supposed to offer your doctor something of value in return for his/her services. In other words, you are supposed to barter for your medical care. In the famous, and now infamous, words of Sue Lowden, Nevada's Republican candidate for the Senate, you should bring your doctor a chicken to pay for your care. We used to keep a few hens in our backyard. They are wonderful animals and I value them, but, frankly, I don't see them paying for our medical services. The priciest hen would be valued at around $6 to $10. My husband recently required a medical procedure the total cost of which was right around $100,000. That's a lot of chickens . I don't think our backyard could hold enough of them to pay that bill. I wonder if the Republicans ha...

Do you know what this is? If you said, "Bird dropping," well, you're actually close. It is sometimes called the "bird dropping" caterpillar. It is, in fact, the caterpillar of the Giant Swallowtail butterfly. It mimics a bird dropping in order to fool predators. If I were a predator, I'd be fooled and I would definitely steer clear! That unappetizing looking caterpillar is the result of a mating like this. Two Giant Swallowtails get together to create the next generation of their beautiful kind. If the tiny caterpillar can munch enough citrus leaves to grow to its final stage of caterpillar-dom without attracting the attention of a predator and then if it can find a safe place to make its cocoon and pupate, maybe someday it will turn into a beauty like this. And the circle of life will be complete.