The Nature of Things

Birders, even non-competitive backyard birders like myself, are always looking for something that will give them that extra edge as they pursue their winged quarry for the purposes of identification and listing. Because, let me tell you, birding is hard. Birds almost never cooperate. They flit around, constantly in motion, as you try to follow them with your binoculars, and just when you get focused in,  zip ! They're gone. Frustrating little critters. Warblers are the worst.  But help is on the way. Derek Lovitch has written a book which is useful for birders at any level of proficiency from the beginner to the obsessive lister.  It is a short book, only 179 pages in the edition which I read, and very accessible. He explores best practices and gives tips on advanced field identification, birding at night, birding and habitat, geography, and weather. He writes about how to anticipate vagrants, those birds that show up in wildly out-of-range places where they really should...

Would-be writers are always told to write about what they know. Perhaps that is why Michael Draper chose as the hero of his first mystery novel a mild-mannered insurance agent. Draper works in the insurance field and obviously knows it well and, in the course of his work, we are told that he has developed relationships and contacts with law enforcement personnel. He draws on all of that experience in plotting his tale of amateur detectives trying to solve a murder case.  The murder case itself starts out as a putative suicide. Johnny Kelly, the chief of internal security for a professional basketball team, the Highlanders, is found dead in his office. There is a suicide note and at first everything seems straightforward, but when the grieving widow gets a look at a copy of that note, she points out several anomalous and suspicious facts which convince her that her husband wrote the note under duress and wrote it in such a way as to alert her to that fact.  The widow, Roseanne,...

The blurb from  The New York Times  which graces the front cover of this book says, "The best historical novels ever written." Well, I haven't read  all  the historical novels ever written, so, far be it from me to judge, but so far, I've read two of the books in the series and, yes, I rate them very highly. This one even more than the first,  Master and Commander .  The first book established the relationship between Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's doctor (Not "surgeon" as I once called him. Terrible  faux pas .) Stephen Maturin. Aubrey is the enthusiastic somewhat overgrown child, not really as mature as his rank might suggest. Maturin is the more complicated character, a man of many parts who plays many roles.  Post Captain  finds the two ashore at the beginning of the book, ensconced in a cottage on the Downs and keeping company with some young ladies of the area - one Sophia Williams and the widow Diana Villi...

Scientific research often turns up unexpected findings. Consider a recent study about how noise pollution impacts forests in the Southwest. Previous studies had shown that the Black-chinned Hummingbird seemed to have a high tolerance for areas with extreme noise pollution, while another bird, the Scrub Jay, was sensitive to noise and avoided noisy areas. Now, Scrub Jays are known to prey on the eggs and young of the hummingbirds; therefore, the conclusion is that the hummingbirds choose to frequent areas which the jays avoid. In other words, the hummers are using noise pollution as a defense against the jays.  The latest study now shows how this dynamic affects forests. Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of flowers and, in so doing, they pollinate the flowers and help to increase their numbers. Scrub Jays feed on pinyon pine cones and, in so doing, they spread seeds of the pines and increase the number of trees. But in areas of excessive noise, the number of flowers are increasing (...

We had a family luncheon on Sunday to celebrate my husband's birthday. I'm very far from what anyone would honestly call a great cook - or even a good cook - but I'm the one who usually winds up preparing these meals, so I'm always looking for the easy way out so I won't embarrass myself and my family. Of course, the easiest way out would be to get someone else to do it or have it catered or just take everybody out to eat, but since I usually can't do any of those things, the next best solution that I have found is the slow cooker. The crock pot is a great invention for people who really don't have much time to cook, those who are working full-time, maybe raising a family, and commuting to and from work, as well as ferrying kids to their various activities. Been there, done that, and have the wrinkles to prove it. Now, I have the time to cook, but I really prefer to spend that time doing other things that I enjoy more, so the crock pot is still one of my bes...

If only we had the power to see ourselves as others see us, how might it change our opinions of ourselves? How might it change our behavior and perhaps make us more forgiving of the foibles of others? Or maybe it would just needlessly depress us...                                               To a Louse   by Robert Burns (On seeing a louse on a lady's bonnet at church!) Ha! whare ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie! Your impudence protects you sairly: I canna say but ye strunt rarely Owre gauze and lace; Tho' faith, I fear ye dine but sparely On sic a place. Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner, Detested, shunned by saunt an' sinner, How daur ye set your fit upon her, Sae fine a lady! Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner, On some poor body. Swith, in some beggar's haffet squattle; There ye may creep, and sprawl, and sprattle Wi' ither kindred, jumpin cattle, In shoals and natio...