Nine Months and Birds
It has been nine months since I’ve written, mostly because I’m lazy, not because I don’t have time. Some things change, others not so much.
As for retirement, I wrote in a previous blog...
“As with most things in life, no one will ever imagine what it's like until they experience it. So, I have no wisdom to add except that your answers and feelings WILL change.”
At the time, I didn’t realize how prophetic I was being, (prophetic NOT pathetic, though maybe a little). Some feelings change, others not at all. The first year was very much like an extended vacation. I had tons of energy and got a lot of things done around the house that had been gathering dust over the last 25 years. The second year has proven to be more challenging. Some of the decluttering is cluttering again. I have to say I’ve gotten a little lazy, and I’m doing my best to combat that. I still do some minor amount of contracting for Pioneer, but that is winding down. I still miss everyone, well...some more than others. (-:
Pioneer is going through layoffs and voluntary early retirement to get rid of the highly compensated old farts. Scapegoats! I bowed my-old-fart-self out a year and a half ago when I saw the handwriting on the wall. I guess drinking their own kool-aide has finally caught up with them. I went though this every other year when I worked for Mobil and saw what it it did for moral, even survivor’s guilt. It’s all about money no matter what they fed us over the years. Some things never change….
i can be honest, no one ever reads this. I guess it can be cathartic, though, and I will move on to more pleasantries….
I’ve started thinking about volunteering at the hospital (my mother was Director of Volunteers at Methodist Hospital when I was growing up), and I applied through AARP to help with their tax preparation program to help folks that can’t afford to pay to do their taxes or otherwise need help. They are set up at our library. I was late getting started on that since the IRS does the training, so I will have to wait until next year. I had slacked off on the drums but have returned lately to embarrass myself again.
The other thing that has happened is we bought a small ranch and a house in Mason County, TX about four hours southwest of here (Dallas).
I had spent a lot of time growing up in that area as a kid. My friend’s family had an old German homestead there just a couple of properties away and he still has their ranch. I hadn’t seen him much in recent years, but as you can imagine, we have reconnected. As I write this, I realized that we made this purchase exactly a year to the date after I retired. So, be prepared for the changes when you turn ‘one’....That goes along with my realization that things change a year after you retire. You start looking to stave off old age with new challenges. The house and land are in good shape, but the house needs some updating and a change in the color scheme. Our progress is slow. We don’t spend as much time there as I would like. Life such as it is, gets in the way. The wildflowers are starting to bloom as are our peach trees. Hill country peaches...yum!
I’ve added a new long range zoom camera to my hobby of bird watching. It is the perfect accoutrement to my love of wildlife photography. (I’ve added bird photos to the photography section of my website). I just loaded the various bird feeders with thistle seeds for Finches, sunflower seeds for the Tufted Titmouse, House and Gold Finches, Carolina Chickadees, etc. I throw millet and sunflower seeds on the patio for ground feeders like Dark Eyed Juncos, White-Chinned Sparrows, Cardinals, Doves, Blue Jays, and the occasional Carolina Wren and Yellow-Rumped Warbler. I’ve also hung a suet cage for the Woodpeckers. So far we have three, the Downy, Hairy, and the Red Bellied, though I don’t often see that one and I finally caught him briefly on film as he shinned up our oak tree.
The White-Chinned Sparrow, Juncos, and Gold Finches are only here for the winter and will move north when the weather warms. I will miss them. As of late March, threy have left the scene. The male Gold Finches will turn a bright gold during mating season in the north, but for now they are a dullish yellow on gray. They have a distinctive, beautiful wing pattern across their backs and are smaller and more dainty than the House Finch.
It is fascinating to watch the different feeding habits of the various birds. Finches will sit and hog the bird feeder and eat until they are done and the Titmouse and Chickadee will grab a seed and quickly retreat to a tree limb to crack the seed open holding it with their claws. Check out the photo of the Titmouse holding an almond. The claws look like miniature versions of the Tyrannosaurus Rex claws...hmmm. Ouch!! All those other birds I mentioned feed on the ground, though the Cardinals and Blue Jays try to visit the feeder but find the perches too small.
Our Mockingbirds don’t come to the feeders but sit in our Yaupon Holly trees eating the berries and try to chase away the hoards of beautiful Cedar Wax Wings that strip our trees in a feeding frenzy each spring. They are migrating north following the ripening berries. See the photos and video.
We also have Hawks and a fair number of noisy Crows. We mostly hear the Hawks and see them when the crows are chasing them away. Just saw what I think was a Cooper’s Hawk fly away as we drove into the driveway. It was big! They are an Accipiter and mostly feed on birds hunting through trees and brush. I’m wondering if they are showing up because we are feeding the birds.
When late Spring roles around, we start seeing beautiful Mississippi Kites, a medium sized bird of prey. They nest in our neighborhood and we hear their phee-phew cries. We often see the juveniles sitting atop dead trees crying to be fed.
As Spring and the mating season approaches, it’s also interesting to watch the various courting habits. Usually there is a menage-a-trois with two males vying for one female. Mostly they try and chase the other off while the female plays hard to get. Sound familiar? I feel sorry for the loser.
I hope you are all in love, loved, and happy!
And on we go....time to do my taxes and pay Uncle Sam. See, it really IS all about the money.