January 2022 News and Pictures

Hello Nature-led friends!

A rather informal post this week. I’m preparing to attend a virtual workshop hosted by my city regarding our future. This last November all but one Council Member who was up for re-election had lost their seat. Clearly, I am not the only one frustrated. I expect I’ll be lucky to get very little if any speaking time, so I am planning what I want to say in the most succinct way possible. Until now, Our City has been keeping it’s head in the sand in regard to Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness Planning. Lucky for them, I’ve elected to make it my new year’s resolution to become a big pain in their asses to help them out.

There was some funny business in the way the last guy became Mayor, and no one has forgotten that it would seem. Since then, there has been a complete lack of transparency in city operations and the traffic has become terrible. Political divisiveness has nearly melted away as we become united in our annoyance of trying to figure out what the heck is going on. I’m using these last few days before the workshop to check my attitude because these fresh faces that have boldly (or foolishly) stepped forward do not deserve my ire for what their predecessors were doing, or more likely, not doing. Climate Change (Sustainability), Disaster Preparedness Planning and Transparency will be my key talking points.

I would like to think they’ll offer me a job with a reasonable salary and a retirement plan, but that’s probably a fantasy. I’ll likely have to develop the job I want and make it happen in the form of a nonprofit or for-profit business model. As I forge my own path I’m taking notes so that others can follow or learn from my mistakes. Why waste time making your own mistakes when you can learn from mine?

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I finally got to put my Dandelion wine in a bottle last Monday. I’ll have to wait another year before I can uncork it and tell you if it’s any good or not. If your new or you missed the post about Dandelion Wine, you can read it here: https://nature-led.org/2021/04/22/happy-earth-day-2021-may-hope-persist-like-dandelions/

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Last Friday my eyes and spirit were gifted with this gorgeous sunrise after weeks of snow, freezing temperatures, flooding and rain.

Later that afternoon as I was taking in the sunshine I nearly fell in a sinkhole in my field. I did some exploratory digging to see if I might reach the other side of the world or a faerie realm, but alas, it was nothing but very sandy loam. This is a wet meadow across from a proper wetland. It was far from the water pipes, utilities and septic drain field. My best guess is that the mole had a hole here and the rain flushed into and worked down like a hydro jet into that extra sandy loamy spot. I have filled it in and will keep an eye on it. I tried to compact the new soil as best as I could by jumping up and down on it. My field is adjacent to a road, so when an old man and his little white dog saw me jumping up and down like a crazy bog witch they decided to turn around and “nope” their way back from which they had come.

A sinkhole would be a lot more scary if I lived in central Florida where they have limestone that crumble into giant sinkholes engulfing houses and buildings from time to time. (See brief news link below)

And finally, today I went grocery shopping and met this nice Crow who was very obliging in letting me take a picture to share with you all. Aren’t you a beauty!

I can tell you that without a doubt, the crows that live at the UW Bothell Rookery miss popcorn Fridays as much as the kids do at my nearby elementary school since the pandemic began. Somewhere I have a cool video of them swooping in as the cleanup crew as soon as the bell rings and all of the kids have run inside to back up and prepare to leave for the day. Many of these crows fly over my house as they head to the rookery each night.

I always say, “Hello, Crow.” When I meet one and the crows that frequent the end of my neighborhood hop forward in anticipation of my greeting. They cannot follow me home though. I have a Cooper’s Hawk couple that guards my field. (I’ll write a post about this hawk couple one of these days. I’ve known the male hawk for six years. This is his second mate.)

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Have a great week everyone!

Links:

A brief news story about sinkholes in Central Florida from 2018: https://youtu.be/39pay3nFric

UW Both Crow Rookery Information: https://www.uwb.edu/about/crows

Crow Intelligence: https://www.thoughtco.com/crows-are-more-intelligent-than-you-think-4156896

Cooper’s Hawk: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/overview