Author: Tracy Abell

Some happy updates

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Greetings from a rainy day in Colorado where the landscape has become intensely green! The moisture is very welcome here and in addition to this positive development, I have a few more things to share:

  • My mid-April wish came true and two pairs of House Wrens are nesting in our neighbors’ nest box AND in the box we put up this spring. Here’s one photographed a few minutes ago as it sat in the rain, surveying the landscape and occasionally breaking into that song I just love-love-love.

The wren’s coloration is off and I’m not sure whether that’s due to wet feathers or molting or both factors. But there’s no mistaking that profile and song.

  • As mentioned here, last summer I parted ways with my (wonderful) former agent and in the fall began the querying process. I’m so happy to now share that last month I signed with a new stellar agent (Wendi Gu of Sandford J. Greenburger Associates) and am now waiting for her editorial letter on my middle grade novel. We’ve had really good conversations about the manuscript and Wendi offered insightful suggestions for strengthening the story, so I can’t wait to dig in again and make GRAPPLE the best it can be before it goes out on submission. Hooray!
  • I’m using this waiting time to my advantage (rather than nervously twiddling my thumbs) and am drafting my new middle grade. I’d been working on it, off and on, while querying agents before realizing the uncertainty of the querying process was having such a negative impact on my work that I’d pretty much stopped. But now I have an incredible partner in my career and am motivated to write more stories–lots of stories!–and have been making good progress. My secret? This week I packed up my laptop, notebook, snacks, etc. and headed out in Moby to nearby parks where I am away from the distraction of home and social media. On Wednesday, I parked at the edge of one of the Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater parking lots where a beautiful bird serenaded me as I added words to my story.   A couple days this week I worked in the parking lot of a neighboring park, but yesterday I almost abandoned my session there because someone flew a BUZZING drone all around Moby for about 15-20 minutes before finally giving up on the harassment.
  • And now I’m headed out again in Moby as soon as I post this. The really good news? I don’t have to worry about finding shade because it’s raining!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend filled with weather of your choice and lots of singing birds!

 

 

Climate Movement call to action: dirty debt ceiling deal

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Remember Sen. Joe Manchin’s Dirty Deal? We keep beating it back ( see here, here, here, here, and here) and Manchin keeps resurrecting it like some climate-bomb zombie that refuses to die, this time with the help of Joe Biden. And now they’re calling it the “Fiscal Responsibility Act” but it’s just the same old giveaway to fossil fuel companies. PLEASE, we need phone calls and emails today and tomorrow! We’ve won before and together we’ll do it again!

Here’s the context from Protect Our Water, Heritage Rights (POWHR): Bipartisan negotiations between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy have resulted in a debt ceiling bill called the “Fiscal Responsibility Act” that forces completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline by requiring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline within 21 days and prohibits judicial review of permits, drastically guts core environmental protections like NEPA, hamstrings agencies, shrinks social safety nets and harms communities as part of a manufactured crisis.

The GOOD NEWS is that Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia has submitted an amendment to remove the Mountain Valley Pipeline from the Fiscal Responsibility Act, stating “This provision is completely unrelated to the debt ceiling matter.” And just minutes ago, Rep. Jennifer McClellan (also of Virginia) announced she and the entire Virginia House delegation have submitted their own amendment to remove MVP from the bill. YES!

The following numbered action items come from (POWHR) and are listed in order of priority, but ANY action you can take is appreciated!

Sample script- short version

“Hi __, I’m __ from __. Please oppose the “Fiscal Responsibility Act” and pass a clean debt ceiling bill.”

Longer version

“Hi __, I’m __ from __. Please oppose the “Fiscal Responsibility Act” and pass a clean debt ceiling bill. Exempting the Mountain Valley Pipeline from the law and judicial due process is unconscionable and sacrifices impacted communities. Gutting core environmental protections, slashing social safety nets, punishing the working class and forcing completion of the MVP must be rejected. Please reject this and pass a clean debt ceiling.”

  1. Call your representative to demand a Clean Debt Ceiling
  2. Call these Democrats (note: I identify myself as a “global climate constituent):
  3. Call your senator to demand a Clean Debt Ceiling (can also send email via Appalachian Voices action alert)
  4. Call these senators (thank Kaine and ask the others to support his amendment)

The entire POWHR action tool kit containing sample tweets, graphics, and the complete list of numbers to call is here.

Thank you for reading, taking action, and fighting for a livable planet! The Appalachian region is NOT a sacrifice zone. We the people have the power to create a better world. Solidarity! ✊🏽 

 

Memorial Day and Incarcerated Veterans

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

U.S. flags are on display in honor of Memorial Day. We saw many flags while traveling across Colorado for our camping trip last week and lots of our neighbors are flying flags right now. But do those flag-flyers know that many former military personnel have been or are currently incarcerated?

Image by Barbara Rosner from Pixabay

I wasn’t thinking in those terms until I saw this tweet from a formerly incarcerated person:

Then I did a little research and learned that almost one-third of U.S. veteran survey respondents (31.1%) had been arrested and booked, a rate significantly higher than among civilians (18.0%).

Commentary from the ACLU rightly states: If, as a nation, we want to honor their service, we should invest in providing community-based treatment to help them heal after their military service, instead of deepening their wounds by incarcerating them.

This issue hits close to home because I have PTSD but didn’t recognize that’s what I was suffering until I finally found the right therapy for me. Somatic Experiencing literally gave me back my life and I absolutely believe veterans would also benefit from this therapy and it breaks my heart to think about the added layers of trauma inflicted on people through incarceration. Another reason this issue hits me hard? I have an incarcerated friend who is a veteran. They put their life on the line for this country and have spent nearly a decade in prison for a non-violent crime. Locking people in cages is never the answer, especially not for trauma-induced mental health issues. Care and support is what’s needed.

I wish you a happy Memorial Day and also invite you to remember the incarcerated veterans as all those red, white, and blue flags ripple in the breeze.

Climate Movement Monday: Uinta Basin Railway

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Welcome back, it’s another Monday and I’m barely getting in under the wire with this post. 🙂 Each week, I highlight a climate-related issue and the frontline community most affected, and today’s post hits close to home (on a day when air quality is Unhealthy due to wildfire smoke coming down from Canada). Oddly enough, I knew nothing about the proposed Uinta Basin Railway until I attended an anti-fracking rally in January and received this gorgeous flyer.

Per StopUintaBasinRailway.com  and its fact sheet: The Uinta Basin Railway would quadruple crude oil production in Utah’s Uinta Basin. The 88-mile railway would go from Myton, UT, to Kuyane, UT, and is predicted to ramp up crude oil production by as much as 400% in the Uinta Basin by providing access to the national rail network and coastal refineries. (See letter from Gulf Coast advocates).

Up to 1,600 loaded oil trains per year leaving the Uinta Basin would travel for 200 miles in Colorado along the Colorado River, source of drinking water for 40 million people and the heart of Colorado’s recreation economy. The heavy, long oil tanker trains used to transport crude oil pose greater risks of derailment and spills than other freight trains, and an increased risk of fire due to derailment and spilling of combustible oil. Further, climate change induced drought, due primarily to burning of fossil fuels, is resulting in more severe wildfires across the West.

It is bonkers to me that this is even being considered a viable plan. Even worse, the railway backers want tax payers to subsidize this train wreck for our climate!  And good old Biden, the “climate president” is fully on board with this oil train nightmare. This article from The Lever is a must-read that lays it all out.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Sign the letter to Secretary Vilsack demanding that he revoke the permits for the Uinta Basin Railway AND send an email saying exactly why this matters to you. Email: agsec@usda.gov 

2. Write to Sec. of Transportation (Pete Buttigieg) to urge the Department of Transportation to reject the use of tax-exempt “private activity bonds” for the Uinta
Basin Railway. Email: DOTExecSec@dot.gov 

3. Contact your local, state, and federal elected officials. Many city councils and county commissions do not know about this project. Make sure they’re aware so they can state their opposition. NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE, THIS RAILWAY WOULD IMPACT YOUR LIFE BECAUSE OF ITS CLIMATE IMPLICATIONS. (Remember, I’m currently breathing wildfire smoke from Canada).

A couple weeks ago, we drove through Glenwood Canyon which is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, and saw an oil train winding its way through the twists and turns. It boggles the mind that in the wake of East Palestine they’re pushing for we the people to subsidize their crude oil trains.  LET’S TELL THEM NO TO THE UINTA BASIN RAILWAY! I appreciate you reading this far and thank you in advance for taking a couple minutes to voice opposition to this plan.

Solidarity! ✊🏽 (P.S. we’re heading out on a camping trip tomorrow in hopes of cleaner air so I won’t be able to respond to comments until the end of the week, but please let me know what you’re thinking about all this!)

Twofer Tuesday: watercolor memories

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

These are views from our campsite at Vega State Park last week. It’d rained all day and when it finally stopped, we emerged from Moby to do a little exploring in the calm, freshly-scrubbed air. The water’s surface was the perfect palette.

May 11, 2023

The peaceful quiet was only disturbed by the sound of Emma chomping on a crayfish claw shell she’d found and then refused to let me remove from her mouth. Naughty little dog.

 

Climate Movement Monday: celebrating NY’s Green New Deal

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays! The morning after putting up last week’s post, I went camping. But not where intended. We had reservations at Penitente Canyon and Great Sand Dunes National Park, but there were Red Flag Warnings for the area and we didn’t want to risk 50 mph wind gusts and heightened wildfire risk. So we cancelled those reservations and pivoted to Vega State Park where we had a lovely time. Yes, there was some wind and it rained all day Thursday, but we escaped the truly severe weather experienced around the rest of Colorado: tornadoes, 4-inch hailstones, flooding, heavy snows in the Rockies, damaging winds, etc. Unfortunately, Colorado was just one part of the country experiencing extreme weather events (I hope you all remained safe).

This is a climate crisis.

As I searched for today’s blog topic, I became overwhelmed by what’s happening as a result of our addiction to fossil fuels, especially after reading this mother-daughter op-ed “Cancer Alley: Pollution is Making Louisianans Sick” which describes how the ten-year-old girl’s skin is peeling due to pollution along the Gulf Coast. But rather than curling up in the fetal position, I’m taking Zippy’s advice to write about some good news on the climate front: New York passed a publicly funded renewable energy program!

Per independent journalists at The Lever: Last week, New York State took a major step toward realizing publicly-owned 100 percent renewable energy, passing the Build Public Renewables Act in the annual budget. The first-of-its-kind initiative requires the New York Power Authority — the largest state-owned power organization in the country — to provide solely renewable energy by 2030 and transitions all state-owned and municipal properties to renewables by 2035.

Photo by Gabriele Holtermann, AMNY

This victory provides not only a much-needed morale boost, but also provides a road map for winning similar victories around the country. This article from The Nation explains how New York’s Green New Deal was won. Organizing started around a proposed rate hike from private utility company ConEd. The Public Power campaign did research, learning that while ConEd was making $1 billion profit per year, the private utility had threatened to shut off power for 2 million low-income people. ConEd also failed to upgrade the grid which resulted in power outages and blackouts. The Public Power campaign organized around the state, holding town halls in affected areas. The movement grew! And four years later? Victory!

And other good news? As I write this, hundreds of Atlanta citizens have shown up to testify in front of the City Council in opposition to Cop City. As I wrote before, it’s vital we #StopCopCity especially in the face of the escalating climate crisis. It’s a very, very good sign that hundreds have shown up on a Monday to say NO to Cop City.

So while I didn’t include an action this week, I’d still love to hear from you whether it’s to share an action you want me to amplify or to describe extreme/nonextreme weather in your area or to shout-out an environmental victory or to express your feelings after reading the linked articles. Or maybe you have a great camping spot to recommend.  🙂  Whatever it is, I’m here for all of it! Until next Monday, solidarity! ✊🏽

Climate Movement Monday: in support of the Climate Justice Alliance

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which I typically highlight an issue and then offer a quick action or two you can take in solidarity with those most directly impacted. These frontline communities (those enduring the worst effects of the climate crisis) are usually poor people of color because the powerful elite are comfortable riding roughshod over them. They believe poor people don’t have the resources or energy to fight back.  Fortunately, there’s the Climate Justice Alliance which was created to do just that.

From their website: Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) formed in 2013 to create a new center of gravity in the climate movement by uniting frontline communities and organizations into a formidable force. Our translocal organizing strategy and mobilizing capacity is building a Just Transition away from extractive systems of production, consumption and political oppression, and towards resilient, regenerative and equitable economies. We believe that the process of transition must place race, gender and class at the center of the solutions equation in order to make it a truly Just Transition.

If you’ve read any of my previous Movement Monday posts, you know I’m all about people power and solidarity. CJA does amazing work and I encourage you to explore their website. For instance, you can learn about ENERGY DEMOCRACY (a shift from the corporate, centralized fossil fuel economy to one that is governed by communities, is designed on the principle of no harm to the environment, supports local economies, and contributes to the health and well-being for all peoples) and FOOD SOVEREIGNTY which includes CJA’s efforts through community gardens and worker-owned cooperatives. Scroll down to see a clickable list of Participating CJA Members, some of which may be in your own community!

CJA welcomes tax-deductible donations but asks that we first check out their CJA Alliance Members page to see if there are organizations working in our communities so that we may donate locally. I was disappointed to learn there are no member organizations in Colorado, but was glad to donate to Taproot Earth in Slidell, Louisiana (“Our legacy is rooted in the disaster recovery work in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when the climate crisis was revealed in full force”) because Hurricane Katrina laid bare the array of injustices inflicted on the people in that community and forever changed the landscape of the region, and they deserve all the support they can get.

I hope you also find a member organization to support OR make a donation directly to Climate Justice Alliance. Our best hope in the face of this climate emergency is all of us coming together to unite for a livable planet. And if you feel like sharing an organization you support or something that you learned via CJA’s impressive site or if you donated to one of the member organizations, I hope you’ll share in the comments.  Solidarity! ✊🏽

Tulip therapy

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

The tulips have been glorious this spring and I just returned from a walk around the neighborhood where many, many cheery clumps of tulips bobbed their heads in the light breeze.

“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul.”  ~ Luther Burbank

Next door neighbors’ passionate pink tulips.

While the neighbors’ tulips are still in full glory, some of mine are already on their way out. But there’s no hiding a tulip’s grandeur, even in those final days.

I mean, I can only hope to look this vivid and interesting on my deathbed. (Maybe I can do without the spider, though.)

Tulips, I salute you.

Twofer Tuesday: stillness

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Learning how to be still, to really be still and let life happen – that stillness becomes a radiance. ~ Morgan Freeman

 

In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you. ~ Deepak Chopra

Out my window. July 30, 2021

Climate Movement Monday: in support of Kalamazoo, MI

/ Tracy Abell / 3 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which I highlight an issue and the frontline community most impacted, along with suggestions for a quick action or two on their behalf. Today’s focus is on a predominantly Black community in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that I learned about via a Twitter thread from independent journalists at Status Coup News (@StatusCoup). I highly recommend reading that thread plus an earlier one I discovered while researching this post, but here are the basics:

Graphic Packaging is an international paper mill which makes packaging for food and beverages, etc., and it’s been operating in Kalamazoo for over a decade, spewing 30+ toxic chemicals day and night.

Image from journalist Jordan Chariton 2.9.23 Twitter thread

Children do not go outside at recess or play outside in their neighborhood because the smell is so bad. People do not open their windows. The smell worsens at night and those in the neighborhood suffer many health issues, including asthma, COPD, stomachaches, and headaches. Residents in the area suffer chronic lower respiratory diseases and since 2015, 1,950 Black babies (under the age of 1) have died in Kalamazoo. Despite ongoing complaints from the community to Governor Whitmer’s Health and Environmental Department, in 2021 the Whitmer administration approved a $125 million bond deal to help Graphic Packaging expand the Kalamazoo paper mill! Now the toxic air is impacting a predominantly white neighborhood.

Guess what? As of February, the state of Michigan has mandated that Graphic Packaging release data from their air sensors measuring toxic gases at the site. In addition, the multi-billion dollar corporation was hit with a whopping  $109,270 fine.

This is where solidarity comes in: even though the majority of people reading this do not live in Kalamazoo, those communities can use our help. 

TAKING ACTION

If you like phone calls:
leave a message for Gov. Whitmer at 517-335-7858
(tip: press 5, then 2)
Gov. Whitmer requires email via this form

If you prefer email, here are the addresses for the Mayor, Vice-Mayor, and City Commissioners (copy and paste from below):

TO: mayor@kalamazoocity.org
CC: cooneyd@kalamazoocity.org, hessj@kalamazoocity.org, praedelc@kalamazoocity.org, deckerq@kalamazoocity.org, hoffmans@kalamazoocity.org, juareze@kalamazoocity.org

Here’s what I sent (feel free to modify): Letter re Graphic Packaging

Thank you for reading this far. It’s completely coincidental that last week’s post also focused on Michigan, but I hope you’ll also speak out on behalf of the Kalamazoo communities. And if you want to support Status Coup News, you can do so here.  Solidarity! ✊🏽

Cleansing breath

/ Tracy Abell / 1 Comment

My heart is heavy after watching today’s session of Montana’s state House vote to censure trans Representative Zooey Zephyr. The vote was along party lines, 68-32. She is now banned from the House floor and not allowed to speak on legislation, and will only be allowed to vote remotely. Zephyr’s speech in her defense was powerful and brought me to tears. She’s on the right side of history. Those who silence the voices of those speaking on behalf of the oppressed? Nasty, small-minded fascists.

*cleansing breath*

So here is a Bushtit photographed  in September of 2021: 

This darling wee bird was accompanied by a whole bunch of other Bushtits that day and I post its photo in honor of the lone Bushtit that briefly visited the feeder as I hoop-danced this morning. It’s exceedingly rare for a Bushtit to travel alone, and I’m hoping it’s only because the rest of the gang was nearby taking cover from the rain.

I receive the gift of this bird’s beautiful presence and now share it with you.

What is that?

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

I went exploring through photo folders in search of something to post on this rainy (yes, rain! 😀) afternoon and started looking at images from my visit to the Chatfield Audubon Center last May. This one caught my eye because, well, blooms and bees!

I was fairly confident that photo showed a honey bee feasting on Wild Plum blossoms. And I knew for sure the bird on the left was a Common Grackle.

But then I looked some more and came across the photo below and had no idea what I was seeing. The image is poor quality, but I figured there were enough identifying features to make an identification. Sure enough, this is a type of whiptail lizard, specifically, a Six-lined Racerunner (the third photo is the best match). Woot woot!

That research victory got me looking more closely at other photos in the folder and I came across one which proved more difficult to identify. How would you describe this plant? I tried double leaves, spade-shaped leaves, double blooms, and then just searched “colorado wildflower yellow” and there it was: Leafy Spurge.

People keep telling me about cool apps they have on their phones for identifying flora and fauna, but I never remember them in the moment. How about you? Do you use apps? If so, what’s your recommendation?

Climate Movement Monday: Line 5 crude oil pipeline

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

Welcome back to another Movement Mondays post in which I highlight a climate-related issue and the frontline community directly affected, and offer ways to take action on behalf of that community. Today’s post is about Line 5, a crude oil pipeline built in 1953 during the Eisenhower administration by the Bechtel Corporation and now operated by Enbridge Inc.

Per Oil and Water Don’t Mix: “Enbridge’s Line 5 is a 645-mile petroleum pipeline that is part of the larger Enbridge Lakehead System. Line 5 carries oil from Superior, Wisconsin, across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, through northern Michigan, down to the thumb region, and under the St. Clair River to Sarnia, Ontario. Along the way, the pipeline crosses through the Straits of Mackinac, 400 rivers, streams, and wetlands. In northern Michigan, it goes through almost 10 miles of wetlands and runs right next to many of our sparkling inland lakes.”

A diver working on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation inspects the Line 5 pipeline at the lake bottom in the Straits of Mackinac during a July 2013 dive.

Water is needed to sustain life–all life requires it–and it’s insanity to expect 70-year-old corroded pipes to safely carry over a half a million barrels (equivalent to 22 million gallons) of oil and natural gas liquids every single day. To make matters even worse, Line 5 cuts across Tribal lands, including the Bad River Reservation, threatening wild lands, wetlands, and connecting rivers and streams. From the Sierra Club: “The Straits of Mackinac are a series of waterways linking Lake Michigan to Lake Huron. Not only do these lakes supply drinking water to millions of inhabitants and support the region’s recreation and fishing sectors, but they also provide habitats for numerous species of plants and animals. A spill here would be catastrophic. According to University of Michigan hydrologist Dave Schwab, the Straits of Mackinac would be “the worst possible place for an oil spill in the Great Lakes.” Compared to other nearby regions, the complex currents here are particularly strong and shift directions frequently — meaning oil would disperse rapidly and spread across great distances.” 

Line 5 has already spilled more than 1 million gallons over the past 50 years. Per an email from Earthjustice: “In 2019, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued Enbridge for trespassing on their reservation in Wisconsin. And two years ago, the State of Michigan ordered Line 5 to stop operating – yet Enbridge continues to operate its pipeline in defiance of that order.”

Line 5 must be shut down. Instead, Enbridge is trying to work around the legal challenge by rerouting Line 5. CONFESSION: I am new to this issue and am struggling to understand the ins and outs, but one thing I know for sure: underwater, corroded crude oil pipelines must be shut down! Biden has the power to do just that. And seeing as how Biden (“the climate president”) is rapidly accelerating the climate crisis with authorization of the Willow Project, the Gulf of Mexico lease sales, the export of liquified natural gas (LNG) in Alaska, and the export of LNG in Texas, he at minimum must shut down Line 5.

PLEASE, take a moment to personalize this letter to Biden and demand he start using his power for good rather than environmental evil. Remember: you don’t need to be long-winded in your letter. Just let him know you want Line 5 shut down! And if you can get a friend or two to also send a letter, that would be awesome!

I love hearing from readers about these climate issues–your thoughts and actions–and hope you share here. Solidarity! ✊🏽

 

Sleep tight, hold tight

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

I’m happy to say we received much-needed moisture in the last 48 hours! Yesterday, I woke to about 4 inches of snow on the railing and it continued to lightly snow for several hours more. After it’d stopped, I glanced out the kitchen window and saw a squirrel in the plum bushes behind the fence which is a common sight. But when I looked again a few minutes later, that squirrel was in the same position. Could it be asleep?

Indeed it was. There were several squirrels eating from the two nut munch cylinders we hang on the back fence and they’d been busy as the snow fell, and I wondered if this one was just tuckered out from all the food foraging in the cold. While finches and towhees hopped around the nearby branches, the squirrel slightly opened her eyes while keeping her head down on the branch, and then appeared to go back to sleep.

It wasn’t until other squirrels began chasing each other on top of the fence that this one abandoned its rest. If this squirrel is the same that brazenly ate peanuts from the bird feeder this morning as I watched from just feet away, I’d say the powernap did her good.

Can’t blame her

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

I haven’t been outside at all today because of the wind. We received the tiniest bit of rain/snow last night, but today is dry, dry, dry and windy, windy, windy. Not a good combination. So, this image and the following quote feel appropriate.

It seems to me like Mother Nature’s mercy and forgiveness have run dry, as we ceaselessly abuse her and take her for granted in order for us to continue our addiction to using fossil fuels. I’ve gotta say, I don’t blame her. Not one bit.
~ Gloria Reuben

It’s not my birthday but here’s my wish

/ Tracy Abell / 1 Comment

There are many, many things I wish would come to pass on behalf of people and planet, but I’m focusing on the personal right now. My wish is for House Wrens to nest in the neighbor’s nest box as they did last year so that I may drink up all that beautiful song* again.

July 3, 2022

Or maybe I’ll be really greedy and wish for wrens to nest at the neighbors’ AND for another pair to come stay in the nest box we hung beneath our deck. Wouldn’t that be something? 💚

*From Cornell’s All About Birds:
Both males and females sing. Males often sing 9-11 times per minute during breeding season. Songs are a long, jumbled bubbling introduced by abrupt churrs and scolds and made up of 12-16 recognizable syllables. Females sing mainly in answer to their mates shortly after pairing up; their songs can include high-pitched squeals unlike any sounds males make.

Friday Haiku + surprise

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

As I often do on Fridays, I went in search of a photo to use as a haiku prompt and landed on one from a visit to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in August of 2021.  This image reminded me of childhood when our mother tried to wrangle the five kids for a decent photo that was inevitably ruined by someone flashing bunny ears behind a sibling or making a face or turning away from the camera. Clearly, these cormorants couldn’t care less about me getting a good shot.

And so I wrote this haiku:

many cormorants
but majority headless
group photo challenge

Before posting it I took a closer look, zooming in on the birds nearest the center of the photo, and decided to crop the image to only show those four cormorants. And that’s when I discovered something I’d missed. Do you see it?

A skull!

Holy guacamole. This calls for a whole new haiku:

glossy birds sunbathe
pronghorn antelope keeps watch
sprinting days over

Please join in the fun and comment with your own haiku for this photo!