Ladyhawker - On Sabbatical

A New Life

2009-09-23T08:50:00.002-05:00

It is the Fall Equinox of 2009, and my life takes a new path. With that new path comes the end of this blog, but the beginning of a new one.

I would like to invite all who have come here, visited me, and shared in my pictures and my tales, to join me at a new location:

Phoenix Fire Falconry

Soon . . . . I shall have a new bird in my life to write about, to photograph, to experience the magic and the mystery that is falconry.

Come share with me!

~Ladyhawker~

The End of One Chapter . . . The Beginning of Another

2009-08-09T15:45:00.002-05:00

So much has changed since the last time I blogged. I have also decided that it is time for this blog to come to an end. I'm not giving up blogging . . . just closing out this chapter of my life, and with that, going to begin a new account and blog. When it is created, I'll link from here.

I was networking to get that all-important first job in Respiratory Therapy down in Texas, nearby where my parent's live. It is important to be close and of assistance to help move them from El Paso, into an elderly community near the Ft. Worth area. I have two living sisters. One lives with her family in Mansfield, south of Ft. Worth. The other sister lives with her family in Illinois, but hopes to return to Texas when her husband retires. So, having my parents re-locate in or around the Ft. Worth area would be the best decision. I made a list of all major hospitals in and around the metroplex, and started applying. My first interview came from a hospital called Hendrick Health Systems, in Abilene, TX. They offered the job to me during the interview. It is a 500-bed facility, a regional hospital, and from all that I am hearing, a very good place to learn!

So, I have been busy about the business of re-locating myself. It has been very detail involved, and EXPENSIVE!! I'm glad I had some savings . . . . because otherwise it would not have been possible. I was here about a month ago to try and arrange a place to live. I won't go into all the details, but my attempts did not work out. However, I did find a place here when I arrived that will do. It is a 3-bedroom for $575 a month. The neighborhood is not great, but not terrible either. There is a backyard, and my hawking facilities are already set up. Soon, very soon I will get all my equipment ready and get my license for Texas. However, first I need to start working.

I'm to begin on Tuesday . . . orientation. I'm eager to get started, and to start earning money to begin to pay off all the new bills I just acquired.

OK . . . this is a blog . . . so it is time to rant about something. The bureaucracy of major power companies SUCKS!! They have multiple companies around here to provide electricity, and by all accounts, they all take 3 days to get the power turned on. Stupid!! I have the weekend off completely but can't do much at my place because it is just TOO HOT to work beyond 9 in the AM. The gas is already on, and I know that took someone to come out to the house to turn it on. I could have had the water on as well, but since everything was getting turned on Monday, I told them just turn it on then. I feel pretty safe in thinking that no one will come out to the house to turn the electricity on . . . but that it is a remote thing, done with a computer somewhere. Oh, wait, maybe they will come read the meter. Still sucks!! I hope it is turned on early. I need to start washing things down. Everything is a bit dusty and dirty. I won't go into the nitty gritty details about the move and my new place . . . . suffice to say, I've hemorrhaged out a lot of money this last week. But I have my own place now!!

OK . . . and now for one Very Big THANK YOU!! To my very best friend, and "boyfriend" (yep . . . . you can definitely call him that), Thank You Rich for all of your help!! You made this move possible, and your love and support have made my fledging from my old life a joyous event. I am in Texas for a season, to get experience, and to help address some family business with my parents. However, it is my goal to return up North, and pursue a life with you. Knowing you care makes this alone-time bearable.

I'm excited by the challenges that Abilene will give me. I'm also looking forward to hawking this fall. My Sabbatical will come to an end! Of that . . . I am certain. However, I will begin a new blog for that new life. I've been driving around, exploring my new home, looking for hawking spots. I did find a really good one today. Even saw a wild desert fox as I was checking out the spot. This winter will be good! I've a job to do, goals (will be preparing to take my RRT) (get my parents moved) (get back to falconry) . . . and I have someone to return to! I am happy! And with that happiness I am putting behind me the last many years and all the various emotions I have experienced.

Many times, life comes in stages.

I am beginning a new stage!

More North Shore Pictures

2009-08-09T14:11:00.011-05:00

I've been pretty busy, and didn't come back to upload a few more pictures from my trip up to the North Shore. I include them now. Above was a gull sitting on her nest. She sat pretty tight, but did flush as I got really close. She had a chick that was hatching. We moved off so she could go back to her task. I thought it was a really nice, sharp picture! Click the picture for a close up to appreciate the sharp image.

The North Shore was alive with blooming lupens. VERY BIG Lupens!

Splitrock Lighthouse has staff that re-live the life, and give information about the upkeep and management of a lighthouse. The gentleman above was reenacting a lighthouse keeper.

Above is the glass lense for Splitrock Lighthouse. Each lighthouse rotates at a set schedule and color, which is how ships out on the water know WHICH lighthouse they are seeing. It was critically important to keep the rotation at the precise rotation, which is what the lighthouse keeper's job consisted mostly of. You can also see above all the crystals that are precisely aligned to maximize the focus of the light that generates the beam.

Because of their remote location when they were built, there were homes also built that families lived in for durations of time. This usually consisted of the lighthouse keeper and several assistants. The actor above was showing us one of the homes and the everyday furniture in them.

And just another pretty picture! Deep blue columbine!

North Shore of Lake Superior

2009-06-25T12:58:00.006-05:00

There are still way too many things in this area I have not seen nor experienced . . . but in this lull time between graduating and attempting to find a job, I am trying to fill in some of the missing pieces.

Upon my return from Texas, I planned a trip to the North Shore of Lake Superior with my favorite Minnesotan, Rich. Here are just a few pictures I took. I'll post more later with more text after I've gotten some of the pics he took and promised to share. It was a foggy morning for most of the drive up the shore. The mist adds to the mystery of the location.

No trip to the North Shore is complete without a visit to the famous Split Rock Lighthouse. It no longer serves the purpose for which it was built, but remains a beautiful site on the lake shore, despite it's being renovated right now.

Very picturesque!

Guadalupe Peak

2009-06-25T12:22:00.007-05:00

While I was visiting in El Paso I took the opportunity to drive the quick day trip over to New Mexico and visit my aunt and uncle. Whereas they live in a very dusty, dry and rather boring area of the desert Southwest, the trip there takes you around the highest point in Texas, the Guadalupe Peak. Be sure to click the above picture for a closer view.

As you drive East out of El Paso, you quickly will see the mountain range on the horizon. This view overlooks the salt flats, a dried up accumulation of salt from an ancient inland sea. Not far from the Guadalupe Mountains National Park is Carlsbad Caverns National Park, one of the finest examples of accessible caves in North America.

The road loops around the mountain, which reaches a height of 8,749 feet, the highest in Texas. The brochure I picked up offering information about this National Park indicates the mountain range is an ancient marine fossil reef, in fact one of the best examples in the world. Believe it or not, at the top of this mountain range is the Lincoln forest, where there is an abundance of animal life, such as elk, mule deer, mountain lion, and black bear to name just a few of the larger species. There is an office headquarters accessible from this drive. I've never hiked the Lincoln forest . . . maybe someday I should come back with a few days and do that. There is a trail that takes you to the peak.

In the desert Southwest, with no trees to block the view, and very dry air, the horizon stretches for miles. It is a desolate yet beautiful place!

After Graduation

2009-06-04T18:43:00.011-05:00

On Tuesday and Wednesday May 26 and 27 I was up in Duluth, MN taking my certifying examination to acquire my CRT license. In hindsight, I'm unwilling to go through the details of that ordeal. The test went well enough, but due to a glitch on the part of the testing agent, I was not able to find out if I had passed for several days. This was very frustrating. However, by Saturday I had received the results in the mail . . . and I passed by a safe margin. So, now I have accomplished my goal and can begin working as an RT. I still need the license from the State of Wisconsin, but that too is being processed and will probably be in my mailbox when I get home. I also need to find a job. Thank You very much to my very good friend, Rich. He continues to be my advocate and best cheerleader. He's also a great road companion. Here we are overlooking Duluth . . . where it was cool from the moist breezes off Lake Superior.

On the following Monday I caught a plane down to El Paso. I've been here for a few days visiting with my mom in her home, and each day visiting my father in the hospital. He has improved greatly, and now it looks like he can come home. He still has some rehab, but is doing great.

I got myself up early today and went out to the desert museum and greeted the sun and the desert life. This gathering of plants and animals is a bit unusual in that water is made more available here than normally in the desert. Most of the plants have been placed here to demonstrate the flora of the desert. This dry garden is attractive to the native life, so a good place to bird watch. I did this previously a few years ago, and frankly think I took better pictures then, but I did get to witness some interesting behavior today.

There are lots of White-Winged Doves here in the desert. The museum also has several pairs of Northern Mockingbirds chasing each other and pulling moths off the walls. I observed one go into a desert plant, which upon inspection revealed a nest with 4 eggs. The most interesting observation was between a pair of Cactus Wrens. The female was busy gathering grasses and making a nest. The male was hanging out in nearby plants, singing his song. Occasionally he'd fly over and bring a piece of grass, but mostly it was the hen doing all the work.

I did observe, but mostly heard, a newcomer for me to the desert life here in El Paso . . . Gambrel's Quail. I don't know if they have always been here, and I just didn't notice, which is possible. Again, the museum offers a prime resource here . . . . water! I heard them, and did see them some, but they never came into view enough and calmly for me to catch any pictures of them.

There were some blooming cactus, but not nearly as pretty as the picture I took a couple years ago. It was a nice morning, and afterwards I picked up a couple of geocaches.

Even in its barrenness . . . the desert is beautiful! In the spring, if there is enough rain at just the right time, this whole area is ablaze with bright orange poppies. It is an event that only happens every few years. I have pictures in my storage shed of a spectacular year, but they are not digital. Next is a video of a baby rabbit that I saw and was able to film. It's just a tiny thing, out of the nest very recently. It doesn't yet know to be afraid of humans. Without a hawk in hand, I'm no threat to it. I did see many cottontails and jacks here. This would be a challenging place to hunt . . . requiring chaps to prevent injury from the cactus. It appears that I will not be exploring this, as my sisters are working on moving my parents to assisted living in Ft. Worth. This is good, as I really don't want to come to El Paso to live. I've been in a few doctor's offices these last few days for my mom . . . . I'm not much impressed.

So . . . enjoy the clip of the very cute bunny!

Desert Baby

2009-06-04T17:35:00.003-05:00

Graduation

2009-05-17T06:59:00.011-05:00

It is Accomplished!

On Friday evening, May 15, 2009 I and my fellow students walked the stage at the La Crosse Center and were recognized for completing the 2-year program with Western Technical College for Respiratory Care. Here I am posing with my instructors, Susan to my right, Lynn to my left, and Bob towering over everyone as he does.
A distance shot as I look up at my friends and family just prior to walking up to the stage.
Traipsing across the stage, trying to NOT trip on my new high heal shoes bought especially for the event, and most likely will never be worn again. It was strongly discouraged for anyone to come up close to the stage, so this distance shot is a little fuzzy.
Prior to graduation I had a little party at Liz's house. My sisters came to see me graduate. I greatly appreciate their support! Thanks Janet for coming all the way from Texas. I'm sorry the weather wasn't as nice as it could have been. Thanks Jennefer for your support, and for coming to visit on this special day.

Earlier that day we took pictures at the college on our last class day. Lynn and Susan now run the program, with Susan as the Director. Bob retired this past year, but continues to work as an RT at Franciscan Skemp, and to be busy in the community.

And a final CONGRATULATIONS to the people who have been through this 'adventure' with me. Out of respect on this public forum I will only give their first names. On the back row from left to right: Colleen, Becky, Lacy, Kristina. On the front from from left to right: Jeff, myself, and Breann.

THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!!!!

Pathways

2009-04-26T18:28:00.002-05:00

I stand at a crux point in my life. A goal that I have been working on is actually, finally coming to completion. In three weeks I will graduate with an Associate of Applied Science, Respiratory Therapy. I have one final oral examination that I must pass to graduate. The rest of the time is clinical practice. After graduation I will need to sit for my certifying examination, which I will do within about a week. The next most important step after graduation and certification is to find employment.

Here is the crux! Where will I go?

I do not want to stay here! I have wanted to leave here for a very long time. This very day holds some significance. I didn't even realize it until later in the day, while checking my calendar for something else. Happy Cherynobl Day!

In my heart I want to go West. I long to find myself a progressive modestly sized cosmopolitan city that offers cultural opportunities, interesting cuisine, equally interesting people. I long for the ocean, and the mountain. I have sent my application to the hospital network in Eugene, but lacking experience I think this door is not open to me yet. I may have to wait a little longer.

Fate seems to be pulling me in a direction I don't quite desire, but that I might have to walk.

My father has been hospitalized for well over a month now. He is stable, but you can't say he is really recovering. He had a tumor in his intestines removed. He then suffered from an ulcer, and a pulmonary embolism. He has lost a lot of his strength and has been bed-ridden. He has been increasingly suffering from alzheimer symptoms, and those have only gotten worse while in the hospital because he has not been getting his medications for this. It is very likely he will never return home. He has not recovered from all the events stemming from the tumor, never mind if he'll have the stamina for cancer treatment. He is not taking his hospitalization well . . . and it is causing increasing stress for my mother. Mom is not very healthy herself! And she really should not live by herself.

I think I may be getting pulled "home". El Paso is just about the LAST place I want to go to, but I feel I may need to do this, for awhile.

There are several hospitals in El Paso. One has an opening for a Respiratory Therapist. I will be applying for the position. If this is the path I am to walk for a little while, the job will be made available to me. I cannot let my education go to waste. I need to begin working as soon as possible. I need to get the critical experience necessary that will open up the doors I want to go through, once my family duty is addressed.

I think I can practice my falconry there. I may live with my mother for awhile, but may get my own place because I long for my own privacy. However, I probably could set up my facilities at her house. Certainly, if there are not many red-tails in the area to trap next fall, a roadtrip out East will find lots of them. With a Texas license, I could drive wherever in Texas to find the bird I will need. If I live there, I can make a point to go and visit all those places I never did when I was down in the Southwest . . . the Big Bend of Texas, the Grand Canyon, and more of New Mexico. Also, being just a few hours from my friend Sharon, I could get a New Mexico out of state hunting license, and go visit her from time to time and fly birds with her.

If my path leads me into the desert, until the day comes that I can truly go to where my heart wants to be . . . I will make the best of it.

Spring Break ~ And Now, a DEEEEEP Breath!!

2009-04-09T20:05:00.028-05:00

It is now about three weeks after Spring Break. I took these pictures while on Spring Break, but I've been so busy and overwhelmed since that time that I could not post them. The last three weeks have been the final class-time of my study program. We'll still have a few odd Fridays, but for the most part, the classroom portion is OVER! We finished this all off with a final in Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Care, and more importantly, a mock board, which we HAD to pass to graduate. The heat was on all of us, but yesterday we all passed it. YES, that big collective sigh you may have heard from Wisconsin . . . that was us!! Our last 5 weeks of clinicals gets going on Monday. Of those 5, one week is set aside for the State Convention, so that is essentially 'play-time'. Sure, we'll be in meetings a lot, but it will be at the Kalahari in the Dells. Real tough duty!!

Over Spring Break I got busy and took care of a pesky detail that has been troubling me . . . what to do with that HUGE birdcage in my storage shed. It's not that I don't want to keep it, as it is a very nice,large cage, but it is HUGE, and HEAVY!! I really don't see myself moving it when I do finally relocate to wherever it is that I'm going. At some future date I may collect it again . . . but for now it has gone on long-term loan to my bird buddy, Darla. My very good friend Rich came along on the adventure . . . and more importantly, brought his nice big Dodge diesel truck. The 8-foot cage, broken into parts, fit nice and handy in the back. We got that down and out into Darla's garage . . . and while there, had her show us around downtown Chicago for a couple days. It's one of those things I hadn't done, so it needed to be done!

We visited the Lincoln Park Zoo, and the arboretum there. I didn't take and won't post any pictures from the zoo. Nothing really spectacular there. I did take some pictures of orchids which are posted at the end of this entry for my friend Dan. We did a lot of walking around, and went to an old-time malt shop for lunch. I won't be posting those pictures either!! At the end of our first day we went to the top of the John Hancock building, took pictures and watched the sun set. There is an "open porch" at the top . . . really it's all screened in, but you are open to the wind. It's a good opportunity to see WHY Chicago is called the "Windy City". Yep, at that height, very windy! There was an audio tour, and you can look out over and hear all about the history of the city.

The next day we returned to downtown Chicago to go to the Field Museum, and catch some authentic Chicago deep-dish pizza. On our journey we drove around and around Millenium park where "the Bean" is. I don't know what hole I've been living in, but I had never heard of this art icon. Anyways, we didn't pay to park (which can get to be very expensive in downtown Chicago) in order to get our own pictures of the Bean, other than out the window as we drove around it. However, I did find and post a link below. So if you want to see a clear picture of it, click the link. It's stainless steel, and very reflective. Kindof neat!

The Bean

There are lots of things to do in downtown Chicago. We only had time to do a few of them. There is Navy Pier, if you want to go shopping. You have the Field Museum (which we did) and then the art museum, which I wish I had more time to go to. Then there is the Shedd Aquarium, also which we did not go to, but that's OK . . . fish are OK, but I'm not that enthusiastic. There is a big baseball park (*yawn*). The Field Museum was cool, and had a really nice collection of stuffed birds (and other animals too). Mostly, I was trying to avoid being in Darla's camera. Here I missed and was caught by Rich's camera.

The Field Museum has a really nice collection of Egyptian art. I took lots of pictures, of which only a small portion came out clear and sharp. They do have one of the MANY statues of Sekhmet, the Lioness-Headed Goddess, but a rather poor example. An exhibit a few years ago of art of Rameses the Great had a fabulously preserved statue. She has a sun disk on her head with ureas (cobras). The statue in the Field Museum has not passed through history as well preserved. If you click on her name I've linked to a good example of a well-preserved statue. Still, much of what was there was interesting to see.

The best part of the Field Museum is there are lots and lots of dinosaurs!! Well, dinosaur fossels. Here is a Velociraptor chasing down something else!

This is a close-up of one of their signature pieces they are highlighting right now. They call her "Sue" and she is a Tyranosaurus Rex. Previously they had the Brontosaurus, or is it Brachyosaur they call it now?? That has been moved outside. I can only imagine what it would be like to actually see one of these creatures for real, in flesh and blood. I was fascinated with dinosaurs when I was a kid. They are still interesting now!

This is overlooking the inner "courtyard" of the Field Museum. You can easily spend all day here! It was a good setup to bring the world to people, prior to all the fabulous documentaries we have on television now. The stuffed collection of animals is all well and good, but now you can see live footage, which I think is so much more educational . . . other than getting a perspective of the size of some of these creatures. I enjoyed some of the history exhibits, but there just was not enough time to see all of it.

Outside the museum I couldn't resist getting pictures with my friends. Perspective!! See how huge these beasts are!!

Smile Darla!

Strike a pose Rich!

Strike another pose!

Here Rich and I are getting even with Darla for all her picture taking . . . so we are taking a picture of her taking a picture of us!

Here are the promised orchids! So Dan . . . What Are They?

2009 Wisconsin Falconry Meet

2009-02-15T17:18:00.005-06:00

On Saturday February 14, Valentine's Day, I was able to experience the 'love' and 'passion' of my adult life . . . . Falconry! The Wisconsin Falconers Association comes together the second weekend of every February to hunt together, have a guest speaker, a raffle, and generally catch up with each other and the birds being flown this season. It was a very good weekend, as I have had no falconry experiences at all this season due to my school work, and my bird-less status. I brought along my own little posse, Rich from Minnesota, my friend and best falconry "dog" (someone who is not a falconer who goes out into the field and helps flush bunnies), and Christina, a young lady who would like to get into falconry, so I could introduce her to some people. We had a most awesome day!

As soon as I arrived and registered, and bought myself a new thick quilted jean shirt with the WFA logo, I met up with Phil and his family, and Dave, and found out we would have our guest speaker, Greg Thomas, come with us, as he is a red-tail hawker . . . and there is no one better to send off a red-tail hawker with than Dave. We went promptly to one of our favorite fields, and within 5 minutes into the field Greg's bird had his first bunny for the day (pictured at the top of this blog entry). After switching out birds, Dave went next, and within another 10 minutes Becky had the first squirrel of the day. We traded out birds again, flying Phil's bird Belle, but despite several impressive flights, the bunnies and squirrels we were trying for found too much cover in the huge brush piles. We would fly her again later, with success.

We returned to the meet hotel for some noon conferences. I missed the one on imping, which is too bad because I really would have liked to have seen that. This all was followed by lunch, and then more hawking . . . what else! Two more squirrels were added to the daily take. I did get to participate in a telemetry chase. I've never participated in one before . . . and fortunately at the end of it all the truant bird was located and safely returned to his falconer.

The evening was enjoyable, I won several nice things in the raffle, and it was good to see several of my falconry contacts and friends. This will most likely be my last meet with the Wisconsin community. On Friday I passed my final exam in the respiratory lifesupport class (ventilators) and have been told it is pretty much downhill from here on out. There are 12 more weeks until I graduate. I go into clinical rotation on Monday. Sometimes it is hard to believe, but truly there is light at the end of the tunnel. It feels like it has been a very long winter, and that is mostly because I am willing it to go by quickly. I also have not had the comfort of hawking to distract my mind. It is my sincere wish to finish this phase of my life, sit and pass my certifying boards, seek and find a new career somewhere . . . . far from here . . . and build a new life. High on the priorities of that new life will be establishing a new mews and taking a falconry bird again. It was wonderful to get out and hunt with my friends, but I missed having my own bird. I hope soon this bird-less year will come to an end . . . and that I shall never be forced through necessity to be bird-less again.

PERU

2009-01-15T18:30:00.014-06:00

(I've noticed that Blogger has hidden a lot of my posts. Here are links to some of the missing ones!

Cusco

Rainforest

Lima

El-Huayco

More Raptors at El-Huayco

From January 5 to January 15, 2009 I traveled through many of the large cities and key points of interest in Peru. I have now loaded up all the pictures I wanted to post, but still need to go through and type some of the text. If there are pictures with no text, come back, as I will eventually tell my stories. It was a wonderful experience and I have many good memories!

Machu Picchu! The mountain overshadowing the entire complex is called Huayna Picchu, and it was considered to be a sacred mountain. I was one of the 400 a day allowed to walk on the mountain, and I did climb to the top! Click on the picture for a closer view. It is worth it!

My travel companion, Jay, and I standing outside next to the plane that took us out of the rain forest. LAN Airlines is the primary airline for internal travel in the country. On this trip I rode on 8 planes, 2 trains, a bus, several boats and canoes, and numerous taxis.

Ollaytaytambo

2009-01-15T18:29:00.033-06:00

As much as possible, I hope to capture here an accounting of my travels in Peru, for my own memories, but also to try to bring to life those who read my blog the sites, smells and feel, the energy of the places I visited.

After a 3-hour drive from La Crosse to Minneapolis, then a 3-hour flight to Atlanta, Georgia, to then catch a 6-hour flight to Peru, then a layover in Lima at the airport, snoozing in the chairs in order to catch the first intra-country flight to Cusco at 5:30 AM, only to arrive and then catch a rattle-trap taxi for an hour and a half drive out of the city, I arrived at the rural village of Ollaytaytambo. This is the final town you can access by road if you want to limit your train time to Aguas Caliente, which is the village at the foot of Machu Picchu. The last leg to Aguas Caliente/Machu Picchu can only be taken by train, or by foot via the Inca Trail. I'm glad we came and stayed a night in this town as it has a lot of character! It is still a functioning village and has not been taken over completely by the tourist trade.

I had previously made a reservation at a hostel, which was the only one I found on the Internet that I could reserve at a distance, and it succeeded in being much nicer on the net than in reality. But it too had it's charms. The first thing I noticed as I sat down in the wicker furniture in the inner courtyard of this hostel was the heat. I had left the frozen north and landed just south of the equator. Peru does not have seasons, like Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter but instead only Rainy Season/Dry Season. Currently, it is rainy season . . . but the rain did not spoil my trip much at all. As I sat in this inner courtyard, alive with many tropical flowering plants, my first bird arrived on stage. It was a hummingbird of some kind, and a female due to its lacking anything distinctive to tell what it was. I was able to catch her picture, but I still have no idea what species she is. I feel safe in assuming she is not a ruby-throat.

And now I challenge my readers to look at the picture above and identify the plant. Yes, you know what it is! It just does not look familiar, as large as it is, looming over the building. This is what these plants look like in their native environment, how they grow when the sunshine is warm and the days long. If you continue to be stumped, e-mail me, and I'll tell ya! (ladyhawker65@yahoo.com) Below, I took a picture of my first cup of Mate de Coca, of which I had several cups while in the area. Yes, it is tea made from the coca leaf, and a staple of the society. I noticed no ill effect or benefit either way. Supposedly it helps you adapt to the high altitude. I did suffer a bit of head discomfort my first day there, but that was probably from being very tired. The small little bread loaves made in brick ovens was to die for!

There were many signs that the Christmas holiday was still being clung to, the population of the area being Catholic. In fact, I was surprised to find out that I arrived during a minor festival. January 6 is Fiesta de Reyes. This celebrates the date the wise men came to visit the baby Jesus. The townspeople were dressed in their finest outfits, with frequent processions down the streets where they paraded the icons from the church of their saints and the Blessed Mother. The evening was filled with people making merry, grilling out some unknown meats in open pans (which smelled really good), and serving what I would later learn was called Chicha, a very mildly alcoholic beverage made from fermenting corn.

They gathered in the town square to listen to people telling stories. Certain groups of masked men went about the town swinging soft bags, randomly assaulting the young men of the village that were not masked. It seemed an ancient ritualized battle, which was all in fun as it elicited laughs from everyone involved. The townsfolk stayed up late in the night, in the streets, drinking and making merry.

Prior to my leaving the following day I saw all these costumed people gathered in their very quaint church, the local priest saying a Mass. I stepped into the church for a moment and listened and observed. It was a very colorful assembly. I would have liked to have taken a picture, but felt it would have been considered impolite, so left them to finish their holy ceremony.

In the evening I had yet another cup of coca tea and listened to a traveling Peruvian guitar and pipe 'band' as they visited some of the restaurants, trying to sell some of their CDs. A strange mix of modern and historic.

In the mountains that surround this village are the ruined remains of the original Ollaytaytambo. The step structure is common in Inca architecture, as they made steep cliffs tillable for crops. Walls and buildings form lookouts to guard the city, and high advantage places to defend it.

Below, we were told this was a grain storage structure. It was mind-boggling to imagine building it on the steep slope, let alone hauling grain up into it!

Here I saw my first Inca signature structures, those doors and windows set at an angle, which I read reduced their likelihood of collapse in earthquakes, which are common in this area.

Sometimes, the ancient walls, with their lichen stains, and contrasting living grasses, with the breathtaking mountains behind them, make for very dramatic photography! Don't you agree?

Most of the houses, being made of mud brick with ceramic tiles for the roof, had a most unusual attachment to the top. I had to ask what these were. They are called "Dos Torros", or the two bulls, and it is a good luck charm attached on the roof of a house or structure at the completion of its being built. Also, I was told the owner of the house cannot supply this adornment, but it must instead be gifted by a friend. This is just another sign of the connectivity of village life. You should best make friends first before you build your house to make sure you get the proper blessing.

Another little house that I found in one of the local restaurants was the home for the guinea pigs that would find themselves eventually on the plates, most likely, of tourists. The meal is called "cuy" and eventually I did try it, though not while in Ollayville.

When you build in rock . . . things last for a long time! Especially if you build in BIG rocks!

The town sits in a valley with a river running through it. Along the river it is lush, with many crops, primarily corn. The high mountains surrounding the valley are green with desert-like plants, some cactus, dry grasses. Andean wrens are more often heard than seen. The song of the very common Rufous-Collared Sparrow is heard as much as the bird is seen.

It's a really nice village! I highly recommend anyone visiting the area to leave Cuzco and come to stay a night in Ollayville!

Aguas Caliente

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I don't really have a whole lot to say about Aguas Caliente (AC). It is a fairly serious tourist town at the base of Machu Picchu. It is the final train destination where you catch the bus up, or walk if you are adventurous. I did not take a whole lot of pictures there, because there was not much to take a picture of. There are some hot water baths in the town, but I was unwilling to pay to see or experience them. Above is a peek at some of the incredibly high peaks you can see on the way. They are snow covered, but also mostly shrouded in the clouds.

There is a daily train (several actually) that travel between Cuzco and AC. There are three levels of service that you can purchase. My trip to AC was in the "Backpacker" service, and it was mostly just a seat to sit in. On the return trip I was on the Vistadome, which gave you a lunch, and a fashion show as well as entertainment (above). The train cars also have glass ceilings, "vista domes" so you can see the surrounding terrain. The highest level is called "Hiram Bingham" and that has cloth covered tables. I don't know what other niceties they have because I wasn't in that train car! You pay the same ticket regardless of whether you get on the train at Cuzco, or many miles down the track, as I did. Either way it gets you to AC, and is the only way, for no roads go that way. Peru is maximizing its income through making something that is already remote and hard to get to . . . continue to be that way.

The town is nested inside several massive mountains. My camera simply does not catch the scope of them. It has none of the charms of Ollaytaytambo. But you can choose from a multitude of places to sleep and eat and buy any kind of souvenir your heart desires. Few, if any, come to this place for the town . . . but of course it is the gateway to Machu Picchu. I slept well the two nights I was there, and experienced cuy, and a Pisco Sour, which is the Peruvian national beverage. Both were good!

I've no idea who this guy is! He stands in the village square. A massive Christmas tree made out of used green soda bottles was to the left of him, but I strategically left that out of the picture. Machu Picchu was the home of Incan royalty and nobility. But that was a long time ago!

Machu Picchu

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Above is a short clip overlooking the Machu Picchu complex, with the sacred mountain behind. This was taken later in the afternoon after the mist and clouds had lifted and the sunshine brought out the bright greens of this sub-tropical ruin.

Machu Picchu!

For some, this name brings recognition, and then curiosity. For many, it gets you a blank stare. However, when I knew I was going to get to come to this place, and I mentioned it to people, those who did not recognize the name did seem to recognize a picture of the place. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and thus is being preserved for the world to enjoy. If you would like a history, which I will not give here, click on the bold words at the beginning of this paragraph.

Here I am at one of the several doorways to prove I was there. It can be very hard sometimes to get a picture of yourself alone at any of the structures, for an incredible number of people come to this place, even in what is considered the 'off' season of December through March. This is the rainy season for Peru, and as such, the entire morning was cloudy, with occasional drizzle, but nothing much to spoil the day. In the later afternoon the clouds burned off, and the sunshine made an appearance so that I could take clear pictures, such as the one at the very start of this series of pictures.
My travel companion and I had planned to stay the previous night and the night of our visit in Aguas Caliente to allow us to be on the very first buses that leave that tourist town to take the half-hour drive zig-zagging up to the saddle of the mountain where the ruins lay. After a good night's sleep in comfortable firm beds at Gringo Bill's Hostal, with breakfast laid out at 5 AM we set off. Even at 5:30 in the morning, there was a very long line of people waiting for the buses. Once there, you join the crowd milling about the gates, which include people who paid the incredible $300 a night price to stay at the only hotel outside the site. You pay to take the train to get to this area. You pay to take the bus. You pay to get into Machu Picchu. This is Peru's primary tourist attraction, and you do pay to get to see and experience it. But it is worth it!
As you are allowed to enter the site, people fan out, and very quickly you can find yourself isolated and allowed to walk the moist paths, and through the buildings. The morning dampness serves to muffle the sounds around you. There is the ever present voices of birds, the whisper of the wind, and in some places, the trickle of water dripping, or flowing through some of the carved water channels. Even with as many people that come to this place, you can feel the energy of it's past glory. It may have something to do with the stones. Stones hold their energy for a long time.
The mist added to the mystery of the place. The mountain peaks surrounding the complex overshadow and dominate the horizon. They are rugged mountains that have not seen much erosion. They come in and out of view at the whim of the mists and low hanging clouds.
Here, as at many of the ruins of the Inca civilization, terraces have been constructed to allow for growing crops. Today they only grow grass, and lichen on the rocks, but in days past they would have supplied the villages with the food necessary for life. Primarily this would have been corn, for South America is the source of the corn plant. It's hard to believe that something which feeds the world only was introduced to the world about 500 years ago.
Occasionally there is an accent of color against the backdrop of greens and greys.
You can see that the terraces extend over a great portion of the complex. From this angle you can also see many of the raw boulders to be found in abundance.
Much of the complex is built with the dry rock style of walls, tightly fit stones with no mortar. Many of the walls are small brick, with mortar, especially in the houses that we are told the commoners lived in. However, the truly impressive aspect to Machu Picchu is the incredibly huge stones that make up the structures the elite lived in, and the temples.
You can't tell in this picture, but many of the homes in the commoner area have a structure that allowed for a second story. Each room had a lip on each side to hold wood planks, and there are windows at this higher level.
This complex is in a higher and wetter zone compared to Ollaytaytambo, which was pretty much desert-like except next to the river. The forests are more temperate, and have a greater array of wildlife. I witnessed many birds here, though I had no idea what they were. Later when the sun came out, it got warm, more tropical. Rising thermals brought unknown raptors to make lazy circles high above the ground, beyond my eyes ability to make note of field marks for future identification. A flock of green parrots made their noisy way across one of the canyons.
Here is the best example of the absolutely massive stones used in the construction of this site. You can also see to the left structures are built around the stones already in place. The source of the stone is very local, but the skill of shaping them and moving them defies the imagination. This is one of the main aspects that makes this place so incredible.

Below is what I was told is the Temple of the Condor. The altar stone is roped off to keep people from walking on it. The guide talking to the group here explained sacrifices would be made on this stone, and the blood would pool towards the 'beak' of the condor, and be funnelled down into a hole into the earth. One of the main goddesses for the Inca was PachaMamma, an earth mother goddess. The stones in the rear are the raised wings of the condor, a sacred animal. Beneath the wing is a small cavern.

I did not hire the services of a guide on this trip, but only walked and experienced the place myself. Occasionally I'd listen in to what others were saying. Here I heard the sacrifices were mostly of llamas. The Inca were not given to routine human sacrifice.

Grasses and lichen predominate, slowly working to reclaim the stones.

As indicated previously, those arriving early to the complex can make their way quickly to the other side and get in yet another line to be selected to be one of the 400 allowed to climb Huayna Picchu. Even hurrying over I was in the 360 range, so popular is this opportunity. You choose if you wish to walk up at 7:00 am or 10:00 am. The time restriction is due to the amount of time it can take to climb the mountain. You also have to sign a book prior to entering, and check out when you leave, so they know everyone is off the mountain. In many places the stairs are even and short, but in many more places, especially on the other side of the mountain, they are slippery, and tall, and uneven.

As you climb higher you can see the Urubamba river flowing far below.

After about an hour and a half I made it to the top of the mountain. As you can see by the sign, there are several ways to spell Huayna Picchu. The actual apex of the mountain is still just a little higher than this sign. I climbed up to that lofty perch to join all the other climbers. Most were 20-somethings. Several indulged in smoking marijuana. All reveled in the accomplishment.

And here, on the top of Huayna Picchu, I met up with a couple originally met on the train to Aguas Calliente. Andres and Mariana are visitors from Argentina, spending their vacation in and around Peru. Andres speaks very good English, which is fortunate, for my Spanish is pretty poor. I asked them if I could take and blog their picture. They said yes, so here it is!

And here I am! Quite a bit weary (but going to get more so) with glowing skin from the sunshine, and limp hair from the mist. But I made it!

And what a view from the top! I wish the mist was not as thick for a better picture, but the mist and rain kept me cool on the journey.

What must it be like to be able to open your wings and fly over these valleys? No wonder the condor is sacred to the people who lived here before.

The summit reached, I decided to take a different path down the mountain to visit what is called the "Great Cavern" on the signs, but which my guidebook calls the Temple of the Moon. With a name like that, how could I resist? The journey down was substantially less crowded! I only met one other person on the way to the temple, and there met up with 5 others at the temple. This path took you down three wooden ladders.

The journey down was much longer that the one up, as you were also going around the backside of the mountain. Just about the time I began to despair that I was never going to reach the destination, I came across one of those 6 people who told me I was almost there. I first came across some more Incan buildings, probably rooms where the priests could prepare themselves. Then just a little below is the cavern.

Alcoves and altars are carved into the rocks. The cave does quickly become a dark hole in the very back, and probably goes into the earth some more distance, but I did not have any source of light, so could not go any further. There were offerings of food and tobacco in this place, and it still holds about it a sacred energy . . . felt more here than at any of the other locations at Machu Picchu. Here I met some 'earth children' . . . . barefoot, dread locks, bead and feather bedecked. I am unsure how to classify them, so I will not. They were peaceful souls, who later when I encountered them again after descending the mountain, offered me some nuts and dried fruits. I would have liked to have spent more time talking to them.

Another couple at this location had hiked the mountain with their backpacks, and their baby. I admire their stamina! This alcove is centrally located inside the Temple of the Moon, and the baby's father told me it is supposed to be a central energy point where the male and female energies are in harmony. I couldn't resist, and asked the young lady, since she was a woman, and her baby a boy, if I could take their picture, for it did seem to me the harmony of the energies was manifest. She agreed. You can't really tell from this picture, but the baby was a happy little soul himself. I'd be too if I could come to this place, but not have to walk to it.

The mountain went on to teach me a lesson. Having reached the top, then taken the path down and around to the back, I had to essentially climb the mountain again to leave. Each bend brought another series of steps. Each turn, more stairs. My legs were very tired. My knees were sore from the effort to make my steps controlled. I relied frequently on my walking stick that helped me up and down the mountain. It is a sobering lesson, that you came to this place on your own feet, and that your own feet must get you out of it, for no one else can walk that path for you (unless you are a baby who was carried there ~ and I am not). It is a life lesson that has significance in my own life. Each turn, a brief pause to gather the fortitude, and breathe, then push forward for 15 stairs. Pause, but not for too long. Acknowledge the pain, but set it aside, for it has to be overcome to get to the destination. There will be time to rest at the end. I did make it to the end, and now have the knowledge I can do it! I can climb a mountain, twice. I can persevere on my own path and see it through.

There are animals at Machu Picchu. Many are wild creatures, like these chinchillas.

There are many birds. This is the best picture of the rufous collared sparrow I was able to catch, and it turned away as I took the picture, but you can see the rufous collar. They are trusting little birds, very common in this area, and you can get pretty close to them.

Later I caught a parent feeding its offspring. They didn't sit long for my picture.

And there are llamas!

The llamas are not wild creatures, but placed here for the tourists to enjoy. I know this because some of them had ear tags. They are also accustomed to people and let us walk right next to them and take their pictures. Several of the llama mothers (I wonder what they are called?? Dams?? Cows?? I saw lots of entries on the web for 'llama mammas' but nothing that answered that question) had babies (found this one . . . they are called 'crias'). The crias were very charming and photogenic.

Cute aren't they!

It was an awesome day! It was an exhausting day! I highly recommend that if you consider coming to Machu Picchu you plan your visit to either stay in Aguas Calliente, or the expensive lodge outside the gate, if you can afford it, and not take the standard one-day train tour out of Cusco. It deserves a full day to experience it! I was on one of the first busses to arrive, and departed on one of the almost last ones to leave. I would have walked around more if not for my very aching muscles . . . which complained for several more days. Bring your camera. Bring your bladder control (no bathroom at all on the site, only outside of the gate) ~ oh, and be sure to bring some Nueva Sols too for you have to pay to use the bathroom! Bring your eyes and your ears. But most of all bring an open heart to hear the voice of the mountains, and the stones, and the moss, and the grass, and the wind, and all the animals who call this place home.

It truly is a wonderful, magickal place!

Cusco

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In my travels I passed briefly through Cusco when I first arrived in Peru. A taxi was caught at the airport and transported myself and my travel companion to Ollaytaytambo. I was not greatly impressed as we drove out of the city and into the surrounding landscape. There is much poverty in this city of 350,000. There are stray dogs everywhere!

On the return trip we arranged to stay a night in the city. The journey toward the city was somewhat more pleasant as it was a normal work day and the indiginous people were about their normal daily activities. In contrast, on the journey out I later discovered it was a holiday, so no work was being done. Farm families were in the fields with their oxen teams, plowing in preparation for seed planting. Women shepherds tended flocks of sheep, their distinctive hats shielding them from the sun. Pigs and calves and goats were tied out anywhere there was a patch of grass.

The overnight stay in Cusco was not far from the center of the city. I was able to get pictures of the central square. We visited two of the enormous churches that face each other on the square. It is forbidden to take pictures inside the church, which is too bad for they are very elaborately decorated with paintings and sculptures, and in the larger, a solid silver central altar that stands four stories high. It's all very over the top! I was mildly ill on the night we stayed here. I went to bed early and sweated off a touch of cold. I was feeling better in the morning to catch the plane that took us to the rainforest.

Rainforest

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When I think of South America, I think of the Amazon, and the rainforest! A visit to Peru would not be complete if it did not include some time visiting the lungs of the world. I was fortunate that my companion decided to include a three-day trip to one of the multiple jungle lodges. Be warned though, if you come to the rainforest, bring lots of cool, dry clothes. The temperatures ranged in the 80s during the visit, however the humidity is about 95%, and nothing dries.
One of the best ways to experience the rainforest is to visit one of these lodges. Your fee includes everything to get you to the lodge, which is involved (plane, bus, canoe), to all your meals and guided tours. I highly recommend this option for anyone not familiar with the country, and especially if your Spanish is poor!

Upon our arrival we are greeted with a tropical fruit concoction. Overhead is the loud and distinctive calls of oropendolas, their squeeky bubbly notes echoing over the canopy. There is a colony nesting in a central tree. I was later informed that their nests are woven to hang especially long to prevent monkeys from easily reaching inside for eggs or chicks. They also tend to make their nests near human settlements for added protection.

There are birds everywhere! I don't know how I could have been so absent-minded, but I left on this journey and did not take my binoculars. I had to rely on my own eyes, so could not bring many of the birds in close to appreciate fully their beauty. However, I also did not purchase any bird guides, so probably wouldn't have mattered. Instead, I simply enjoyed being in this place, and listening.

There were several scarlet macaws that hung out in the trees right in the center of the lodge. I can't know if they are wild birds that simply are comfortable hanging out in the area, or if they are released birds. Either way, they were free to come and go as they pleased, and for me and others to enjoy watching.

Morning preening.

On the morning of the full day of the visit I became acquained with this Trumpeter. I don't know specifically what kind of Trumpeter it is. She also had a name, but I don't remember. She would come right up onto the deck of the central lodge, and you can pet and scratch her head.

At a distance I also took a picture of this bird, which seems to be in the turkey family somehow. Animals just walked in and walked out of the compound.

We arrived in Puerto Maldonado by plane, which is in the middle of the jungle. As the doors opened the refrigerated air coming out of the vents began to mist as it was met with the humid air coming from outside. As you step from the plane you know you are no longer in cool Cusco laying high in the Andes. You are now in the Amazon basin, a hot steamy jungle. No roads come to this town. Transport in is either by plane, or by boat. At the airport you catch a bus to the office of the jungle lodge. You are strongly encouraged to sort through your possessions and take only those things you need for the days you are at the lodge. The remaining possessions are left in a locked storage. We are then escorted around the town to the market to make sure we get certain supplies we will need for our trip. The same bus then takes you to the river, to catch a boat which will pilot down the river for over an hour. When you arrive, you have a little time to settle into your rooms prior to your first tour to visit "monkey island".

A small island was stocked with four different species of monkeys many years ago. Many of the local lodges bring their visitors over to see the monkeys. They are easily lured in with offerings of bananas by our guide. Here a spider monkey takes an offered gift.

A single marmoset enjoyed his banana. You can see how small he is compared to his meal. Our guide informed us that his mate died some time ago, and they were unable to provide a replacement for him . . . so he is alone on the island.

We had also been informed that we must put away any of our bottles of water. We were not told WHY. We got a demonstration from this spider monkey, who spied an available bottle. It climbed up the person holding the bottle, took it away, then sat and opened it and drank it all down. The water all around the island is fresh, so drinkable, but they must have learned that the stuff in the plastic is cleaner and much to be preferred, and worth stealing.

Here is a short video. Sorry, it is sideways!

There are four species of monkeys on the island. Below is a particularly greedy capuchin helping itself to as many of the offered bananas as it can carry.

I don't remember what the fourth species was! Either way, they were brought in close for us to see them and enjoy looking and taking their pictures.

After our visit to "monkey island" we returned to the lodge for dinner. I had to take a picture of it! Tucked inside these banana leaves were an assortment of chicken and potatoes and rice and vegetables. Chicha was served to wash it all down. All our meals were fabulous! Some were downright pretty!

Here is a view of the lodge compound outside my own little bungalow. The rooms are open to the air, screened in to guard against mosquitoes, letting in all the jungle sounds. Electricity is cut off at 9 pm and does not come back on until about 6 the next morning. At night it is very dark, wonderfully so! We took a canoe out on that first evening, to shine for caimen. For awhile we rode out to the center of the river, cut our engine, and just let our boat float down the river. With the moon and the stars overhead, and just the quiet lapping of the water, it was an experience not to be forgotten.

Our guide for the jungle walks is a local Peruvian name Anselmo. I was greatly impressed at the end of my time in the rainforest with the knowledge of this man. He knows the animals, and especially the birds of this jungle, to include many of the songs and whistles they produce. Given the opportunity, I would enjoy spending more time learning the flora and fauna of this place through this wise man.

I took pictures of many of the birds and plants, however without special lenses most did not come out clear enough to have any relevance. Below is a banana tree with young bananas.

A bird of paradise bloom.

Date Palm

Cacao. This is where chocolate comes from!

An epiphyte . . . a plant that grows up above the ground, watered by the rain, and holding that rain in pockets of soil and materials that form around the roots. These plants are not parasitic on the trees that they reside on. They are true sky plants!

On the full day of our visit (we were there for 3 days, with the two on each end being only partial days) we took a many hours walk into the rainforest following our guide.

Lima

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El Huayco

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"What're You Lookin At??" Says this Immature Black Hawk-Eagle.

"I'm a lookin at YOU!!" Replies this monstrous Harpy Eagle.

Peregrine Falcon (Notice the unusual Piebald color pattern)

The high point of my trip to Peru was the opportunity to meet Jose Antonio Otero Corbetto, and to tour his breeding facility outside Lima. The name of his facility is El Huayco. It is a center for reproduction and rehabilitation for the raptors of Peru. Here is the link to his webpage:

http://www.elhuayco.com/

Juvenile Harris Hawk

(These birds are bred for falconry)

Jose has been flying falconry birds for over 30 years. His intense interest led him to begin breeding many of the South American species that are popularly used in the sport. His successes at breeding and raptor husbandry also opened opportunities for him to provide rehabilitation for the wild injured and ill birds of his country. Peru has many vastly different climates, from desert-like beaches and plains, such as where the Nazca Lines are found, to some of the highest mountains in South America along the spine of the Andes Mountains, to hot and steamy jungles in the Amazon basin. Raptors occupy all of these environments, pursuing the various feathered and furred quarry so abundant in many of these remote locations.

Cassini Peregrine Falcon
(These birds are bred for falconry)

Everywhere that falconry is practiced, there is a native falcon to fill that nitch. Or rather, wherever there are falcons to be found, humans have longed for a relationship with these exquisite creatures. The Peregrine falcon is one of the most wide spread of raptors, with sub-species found throughout the world, and on every continent except Antarctica. The Cassini subspecies of this extensive family is the Peregrine of the Andes.

Black Hawk-Eagle

El Huayco has 100 mews, the name falconers use for a raptor's enclosure, many which provide paired birds with quiet privacy for breeding and raising their young. However, some of these mews are devoted to housing native species who for one reason or another cannot be returned to the jungles or deserts. Black and White Hawk Eagle

Black Chested Buzzard Eagle

Some birds, such as the one above, are housed with several birds of their kind, waiting for the opportunity when they will regain their freedom. This guy was incredibly curious about me, and fidgeted and footed his perch, twisting his head around. If the bars of his mews were not in the way, I'm pretty sure I would have had this bird bouncing off my head!
Bat Falcon
(These birds are bred for falconry)

You cannot get a sense of the perspective of this little falcon above, but it is a diminuative hunter, a little larger than a Merlin, named for the quarry of choice for this species . . . bats!

Andean Condor

Of all the birds at the facility, and with Jose's warning to be careful at the bars, this was the only bird that flew at me trying to grab at me. In history it is the king of the Peruvian raptors, a messenger between the gods and men. She was just insisting on my respect, this female displaying here, clicking her warning with her beak prior to launching at me!

White Hawk
The multiple hallways of mews circle around a central courtyard, a common structure in many Central and South American homes and buildings. The tropical sun does not waver much throughout the year, so the area around Lima, and much of Peru for that matter, does not have seasons like fall and winter, but rather a continual variety of summer separated into rainy and dry seasons. The grass in the courtyard grows thick and lush. There are several large enclosures with an incredible number of birds tied to their block perches. The inner courtyards also have many bow perches with birds tethered out, soaking up the noon-day sunshine peeking through the shade of the overhanging trees. Jose applogized to me that many of his birds were moulting, and were not in the peak of feather condition. I didn't notice, so very fascinated I was to see such a wide variety of species all in one location.
Ornate Hawk Eagle
I really liked the look of this bird! I have never seen a raptor that I did not find to be pleasing to the eye, but the particular patterns and colors to be found on this creature seem to come together in such a dramatic way.

Aplomado Falcon

(These birds are bred for falconry)

Immature Ornate Hawk Eagle

Even without all the spectacular colors of the adult, this is such a beautiful raptor! I wonder if they can be used in falconry. Not all raptors are suited for training. Despite the above bird being in a mews, I see there are anklets, so perhaps it has received some training.

Harpy Eagle

I'm thinking I'd be a bit afraid to have this bird on my fist, however Jose told me he was working with this bird, training him. It would be impressive to see such a majestic creature be flown on game. The feet on these birds are massive! I highly respect anyone willing to undertake the training of one.

More Raptors ~ and a few softbills

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Two Falconers, and an exquisite falcon! The bird I am holding is the one Jose currently is flying. He was kind enough to break away from his busy schedule and pick me up in Lima and allow me to freely walk around his facility. I have been given an invitation to return to Peru and see his birds fly . . . an invitation I take seriously and may have to try to follow up on in the next few years to come.
Above is one of the three large enclosed weathering yards that house many of the raptors produced at El Huayco, ready for transfer to a new falconer within Peru, or exportation. They are individually tied to a bow perch by a leash which is attached to leather straps, called jesses, and anklets that attach to their legs. This is the ancient way of safely perching a raptor which allows for its comfort, but which prevents it from harming other around itself, or breaking feathers or legs. Many birds used in falconry today, especially the falcons, have been bred in human facilities. The breeding of raptors is only successful when the birds are healthy, comfortable in their housing, and satisfied with their mate. Invitro Fertilization is practiced, but I do not believe produced the birds I saw at this facility. Here it is all natural! Jose had a very nicely organized office filled with notebooks and binders of breeding records, and permits. In fact, our afternoon was cut short because he had a meeting with a government official to review through some of his permits and licenses that are a necessary part of keeping these kinds of creatures.

Here is a short clip of a male Harpy Eagle. These are the largest eagles in the world! They are a top avian predator of the Amazon, hunting monkeys, sloths, and other tree dwelling lifeforms.

Here is a close up of the large female Harpy Eagle.

A pair of Harpy Eagles. Can you tell I was very fascinated by these impressive birds? Look at those feet, especially the one on the left. Their talons have been compared to the same size produced by bears.
Here is a size comparison between myself and a Harpy Eagle. If she sat on a glove on my fist she would tower over my head! This picture is fore-shortened, so she is even bigger than she appears, as she is not standing right next to the cage bars.

Black and White Hawk Eagle
A close up of the immature Ornate Hawk-Eagle. I just love the look of this bird! Again, I wonder if they are used in falconry. Not that it matters . . . I doubt I'd ever be able to import one! But I just love those eyes, and that crest!

Orange-breasted Falcon

(these birds are bred for falconry)

The front side of a Puna Hawk
This bird is also called the Variable Hawk, or even Red-Backed Hawk. It is a member of the Buteo family, which is the same family our own Red-Tailed hawks belong to. This bird reminded me very much of the look of a red-tail. By her rusty red color, it identifies her as a female. The males tend to be more grey overall.
And now the back side of the Puna Hawk. What beautiful color patterns!

Immature Bicoloured Hawk

I'm sure these birds are just as fast and efficient as our Northern accipiters, and they have so many more birds in their environment to hunt.

(These birds are bred for falconry)

Adult Bicoloured Hawk

As the birds mature, like so many of the accipiter family, their eyes become more red.

Mountain Caracara

The family of caracaras are actually very closely related to falcons. However, just as the vultures are also grouped with the raptors, they are more scavengers than hunters. Their feet lack the strength to grip prey, and are more designed for walking.

King Vulture

He is not as big as the largest vulture in the world, the condors, yet he certainly is one of the prettiest!

Ornate Hawk Eagle Eyas (doesn't have all those pretty colors yet, or the blue eyes)

Jose has a full breeding facility set up. When parent birds either do not incubate and rear their offspring themselves, or a suitable foster bird is not available (several birds are kept as foster parents) the eggs are removed and incubated. Certain species also lend themselves to hand rearing if you want to impart on them special conditioning, called imprinting, to improve the strength of the bond between the bird and their future falconer. These two eyases (the name falconers use for baby raptors) were the only two at the time of my visit.

Black Hawk Eagle eyas

Jose also rehabilitates members of the Ramphastos family, the toucans and toucanets and aracaris. Many of these birds are intercepted by Peruvian officials from people trying to smuggle the birds illegally out of the country. His facility restores them to health and prepares them for re-release if possible. He has also began to breed these birds, which is not easy at all. I've had some limited experience dealing with smaller softbills. They are difficult to feed proper and keep healthy, as they are subject to liver diseases which are fatal if their food is not properly balanced. Jose commented that we here in the US have access to pelleted food, which he wishes he also had access to, however he must make do with native fruits, mango and papaya, and pinkie mice . . . for toucans are omnivorous.

Black Mandibled Toucan

Emerald Toucanet

Chestnut eared Aracari

Blue banded Toucanet

Blue Banded Toucanet

I was uncertain of the indentity of this bird, but was contacted by Megan of Toucanet's Roost, who confirmed this bird species. Thank you Megan! You can visit her site at:

http://toucanets.freehosting.net/main.html

Yellow Ridged Toucan . . . and Lunch

Toco Toucan

Yellow Ridged Toucan

What a beautiful South American bird to finish up these series of pictures. My vacation in Peru was wonderful . . . and my visit to El Huayco was the 'icing on the cake'!! I hope I'll be able to return and fly falcons with this extraordinary man! Thank you again Jose for your hospitality!

I'm on Facebook!

2009-01-01T10:37:00.001-06:00

Christmas and New Years in One Night

2008-12-31T23:53:00.004-06:00

I've been visiting my bud Darla for a few days, finishing up my whirlwind tour of Illinois. Today she invited me to join her family's celebration of Christmas (late because there was an ice storm in Illinois last week) and then go out to dinner for New Years.

I felt very welcome and had a wonderful time with her lively Italian family.

Somehow Santa seemed to have found me, as there were lots of presents for me too under their tree. I'm now supplied with an abundance of chocolates! It was fun watching her obviously close family kid and joke with each other. After the exchange of gifts, we all piled into their father's Cadillac (a tight fit with 6 of us) and drove to downtown Chicago to an authentic Italian restaurant. Our dinner was fabulous, and the ambiance festive.

Above on the far right is Darla's dad, John, with his wife, Darla's mom, Phyllis. Next, from right to left, is Darla's sister-in-law, Lisa, with Darla next, then her brother, Darren, and then myself. Below is Darla and I in front of her family's tree.

It was a great day, and a good end to 2008.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Winter Break

2008-12-29T19:29:00.002-06:00

It's the Winter Break. I have a few weeks off from school. I'm using the time to catch up with my friends and family. I'm at the home of my sister and her family for a couple days. We are making REAL Texas Chili, to include the jalpenos and Corona. All we are missing is rattlesnake, or armadillo meat! My sis has her whole livingroom decorated with a Texan theme. She may be living in Illinois right now, but she wants to return to Texas some day. Here we are posing in front of her newest gift from our other sister, who still lives in Texas.

I've a new camera, to take good pictures next week when I go to Peru. My little gift to myself!

Passport

2008-11-22T13:29:00.003-06:00

I have been invited to participate in an adventure!

My friend Jay wants to go on a vacation, and he has asked if I would go with him. He has coordinated with my time off over the winter break. We are going to Peru, to visit Machu Pichu. He has already purchased the airline tickets. I sent off right away for my passport and it was processed and delivered pronto. I now have my passport, and look forward to marking it with my first Visa of what I hope to be many in the next few years. I have always wanted to travel. It looks like Peru will be the first!

Jay is invited over for Thanksgiving and we'll sit down and work on the details of what we'll be doing while there. Last week we had an International Day at the college where students from countries around the world set up displays and shared about their home countries. There was a woman there from Peru. I spoke with her for quite a few minutes. I asked her what I absolutely needed to do while in Peru. She informed me I must eat guinnea pig . . . a national cuisine. Well heck, why not!!

We are going to have fun! I'll take lots of pictures! However I will not be blogging (most likely) while in country, as I'm not going to take my computer. I'm going to attempt to pack light. That itself will be a challenge!

More details to come as they occur!

All About Automobiles

2008-11-22T13:26:00.003-06:00

Check out the new wheels!

Well, a person should not gloat about the miles on their car, when their car has a quarter of a million miles on the odometer. I had been noticing a menacing rattle in the engine of my Escort for awhile. It was so very intermittent that I hoped it was nothing. I did take it to the mechanic, but somehow they mis-heard what I was wanting to have looked at, so skipped looking at the engine, and instead diagnosed it needing new tie rods. So some $300+ later I had new tie rods on my car, only to have that rattle turn into a clank, and a clunk, and a very large chunk, and then all my idiot lights came on, and the car died. I was on my way home from school two weeks ago when this happened. Fortunately it happened about a 1/2 mile from home, so I didn't have far to walk. I also had enough momentum to roll into a parking lot and out of the way. In the past month I've been a couple hours drive away from home. My old car gave me good service, and died in a faithful kind of way. I had it towed the next day, and it sat at the mechanics for awhile. They turned the engine over, and listened, and agreed that I had blown something major, and that it would not be worth the expense to repair it. This last Saturday I sold it for scrap. *sniff*

Last weekend my friend Mike took me on a drive down one of La Crosse's major roads, and we stopped at every used car lot and looked a lot of cars over. I saw quite a few that fit the category of what I was looking for (about $5,000, less than 100,000 miles, preferably something manufactured after 2000). There were lots of cars that fit this description. Most were economy American made. But this little truck above caught my attention! I came back two more times on Monday and Tuesday with various friends, and ultimately decided I'd give it a go. I got in touch with the Tomah Area Credit Union and got my loan request working. I also did a CarFax on the little truck. It is a Ford Ranger, 2001, with just shy of 70,000 miles. NICE!! It was a company car for its first 10,000 miles. It then lived in Wonewoc for a couple years, and its final owner was a little old lady in Prairie du Chien. Really! It is very clean and tidy inside. It's perfect! I probably won't get as good gas mileage on it, but now I have a vehicle that can haul stuff. I'm also anticipating I should be able to make my initial jump to wherever I go after school (hopefully Oregon) by loading up just my essentials, and maybe pulling a little U-Haul behind. I've a loan for 3 years. So much for being debt free!
Here I am saying 'Good Bye' to my old faithful car in the mechanic's parking lot! It's been my travel companion for a good many years and a heck of a lot of miles. I wish I had the resources or contacts to have it rebuilt, but instead it's been sold as scrap, and is going off to have its parts pulled and sold piece by piece. Someone's going to get almost brand new tie rods!!

Good Bye Escort!!

Autumn

2008-11-09T13:57:00.002-06:00

Autumn comes to Wisconsin!

Today would have been a good day to go out hawking!

I hope this is my last winter here.

In many ways, there is an exquisite beauty,

and I plan to get out in the months to come

and feel winter's sometimes indifferent caress,

only this time without a hawk.

There is a longing, for many things, that tugs at my soul.

Sometimes I'm uncertain where I'll find solace for that yearning.

I only hope eventually . . . . .

. . . . . for resolution!

Biking across the USA ~ and my First Couch Surfing Hosting

2008-08-14T17:21:00.007-05:00

Finally, my weekend finished up with my first Couch-Surfing hosting. And gosh, the picture below is just terrible!! Sometimes my camera just does not know how to handle bright bright light. I took this as my guests were headed out back on the road.
Gene Floyd and his two sons are biking across the United States. You can read all about their adventure at his website: http://www.rideforfatherhood.org/.

Above father and son are packing up their gear onto their bikes, and making some final adjustments. They spent 3 nights with us, and headed out on Wednesday. It was my first chance to host someone with Couch Surfing.

Good Luck on your journey!

Kimono

2008-08-14T17:18:00.004-05:00

One of the shops in Waubasha was a ki mono gallery. As before, when I mentioned this place, I shall not spell out the name, for I fully enjoyed being allowed by the owner of the store to wear a ki mono, and to get my picture taken in it. I would not like to have to take the pictures down. If you really want to know where it is just Google ki monos and Waubasha.

This shop is a gallery, so the items there are objects of art. I saw price tags on some of them well into the five figures. Some were elaborately decorated with thousands of knots, and very small gold beads. These are wedding ki monos. The shop owner indicated that it is now becoming increasingly common for Japanese women to opt for the western wedding with the white wedding dress. What a shame! If I had a choice, I'd choose these gorgeous works of art! You can even rent them. Hmmm . . . there's an idea! Now I just need to find a man! *sigh*

Click on the pictures for a close-up view.

Week-end Family Visitors

2008-08-14T17:06:00.009-05:00

On the weekend of August 8 - 10 I hosted my sister and her two daughters at my home. This is the first time any of my family have come to see where I'm living since I sold my home. It was good to have them visit! They all enjoyed the bonus of the hot-tub!
On Saturday we wandered around La Crosse, showing them some of the sites. We went to the farmer's market where they bought some jewelry made out of silverware. We searched out a few of the Herons of La Crosse (of which I have found and photographed all of them!!) We visited the butterfly garden at Hixon, and ate lunch at Fazies. In the afternoon went up to Granddad Bluff. The girls wandered off with me to find a geocache, only to discover once we got there that it had been "muggled". We had pizza and movies that night.

The next day we got up and had breakfast at the co-op. Hackberries above the co-op has a wonderful Sunday morning brunch. We then went on a roadtrip. We travelled up through Winona and on to Waubasha. That little town has the International Eagle Center, where there are several education eagles on permanent display, and lots of educational materials and talks about eagles. I got a couple of pictures. They have a new resident, a Golden Eagle.

On our journey we also stopped by the Lark Toystore. All manner of toys can be purchased at this store, but they specialize in hand carved items. There is also a full-sized carousel inside the store, with animals that have been carved by the artists at Lark. I took pictures of some of the most interesting ones.

Some of them are very colorful!

And here are a couple of the eagles. Note how much larger the beak on the Bald Eagle is compared to the Golden.

Even as captive animals, they are beautiful and majestic!

This and That

2008-07-24T19:21:00.008-05:00

I now give you . . . a bunch of water flowers, a mountain, and me!
You will not find a more beautiful nor fragrant flower than the water lilly. OK, maybe you can . . . but you certainly cannot deny the picture below is just lovely! Water lillies are quite interesting in that they have a memory. When plucked and placed in water, they continue to close up at night, and then open each day, for the number of days that they stay fresh. Click on the image below to see a close up . . . it is worth it!

I had these pictures on my camera . . . on the "hard" memory of my camera. I have a cord for downloading, somewhere . . . . somewhere I'm sure nice and safe in my storage shed . . . but I simply could not find it even having looked two times. So I broke down and purchased a new one so I could download these pictures. Sometimes I forget and don't put the memory card in, so capture pictures on the hard memory. The downloading dock is also somewhere in the storage shed . . . I'm sure someplace nice and safe! Safe from me anyways!

I've had the below image on my camera since May when I went to Oregon. SIGH!!!! I wish I could go now!!!! That state has made me heart sick. I feel an incredibly strong urge to move there. Once done with school . . . unless something totally spectacular and unexpected happens (and at this point incredibly unlikely) I shall leave Wisconsin forever and go there. The image below is of Mount Hood, taken from the airplane window as I flew over. There are so many spectacular mountains in the Pacific Northwest!

And finally, me as a Smurf! Today was the last day of Summer Clinicals. For the last four weeks we have been rounding at the local hospitals, observing, asking questions, learning, doing simple assessments of patients. We now have a bit more than four weeks off. These will be the final weeks that I work full-time. Once school starts up again I'll be dropping hours to only work Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. I really have to devote my full attention each class day, as I did work and do clinicals some these last few weeks . . . and it was exhausting! Students wear this obvious colored scrubs. There is a WTC badge on my left shoulder, that you cannot see in the picture. The stethoscope is my own and will be a permanent part of my working uniform as a Respiratory Therapist. Those who look can also note the reading glasses. It finally happened! My eyes realized that I'm 43! The close-up vision for reading or fine work is difficult now . . . . and sometimes I have to squint at medical charts to verify information . . . and attempt to read doctor's scrawl. The scrubs will be washed and hung up now for awhile. We'll return to the classroom when the fall semester starts up on August 27 for about four weeks, but will return to clinicals. I'm excited! The last year is about to get fully underway. I've been here in La Crosse for about a year now. Time moves on! I'm anxious to finish . . . so my life can move on as well!

Peregrine Close-up

2008-07-20T13:01:00.003-05:00

Here is an even more clear image of the peregrine that flew over all us humans watching from below. Phil's wife, Laurie, takes credit for this very nice picture. They have a really nice camera, and Laurie often documents the falconry adventures of her husband. What a beautiful bird! It's even more wonderful in that she is a wild bird! Free!

More Wild Falcon Pictures

2008-07-13T11:46:00.007-05:00

Just as I was about to close up my laptop and head outta Paneras, where I am on this Sunday morning, I got e-mails from my friend Dave with pictures he took yesterday with his much nicer camera. Above you can see the falcon that flew over the bluff where we were overlooking the action. This is a completely wild bird! She hovered in place checking us out, probably just as curious about us as we were to watch her.

Here is the nest box attached to the smoke stack where the young falcons were reared this year.

Here are two of the young sitting on top of the power pole. The one on the left, in true juvenile fashion, has laid down. It's just too tiring to stand up all the time like an adult!

Here one of the birds sits on the handrail. They fly all around the area, since they "own" the place. There are pigeons too . . . who try to avoid them as much as possible.

Here is another angle of the group that went over the edge down the bluff to inspect the ledge they hope in the future will be used as a permanent nesting location, once the problem of how to keep racoons off that ledge can be solved.

Falconry Picnic

2008-07-13T10:28:00.010-05:00

The Tri-State Falconry picnic was an opportunity for members of the three falconry clubs from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa to come together and meet and greet, but also was selected in the location that it was held to focus attention on the now successful efforts of many people, though especially the Raptor Resource Project headed by Robert Anderson. Bob has been working for many years to re-establish populations of wild peregrines throughout the Eastern United States. He has worked closely with multiple power companies (see his website) to place nestboxes on many of their power plant smoke stacks. Boxes have also been placed in cities. Now he is happy to report that many falcon pairs are relocating to the natural cliffs to nest, where they belong, and from where they have been absent for so many years. This final step begins to fully restore the wild population.
The location of our picnic placed us in a corridore to see several successful nests. Attention was primarily focused on the powerplant just south of Lansing, Iowa. As we arrived we were able to see two of the young peregrines sitting on the powerpole above. Some of the folks there had much better cameras than mine . . . and they promised to send me some pictures. As soon as I have them I'll post them.

The main purpose of the visit this day, other than seeing wild peregrines, of which we saw several, was to watch and help Bob Anderson as he scaled down the cliff overlooking this powerplant to assess the nesting cliff. It is a perfect cliff and attracts birds, but racoons seem to find it each year, and destroy the eggs. The Raptor Resource Project is trying to figure out what they could do to this ledge to protect it from predation, so that nesting pairs could go on to be successful, and raise their offspring.

Bob geared up, and a couple other people as well. We climbed to the top of the overlooking cliff, and after these three went over the edge, we all just lounged about and watched the sky. We saw the family of peregrines fly by from time to time, and at one point, one of the adult birds soared over the cliff, hovered in the sky looking down at us as we looked up at it. Several pictures were taken. Again, once I get copies I'll post them.

Once the folks on ropes got to the bottom, we pulled the ropes back up, and made our way back the way we came. They drove up from below to meet us.

It was a nice diversion to look at wild peregrines, and enjoy the day. It was a very nice day! Robert says all the successful nestboxes overlook large bodies of water. This one overlooks the Mississippi.

Tri-State Falconry Picnic

2008-07-13T10:02:00.013-05:00

Finally! The Ladyhawker has something hawk-related to blog about! Above is "Sage" a passage Prairie Falcon that Phil acquired from another falconer recently. He'll be learning how to fly a longwing this fall.

On Saturday July 12 there was a picnic for the tri-state falconry clubs between Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. The weather was beautiful! So much so that I think a lot of folks were off doing other things, for there were not as many people attending as perhaps were hoped for. However, gas is expensive, so maybe the drive was too far for many folks. If it had not been for Phil above, and Dianne who brought her education eagle, it would have been an all-goshawk day. Three falconers brought their imprint goshawks to show off.

Look at those beautiful eyes! All three goses were still young enough that their true wild nature has not yet manifested. Good luck to those falconers that will be continuing to work with them and get them chasing game very soon.

Dan Orth brought "Daisy".

A falconer from Iowa, Ray Conn, brought "Bandit".

There was a third bird in attendance as well.

Spinning Wheels

2008-07-04T23:01:00.002-05:00

So often . . . when faced with intense emotions . . . I write. Sometimes the focus of the writing is to someone. Most of the time, it's just a faceless audience. So much of the time I feel that what I write falls upon deaf ears. I get so little feedback from this forum, with a few notable exceptions, that I wonder if anyone is reading it at all. But the counter at the bottom ticks ever up, so someone must be coming here.

It's the 4th of July, 2008. Today was one of those rare days that I had off completely. There was no school today, and this is not one of my holidays that I have to work. The day was going along fairly well. I made a point of getting out and going and doing something. It's never good when I have time on my hands to just sit here idle.

I went to Riverfest . . . a summer celebration held yearly here in La Crosse. I went out, got a bit roasted, bought and ate some 'bad for you' fair food, and saw some entertainment. There was a pretty cool (though his jokes were rather corny) juggler. He was very good looking! I'm rather sure someone has snagged him . . . and I just am not the type to walk up and flirt. He was very good at juggling, including a brief stint with three (count em . . . 3) bowling balls. There was a karate demo, which I watched while waiting for the shows to start. I then caught a trained dog show . . . mostly frisbee dogs, but all very good. Along the way I saw and went up to the Commodore. Every year a person of note in the community is given the privilege of being the Commodore . . . kind of the king PR guy. They hand out buttons with their names, and the year they are Commodor. There were two of them . . . the current Commodor, and last years. They both gave me a pin for my blouse, putting it on themselves, and then distracted me with a raised hat, both planted a peck on my cheek. I thought it rather quaint!

I returned home and cleaned up the place a bit. My 'nube is shedding like mad . . . and doing so all over the house. I vacuumed. Liz was having company over.

This is part of my disquiet. I introduced her to one of the online dating sites. She's been out there for only a short time . . . and has already met someone that she seems to be hitting it off with rather nicely. I've had my name out there on multiple sites for two years . . . and most of the people I've met just really were not interested in me . . . . or there was some very glaring thing that I found wrong with them. He's here visiting for the weekend. I stuck around for dinner . . . as we had grilled steaks. But afterwards I made myself scarce. After all . . . it's her house. She tells me I don't have to leave . . . but I've been in this situation before . . . being a 'third wheel' . . . . it brings up way too many emotions that were going on in my marriage, just before he left, and prior to the big event that forever sundered my relationship with him and my former best girlfriend.

I've been too often in the position of not being wanted. It's starting to get very wearying. For whatever reason, I feel that during this time in my life I'm supposed to walk alone. But it doesn't help when I feel very little to NO support anywhere. My family is far away, and most never provided much in the way of emotional support anyway. What few friends I have also live far away. I'm here . . . . facing some of the hardest decisions I've had to make, living them, working my ass off to make a new life for myself . . . . and doing so . . . . by myself.

I was coping OK today . . . I left after dinner and called my girlfriend down in Illinois (Hi Darla!!) and then took myself and found a spot to watch the fireworks. I found a pretty good place on the top floor of one of the parking garages downtown. I waited for it to get dark, and was able to position my car pretty good, so I could see, and stick near my car, and had it tuned to the station that was going to play the music for the show. Well . . . . there was a large, and getting larger by the minute, crowd of obnoxious, drinking, boorish college kids. La Crosse is a college town. They had their radio turned up playing some obnoxious rap crap. As the show started I turned my radio up so I (and anyone around me that wanted to) could hear the music that was played for the show. It was your standard assortment of patriotic songs. Well . . . the crowd of drunk idiots at least turned theirs off . . . but during the show, one particulary brazen asshole walked over and reached into my car and turned it off. I passed him as he was getting out of my car, and stated it was the music to the show. He mumbled some incoherent complaint about "that crap music". Well . . . I turned it back on, and stood near my car so he could not come back. But the crowd of drunk idiots proceeded to be loud and obnoxious during the whole show.

Even watching a patriotic and public show, with the music intended for it . . . I'm an outsider! I got the sense that if they started anything, none of the people around would intervene.

Once the show was done . . . I got in and left quickly. I don't want a confrontation. But it pissed me off.

I feel so terribly out of place here! There is an incredible urge to leave, and to go. At this point the goal seems to be Oregon. I so hope that I will find my "home" there . . . . for I've been uprooted for so long, and I feel like I'm drifting. I struggle with the emotion that if anything happened to me . . . very few would miss me. A counselor would probably make some good money off me . . . if I only consented to go to one. I've stopped making an effort to meet anyone, any men, for I just seem to be beating my head up against a wall. I've deactivated what dating sites I was on. My heart is tired of being bruised by rejection. I'm lonely . . . . . and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of comfort for me!

I finished my Summer I class, and got for the first time in my college career, a B. I'm currently in my Summer II clinicals. This past week I spent a full day both at Gundersen and at Franciscan Skemp. I'm now tagging along and observing what I'll be eventually trained to do. It was interesting! There is so much I must learn.

I'm anxious to get on with it. The sooner I accomplish this . . . the sooner I can leave.

I have a plan. On my left shoulder is a kestrel tattoo . . . . it is my 'totem' . . . an animal that I feel a kindred and spiritual connection to. When I am done with my training, and tested and certified and licensed, and MOVED, and establish myself in some new place, a new job, and put down new roots . . . . I will have a phoenix on my right . . . to symbolize my rebirth.

I hope it is a rebirth!

I hope once I get there . . . that I can pick up a normal life. That I can make friends that will stay, that will want to stay. People that will want to talk to me, want to spend time with me. And I hope some day that there will again be someone to love me. My house-mate barely started to try . . . and she is now upstairs, in her bed, in the arms of someone who by all appearances is very interested in her.

It's been so long . . . . . . . I've not known this for myself. There are some nights I feel very weak and depressed. Tonight is one of them.

I'd hate to think that whole world of belonging is no longer someplace that I will get to live in ever again.

Urban Peregrines

2008-06-20T22:48:00.003-05:00

Well . . . . I'm currently back home now . . . and I can't load pictures from here. I had gone to hang out a bit at Paneras, and was able to load pictures no problem. Maybe there is something wrong with the settings of the WiFi at home. I'll have to explore that sometime, as I was able to load pictures earlier this evening. (Update . . . next day at the library, loaded no problem . . . so the problem must be with the connection at home.)
While on my little mini trip last week I did an Internet search first, and discovered that Hawk Ridge near Duluth, MN has a Peregrine Watch going on right now in downtown Duluth. Seems a wild pair of peregrines have taken to the nestbox that was placed on one of the buildings, and have been raising a family. They laid 4 eggs, but so far only one eyas has survived. I followed the instructions on the website, and found the watch location. On that particular day one of the naturalists, Julia, was onsite with a couple of other volunteers from Hawk Ridge to give information to people, provide telescopes to see the nest and birds, and there is also a remote camera that has been placed inside the nest box.

While I was there visiting I did see both parents doing their job. The tiercel hangs out pretty much on a church tower in the downtown area. The people from Hawk Ridge call it his 'garage' . . . for he must hang out there a lot. I spotted him and noticed he was feeding. He must have just recently caught something . . . most likely a pigeon. While there, we saw him fly up and do a food transfer to the falcon. For any of my non-falconry audience, the female peregrine is always called the 'falcon' . . . the male the 'tiercel'. The term 'tiercel' means 'one-third' for the male is about a third the size as the female. The term 'tiercel' has become a standard term applied to male raptors, though technically it really only belongs to the male falcon. So, we saw him 'bring home the bacon', and the falcon then took the food into the nest box, and I was able to see her feed it to the eyas on the camera. It was all good! I visited with the volunteers, and we chatted raptors.

Hawk Ridge has a banding station in the fall during the migration. Duluth is one of the major hot spots for migration, for many birds are routed through because it is at the tip of Lake Superior, and birds migrating south are very reluctant to fly over large bodies of water. So they hit the lake, and then follow it down until the lake ends, which is at Duluth. If I was able to, I'd love to go volunteer for a couple days in the fall while that is going on.

Go visit their site if you are curious about it. Click on the link ----> Hawk Ridge

If you navigate that site you will also find a link to a photographer who has used much better equipment and gotten many really good close-up shots of the pair, and previous successful nesting attempts. He's been kind enough to allow Hawk Ridge to use some of his work for promotional purposes.

The Waterfalls of Wisconsin

2008-06-20T21:09:00.013-05:00

At some ancient point in Wisconsin history, so says the informational brochures put out by the State Parks system, there was a massive earthquake that caused a portion of the geology in what now is the north lands to drop suddenly, forming a perfect channel for water to naturally follow. Thus, several of the waterfalls of Wisconsin were formed. The most interesting thing I noticed while here was the color of the water. It is a dark brown orangish, what they were calling root-beer colored. This is perfectly natural for this area, due to abundant vegetation in the upper headwaters that stain the water with their tannins. But it did look wierd!

Amnicon Falls, where I camped, is really a series of somewhat smallish falls that twist through the park. Normally swimming is allowed, but the river is high right now, making that activity unsafe.

Look at the suds!! Who dumped detergent into the river?? Actually, no one. The force and churning of the water was frothing it up, making substantial accumulations of foam.

After leaving Amnicon I drove south-west, and visited Pattison State Park. This is the location of Big Manitou Falls, and Little Manitou Falls. Big Manitou is the largest in Wisconsin, and according to the State Parks, the fourth highest east of the Rockies. It was rather impressive! Be sure to click on the picture for an enlarged view. It will bring subtle details into better focus.

Big Manitou Falls

At the other end of the lake that forms the two falls is Little Manitou Falls. Not as steep, but much wider! Again, all the water here is a dark brown-orange color. None are as pretty as what I saw in Oregon . . . . but still beautiful!

Amnicon Falls

2008-06-15T14:28:00.004-05:00

Hey!! Lookie there!! Seems picture upload is working again!

I'll have to come back later and post the ones from last week, and then finish this one up.

This weekend I had 2 days off, so I went up north to check out some of Wisconsin's waterfalls, and camp out a night. Currently, I'm sipping a cold over-priced foofy drink and tapping into the free WiFi in some little coffee shop in Eau Claire. I only need to get home and do some homework tonight, so I might veer off West from here and check out another State Park on my way home.
Above is a view of one of the falls the Amnicon river goes over. Usually, this is a river that can be swam in, but with all the rain of late, it is flowing really high. I saw no one in it, and I myself would never dream of getting into it. Glad I skipped buying a bathing suit on my trip up, because I had forgotten my own.

Back later to finish this up and post more pictures.

Devil's Lake

2008-06-08T14:00:00.009-05:00

On Friday June 6th I took myself camping to Devil's Lake. And it was a good thing that I did it on the 6th, and not the 7th. As I was driving home on the next day I drove through the massive storms that resulted in all the flooding in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. I understand that there was damage to Devil's Lake, and of course the loss of Lake Delton!

It's taken awhile for me to be able to finish loading the pics here, as Blogger was having some issues for a good bit of time after my trip. But all seems to be working fine now.

I find on my days off I really need to "do" something. It is best that I not sit around the house, twiddling my thumbs. So, I've started to go and see and camp at many of the state parks. Because I've not seen any of the parks around the Dells, I chose Devil's lake. I ended up getting a really nice spot, and it was a lovely evening for camping. I don't really "do" a whole lot when I camp either . . . set my tent up, start a fire, cook my meal, read some sometimes, and usually go to sleep once it gets dark. But the next day I'm usually up with the birds, and go and see what needs to be seen at the park I've camped at.
For the Friday/Saturday I was at Devil's Lake, I could not stay around long, for I had to get home to be to work by 3:00 pm. So I got up early, packed my stuff, then drove around to see the park. I decided the thing I would see was Balanced Rock. It was a bit of a climb up, but not too hard. While there, yes, see those ropes! There was a group of rock climbers testing out their abilities to scale verticle surfaces, and rappel back down.

Once I left and started to drive home I ran into the storms. I hope these folks got off the "mountain" before it hit them!
Below is a golden dragonfly sunning itself on the rocks as I climbed.

Into the Wilderness

2008-06-01T14:14:00.003-05:00

Last night I did something that I was suddenly struck with an inspiration to do about a week ago. The impulse was incredibly strong, so I followed through with it last night. I had this weekend off, making it possible. Classes start up for me again tomorrow, Monday, so my available free days are becoming less available.

I took myself out camping (nothing different there, for I've been doing that quite a bit of late), but this time I hiked out to a spot in the true wilderness. I won't say where I went on this open forum. Let's just say I was not supposed to be there. It was a location I am familiar with, and that I felt comfortable being in, and is not too terribly far away. I did walk to the spot for about a mile carrying for the first time my backpack loaded with what I would need. No idea how much extra weight was in it, but I did just fine. I did not stay in a campground (obviously), but I also did not light a fire, as that would have been an absolute 'no no'. Besides, it only got down into about the 50s last night, and there was no need for me to cook anything, for along with the journey I was fasting for a day. All I left behind was some crushed grass, and some salts and nitrates in the grass. I harmed no animals, other than killing a few of the abundant mosquitos.

I felt compelled to go on somewhat of a 'vision quest'. I wanted to spend a night in the true wilderness, a fair distance from any people, civilization, and to spend some time meditating. There is an issue in my life that has been weighing rather heavily on my mind, a committment that I feel I'm supposed to be making to myself . . . and I have been resisting. I will not share any of those personal details here . . . . but the evening was somewhat fruitful for me. As I said previously I also tested my resolve, and for this one day, for more than a 24-hour period, I fasted. I've never done that before, and found surprisingly, it was rather easy to do. When I felt hungry, I drank water. Lots of it. It took the sensation away. Also, last night, once I got to where I was going, and set my tent up, and got into it (as it was the only safe place to be with all the bugs, to include ticks) I spend a couple hours until darkness meditating. The lack of food in my system, distracting some of my body's energy, allowed me to attain a meditative state far easier. My mind was clear. My focus more acute.

I listened to the night creatures take the stage. A whip-poor-will sang most of the night. In the earlier hours I heard a duet, with the new singer being wound up a bit tighter than the first, for it whip-poor-willed a lot faster. I did not hear any owls. Nor coyotes. Or, sadly, no wolves, which I was kindof hoping for, as I was in an area where they are known to be. I did hear someone hustle by my tent this morning in the dark pre-dawn hours. I could not see who, but most likely it was a racoon, wondering what the tent was, and did I have any food. I listened to the first bugling calls of a crane this morning, answered off in the distance by others. The misty morning bounced their calls about, making locating them difficult. I resisted the urge to see if I could find them. I'm sure long before my clumsy steps would bring me into their view, they would take wing and be gone.

I found insight! There are some things we can go without, for a period of time, and it's OK. Also, during my journey in, I found the half of an upper mandible to a beaver. I wish I had picked it up on the trip in, instead of looking for it on the way out. It brings to mind the idea that even though we grind away at certain concepts, all things come to an end eventually, must come to an end.

Give up the grinding. Accept the lesson! Accept the committment.

It was a good experience!

I know of another official campground up at the tip of Door County that has a remote site you hike into. I proved to myself yesterday that I could do this. Sometime this summer or into fall if I find myself with a few days off, I should go do that. It would be nice to hear the surf of the lake right outside my tent.

Orchids - Part Two

2008-05-23T10:07:00.004-05:00

My friend Dan had called me while I was on vacation to let me know that some of his orchids were blooming. I had asked him previously to let me know when such an event occurred, so I could take pictures of them. Lovely, aren't they! I'll e-mail him and have him tell me what they are. So, check back, for soon I'll have their precise species names.

UPDATE: Dan tells me the first orchid is a 'Phalanopsis 'Guadalupe Pineda', a hybrid of a Phalanopsis amboinensis and Phalanopsis bellina, both of which are from Indonesia.

The second orchid is a Sedirea japonica, which comes from Japan and Korea. It doesn't have a common name in English, but the Japanese call it Nagoran (nahgo ron), the Nago orchid. Nago is a city on Okinawa. Please note the very pretty and authentic vase he has it in!

Camping at Perrot

2008-05-23T08:31:00.020-05:00

I returned from vacation and worked two shifts, then had a rare two days off in the middle of the week. With the spring season underway, and no classes right now for a couple weeks, I took myself camping for a night. I've not camped at Perrot State Park, in Trempealeau. It's a short drive from La Crosse, so that clinched the decision on where to go.

When I arrived I was able to select from several tent camping sites. The choice for me was between an isolated spot on the perimeter, quiet, remote, or one on the inside circle that currently has blooming trees. If it was not for the fact that the center position also had some workmen noisily felling trees nearby for some project, I would have selected that. So I went with the remote. As I made my choice and registered at the office another couple was doing the same, and were my neighbors for the night. But there was enough brush between our sites to still make it feel isolated, and they were quiet and kept to themselves.

I had a lovely evening, after an afternoon nap once my tent was set up. I cooked my dinner, steak and beans and corn-on-the-cob, over an open fire. I read a book. I retired to sleep not long after it got dark. I awoke to the morning chorus of birds. I snoozed until some crows flew right over my tent and woke me again. I was up and secured everything, and went and climbed Brady's Bluff in the park, almost twice, after first drinking my tea and watching herons in the marsh fish for their morning breakfast. The first time up the Bluff I forgot my camera, so decided to just climb it all the way to the top. That done, I sat and had a spartan breakfast of a bread roll from yesterday, and a banana, and water. It was about 6:00 AM. I then went down and got my camera and climbed it again, at least half-way, and took pictures of spring flowers. Those are below. Wildflowers are not as showy as our garden variety which have been selectively cultured. But they are beautiful! It was a quiet morning that I had all to myself.
Hepatica of some kind.

Trillium - most of what I saw blooming was white trillium. But there were a few that had a pink blush to them.

I don't think I quite captured the beauty of the Trillium. They dotted this ascending hill, evenly distributed for quite an area. Very stunning in their simplicity!

I'll include both of the pictures of this flower called Shooting Star. My house-mate's flower book says they are in the Primrose family. Very pretty!

There was an entire hillside of them. Again, I don't think the landscape picture captures quite their beauty. Many of these flowers that spread out into an entire field were exclusively in that area, not sharing much with any of the other wildflowers. I'm not sure if this is simply competition, or just that each flower was taking advantage of the unique micro-climate of where it was growing. Click on the picture for a larger image which bring out the flowers.

Wild columbine.

I'll include both pictures of the wild columbine . . . for they are quite an interesting flower, and I managed to get good pictures of them.

Blue Phlox

Again, a landscape picture which simply does not capture the subtle beauty of these wildflowers. Maybe if I get a better camera some day! Again, click on the picture for an enlarged view.

Blue colored violet. They actually come in many shades. White, Yellow, Blue, Violet.

After my morning reverie, my house-mate Liz joined me about 10 AM and we took her new canoe out for its maiden voyage. We paddled the Trempealeau Bay backwaters, seeing bald eagles and herons and very large fish. Afterwards we went to the Trempealeau Hotel and had lunch. It was Liz' gift to me for my birthday . . . and a wonderful morning it was!

I certainly don't want to seem unthankful for the blessing that I do have, when I complain here sometimes about where I find myself in my life. My house-mate is a very cool person and I'm glad I found her and that she lets me stay in her home while I work to accomplish my education. I could not have asked for a better living situation.

I think we'll be taking her canoe out a fair bit this coming summer, as we are able to.

Final Days

2008-05-20T09:46:00.011-05:00

Saturday the 17th was the last full day of my vacation, and I had also designated it my official birthday celebration day. I was traveling on Sunday, my actual birthday. The trip was somewhat of a gift to myself. But I did arrange and hope for some company on my designated celebration day. I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of and enjoy the kindly attention and hosting by a new friend in Eugene.

Thank you Andy! You accepted the 'job' of birthday date and went well above and beyond the task. I have you to thank for a very memorable experience!

We began the day exploring the Silver Falls which are located east of Salem. This is a winding path of water which cascades down multiple scenic drops, many of which you can walk behind. There is a trail around the entire area, and you could walk well over 7 miles if you choose. We did maybe 3 to 4 of them. I've included a few pictures below. My computer is filled with pictures! I've tried to pick some of the best. Really!

After our hike, and my getting sun-burned, we made our way to Troutdale, Oregon, and the McMenamins Edgefield. I had mentioned earlier the establishments by the McMenamin Brothers. What a concept these two have hit upon. Old properties are totally restored and artfully decorated, and dot the social landscape of Oregon. Edgefield is a resort! But unlike many a resort, it is affordable. We arrived with no reservation, but here again, I do seem to have some luck in some areas, a suite was cancelled just prior to our arrival. We took it!

How to describe this place? Words really do fail. You must see it. It was once a home for those down-on-their-luck. A refuge for those who had lost property. A poor farm, worked by those who lived there. Later in its existence, it became a nursing home. Then time and use caused it to fall into disrepair. The McMenamin Brothers acquired it and totally fixed it up in the late 1980 to 1990s. I'm not seeing a precise date. There are no TVs or phones in the rooms. Many rooms are in a dormitory type setting, allowing for very affordable lodging. There are vinyards and gardens all around the property. We were there at the height of the spring bloom. An evening stroll was quite aromatic!

The place is exquisitely painted throughout the main lodge. You can spend a couple hours walking the hallways and looking at the art. Each room is designated as one for a real person who lived there at some time in the past. There are elaborate quotes and calligraphy and sometimes the surprising painting in some out-of-the way corner. I decided to not even attempt to take any pictures, other than the one on our suite door.

There is a fine restaurant serving a lot of food out of the garden on the property, and fresh items from the surrounding area. It is called the Black Rabbit Restaurant, and there is a theme of a black rabbit throughout the resort. We dined there, and it was delicious!

The property includes a winery, pressed from their own grapes, and other local wines from throughout the Willamette Valley. We visited there and had a tasting of wines. He the reds. Myself the sweet whites. There is a distillery, which we did not visit. There is a brewery! We did visit one of the pubs and enjoyed hummis and various drinks.

I stayed up late, and was up early as I had to catch a plane by 7, and was off to the airport by 4:30. It was a wonderful experience that I hope to return to at some point. Upon my return to La Crosse I lamented that we do not have anything like what the McMenamin Brothers have created . . . really comfortable bars and pubs, warm, friendly, with WiFi. A successful combination!

OK . . . here are some final scenic picturs of some of the Silver Falls.

I had a fabulous time in Oregon!! I have fallen in love with the state . . . I think! Or at least, infatutaion! I was seeing it at the best possible time. Maybe I should plan to visit again in February, when it is cold and rainy and gloomy before I make my final decision. Also, the whims of where I find a job will hold some sway on where I go.

In Oregon, I saw rhododendrons and azaleas to fill the eyes. I tasted gelato, and wausabi. I brought back a smooth rounded rock from the Coast and a volcanic rock from the Cascades. I found a coveted glass globe. I brought a stick that was smoothed from the ocean. I visited one of the largest bookstores I have ever been to (Powell's City of Books in downtown Portland). You need a map to find your way. I drove over a thousand miles in winding ocean and mountain roads. I left something of value at the bottom of a crystal clear alpine pool, to maybe pull me back to the area.

I made two new friends!

Memories to feed a soul that sometimes is terribly hungry for social food.

I hope it is a love affair that will blossom . . . and that my association with Oregon is only at its beginning!

Post Trip - Return to Reality

2008-05-20T08:57:00.002-05:00

It's a Tuesday morning. I've returned from my trip, and already worked a shift. I was a bit rusty at my job. Amazing how just a week away and you lose some of the finesse of what you do. Sure, what I do is not terribly complicated, but it does take some skill and a lot of multi-tasking to direct calls appropriately and quickly.

I'll post a few more pictures here, and wrap up this section on my visit to Oregon. My time there stretched out, and seemed like a long time. This is good! I totally enjoyed my trip! And I was happy there, even and especially during the times I was on my own. I really shouldn't whine, for I am in a good enough place right now to accomplish those things which I must accomplish. Summer classes will start up again in two weeks, and then it's one full core year of learning how to be an RT. That accomplished, I can leave and hopefully find my life again.

There is a restlessness that makes its presence felt. I've expressed it before here, as well I might, as this is a blog, and an appropriate place to vent things. If I offend any of my readers, I'm sorry. I don't want to be that whining person no one wants to be around. But here, in Wisconsin, where so much has been lost, I feel a total disconnect. I sometimes feel I'm serving a solitary confinement sentence. I have one more year, and I hope I can then find and create for myself someplace that I'll be happy again. So often, I still feel lonely. I try to make contacts, and do, and allow myself to feel emotions for people, but often those too just seem to reinforce that there is something . . . . not right. It's like there is some plan for my life, and close companionship of any kind right now is not on the agenda. But I wish I could somehow find a way to turn off that little voice that whispers my perceived social flaws. However, to totally turn that off would be to will the death of something that I believe is intrinsic to my core being.

I don't know why I am where I am, most of the time. I'm working on my confidence! I hope once my education is done, and I am moved, and return to being an independent woman living on my own, with a career, and goals, and my own purpose . . . . someone might like to be a part of that person. For now, most of the appropriate candidates that I have met . . . don't seem to be a part of that.

There is still a healing process underway. I guess it is a path I must walk in order to be at the appropriate mental and spiritual space for that hoped for day when maybe all my perceived needs are met. Is it the neediness that is the problem? Possibly! But we are social creatures . . . and too often I feel my social network is lacking. I'm willing to give to build that network . . . but too often my efforts seem to be rebuffed. Or, those who do respond have severe flaws themselves that I'm not able nor willing to help fix. And most people are distracted with their own lives.

The clock is ticking . . . I should post some final pictures, and then get on with things I should do today. Routine . . . . moves the clock and the calendar. I don't want to be guilty of thinking that finishing my goals and moving away will somehow CHANGE anything, for I take myself with me. But is the myself that I am . . . such a horrible person? Or just terribly picky? Is it wrong to be that? And is it wrong to hope and to expect that someday someone will be absolutely enthusiastic about who I am?

Am I such an odd duck that I get to swim by myself now for some unknown amount of my future . . . or forever?

Silver Springs

2008-05-18T23:40:00.004-05:00

Silver Springs has many water falls in a chain, some of which you can walk behind. The force and sound of the water is sometimes deafening.

Silver Springs - and possibly the best Birthday ever!

2008-05-18T08:26:00.006-05:00

I'm sitting here in the Portland Airport, waiting to board my plane. They have already begun the process of admitting those in first class, so this will be very brief. I'll return and upload more pictures, and more text.

Today is my birthday. I am 43 now! Yesterday my friend Andy took me to see Silver Springs, and I have many nice pictures of that. Afterwards, for my birthday, this gentleman from Eugene took me to the McManamen resort, Edgefield. All I can say at this point . . . what a wonderful place . . . and a wonderful experience. I'll come back and write more later. Time to catch that plane!

Mount Hood! Even at this distance, it is huge. I was finally able to catch a picture of it.

Hiking the Cascade Mountains - Tamolitch Pool

2008-05-17T00:02:00.022-05:00

Today I got to see a very good example of the Western Cascades forest. My friend from Eugene, Andy, took me on a very nice hike up to an alpine pond, called Tamolitch Pool. The hike was wonderful . . . such beautiful scenery . . . and the pool, so very clear and blue.

The forest was filled with many of these beautiful spring flowers.

The water rushed down the valley floor, in greater turbulence higher up the valley.

There were many great pines tipped over possibly by some past storm. The soil is not very deep, for the entire valley is upon a volcanic bed. Many of these root systems were still gripping the large stones that ripped up with them as they tipped over.

Tamolitch Pool . . . it is strangely blue from minerals. It is surely terribly deep. And I can say with confidence, it is incredibly COLD!! We worked our way carefully around the edge and down into the valley. The river that feeds this pool comes out from the volcanic rock. The sharp stones were terribly hard on my feet. But with reckless abandon I simply had to jump in. We were both pretty hot from the climb around and down into the valley. But it was also for the experience. There was actually another individual, a rather beautiful water nymph, who was down and in the water before us. We announced ourselves to her as we descended down into the pool. She dressed as we worked our way down, and left as we arrived. Sorry . . . no picture of her beauty.

My friend joined me in a quick swim. After the dip, we sat out on the volcanic rocks to dry off. In the sunshine it was very warm, in comparison to the deeply cold water. Even just putting your feet into the flow which came out from underground was quickly numbing.

Upon our return, Andy showed me the GPS reading he took of our trip. The distant view looks straightforward enough . . .

But the close-up view in and around the pool, where we wandered around a bit trying to find a way to get down into the pool and back out . . . was rather round about! There was no clear trail to the water, and I believe we wandered a bit in the effort.

The Cascade Mountains

2008-05-15T15:31:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday I took a drive inward to the Cascade Mountains which run north-south in Oregon forming the Willamette Valley between themselves and the Coastal range. The Cascades are volcanic. There are many natural hot springs, and for the time being, sleeping volcanoes. But some mountains in this chain are active. Mount St. Helens is one of them, though it is a bit away in the north, in Washington. The western side of the Cascades are very moist, wringing out all the water out of the clouds in order for them to get over this chain of mountains. The eastern side is incredibly dry, and forms the high desert. I did travel over to see Bend, OR and decided I did not care for Bend. It's dry and not green, and too much like El Paso. I was happy to return over to the moist side of Oregon.

Now, these are MOUNTAINS!! They are still very covered in snow, and frequently the clouds scrape them, or totally enshroud them.

There is a particular gathering of three high peaks that are called the Three Sisters. I'm not sure which sister is which!

From a distance my camera did not do a very good job of capturing the view.

This is one of the Three Sisters, and she is covered by clouds, so is much higher than appearing in the picture.

This is one of the more recent volcanoes which erupted. It is central in a volcanic natural park. Now, isn't this just a really nice picture!

What follows are pictures from Oregon's largest Ponderosa Pine. I wanted to get a pic with my arms stretch around it, but they have fenced it off and ask people to not go into the fence, as all the attention it has garnered has been too compacting on the roots, and harming the tree. So, you'll just have to get a sense of the size from the series of pictures. It's quite large. Remember that the Redwoods are in California!! If I move to Oregon, I'll have to go see them.

Coastline Pictures

2008-05-15T14:58:00.019-05:00

This is my final view of the coast, just south of Coos Bay. From this point I turned the car inward towards the Willamette Valley.
Look! Sea Lions! Really! You could hear them when you get out of the car . . . their characteristic barking. They were hauled out onto the beach, catching some sunshine, resting.

I fed some gulls and crows some popcorn I had in my food bag. They placed themselves all picturesque onto this stump.

Gulls were gathered on this spot where one of the numerous trickles of water made their way into the ocean. The gulls were bathing in the clean water.

The Umpqua River Lighthouse

The Lighthouse at Heceta Head

These rocks were covered in sea birds. Unfortunately I did not bring along my binoculars when I entered this park to climb up to the lighthouse, so I don't know what they were.

The wild lupine was in bloom!

Yet More Pictures of the Coast

2008-05-15T14:48:00.003-05:00

It is now Thursday, and I've not been able to download any pictures for a few days. I'm spending a quick lunch break at another of the McMenamins establishments. This one is called North Bank and is, well, on the north bank of the Willamette River, which is the river that runs through the Wilamette Valley of Western Oregon, and right through Eugene.

I can say thus far . . . . I like Eugene! I think I could get to really like this place, and enjoy living here. Of course I'm seeing it during the spring, and the weather is pleasant and dry. It is my understanding it rains a lot in the winter, and can be quite gloomy.

I just got back from an informational meeting with the head of the Respiratory Care Department at the Sacred Heart Hospital in downtown Eugene. Terrible parking there . . . just like at Gundersen back home. Also, what little I saw, it too looks like the hospital is a maze. But they have a new facility which will be opening very soon, so more opportunities for possible job in the future. After this year progresses . . . I will know if I shall move here or not. I'll also keep my eyes open for other possibilities. But I think I could get to really like this place. I've already made a friend here, and he's been showing me a bit of the city the last couple days.

I'll now post more pictures that I took of the beach from Lincoln City on down to just south of Coos Bay. They all look alike, but still . . . quite beautiful! Then yesterday I took a long round-about drive into the Cascade Mountains.

Oregon is a very Beautiful State! And I've only seen a small portion of it!

Lincoln City ~ And an Awesome Souvenir!!

2008-05-12T21:35:00.003-05:00

My goal for driving today was Lincoln City. I had located on the map that they had a campground here, and also I had received a brochure from them in the large packet of things that were mailed when I asked for travel info.

I arrived, and found the campground, and arranged to stay the night. The fee is $17 to camp, and you don't have to have a State Park Pass like you do in Wisconsin. Cool!! Cool!! I then went out to go see their beach. It took awhile to find one of the access ways, but I did find one. And upon my entrance to the beach . . . lookie lookie what I found!!

Lincoln City has a lively glass blowing culture here. During the wintertime they have an event where they place beautiful glass floats randomly on the beaches, 2000 in all, distributing a couple a day. I had read this in the brochure, and though what a wonderful thing it would be to find one . . . . and as soon as I stepped onto the beach, I DID!!

They are inspired by rather ordinary glass floats that originally are blown by Japanese fisherman, that sometimes break free and have traveled across the ocean and washed up on the beach. However the one I found is substantially more intricate than a utilitarian one used for fishing.

A wonderful souvenir for my trip here!

Missed a Picture

2008-05-12T13:25:00.006-05:00

I accidentally erased a couple of these pics in the next posting, so here they are, and a few more added in. As you can see . . . the forest comes right up to the coast, and then just drops off. In fact at lease one of the trails down to the beach was closed due to erosion.

Everything is soft and misty . . . well . . . because everything is misty!

Very beautiful though . . . in a rugged kind of way!

Pacific Coast, Ecola State Park, and Cannon Beach

2008-05-12T12:52:00.012-05:00

I was up very early this morning. I was off to bed pretty late too! So I didn't get a whole lot of sleep! My CouchSurfing hostess had to go back to work today, and had to leave at 5:45, so I was up and ready to go too. She tells me I'm the first CouchSurfer to be up and leave that early! I followed her directions out of Portland with the goal to get on Hwy 23 headed to Cannon Beach. I managed to miss some exit somewhere, and drove a few backroads, but eventually found my way.

There is a network of mountains, not really high ones, that follow to the left of the Willammette Valley. These are called the coastal range. They are covered in pines. And because this range receives all the moisture off the ocean, the pines are also very covered in moss. Never mind it being only on the north facing side of the trees. It covers them, and drapes from all sides.

I've included a couple pics here, but you really can't get an appreciation of proportion. I call especial attention to my friend Spooky. Check it out! You may like to hug these, but you'll get wet and slimy and green if you do!
There is lots of water! Lots of water running off everywhere! I stopped and checked out some weird looking plants along the road. The air is very heavy with a deep green scent.

There were other trees I saw driving with more substantial moss coverings.

I arrived at Cannon Beach just as Pink Floyd on the radio was playing "Learning to Fly". I thought it appropriate. I then couldn't find access to Cannon Beach, so ended up doing a turn around and went to Ecola State Park. I'm glad I did, for I was one of the first people to arrive. I had the overlook to myself for awhile, and then drove up and around the hill to one of the beaches, which I also had to myself for awhile. I worked my way down to the actual water line and walked a ways down.

All I saw mostly was sand and rocks . . . lots of rocks. And some drift wood. What sealife I did see was either sea birds, or occassionally the remains of someone's breakfast.

But you can't beat the scenery!

The forest comes right up to the ocean, and then in many places just drops off into the sea.

I looked in some of the tidal pools, but never found anything other than sand, and rocks, and some green plants.

There are several places where fresh water runs off into the ocean. Here you will find many fresh-water lichen and mosses.

Finally . . . . Haystack Rock. It was actually not nearly so impressive as Ecola State Park, mostly because the town of Cannon Beach surrounds it, and is all touristed up. And what the heck is that line in the picture? Must be a piece of my hair.

Spring in Portland

2008-05-12T00:23:00.026-05:00

Today my CouchSurfing hostess, Cadence, showed me Portland! Again, all of this is in reverse order because there is just too many of them, and it is late, and I'm tired. I'll post the pictures and come back later to add to the text.

Below are incredible pictures of Rhododendrons (tree like) and azaleas (bush like) to be found in the Rhododendron Gardens. They are all in bloom right now. The colors are amazing! The city is filled with beautiful yards. Stunning!

These pictures below are from people's yards that I just saw and stopped and took pictures of.

First thing this morning Cadence took me up towards the Columbia River Gorge which separates Washington from Oregon. There is a scenic drive that follows along many beautiful waterfalls. The most spectacular, and one of Oregon's signature tourist sites, is Multnoma Falls.

Earlier we stopped at one of the smaller waterfalls. I had to take a picture to show the fresh green coming out on the pines here. The colors, even the greens, are intense and beautiful.

And fields are full of wildflowers.

OREGON

2008-05-12T00:00:00.009-05:00

So . . . . here I am! I finally made it to Oregon!

I guess I have to thank a certain Soil Scientist in Pendleton for steering my attention this way. Because of this friendship, I became aware and took a much greater notice of the area. Looking at a map, the Eugene area has particularly caught my attention. It is one hour to the ocean, and one hour to the mountains. There is a very large hospital there that is hiring Respiratory Therapist right now. On Thursday I hope to meet with someone in their RT department just to make initial acquaintance, and establish a contact that I might be able to follow-up on in a year once I'm done with my training. Because of this friendship . . . I wanted to come to this area and check it out . . . as a potential home for me to set down new roots.

Finally . . . I am making that trip!

At this writing, I'm sitting in a very quaint pub that is part of a chain of establishments created by the McMenamin Brothers. This one is called the Kennedy School. They are old buildings in and around Oregon that have been referbished, decorated, turned into restaurants and hotels, and lots of quaint bars. It is very comfortable!

OK . . . in reverse order, my trip here!

This is the view inside the airport at Portland. I hoped for a sign that said "Welcome to Portland" but only saw one as I was driving onto the freeway . . . and could not get my camera out.
I was assigned a window seat, but upon boarding, found myself in a 2-fer row with a young man whose wife was on the 3-fer row. They asked if I would switch so he could sit with his wife. How could I say 'no'? So I switched, but then couldn't look out the window. But I did have a front row, aisle seat, so lots of leg room. For most of the trip it was cloudy, but for awhile there was some pretty spectacular scenery. I don't know if this was over the Rockies or what. But it was stunning!

As you can see . . . this is in reverse order. I flew out of La Crosse on one of the little hop jets that you have to walk out to.

Liz took me to catch my flight . . . . I decided on a whim to take my little stuffed red-tail hawk. He's the only hawk I have now. I need to name him. Maybe on this trip I'll come up with something.

We had breakfast early early (like 4:30 AM) at the Perkins in La Crosse, so I could be at the airport by 5:30 or so.

Here's the little hawk looking over one of the wonderful travel guides the Tourist Department of Oregon was so kind in sending to me. It helped me to plan my trip, and the places I wanted to see.

Vacation to the Pacific Northwest

2008-05-11T16:51:00.003-05:00

Greetings from Downtown Portland!!

I'll just post very quickly a picture to start this series off. I flew in yesterday, and will blog very soon. For now, I'm using the free WiFi that is universal throughout all of Portland. How cool is that!! Anywhere you are, you are online! However there is not WiFi signal where I'm staying.

The city is in total spring bloom. I never realized how gorgeous and how many colors rhododendrons come in. So now we are off to the Rhododendron Garden. Much Much more later!

Gotta Go!

Camping

2008-05-04T22:36:00.004-05:00

I had this weekend off, and decided to do another test run of camping. I'll be bringing my gear with me in a large duffle bag, to Oregon. It was raining on Friday, and Saturday dawned rather cool and wet, but the day improved, so I did not get a test run in the rain. However, the night was rather cold, and I made some adjustments, which I'll duplicate on my trip.

I took myself to Brunet Island, which is located where the Chippewa and Fisher Rivers conjoin. I had read that loon had been seen in the area, and that sealed the decision. Once there, I did hear one single loon, which sang it's loud call notes briefly, and then was done. No tremmalo, no other utterances the whole trip. Some geese came down into the pond at night, and made a morning fuss the next day.

I drove there, and it was a very pretty spring morning. I took the picture below on the journey back. Wisconsin is a very pretty place, with it's rolling farm fields. I'm just ready to explore some new place. I'm getting excited about next week!

I camped, I made a fire, I cooked my dinner, I was in bed right after dark. All the guys in the camp site a few sites down, apparently on a fishing weekend away from their women, drank and made noise late into the night. I ignored them. In the morning I rose, and stirred up my fire to heat some water, and just enjoyed the cold morning with the geese. I've often had people express alarm for my safety when I camp. I believe all the campgrounds I have been to thus far to be very safe. People respect your privacy, yet, if you needed any help, a shout would bring help from all around. These are very family-oriented places! Hopefully i'll find conditions in Oregon to be similar!

Just one more week left of school, and I'm off on my vacation. Let's go!!

The Herons of La Crosse - Where Did They Go???

2008-04-22T09:17:00.005-05:00

Well . . . . pop my little bubble!!

I was having a pretty good time hunting down the 35 herons, most of the 25 I had found so far all on my own, without any help from any lists. I took pictures of each, their GPS coordinates, and published them here.

I got an e-mail yesterday . . . . .

Seems members of the board at The Pump House want to keep a tight control of the marketing of this project. They don't want any pictures out on the web, except the ones they have approved. The letter tossed around the word "copyright" a few times, as if implying taking pictures of something that is out on the street for all to see and observe is illegal. I would argue that point on principle, but only to that level because I don't know any attorneys, and have no interest in a fight. I was doing exactly what they want people to do . . . . get out and walk around and find them all. The only difference is that I was documenting that quest in pictures in an open forum.

I guess I could launch into a diatribe about the nature of art, and how sometimes that which is created can take on a life all its own when interpreted into different media or a different medium. I could also get on a soapbox and complain that because I was not selling any of the images, nor had any interest in doing so, and was giving full credit to those who had done the original work, I had the freedom of speech to document the search, and was violating no copyright. However, I am not a crusader. I'm just a student trying to get by right now, finding interesting things to write and take pictures of, in the absence of a bird in my life to blog about. I've had my share over the last couple years of being told I was so wrong about everything. I also found coming to live in the city a bit stifling, what with having to put a shock collar on my dog to keep him from barking and disturbing the neighbors, parking the right way in front of my home, and having to explain the large raptor in the backyard . . . which surely must be breaking a law somewhere! (CLARIFICATION - I am a LICENSED falconer, and allowed to have the hawk, and proved that to Animal Control when they came calling. My point here was the nosey neighbors who figured I must be doing something wrong and reported me, even though I had already talked to them when I moved in, and told them I was licensed to have the hawk). I felt quite a thrill when I heard about this project, and was having fun bagging cranes (since I can't bag bunnies anymore).

I'll probably see it out through the end. I still have ten more to find, many of which I know the location, but several are still not out. I still intend to make a geocache event of it. That should surely meet the goals of those who created the project. The only way to complete the geocache is to actually go and see each one. But it's not as fun as having pictures to prove!

My overall impression was that I was helping out the project. A Google search would find my page. All those people I had told about it responded in a favorable manner, and indicated they would have to go find some of them. I've had positive feedback on my blog, and my visitor tally has jumped. I invite anyone who has been coming here to please feel free to express your thoughts direct to the Pump House. A Google search will find them easily enough. Be nice though! I'm not going to include any e-mail addresses. Again, I'm not trying to pick a fight.

But I do disagree!

The Herons of La Crosse - The Gathering

2008-04-16T22:16:00.004-05:00

Many of the herons are still at the Pump House, waiting to be delivered to their summer locations. I'll individually go find each one once it is placed.

Fun Fun!!

The Herons of La Crosse

2008-04-16T22:00:00.006-05:00

This will begin a rather large project I have tasked myself with. This summer the Pump House, a regional arts center, is sponsoring a community project to enlist the residents and visitors of La Crosse to enjoy and appreciate art. Thirty-five larger than life herons have been painstakingly decorated by regional artists and local community centers and will grace various locations in our city for the summer. At the end of the summer they will be auctioned. I'm assuming the proceeds will benefit the ongoing artistic endeavors of the Pump House.

Be sure to click the pictures for a close up view. It's worth it!
I stopped by today and was able to witness some of the final touches being administered to this most beautiful heron. Her name is Rose of Heron, and her artist is Judy Thelen.
By next week all the herons should be delivered to their summer homes. Today, I tracked down six of them, took their pictures and the GPS coordinates. I have set myself a goal to track them all down in the very near future, and post their pictures here, and create a geocache tour . . . that is unless someone else beats me to it.

What a wonderful project!!

Thank you to all the artists who participated and shared their eyes for art, their humor, their soul.

Final Pictures

2008-04-07T13:45:00.007-05:00

Final Fly Off
Our Last Picture Together

Many thanks to Lenore Schroeder, the DNR Trails and Team Leader for Wildcat Mountain State Park. She took some wonderful pictures, and mailed them to me. Thank you Lenore! I particularly enjoy the final one of Nina flying away. I'm glad you caught that, and shared!

I called her down one last time for a meal on the lure.

Clipping off her Federal Marker. She no longer needs that.

Touching a Hawk! All people, but children especially can come to appreciate that which they can touch and see up close. Appreciating leads to loving. Loving leads to conserving them, and the wild places they need to live.

Music

2008-04-05T23:39:00.007-05:00

The Eagle and the Hawk

A friend sent this song to me today, and a quick search of YouTube found a video. Sorry I can't seem to actually post the vidoe here, so you'll just have to follow the link.

Thank you Quiet Bird! It's a nice song, as I mourn a little letting my bird go. But she is free now!

The Eagle and the Hawk by John Denver

I am the eagle, I live in high country
in rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky.
I am the hawk, and there's blood on my feathers.
But time is still turning, they soon will be dry.
And all those who see me, and all who believe in me
share in the freedom I feel when I fly.

Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops.
Sail o'er the canyons and up to the stars.
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
and all that we can be, and not what we are.

And So It Is Done . . .

2008-04-05T12:31:00.006-05:00

Today, April 5, 2008, I released, returned my third hawk back to the wild.

I had planned to do this alone, but instead met a couple people to include the Ranger at the office of Wildcat Mountain State Park. There is an open field on top of the mountain by the office which was really the perfect setting I wanted to release Nina into. I took her out of the box, unhooded her and clipped off her Federal band. She promptly demonstrated what a casting looks like by bringing one up for observation. Oh yum! We walked into the field, and she did fly up to a tree. However, very shortly she came down for the final meal I offered her. That done, she hopped up to my fist one final time, then took off again, spread her wings, sailed around in a complete circle and flew into the coniferous tree line behind us, out of view. I walked back to the office with my little audience, then indicated I wanted to walk in the woods for a bit. A few minutes into that I heard all the resident crows putting up a fuss. Sure enough, I found Nina high in a tree getting harassed. But after a bit they flew off. I went back to the car to get my camera, but could not find her when I returned. So . . . she is gone. I took a picture of the overlooking valley. It was early, 9:30 or so. She has many hours until sunset to adapt to her first day of freedom since she was trapped in 2005.

All my hopes and best wishes go with her!

FLY FREE NINA!!

May you have a good life! Thank you for all the wonderful hunts, and for letting me be a part of your wild life!

Bling

2008-04-04T14:28:00.007-05:00

Nina and I took a little road trip today. A quick one. We drove down to Prairie du Chien, crossed into Iowa, and met up with a man named Jon Stravers. Our meeting was to acquire some jewelry, some "bling" for Nina to wear the rest of her lifetime. I met Jon last year at an Audubon meeting. He conducts research on migratory birds, more specifically on red-shouldered hawks. At that time I got his contact information and asked if he would be willing to band Nina when it was time for me to release her. That is what we did today.

As you can see, the band is rather large, so it would not have been possible for her to wear it and her anklets and jesses. I took those off that leg to receive the band. I then took off the rest of her equipment for this picture. All that remains is her Federal marker, which will come off when I let her go.

I have this weekend off. It is to get into the 60s tomorrow. 50s on Sunday, with a possibility of rain. It is time! I've fed her up on almost all of the remaining meat I have left. Just a couple frozen bunny legs are left, and I'm sure I can find someone to give those to. She weighed in at 52 oz today. Thats 5 oz over hunt weight. Her keel is nice and fleshy. She'll get one last good feeding tomorrow as I'm letting her go. She's in her mews now cropping up on a leg.

The time comes for one more 'Goodbye'! I think I will go to Wildcat Mountain State Park. There are lots of woods there, with squirrels, and it is some distance from houses. I want her first couple nights out on her own to be away from people. That's as good a place as any. The warm day tomorrow should create thermals. It will be a good place and time to send her on her way.

She's been with me since the Fall of 2005. I've had to let go of a terrible number of things and people since that time. Sometimes, I still carry and mourn the wounds received over these last few years. At least this parting is mixed with some happiness. She's a good and strong hawk. She has hunted well. She has been telling me she wants to go. I am happy to give her this freedom. It is too late in the year to hope she could find a mate for this season. But spreading her wings and flying to some place new and setting up a territory is certainly something she can do. I hope to follow her in a year, when my own training is complete, to find some new 'territory' I can exclusively call my own, and to start a new life.

The hope is that the band will tell me her fate if she is ever trapped again, or later, upon her death. She is now permanently marked as Band #1207-85575. I hope if word ever does come, it is many years from now, and maybe many miles away. My best wishes will go with her!

End of a Season

2008-03-24T07:33:00.002-05:00

Here Comes Peter Cottontail!

2008-03-23T14:26:00.006-05:00

Happy Easter Everyone!! Now if only SPRING would show up!!

This morning I needed to get outside into the clear air, to cleanse my lungs and my mind. I was actually surprised to find Nina at a good flying weight. I've been over-feeding her of late. During my vacation, and the last two times I tried to fly her, we were not successful. I flew her for my relatives in Hobbs, NM, and there were so many bunnies it was not funny, but the wind was so strong . . . Nina could hardly hold onto the tree she was in. That was kindof funny! Without that wind she would have nailed a NM cottontail, I'm pretty certain. I then flew here in Illinois with my friend Darla, in a cemetary of all places, at the very end of my vacation last Sunday, but there we only flushed one bunny, and she missed. I really didn't want to end the season with misses.

With her weight today, and her aggressive disposition when I met her in her mews, I decided I'd accomplish my mind-cleansing walk with the hawk. Liz came with me. We went to the field where I have caught a bunny on one occassion, and a squirrel on another. There is a very significant cattail bed, and with the warming over the last few days, I thought maybe some of that snow had melted down some. It had, though still a lot of it, and water in some places underneath. Either way, we worked the beds. I wasn't seeing any bunny sign at all. Nina was following fairly well, though not tight to me. I had also decided to not put telemetry on her. It is not that I want her to fly off with all her gear, but I'm risking that happening more this late in the season, and with her not being at a true hunt weight. Either way, just about the time we were about to give up and take her to another location, I saw a little movement out of the corner of my eye. Nina was on the wing double-quick, she flew over the cattails, did a wing-over, CRASH . . . and bunny #15 was caught. I went to her and pulled her out into the open, dispatched bunny, and then decided for this final one to not trade her off, but let her crop herself up. I did however separate the head and back side, and let her have the upper legs and chest. She gorged. We took pictures.

I'm going to now officially end my 2007/2008 hawking season. In about two weeks I'm going to coordinate to get her a permanent leg band, and then release her. Until that time, she will be getting many good, large and regular meals to build up her reserves. I hope the snow melts so I can release her with open ground cover.

I'm happy to have ended on a positive note. 15 bunnies. 5 squirrels. 20 head of game. Not great, but not too horrible either. This will be the last bunny I catch with a hawk for some unknown amount of time. At least a year. My school will demand all my attention over the next year. After that, it is all a question of where I find work, and where I move and settle.

Life can sometimes be confusing. Sometimes very disappointing. Many times, very lonely, and frustrating. Today I flew for the final time a wonderful hunting companion. I'm going to miss her! I also had the company of a great house-mate, who I appreciate more and more as time goes by. Afterwards we cleaned up and went out for an Easter lunch.

P.S. The bunny was male . . . . so good thing he'd already done his rounds before his meeting with my hawk!

Ancestors

2008-03-18T10:55:00.004-05:00

While in Hobbs I had my aunt and my uncle bring me by the cemetary where my maternal grandfather and grandmother are buried. My sister's ashes are also now interred here over the grave of my grandmother. My aunt and my uncle have plots purchased, and will be laid to rest here when the time comes. A cousin of the family, who I knew well growing up, is also buried here. Most likely my parents will be buried in El Paso, at the Ft. Bliss cemetary. Just a little morose side post. Grass does not grow here well. But these are my roots.

Miscellaneous Pictures

2008-03-18T10:44:00.005-05:00

While traveling out of New Mexico and into Texas I noticed a very large gathering of birds in the sky. As we drove we came under the "kettle". It was a very large flock of black vultures. Because of their numbers, it appears this was a group migrating north. Cool!

After leaving Albuquerque and before arriving to Hobbs Darla and I stopped in Roswell, NM. She wanted to see the museum, so we stopped for a bit. I've already heard and read most of this stuff. I found the lamp posts cute! Roswell is a pretty large place!

Texas is on Fire!!!!

2008-03-15T00:41:00.005-05:00

On our second day of journeying home, Darla and I got lost in some kind of time warp in Texas. It's a terribly large state! This I know! But we were also delayed because Texas is on fire . . . . and we got rerouted. I did take some pictures, which I'll post, but here is a quick little film I also took on the route out. As you can see . . . . a very large fire!

Hawking New Mexico ~ BUST!!!!

2008-03-15T00:39:00.003-05:00

The main purpose, or focus, of my trip to New Mexico was that I wanted to show my hawk jackrabbits before I let her go. I realized that the likelihood of my success on them was slim, but I wanted to try. Sharon was the perfect hawking host, taking us to the best fields, and on our final day setting up the most perfect possibilities for success. However, Nina was hesitant to engage.
We hawked all three of the days that I was in Albuquerque. On Tuesday Sharon had to work, but had a two hour lunch, so came home and we went out with her newest bird, a Harris Hawk that she has named Oscar. I've not had much exposure to these parabuteos, but I think this will be the next hawk I aim to get once my life has settled down, and if I settle someplace where it is warmer. This little guy is recent acquisition, and she's not sure yet if she'll keep him. He is missing his two middle talons due to frostbite, an injury acquired with his former owner. Because of this capturing prey can be difficult for him. She has yet to catch anything with him, but he also came to her only recently, and the season is pretty much over in New Mexico. He makes lots of weird growly noises. His flights are pretty, and a delight to see as we moved through the desert brush.

Nina suffered from environmental disassociation. She just did not understand what happened to the snow, and all the trees. It wasn't until the third day that she really got serious about trying for game. On the first day of our arrival, she just took a perch on nearby houses, and looked around. On the second day, right out of the box, she did dive at the bushes where we spooked a couple of jacks, but then landed on the ground and did not chase. I was able to convince her to take a perch on a powerpole, and from here she did make an attempt at most likely a cottontail, but she raked away at the last moment. I think she did not know what to think about the dry crunchy prickly vegetation. I tried flying her off the fist, but have never done this kind of hawking. She would take off, fly a short distance, then just land on the ground, looking around. On the second day she tried to land on a building, instead going for an awning, and then sliding down the edge. She then hung there like a giant moth. Silly bird! I did a pretty good job of freaking her out.

By day three Sharon presented her with the best possible chance for jacks. She was a heck of a lot more focused, and seems to have adapted to the area. She took a good perch on top of a building, and followed us from rooftop to rooftop as we worked the area. Several cottontails were flushed, and she tried for them. One in particular went through a fence into a parking lot, and actually I'm glad she didn't catch that one, for there was no way into the parking lot except around front, and that would have made for a very long walk around. When calling her back from that slip she flew THROUGH the fence, hitting her wings on the bars. I don't know what she was thinking! But I'm glad she did not hurt herself.

There was one lonely tree in this final field. Eventually Nina took that perch. Sharon and I then worked our way down the end of the field, and slowly herded the jacks in the field her direction. It was a perfect setup. About five jacks meandered under her tree. She did try and bounce off one of them . . . . but I think she decided these turbo bunnies were just too large to tackle. After that opportunity, we worked down the other end of the field, and in the end, did manage to herd to final jacks, who ran (slowly) right under where she was perching. She did not go for them. So, I was given the opportunity to fly jacks. I was not successful!! I had already dropped her weight, but perhaps she could have been dropped a little lower. Or, maybe she could use more confidence to try for this game prospect. Either way . . . . I got the opportunity!

On Wednesday Sharon had the day off. After flying her bird in the AM, we drove up into the mountains that overlook Albuquerque. Darla has never seen or been up mountains this large. The view was beautiful!

It was a great few days away, visiting with friends, hawking, and generally being away from my routine. I didn't want to come home!

Myself, Sharon to my left, and Darla to her left. The dog is one of the four on the property.

My Friends!

Let's Go Hawkin!!!!

2008-03-11T17:12:00.005-05:00

We were not in the city of Albuquerque for a half hour and already we coordinated to meet up with Sharon, and fly the bird. Nina seemed a bit put off by the whole affair. After all, she had ridden in a box for three days, and slept in a strange mews the night before. And where the heck had all the snow and trees gone?? And what is all that brown prickly stuff? Mostly, she moved from house to house, and made no attempt at the cottontail I flushed twice for her, or the single jack Sharon flushed. At the time of this typing, she is out in a weathering yard, and will be taken up within an hour, and we will try again. I flew with Sharon at her lunch with her little tiercel Harris Hawk, Oscar. Nice little guy, but he didn't do much with the bunnies we flushed either. This is very late season, and the odds of success are stacked against me . . . . but I'm glad I came, and we are having a good time.

Also . . . . it is 65 degrees outside! :-D

Day Two Travel

2008-03-11T17:04:00.006-05:00

We got off Monday morning and finished the drive out of Oklahoma. At the border of Texas, after kissing the ground of my native state, I officially invited Darla to come in, for she has never stepped foot onto the Lone Star State. I only let her in after she demonstrated that she could say "Y'all" right!

We crossed the state, and exited a couple hours later with no fanfare! At one point we did stop and get a pic (and gas) next to the old Route 66 sign, as we had been following this route the entire time. I can report that there is a whole lot of nuttin between Oklahoma City and Albuquerque!

But Darla did take lots of pictures of the 'nuttin. As well as a picture of herself, taking pictures of the 'nuttin!

What are the Odds??

2008-03-11T16:48:00.004-05:00

Sometimes things happen in life . . . . and you have to just stop for a moment and scratch your head and think . . . . what are the odds??

In the post below I indicated how incredibly random our stopping location in Oklahoma City was. Well, while there in Damon's front yard showing off the bird, and making initial introductions, his neighbor came over, and upon seeing the bird, told us about the neighbor behind who had just finished building a facility, and was going to get into falconry. I asked him if he would be so very kind as to go over and bring him over. So he did!

Above is Blake Richardson, holding Nina. She actually is the first bird he has been able to hold. He did just recently finish building an incredibly NICE mews, and got it inspected. He will be trapping his first hawk this fall. He offered, and I accepted, and Nina too got to "couch surf" by spending the night in his mews. I'm sure she was far more comfortable in there than in her travel box!

Oklahoma has a population of about 3.5 million. There are about 60 licensed falconers there. How the heck did I manage to randomly meet someone who represents such a small percentage of the population??

Good Luck Blake! Drop me an e-mail sometime soon, for I failed to take that from you. I'd like to hear how your progress goes. I'm sure you'll do fine!

~Ladyhawker~

ladyhawker65@yahoo.com

Couch Surfing

2008-03-11T16:37:00.007-05:00

I had previously scheduled to stop in Oklahoma City. New Mexico, our final destination, is just too far away for one day's trip, unless you are some kind of massochist! I had toyed with the idea of camping, but then decided it may still be too cool for that. I was about to resign myself to purchasing a hotel room, when I remembered I had signed up for Couch Surfing! A quick search, and I found a couple that lived in Oklahoma City that were very highly vouched for. I contacted them, and they were willing to have Darla and I as guests in their home.
Damon and Ashley allowed us the opportunity to have a very excellent first Couch Surfing experience. Their home is very comfortable, and they are warm and interesting people! Damon particularly liked meeting Nina! I was happy to share that experience with them both.

We went out for meal, though not quite where they had wanted to take us. But most important, we made some new friends, and had a very good rest before we headed out on the road again the next day!

We're Off!

2008-03-11T16:26:00.004-05:00

After Lady Hawkers I traveled to the home of my friend Darla. Once I had decided that I would make this trip I invited my sister to come with me. However, due to time constraints and family commitments, she was unable to make it. I then asked Darla if she'd like to take a vacation. Apparently I was an "answer to prayer". She has wanted to get out and away for awhile. She was happy to come with me, and help me with the driving. I slept Saturday night at her home, and on Sunday morning, minus one hour due to the time change, we got out on the road at about 7:00 AM.
We were not on the road for much more than 10 minutes and we had to make our first stop. Down the road from where she lives someone has an interesting collection displayed in their field. It is a long line of toy horses. So, we had to stop and take a picture, just because!

The next 12 hours were spent driving through Illinois, through St. Louis (quick, take a pic of the Arch for we are not stopping!!) then across Missouri, into Oklahoma, to Oklahoma City. I was happy for Darla's company, and help with driving! (She knows waaaaaaaaay too many songs from musicals for her own good!)

Great Horned Owl

2008-03-11T16:10:00.003-05:00

This posting is specifically for my friend, Mike (the Plant Doctor).

Hey Mike! This is a Great Horned Owl! The Internet says average height is 18 to 26 inches. Now, I don't remember very well exactly how big you thought they were (as I recall I'd had a bit of a stout drink while we were discussing owls), but here is a picture. Yes, very nice, very large, very dangerous owls.

This one is an education bird at SOAR. He's a male, so not as big as they can get (the females are always bigger in the raptor world). Still, though, not as huge as I think you thought they were.

:-)

Lady Hawkers 2008

2008-03-08T15:15:00.005-06:00

I got on the road on Saturday morning at about 5:30 AM. I took a quick stop at the store to pick up a few items, and the ATM in Tomah for cash. I then drove the approximate four hours to arrive in Earlville for the Lady Hawker's meet. I was surprised to find I was the only one who brought a bird to fly. Most of the others had either flown their bird the day before, or for different reasons, did not bring their birds. Well . . . . more to help fly mine!

We got off around 11:00 or so for a hunt. Bernie took us to a new field. Within the first five minutes Nina was on bunny #14. We then spent about the next 45 minutes or so trying to convince her to re-engage. Several more bunnies were flushed, but I think Nina was just a little put off by the large group that was in the field. She had at least one slip that she tried for, but missed. There were several others, but she started moving too far away from me. I decided to call her down rather than risk her flying too far away. After getting her back on the fist, some of the ladies noticed a bunny had stopped ahead of them in some very short grass. They asked me if I'd like to try flying her again, but I declined. They then playfully begged if they could still flush the bunny. I turned Nina away from seeing the action, and indicated for them to do so. We are just as bad at wanting to flush bunnies, as our birds are at chasing. When they had done that, they couldn't restrain themselves either, and gave the game cry. Nina just ignored them!

We went back to the facility, SOAR, hosted by Bernie and George Richter. It was an afternoon of socializing and food. I truly enjoy the friendships of fellow falconers!

Spring Break Road Trip

2008-03-07T23:38:00.003-06:00

It is Friday evening, March 7, 2008. I just got home from work a little while ago. I'm going to lay down for a few hours, then get up and finish packing and get on the road. My first destination is Earlville, IL for the Lady Hawkers Meet. I'll be catching up with some of the same people I've gathered with several years in a row now to fly our birds, and enjoy each other's company. Saturday evening I'll go to stay at my friend Darla's house. On Sunday morning we will get onto the road headed eventually to New Mexico. I'm taking Nina South to find jack rabbits.

I hope we are lucky!

I'm also looking forward to the warmer weather. It's about -1 out there right now. Supposed to be up into the 60s in New Mexico this next week! I can handle that!!

I'll try to hitch the warmth up and bring it back with me!

Off to bed now!

Squirrels to Chase, But None to Catch . . . and Travel Plans

2008-03-02T23:46:00.003-06:00

I took Nina on Friday to Wisconsin Rapids to visit our falconry vet of choice, Dr. Dean Rasmussen. I needed a health certificate, as I'll be traveling with my bird. Some states require it to enter with a bird from another state. So, I have that little piece of necessary paperwork, just in case. Otherwise, he said she looks fine. Didn't even have any parasites.

Spring is in the air! She is becoming increasingly difficult to handle. She's always been a handful. This last week she has managed to catch me twice for some good punctures and scratches, and Liz once. I also didn't get to fly her on Friday when I should have. She's had an abundance of attitude.

This is all good, for I'm going to take her down to New Mexico on spring break, and try for jack rabbits. I have one more week of school before I can get out of here for a little while. My plans changed, and now my bud Darla is going to be my travel companion. I think we will have a good time! I'll be taking pictures, and posting them all here. This will be the last major fling with my bird. When we get back I'm going to feed her up to build up a fat reserve, coupled with some tethered exercises. I anticipate by the beginning of April to let her go. I will miss her, as her departure will signal one more ending. But I will also be happy to give her what she wants. Her freedom.

Today we did get out to that little park here in town that we visited a couple weeks ago. We had quite a number of squirrel flights. I'd say there were at least 7 to 10. I didn't keep count. But the squirrels all got the better of her today. She got some good flying in, and I got my exercise. The temperatures rose into the high 40s today. Things are getting slushy. Right now, this evening, as I type, we are supposed to be getting some more snow. But it is still above freezing, and it is now just a matter of time.

The bird clock is chirping. Midnight. I need to get to bed. Another week of classes and work. Already, half way through the semester. The time has been going rather quick. Which is a good thing. Sometimes, I still struggle with terribly complex emotions. I feel rather alone a lot. I feel isolated. I feel like I'm serving some kind of sentence. There are times, when my mood is more optimistic. True happiness, however, eludes me.

Soon, I'll not have any falconry to write about. But I want to continue to keep this journal. I'll try to keep it interesting.

OK . . . . to bed with me!

Oh . . . and special side note . . . . a very Happy Birthday to my friend Joe. I don't know if you'll see this here. I don't know if you visit. Irregardless . . . . hugs to you!

Lucky Number 13

2008-02-24T17:35:00.005-06:00

Today was a very pleasant, all too early and tempting, but don't get your hopes up spring-like day. The sun was shining, and it got warm enough to begin melting a little of the snow. It was a dripping kind of day!

I started the day off visiting with my friend Patti from my old life. She still works at the place I used to work. We met up and had a coffee and something sweet at the Paneras. I then took her to my home, so she could see where I'm living now. After that, shopping and lunch. It was her birthday on Friday, and I have not seen her for awhile. It was good to catch up with her. She's a great friend . . . . one of the few in my life who has made an effort to keep in touch, and make me feel wanted.

After my visit I had enough time to gear up and get out with the bird. We went to the woods out behind where I work. The snow has drifted in some of those areas and is quite deep! Sometimes I felt like I was in quicksand, slogging out of drifts. Initially we flushed a squirrel, and Nina made a couple dives on it. It's funny, but when the squirrel makes a safe break for it, they chatter at you. It's almost like a taunt. Phil has mentioned this before too, and its true. Squirrels have a serious attitude! She quickly gave up on the squirrel, as I surprisingly flushed a bunny. She made a stoop on it, but missed, and I could not convince her to re-engage with the squirrel afterwards. We then spent the next half hour to fourty-five minutes mostly walking around, looking for something to chase. Almost to the end of the wooded area, I moved down into the valley behind it, and apparently flushed a bunny that was out catching some rays. I saw the bird make a dive for it, and the bunny cry. It's a good thing she does not need help with bunnies, for with the deep snow, it took me a couple minutes to get over to her. I dispatched the bunny, this is number 13, and decided to go ahead and let her feed up on the warm insides. That done, I began the long slog back to my car. No pictures, for what was left was not fit for pictures.

Spring break is in two weeks. This semester has been going by pretty quickly. Previously I had wanted to fly to New Mexico and meet up with my friend Sharon, and fly Nina on jackrabbits. However, the airlines would not let me transport the bird as luggage, but instead only as cargo. The charge for cargo was almost as high as if I purchased her a seat all her own. Somehow, I don't think I could get her to accept a seat belt, so I cancelled my plans. News this last week has changed those plans. My Uncle Calvin has experienced some health issues, and I thought it might be a good idea to make a visit. Also, my employer surprised me, and gave me the weekend after my vacation week off as well. That's nine days! This makes the trip do-able! I've contacted my sister, and she is willing to go with me to make the trip.

So, I hope to make the best of my opportunity, and fly Nina on jackrabbits. I hope she will chase them. I hope she will catch one. It would be like the "icing on the cake" of this final season with her.

Chomp

2008-02-22T23:50:00.004-06:00

Again, today, it dawned terribly cold. About -7. This winter is really getting to be long. The snow is deep, the bunnies impossible to find, and the cold is really getting tedious and depressing. I've said it several times, but I am so ready for spring, even though for me this year, it will mean one more letting go, one more end of something significant in my life. But at least here, it is only for a season. I think I've mentioned here that I will be releasing Nina in the spring, in about 2 months. I will not replace her next season, as I know with my upcoming school schedule, I'm not going to have time. I will have mixed emotions about doing this. Though this bird drives me crazy sometimes, I've had some pretty good times getting out hunting with her. And because of her I've been able to meet many people, and invite them to go hawking with me. Most go out just once, then disappear. A few express interest to stick around a little longer. None are as passionate about the activity, other than my already established falconry friends . . . . and they all live too far away. It is something that I do, like so much else of my life, on my own.
Today by suggestion from Mike (Plant Doctor) I was guided to a new park that managed to escape my notice. Liz and I took the bird out to stretch her wings. Upon arriving I decided this place was perfect! I could see squirrels active in the trees, there were no houses too near by, and being a park I could leave my car without attracting attention. As we exited and got ready to get going, Liz noticed a hawk in the trees. After following her description, I discovered a cooper's hawk. It was just sunning itself in the tree. It stayed there the entire time we were in the park, only flushing in the end as we returned to the car, when Liz tried to take a picture of it.

We got Nina out and launched her as we crossed over to where some of the very large trees were. In very short order we had about four squirrels running. Nina picked a tree, selected her quarry and made several passes, and finally scraped #5 squirrel off the tree, and brought it down to the ground. Unlike all her other catches, she didn't have it's head, and it managed to bite her up her leg somewhere. Later, I checked her over several times, but could not find a bite. Hopefully she just got a pinch and bruise. But at the time it had her in such a way that she even squeaked at it. It surely must have hurt. I grabbed it by the head and it broke free from wherever it was biting, and Nina proceeded to grab my gloved hand and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. I think she was really pissed that she got bit! I dispatched the squirrel and traded Nina off onto her lure, with only a small garnishment. As she ate that I tucked away her prize with Liz' help. I then sent her up the trees to try again. There was still a black squirrel up there with no place to go. However, I think Nina lost her gaminess (or was sore) for she then perched and sulked, and would not engage. Liz and I walked around and tapped a few more trees, but she was not interested. So I pulled the lure, and she came down to it double-time. The single squirrel would have to do!

Though cold, it was a bright and sunny day. We got back to the car and tucked Nina away.
Then Liz and I stopped and picked up lo mein at the local Chinese restaurant for lunch. I'm so ready for spring . . . . but some days in the winter can still be fun!

I just hope Nina is OK! I did carefully inspect her later, but could not see any blood, or wound. Again, hopefully it was just a pinch!

Wedged - Stuck - Learning Patience

2008-02-20T00:19:00.006-06:00

Today it dawned a very frigid -5, but it was a bright clear day. I had a few hours, and Nina was at weight, so I decided to go hawking, and invited my friend Mike (The Plant Doctor ~ to distinguish him from all the other Mikes I know) to come along. He's glad he accepted the invite.

The hunt started off rather like most of the ones I've been on these last couple months . . . a tough slog through very deep snow. I visited the annex field down from the one that is heavily defended by that resident hawk. I did see another bird while we were out, but Nina didn't chase it. She did begin flying into the surrounding neighborhood, and I did see a squirrel running up a pole where there was a transformer. I decided I did NOT want her chasing that, so flashed her the lure, and got her to come back. We worked the cattail bed for awhile, but it is so thick and deeply covered by snow the bunnies which I know are there, for I could see the sign, could not be kicked out. I had moved out and into the lane of trees, and was almost thinking we'd have to call it quits, when I flushed a squirrel. Nina obliged us by chasing it.

The actual chase lasted about three attempts, and on the final one she caught the tree rat, however, while tumbling out of the top branches with her prize, she became wedged up in the branches. Her two feet held the squirrel fast on one side of a branch. It was not dead, and did not die for the entire time she was up there. Her body was on the other side of the branch, with her wings outspread. Mike took a picture, but his camera is not nearly so good as Rich's camera. But you can get the general idea from this picture above. Nina did not appear to be in distress. She just wanted to take control of the situation, but did not dare let go of her prize, so had no feet to fix her predicament. The squirrel hung the entire time, approximately 20 minutes, squealing sometimes, as it had two hawk feet buried into its face, yet she did not have a killing grasp on it. Mike and I stood below, and could not believe what we were watching. All we could do was wait. I knew eventually she would adjust in some way, and would break free. The tree was just too tall for me to even consider climbing it. If my friend Aaron was around, he'd have probably been up it an down before I could blink. But I'm just not practiced at tree climbing.

So we waited!

Eventually, she did decide she no longer liked her position, and as the struggles of the squirrel became less and less, she let one foot go, and used that to gain a corrected position, and then broke free, and kited down to the snow. I quickly jumped in and helped to strangle her prize. It didn't take much. The poor thing was quite a mess even by this time. It then got smushed into the snow. At the end of the day, it was a pretty pathetic looking addition to the game bag. I did weigh it, and it was just shy of 2 lbs. It was quite a sizeable squirrel. But pretty pathetic looking!

So that makes squirrel #4. The bunnies are just terribly hard to find. To add insult to injury, there is one that lives in our yard, and I see it almost nightly as I come home from work. It lives under the mews, and leaves bunny tracks all over the yard. It's just lucky it lives in the city, and I don't dare release the bird to catch it. For today though, there is plenty of fresh squirrel for Nina to eat over the next week.

Ladyhawker - On Sabbatical

Archives

A New Life

The End of One Chapter . . . The Beginning of Another

More North Shore Pictures

North Shore of Lake Superior

Guadalupe Peak

After Graduation

Desert Baby

Graduation

Pathways

Spring Break ~ And Now, a DEEEEEP Breath!!

2009 Wisconsin Falconry Meet

PERU

Ollaytaytambo

Aguas Caliente

Machu Picchu

Cusco

Rainforest

Lima

El Huayco

More Raptors ~ and a few softbills

I'm on Facebook!

Christmas and New Years in One Night

Winter Break

Passport

All About Automobiles

Autumn

Biking across the USA ~ and my First Couch Surfing Hosting

Kimono

Week-end Family Visitors

This and That

Peregrine Close-up

More Wild Falcon Pictures

Falconry Picnic

Tri-State Falconry Picnic

Spinning Wheels

Urban Peregrines

The Waterfalls of Wisconsin

Amnicon Falls

Devil's Lake

Into the Wilderness

Orchids - Part Two

Camping at Perrot

Final Days

Post Trip - Return to Reality

Silver Springs

Silver Springs - and possibly the best Birthday ever!

Hiking the Cascade Mountains - Tamolitch Pool

The Cascade Mountains

Coastline Pictures

Yet More Pictures of the Coast

Lincoln City ~ And an Awesome Souvenir!!

Missed a Picture

Pacific Coast, Ecola State Park, and Cannon Beach

Spring in Portland

OREGON

Vacation to the Pacific Northwest

Camping

The Herons of La Crosse - Where Did They Go???

The Herons of La Crosse - The Gathering

The Herons of La Crosse

Final Pictures

Music

And So It Is Done . . .

Bling

End of a Season

Here Comes Peter Cottontail!

Ancestors

Miscellaneous Pictures

Texas is on Fire!!!!

Hawking New Mexico ~ BUST!!!!

Let's Go Hawkin!!!!

Day Two Travel

What are the Odds??

Couch Surfing

We're Off!

Great Horned Owl

Lady Hawkers 2008

Spring Break Road Trip