Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Thomas Moore - Near DuPont Circle

A couple of weeks ago, I had a meeting with a scientist and others at the Irish Embassy near DuPont Circle, followed by a luncheon reception and presentation about an upcoming conference to be held in Dublin in
2234 Massachusetts Avenue NW
2012. I hadn't been in a foreign embassy before, having been only to the U.S. embassies in Gaborone, Botswana and Beijing, China, and outside the gate of the one in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When exiting the Metro station, the words of a famous American poet are inscribed on the facing of the inside facade above the escalator - Thus in silence in dreams' projections, Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals; The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand, I sit by the restless all the dark night - some are so young; Some suffer so much - I recall the experience sweet and sad,... The officials at the Embassy were very hospitable and all had accents that seemed custom-made to recite centuries of older and well written poetry. I don't know any Gaelic, but with the wonders of an on-line translation program, Béarla go Gaeilge. (Aistriúchán seo a leanas.)

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Mr. Lincoln rose

'Tis an ardaigh an tsamhraidh seo caite

A rose admirer
Ligean faoi bhláth ina n-aonar;
Gach compánach a álainn
An bhfuil faded agus imithe;
Uimh bláth dá cuid den tsamhail chéanna,
Níl aon bláth ardaigh beag nigh,
Mar léiriú ar ais di blushes,
Osna a thabhairt don osna.

One of two arbor gates
Ní beidh mé saoire dhuit, co aonair amháin!
Chun péine ar an gas;
Ó tharla go bhfuil an álainn codlata,
Téigh, codladh tusa leo.
Dá bhrí sin kindly scaip mé,
Thy duilleoga o'er an leaba,
I gcás ina mates dot an ghairdín
Lie scentless agus marbh.

Cecile Brunner climbing rose

Mar sin, d'fhéadfadh go luath mé a leanúint,
Nuair a cairdis lobhadh,
Ón ciorcal shining Grá ar
An gems titim amach.
Nuair a bheidh gcroíthe fíor triomaithe 
Agus na cinn Fond a chrochtar,
Oh! bheadh ​​inhabit a,
Seo ar fud an domhain gruama ina n-aonar? 
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Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He and John Murray were responsible for burning the memoirs of Lord Byron's after his death. In his lifetime, he was often referred to as Anacreon Moore.

'Tis the last rose of summer

Left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
To give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one!
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter,
Thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow,
When friendships decay,
From Love's shining circle
The gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered
And fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit,
This bleak world alone?

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Bees, Birds, and Lime Meringue Pie

Fresh lime meringue pie
The air is still, and the temperature is 78° F. When the air conditioning unit on top of the elementary school behind our back yard is off, the sounds of birds in the trees are distinct, compared to the city white noises in the background - cars, distant heat pumps in the neighborhood, the occasional bits of conversations. It was a perfect evening to eat a generous portion of lime meringue pie and enjoy a cup of hot coffee in the garden - lavender, roses, Asiatic lilies, impatience, Shasta daisies, coreopsis, echinacea, vinca, basil, tomato, pepper, and lobelia, petunia, and verbena. A perfect mix of dessert and an Annapolis cottage garden - a slight leaning with a taste and a view with an eye towards England, the homeland of the Lady Anne Arundel from times past.

I don't remember in past years, but this summer there seems to be a steady stream of birds flying through the yard, even with us sitting and watching. There is a constant flight pattern of birds headed to the seed and suet feeders - gold finches, house sparrows, house finches, black-capped chickadees, Carolina wrens, downy woodpeckers, mourning 
Lone Apis mellifera on lavender
doves, northern cardinals, and tufted titmouse. They are silent when they cruise in. In the lavender patch next to the patio, bumble bees are continually working the flowers - they too are silent. They have always been abundant in the yard, but honey bees are a rarity. I don't remember seeing them in past years - I know that colony collapse disorder has taken a great toll on honey bee populations nation-wide. So, it was out-of-the-normal when I saw a lone Apis mellifera(1) working the lavender along with its cousins. I don't know where either species hangs out at night, but that the honey bee doesn't bring a hoard of compadre' as a normal population would in healthy times seems an indication this is a sole bee, and not a social one.
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(1) Undergraduate school was great, once I was resigned to the fact that I would be an agronomy major. A whole world of classes opened up, one being Bee Keeping. The supplier of bee keeping supplies was Dadant and Sons, they are still in business. The Hive and the Honeybee was the text, it is still available, and is a classic.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

A Most Casual Birder on Father's Day

Viewing kinds of jays in a Sibley Guide
My dad enjoys watching the passing's by while sitting on the patio area in the front of his and my mom's house - the neighbor's kids, cars, joggers...even the different birds. I remember out on the farm how any bird that wasn't game and which he didn't know its name was a "dickey" bird.(1) Now, away from the farm and in town, any bird is of interest. I stopped in to visit this past weekend on my way to business meetings in Fresno and Parlier at the beginning of the week. It was nice timing since Sunday was the first Father's Day that I had spent with him in more than 20 years. While enjoying the early morning cool air, I pulled out my bird guide and cleared up a question Dad had the day before about what kind of jay was hanging around the yard - he thought it was a Blue Jay; my mom - a Scrub Jay. Looking at the color plates in my Sibley Guide,(2) the controversy was resolved: Scrub Jay. Seeing is believing - Mom was right.
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(1) Dickey-bird definition.
(2) The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Electric Night's Wonder

Daytime firefly

Such a small insect
Where ever did it get its glow
Fireflies in twilight






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Twilight calculator, click here.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

New World Squirrel - Old World Larceny

Peaches ripening on the tree
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offense under the English common law and became an offense in jurisdictions that incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It remains an offense in the United States and New South Wales, Australia, involving the taking and carrying away of personal property.

Nearly unnoticed escape
Our squirrels are quite emboldened in their attitudes toward our garden - anything there is theirs' for the taking. For example, after making a fair amount of effort to espalier the three young peach trees along the fence, and enjoying the development of the fruit from the time of flowering when there was a late snow, through the small green bee-bee stage, to now with reasonably sized peaches with a blush of pink, and then - just when things are looking up - snatched away before their prime - prizes so close, yet so farm - just out of our reach. Such it is with the Old Welsh saying: pleserau dwyn ​​yn melys.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

We Live Near the Water

Sailboat heading out of Back Creek
There are benefits to living in a town that is a vacation destination - you get to sleep in your own bed (save the cost of a bed-and-breakfast or a hotel) and enjoy the rest of the amenities. There are 11,600 miles of shoreline in the inlets and estuaries throughout the Chesapeake Bay. There is so much shoreline that it is hard to get your bearings if you just look down when flying into Baltimore Washington International Airport without catching more macro-scale landmarks like the Bay Bridge off in the distance. And every inlet is lined with
Boats, willow and hydrangea





docks and marinas, and crowded with countless boats that are either tied up or are sailing on the water. So to be able to wake up at home, drive a short distance to sit at a restaurant and have this kind of view any day of the year is a real treat. We have been sailing twice since we moved here, and hope to do more.(1) But regardless, there is nothing like a water view on a quiet morning with a little breeze to keep you cool while enjoying a cup of hot coffee waiting for breakfast to be served.
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(1) It is unlikely that we would ever buy a boat, even if we were to live here a long time. A wise former boss of mine warned me of the two best days in the life of a boat owner, "The day he bought it, and the day he sold it."

There is nothing like 
a water view,
on a quiet morning 
with a little breeze,
to keep you cool.
Enjoying a hot cup of coffee
waiting to be served,
breakfast for two,
while having a water view.

Sam's Club Family - Eastern Kingbird

Parking lot habitat
Jan and I went to Sam's Club yesterday to pick up her new sets of contact lenses. When walking back through the parking lot looking for our car, I spotted a bird I hadn't seen before circling and then landing in the upper branches of a crepe myrtle tree. I walked up closer and spotted a nest about five feet above me with a female perched on the brim looking down on several naked chicks, with the male close by - I thought maybe a Martin. The air was heavy with humidity and the temperature was in the 90's°, so Jan wanted to get the car going with the air conditioner on. Later last evening after doing yard work and eating dinner on the patio, I asked if she wanted to take a quick drive back to Sam's to take a photograph of the birds - a nicely said "No" was the reply. I still wanted to figure out what the birds were, so this morning after church we drove straight to Sam's Club to get a picture. The male wasn't around, but I could get a decent view of the female on the nest. After getting home I got out my Stokes Field Guide to Birds - Eastern Region and figured out the birds were Eastern Kingbirds. From their vantage point at the top of the tree looking down on the cars and shoppers coming and going, the Tyrannus tyrannus family have earned the title, tyrants of the Sam's Club parking lot.(1)
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(1) It is interesting, after making this post I did a Web search and found a posting for Eastern Kingbirds at Sam's Club on a laurel oak tree - and it looks like the photographer lives in Riva area around Annapolis. Click here to check out the photograph - maybe it's the same family, or at least the parents.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Post Fact Checker

This was a comment I received after posting my blog about the designer awarded the contract to produce a revised map for the Washington, D.C. Metro rail system: Worth Noting - D.C. Metro Cartographer. The anonymous writer gave me more information about the development of the Metro map and a former partner of Lance Wyman who has his Washington, D.C. business, Bill Cannan and Company / Design Consultants. At the Cannan Website is an link about the makings of the map that I found interesting - other D.C. projects are able to be accessed there as well. Here are the blog viewer's comments:
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Government contracts are awarded by somebody at WMATA picking up the phone and calling someone and offering them $50,000 now?

Webpage layout - Bill Cannan
FYI - Lance Wyman had a partner from 1970-1980. A simple Google lookup finds this... http://www.billcannandesign.com/index.html

Unlike Mr. Wyman, his partner gives him due credit and respect on HIS web page detailing the Metro contract "Rock star?" "Icon?"

Does ANYBODY at the [Post] fact check anymore? Do they even spend 5 minutes doing an internet search?

Government contracts are awarded to "iconic rock stars" because, well, the Post thinks that's cool?

What about Mr. Cannan? According to his website, he also worked on the Green line maps in the early 90's.
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I cannot get worked up over a feature article in the newspaper - the Washington Post and the New York Times are my favorite sources of news and other information. It is hard to gauge whether this is a large issue the anonymous commenter raises, or no issue at all. Regardless, it is fun to find out more about the work of talented people who contributed to a project like the Metro Map that has staying power, even if after a short few decades it needs to be updated. As for the cost of the new map, maybe Cannan put in a bid for $100,000 and lost out to Wyman;s $50,000 - regardless, both obviously do the kind of work that makes them virtuosos.
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The title: "Post Fact Checker" has multiple meanings. a) A fact checker of Washington Post feature articles; b) A fact checker of my blog post - Worth Noting - D.C. Metro Cartographer; and c) An after-the-fact fact checker - opposite of fact checking before a post or Post feature are posted.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

In the Garden - Brave Photographer

It had been 97° in the shade and feeling dry at work when I walked out to my car in the parking lot and 102° on the I-495 Beltway. I had exited off of Route 50 onto Aris T Allen and was just about home when the hands-free phone rang in my car.
Black Rat Snake
"Guess what is in the yard?"

"What? I don't know."

"A black snake, four feet long. I was talking with Jill on the phone and I saw it come towards the house from the grand children's bed. It then went into the bed by the patio and across the gravel path over to where the echinacea are growing. I can't see it now, it's in the bushes."

"Why don't you go out and pick it up by the tail - whirl it around your head - and throw it over the fence."

"Yeah, right. But I took pictures - lots of pictures."

"Really. Did you get a picture of the head?"

"I got all of it - I used your camera."

"I am by the Clock Tower Shopping Center - I will be home soon. Would you look on-line and put in black snake Maryland?"

"I have to get dinner ready - you can look it up when you get here."

"OK, bye."

It was 91° by the time I pulled up to the curb in front of our house. It felt a lot more humid in Annapolis that it had been in Beltsville.

A quick Google search once I got home /black snake Maryland/, and up came Black Rat Snake. Not a bad photograph - you can also see that the lavender is coming into bloom.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Something Old, Something New

Cockpit of a T-34





 These are some of what a T-34 is capable of doing at the hands (and feet) of a Navy Ensign (1) learning to fly. Aerobatics is another skill that is acquired during Primary Flight School.(2)  What will they do next? See below the list of training stages.
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(1) Ensign is enseigne in French, Fähnrich in German, and chorąży in Polish, each of which derives from a term for a flag. The Spanish alférez and Portuguese alferes is a junior officer rank below lieutenant associated with carrying the flag, and so is often translated as "ensign". Unlike the rank in other languages, its etymology has nothing to do with flags.

(2) Primary Flight Training. Following API completion, SNAs are assigned to Primary Flight Training at NAS Whiting Field, Florida or NAS Corpus Christi, Texas where they learn to fly the T-34C Turbo Mentor (NAS Whiting Field has already begun transitioning to the T-6B). A small percentage of SNAs attend Primary Flight Training with the United States Air Force flying the T-6A Texan II (JPATS) at Vance AFB, Oklahoma as part of a joint USN-USAF training effort. Primary teaches the SNA the basics of flying, is approximately six months long, and is divided into the following stages:
  • Ground School (aircraft systems, local course rules, emergency procedures)
  • Familiarization (take-off/landing, limited maneuvers, spins)
  • Basic Instruments (common instrument scans, used during maneuvers)
  • Precision Aerobatics (aileron roll, loop, 1/2 Cuban Eight, barrel roll, wingover, Split S, Immelmann)
  • Formation (basic section flight, cruise formation flight)
  • Radio Instrument Navigation
  • Night Familiarization
  • Visual Navigation

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Worth Noting - D.C. Metro Cartographer

Graphic artist Lance Wyman
I have made the Washington, D.C. Metro train a part of my work life. For all of the business trips downtown from Beltsville - I can count on one hand the times I have ridden in a car or taken a shuttle. Since the first time I took the train, the map of the rail system stood out as an easy-to-use device that never failed - whether the one posted near every door of every train car, or the standard or large-print versions available at the stations, or the on-line one only a click away from a local map of city - the map never fails to get me to where I need to be. So in today's Web-edition of the Washington Post, the first article I noticed was about the redesign of the 30-year-old map to reflect the recent and up-coming changes to the system. As usual, the story-behind-the-story (a redesigned map) is interesting enough in itself, along with a Sunday morning cup of coffee.
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New York graphic artist Lance Wyman who designed the Metrorail system's map more than 30 years ago has been hired to reinvent it. Changes will include adding on the new Silver Line to Dulles International Airport and integrating other changes to the map, without ruining, as the Washington Post article states, "its clean, classic look." Wyman's craft is seen around other District places of notice including the National Zoo, the old Convention Center, the Library of Congress, and on kiosk maps all around the Capital's National Mall.

Previous blogs that have mentioned the Washington, D.C. Metro train system include: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

I have decided to nominate the artist for the Virtuosos Are Their Own Reward Award, after the song by Leo Kottke from his Shout Towards Noon album.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Immigrant Song - Memorial Day 2011

There are no formally recognized holidays memorializing immigrants - an Immigrant Day. There is the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty - The New Colossus, that is put to music, but no day for immigrants. I had an English translation of an article from a German language newspaper that an ancestor of mine (1) wrote - it was published in Milwaukee back in the early 1900's and described his  
26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment flag
coming to America in the 1840's and settling on a piece of land in Wisconsin - Laura Ingalls Wilder-esque Little House in the Big Woods. In the article there was brief mention of him going off to war and returning, written as a matter of fact - he obviously was a Civil War veteran. He must have been one of the volunteers from Wisconsin - perhaps a part of the 26th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment that mustered in Milwaukee on September 17, 1862 and fought at Gettysburg. The 26th Regiment is honored by a monument on the grounds of the battlefield. It is not surprising that there were German language periodicals in the early 20th Century, given that both my mom in Wisconsin and dad in California still spoke German at home until they went to elementary school in the late 1920's and early 30's. The English that my relatives spoke back then, was probably heavily accented by their German roots - just as immigrants today are recognizable by their first languages or the accepts they keep a well.

Arlington National Cemetery is one of the places in the Washington, D.C. area that we have grown to appreciate the most since moving here. The names on the white headstones are a reflection of the peoples who live in our country, most of whom or whose families came at one time or another from places across seas and over borders - even those from the Native Nations (2), who 10-thousand years ago crossed into North America over a land bridge from Asia, before there was geography, maps, and borders. Two areas of Arlington that carry a particular part of our history, are Sections 23 
USCT on headstones in Section 27
and 27 that honor the first African American immigrants who fought for our country during the Civil War - who came to our country against their will over a century earlier. On these tombstones are inscribed the letters USCT - United States Colored Troops, three of whom were Medal of Honor recipients.  Frederick Douglass saw a dilemma if African Americans were to wear the uniform of the United States without emancipation. He said to Abraham Lincoln and others, "Once you put upon the black man the blue uniform, once you put upon him the 'U.S.' saying 'United States,' once you put brass buttons on him and a cap and give him a rifle and give him a pistol and make him a soldier of the nation and send him off in battle to defend the nation and also to help preserve the Union, once you have done that, then no power on Earth can deny the full rights of citizenship in due course."(3) 

We made our first visit to the cemetery the day after Christmas in 2003 when Michael was finishing his Tomb Guard training - it was his last day as a New Man. We walked from the parking area through the Visitor Center to Eisenhower Drive, and then up the road towards
PFC Naseeb Masood - WWI Veteran
McClellan's Gate (4). As we walked past the rows of head stones on McClellan Drive, on the right was one whose inscription caught my attention: Naseeb Masood - a name that is not exactly Johnson, Smith, or Jones. Given the era of his campaign, WWI, and his home state, Pennsylvania, it struck me how long a time Middle Eastern people have been a part of the country and served in our military. Not unlike a German emigrant from Wisconsin who served three wars earlier - perhaps in Pennsylvania, rather than in Europe, where his foes there would have been in times future his countrymen, his relatives.

Gallery at Women in Service Memorial
The diversity of names stand out among those who have served - Chanawongse, Gonzalez, Tran, Bonifacio, Monsoor, and Witkowski - names that in the countries of their origin may have been as common as Johnson, Smith, and Jones - whose faces reflect the nations of the world that now call the United States home. So just as it was 150 years earlier when Fredrick Douglas made his observation about the dilemma of the rights for citizenship for those former slave emigrants who then served with the U.S. emblem on their uniform, and when my ancestor went off to war in a land that was his for only a short amount of time, and so it is with those who are new to American shores, regardless of their mode of their arrival or the accent of their speech - who are all now called citizens. (5)
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(1) I lost my copy of the translation, but my uncle in Hilbert said that because of the time period, the author would have been an ancestor of my maternal grandmother - my maternal grandfather's family (the ones with the homestead dairy) did not immigrate until the 1880's. A note: it is my understanding that my grandmother corresponded (in German) with relatives in Germany up until WWII began - my uncle visited some of those relatives after the war.

(2) Ira Hayes, one of the the Marines depicted in the Marine Corps Memorial raising the flag at Iwo Jima, was of the Pima Tribe and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

(3) From the Website for the B Company 54th Mass Vol Inf Regiment Washington, D.C.

(4) There was construction going on near where Roosevelt Drive intersected with Eisenhower Drive, so the longer walk to the Amphitheater and the Tomb of the Unknowns was by way of McClellan Drive. For a map of Arlington National Cemetery, click here.

(5) Immigration and Nationality Act 329A - Posthumous citizenship through death while on active-duty service in the Armed Forces during World War I, World War II, the Korean Hostilities, the Vietnam Hostilities, or in other periods of military hostilities.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Haiku - Forest for the Trees

Tree climbing a vine


Haiku challenges
Minimal (1) structured verses
Infinite meaning







Results: Single tree vine richness increased with increasing host tree DBH (2) and differed significantly among host species. For climbing vines, the ratio of variation in subplot presence explained by tree species and by environmental variables was ca. 4:1 (in the most disturbed logged plots slightly lower), for free standing vines this ratio varied from 1:2 in the most disturbed logged plots to 9:1 in reserve plots, while a ratio of ca. 1:1 was found for all plots analyzed together.

Conclusion: Different tree species have different probabilities of being infested by vines. Vines see both the forest and the trees; the environment is more important in earlier developmental stages, properties of individual trees become more important from the time vines start to climb. (3)
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(1) minimal, minimum - These adjectives have subtle differences in meaning. Minimal means "extremely small in number, amount or degree ... and not worth worrying about": with minimal support, minimal objectives, minimal amount of pain. Minimum means "the smallest number, amount or degree that is possible, necessary, acceptable or lawful to have": Of any one in his family, he had minimum contact with his father. Minimum wage. Minimum payment. Reference by clicking here

(2) DBH - diameter at breast height. I knew this without having to look up the abbreviation - learned in one of my plant ecology classes over 30 years ago. My instructor, Bill Chilcote, was on my graduate committee - I had three of his courses. I saw a few months ago that he had passed away in 2006, the year I left Corvallis for the east coast.

(3) Ingrid Nesheim and Rune H. Økland. 2007. Do vine species in neotropical forests see the forest or the trees? Journal of Vegetation Science.18:395-404.

Baigneuses oiseaux à Asnières

This evening the skies are dark as thunder rolls in and tree limbs blown by the wind - there is a strange pink color to the dusk. The weather the past few days has been getting closer to being oppressive - the 90's and humid. As the rain begins, individual leaves look like piano keys being depressed by individual drops one at a time - but making no sound. It was pretty close to being unbearable riding the Metro to downtown at
Une Baignade, Asnières
mid-day and the later return to Landover Station. The air conditioning seemed unnoticeable until I stood close to the door underneath the ventilation register. My office and car, our house, are all great reliefs - the cooling systems in the three are working just fine. Perhaps if this were 1884 and if the Metro were to stop on the tracks before the bridge at the Anacostia River after exiting the tunnel near RFK Stadium, the passengers would disembark and walk down to the banks and cool themselves for a short while before continuing their ride out to Minnesota Avenue, Deanwood, Chevery, Landover, and New Carrollton. Such rest breaks would be necessary on longer commuter train rides, because in 1884 there would be no air conditioning in Metro cars.

American Robin Bathing
The weather must be rough on the birds as well. Many kinds are frequenting the bath in our backyard - either using it to get a quick drink, or to take very public bath. It has been interesting how the smaller bird like the Black-capped Chickadee, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow, and House Finch swoop in for a quick drink - dainty in their approaches as well as their exits - off the trees and other parts unknown. As for the larger birds - they move in like the own the place and do some serious cooling down - these are bathers with attitude, brutes with nothing delicate about them. A kind of free range menagerie that reminded me of Georges Pierre Seurat's Une Baignade, Asnières, but rather a pretend Baigneuses oiseaux à Voie Murmure du vent.

De grands oiseaux qui se baignent

Gray Catbirds - Dumetella carolinensis
Northern Cardinals - Cardinalis cardinalis
American Robins - Turdus migratorius

Common Grackles - Quiscalus quiscula
Mourning Doves - Zenaida macroura
Blue Jays - Cyanocitta cristata

The American Robin is the most immodest of our backyard bathers - it is bold enough to use the small water fountain just beyond our small deck landing out the backyard sliding glass door, as well as the bird bath 20 feet away in the bed next to the patio. The rest have greater situational awareness - not appreciating large, upright mammals with binoculars and holding a camera fitted with a 200 mm zoom lens.
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Ce soir, le ciel est sombre comme le tonnerre gronde et dans des branches d'arbre soufflé par le vent. Le temps des derniers jours a été se rapproche d'être oppressive - les années 90 et humide. Comme la pluie commence, de feuilles individuelles, ressembler à des touches de piano d'être déprimé par les gouttes individu à l'époque -, mais ne faisant aucun bruit. Il était assez proche d'être insupportable dans le Métro au centre-ville à la mi-journée et le retour plus tard, à Landover Station. La climatisation semblait imperceptible jusqu'à ce je me tenais près de la porte sous le registre de ventilation. Mon bureau et en voiture, notre maison, tous les reliefs sont grands - les systèmes de refroidissement dans les trois travaillent très bien. Peut-être que si c'était 1884 et si le Métro était de s'arrêter sur les voies avant le pont de la rivière Anacostia après la sortie du tunnel près de RFK Stadium, les passagers devaient débarquer et de marcher vers le bas pour les banques et se rafraîchir pendant une courte période avant de poursuivre leur sortir au Minnesota, avenue Deanwood, Chevery, Landover, et New Carrollton. Ces pauses serait nécessaire, parce que 1884, il y aurait pas de climatisation dans les voitures de Métro.