Bird Watching

Heron Bliss

Immobile and Still-
The heron stood silently --
Gracing the landscape.



Yesterday, September 23, 2006, I was in the community gym doing my rehab maintenance exercise routine. When on the treadmill, one where the windows faced outward toward the 13th green and 14th tee of the Heron Lakes Golf Course, a great blue flew from the lake and chose to land just behind the green. I looked at the timer on the treadmill, I was at the five minute mark. This magnificent specimen of this noble bird stook there silent and still until I finished my twenty minute artifical walk.
A friend arrived in the gym and I pointed to the great blue and said I had been watching it for fifteen minutes in this same spot, meanwhile one golf cart had gone by on the cart path, bird not disturbed, a bit later a walker came by appearing not to notice the heron, a helmeted bicyclist also rode by. No notice of any of the spaced traffic managed to cause the bird to take flight and this distance from the lake is the farthest I have ever seen a heron take up vigil.
More happened as my friend and I watched. There was a white heron on the edge of the lake watching for a possible catch. Here came another great blue flying in on a path just skimming three feet- if that- above the ground. The two blues enacted a display consisting of wings half spread and waving at each other but no intention it seemed of getting airborne was involved in this. They sort of hopped, arcing over a thirty foot radius or so while exhibiting a repeat of this behavior. Neither my friend no I, had seen anything similar so we felt entertained and awed.
I have been a heron watcher here in this community for almost twenty years. We have many many lakes, on the two golf courses and also scattered in the condo residential area. I had a routine during these years where I walked at sunrise and sunset just to watch them fishing for their meals. They extol inherent patience with elegance and nobility.
The heron population here fluctuates quite a lot. My thinking on it is that we get some in-migration and maybe these were two new winter visitors that had arrived early because of it turning cold up north in Canada where I understand there are large populations, especially noted are the nesting colonies in the Beacon Hill Park location, Victoria BC., in reading on the internet about this, I found that the increase in bald eagles is causing a reduction in the nesting colony there because the eagles raid the nests. Since there are no eagles in this location perhaps we will attract more herons.
Another observation is that we get a large number of temporary avian visitors whenever there is stormy weather in California -- west of us here in Arizona. A couple of years ago, there were twenty three whites on one lake and they were congregated there around sunset for about three days when I was out walking. (The lakes here are man-made and not large, in fact I have a hard time thinking of labeling them "lakes"- more aptly maybe create a new word "lapond")!
So perhaps the display was territorial, staking out which lake they are going to claim for fishing. And an interesting bit of trivia about that fishing--one source I read stated that the herons actually eat the diseased fish because those swim nearer the surface, thus it seems, a bit of natural selection process being played out and therefore, my conclusion is that the herons are beneficial predators. Can that be said of all predatory actions in the animal world? It is pointed out that even the large predatory game animals usually catch either the young or the ailing in their food search. Nature's plan has its reasons even if we are sometimes sickened to see the younger prey be the victim when it seems they have not yet had a chance to mature enough to escape the needs of the stronger predator. The matchup between the fish and the herons appears to be a more even contest. Or perhaps most tolerable because of lack of bloodshed therefore not offensive to my sensibilities.
There are charming stories in Native American lore about the birds, and the Chinese have symbolized them too, as figures of longevity and righteousness.
Heron - Lu - Heron in Chinese sounds a lot like the word for "path or way". A painting of a heron and a lotus has the meaning of "May your path be always upward". This reference explains their usage in Chinese porcelain decorations.
So the herons will continue to beckon me and I will benefit both spiritually and physically by being pulled to the lakes, going on foot whenever the temperature and my health, permits.
Maybe the winged visitors are as pleased with the change from summer to autumn as am I.

9/11 plus 5

A short time after 9/11/01, say two or three days, I phoned the office of my congressional senator, Senator John McCain. I requested that the Congressional Medal of Honor be awarded to the passengers of Flight 93. As far as my knowledge goes no award of recognition of their great courage and valor has been presented and my belief is that they are just as worthy as any military recipient of this honor. An exception should be made for the sacrificial decision and actions taken to give their lives in order to save maybe thousands of others. I am sure their surviving families, especially their children, would be greatly comforted by this.

I have been bugged by this, especially on that day when "W" saw fit to pass out a handful of medals,(not this particular one, but another) and included George Tenet.

graysmoke

Milestones

Today is my 79th birthday, and except for knowing what the wrinkled cover of this body looks like, I really don't feel much different inside than thirty years ago or in fact fifty years ago. I am grateful for this many years of life on this remarkable planet that can hopefully survive the abuse we are heaping upon it.

Since the temperatures are cooling enough here in the Valley of the Sun, to resume walking outdoors, I rose early enough to walk from my residence to a newspaper dispensing kiosk in our community which is about a mile plus, round trip there and back. It is so good to again abandon the treadmill, which is a necessity during the torrid summer temperatures, and again re-establish a routine of a daily walk. To me, it feels so much more total, physically, than treadmilling. At this age, I feel very fortunate to not have any serious mobility impairments.I am limited by pulmonary considerations and it will take me about six weeks before I can double my distance and improve my walking pace.

A large portion of the day was spent on the telephone, talking with relatives and friends out of state. And I still tried to catch the telecast of the U.S.Open tennis matches that are in semi and finals this week-end. And I attended my usual Saturday computer club Q&A meeting session and went to the gym to complete my rehab maintenance exercises, minus the treadmilling.

But all of this is under the shadow of the impending five year anniversary of 9/11. That morning five years ago, I was just ready to leave the house for my tennis groups play time reservation and I was about to switch off the television when the reports started. Since I knew the others of my doubles group were probably on their way to the courts, I turned off the set and went off and played tennis. Others arriving for the time slot following ours, briefed us on the event and we were all practically struck dumb by the immensity of the catastrophe and quickly headed home to stayed glued to the tube for news the remainder of that day and following days.

Five years doesn't begin to reduce the sharpness of those days and it is sad and perhaps a commentary on the crass commercialization in our society, that ABC is planning a politicized "docu-drama" called "The Path to 9/11"- which they claim is not biased. This so easily refuted when it is revealed that the chief script writer is a highly partisan conservative Republican, and only a Republican member of the 9/11 Commission was selected as a consultant, and not a Democrat as a balanced approach would demand both, and that many of the historic individuals included in the fabricating of this mockery of a horrific national event - were never contacted for fact checking purposes. Individuals such as Madeline Albright, former President Clinton, Richard Clarke and Sandy Berger have all read script portions of the way they are presented in the farce and have lodged objections to this non-objective presentation.

We have hit so very many low points in the political life of this country since the George W. Bush administation has been in the driving seat. Many times one thinks things just cannot get any worse in the political warfare orchestrated by W's architect, but here we are. Let us hope that ABC/Disney corporate officers will have an attack of conscience and decide to cancel this program. Please let us avoid the absolute nadir of using the anniversary of 9/11 in an attempt to score points for a failing administration.

That would make a nice birthday gift to this old lady.

graysmoke