The Natural World

I've had this tableau tucked in a corner for several years.  So, I got it out, cleaned it up, added a few more things and Voila.  I consider myself something of a naturalist; look and find all sorts of things on the farm and read about them.  My sister calls me Mother Earth.

Had trouble photographing this guy, but the red changes colors from different angles.

Isn't he a beaut? Would have loved to see his wings extended, but this is the way I found him.

Screech Owl skull with his right ocular bone nearby.  They are really tiny under all those feathers.  The sound  they make is like a woman screaming.

Some type of shorebird or tern.

This is a baby snake skeleton which was nearly impossible to photograph.

So this is where it ended up; crowns my new ikea medical cabinet.

Now all I need to do is fill the cabinet.  

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, Harper Lee's magnum opus, turns fifty today. I have fond memories of my young son and I, taking turns reading chapters to each other every evening one summer. We loved it, like legions before us. I have a theory about why she never wrote another tome. When you write a novel, you put most everything you have seen, heard, smelled, experienced into that first novel. While some writers like Joyce Carol Oates are prolific, for others, that's all she wrote; one has to live and experience more: she may have said all she wanted.
Nevertheless, Mockingbirds play a large part in American culture. Early in American history, Mockingbirds were once popular and kept as pets. President T. Jefferson had one named Dick. The American lullaby, Hush little baby don't say a word, mamma's gonna buy you a mockingbird... was part of the Mockingbird craze. Called the American Nightingale, Mimus polyglottos prefers to nest in maple, sweet gum and sycamore trees. As an observation, the birds are out after midnight practicing their songs. I can tell the city mockers from the farm ones. The city ones make police car and emergency vehicle calls. I think they are my favorite bird, today anyway. Postscript ~ Harper Lee's sister was on the CBS Sunday Morning show, and said the aforementioned reason I postulated, was correct.