Today is Cow Appreciation Day. And I really appreciate our bovine friends. They are noble, as well as humorous. They are inspiring with their ability to placidly spend their days grazing while they are producing milk for the masses.
Cows are so amazing they deserve the Pulitzer Prize for being outstanding contributors in their field.
Next time you quench your thirst with a cold glass of milk, or sprinkle some cheese on your pizza, or dip into that bowl of ice cream be sure to thank a cow.
I’m an appreciator of bees. They are truly amazing in design and admirable in purpose. I keep bees in mind when landscaping my backyard by maintaining a dedicated mound of lavender, not only because I find lavender to be a fairly perfect plant, I know bees enjoy lavender as well.
Once spring arrives and the lavender starts flowering I watch for the bees to arrive. It’s a Capistrano moment for me.
image: Stockcake
Some years it’s the tiny golden bees that are dominant. Occasionally there is a variety of bee with a bit of red to them. My favorites are the big, black bumblebees. They remind me of teddy bears, yet I wisely refrain my urge to hold them and hug them.
image: Bumblebee Conservation Trust
My penchant for bees came forth when I realized I’m reading my third book, or is it my fourth, where bees are a main focus. I scampered to my Goodreads list to confirm this epiphany. Actually, make that seven books.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Lily is introduced to the world of bees when she find refuge with three beekeepers and she learns about the power of not only bees but of women.
image: Amazon
The Bees by Laline Paul The Bees is a creative tale of one bee, Flora 717, who is almost put to death for her lack of physical conformity but is spared and readers follow her rise from humble hive janitor to respected forager.
image: Amazon
The Music of Bees by Eileen Graven Three people with deep hurts are brought together through the caring of bees.
image: Amazon
He Should of Told the Bees by Amanda Cox A daughter working with her beekeeper is devastated when he passes away since impacts their business, and the hurt is even more deep upon the discovery she has a half-sister who wants to sell her interest in the business.
image: Amazon
Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar This middle grade novel features twelve year old Carol who unexpectedly finds herself helping her parents care for her grandfather who is slipping into dementia. A touch of magical realism as he believes the drought will end when the bees return.
image: Amazon
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie King Sherlock Holmes has retired, passing his days with keeping bees. His interest in mystery is awakened upon the arrival of a young woman who rivals his intuition and maybe even his intellect.
image: Amazon
The Keeper of Bees by Gene Porter-Stratton A classic that is as beautiful in prose as it is rife with politically incorrect references; however, ignoring those or at least placing them in the context of the era it was written, a reader will delight in how a physically, emotionally, and spiritually wrecked WWI soldier is healed through the unexpected experience of caring for an ailing man’s bees.
image: Amazon
Are you a bee lover as well or have you read a book or two about bees? Please share the title, as I aim to keep on beeing a beeliver.
Naming a group of something is a job I wouldn’t mind applying for. Someone gets to do it and the results are pretty fun, especially when it involves animals.
Old Punxsutawney Phil’s record of correct predictions is not impressive. According to the Stormfax Weather Almanac Phil prediction percentage is a mere 39%. He’s seen his shadow more often than not which means a longer winter, with stats showing 84%.
Here are his stats since 1887 when the tradition began:
Saw shadow (six more weeks of winter): 107
No shadow (early spring): 19
Partial shadow: 1
No record: 10
Did not appear: 1
On the other hand, when I spot a robin, the first appearance goes on the calendar. The robin knows when to appear and is not going to have a calendar date decide when spring shows up. Robins have a savvy that doesn’t need a whooping crowd and cameras. Robins just know.
After weeks of gloomy gray skies, intermittent snow flurries, dribbly rain, and cold weather, we woke up to blue skies. Honest to goodness cerulean blue, no clouds, some chilly breezes, yet blue sky and sun makes for a great day. The birds and squirrels were frolicking in the yard, merrymaking about the birdfeeders and there in the corner of my eye I spied my first robin of the year. Calendar time!
I’m in Okinawa, Japan, meeting my new granddaughter and engaging in some grandmother time. It takes a household of adults to take care of a newborn.
As a break from grandma time my son took me sightseeing and here are the highlights:
The Botanical Gardens
This a popular site with both locals and tourists. The gardens are interspersed with petting zoo exhibits. My very favorite was the capybara enclosure. As a favor to bloggy pal author Mike Allegra, I shared his book with a capy, who definitely showed an interest in a story about his fellow mellow rodent pals.
My son convinced me to feed the monkeys and not being enamored of these critters (thanks to PBS and Disney, I know what they are capable of doing) I went in with great hesitation. I was immediately mobbed for the sunflower seeds we purchased for them. There’s a monkey on my back proved quite true and then some.
Moving from beasts we fed some beautiful birds.
At least one typical tourist pose needed
We then traveled from the lush gardens to the other side of the island for lunch and a passing visit to the American Village. More to come in Part Two—stay tuned.
As our backyard birding intrigues continue a new player has arrived on the scene, actually one player and two cohorts.
We have been used to our little feathered friends: juncos, chickadees, sparrows, finches, the odd guest of cedar waxwing, and obsequious robin.
Then one day a raucous “shack shack shack” sounded from the front yard. Looking out the window revealed a flash of brilliant blue amongst the leaves. Further inspection showed a bird larger than the usual batch of birdies. I recognized the bird as a stellar jay from my Washington state childhood days.
Seeing one after so many years, and caring more about birds now, I observed how odd the stellar jay is in appearance and mannerisms.
First off, they are quirky. They jump about from branch to rock to feeder to birdbath all with flourish of squawk scattering all the feathered residents to safety.
Clearing the competition
Another aspect is their size. Compared to the diminutive chickadee the stellar jay, with its black top-notched hood, long tail, and considerable wingspan, is reminiscent of a pterodactyl.Sounds like one too.
The way it eats is worth a mention. It’s a gobbler. It snatches up the birdseed as if it is guilty of sneaking from the larder. Not a dainty eater it gulps down the food with head raised, moving quickly to secure the next mouthful.
Multiple these shenanigans with two more stellar jays and it becomes one entertaining circus. It’s especially amusing when these big blues try to clamber on top of the bird feeder. They flap their wings trying to balance and forage. It’s laughable.
Should they stay through the winter they will provide a colorful splash on the snowy landscape.
The junco is a common bird, true; however, it has plenty of personality. We learned about juncos this winter when we took to tossing out birdseed under the living room window to avoid trudging in the snow to fill the feeder. Daily a troop of birds ranging from sparrows to doves to juncos would pop by. The consistent crew was a group we referred to as the Jolly Juncos. They would merrily hop about foraging for food in their somber dark hoods and grey suits. They were determined and undeterred in their daily sweep for seed. They helped break the monotony of winter.
In spring we were delighted to find a junco had created a nest in one of my hanging flower baskets.
Leave for a long weekend and surprise!
Quite an artful rendering
Yes, the eggs are tiny
Four eggs!
Mama bird settling in for sitting
Hatchling!
Feed me!
Feed me two!
Dad bird shows up with groceries
Mama bird takes a nest stretch
Unfortunately the birds flew the coop early, no doubt due to the fact that they nested in our patio area and we go through there multiple times a day. I felt terrible until I read about a ornithologist who runs into the same problem when studying juncos. The extra attention needed to band them for tracking can force fledglings to leave the nest early, but the good news is that the survival rate is high. This (I told myself) is what probably happened with our four little nestlings. Mama did return once or twice to the empty nest then disappeared.
I miss having our little junco family as neighbors and wonder if they will return next year.
The all important Cow Appreciation Day just about snuck past me but my handy National Day calendar alert informed I needed to pay attention. Cows are beyond special—they are bovine.
Having grown up around cows, and having lived across from a dairy farm for twelve years, I have an either an affection or a affectation for cows. I have gathered and created a plethora of cow jokes and cow facts and created a book that unfortunately no publisher is interested in at the moment. That doesn’t stop me from appreciating what Sandra Boynton has done for the cow with her winsome cowtoons and book. Gary Larson has also shown an affinity for cows. One of my other favorites is About Cows. There are scads of other books that regale cows from Dr. Seuss to meditative cows. Maybe the market isn’t ready for yet another tribute to cows.
Sandra Boynton knows her cows
Gary Larson goes to the Far Side about appreciating cowsEmbracing the love of cows
Then again, why not? I’m not giving in or giving up even because cows are cool and the world cud appreciate another udderly cow time.
Here are some of my favorite cow jokes I like to toss out to unsuspecting listeners:
Why are dairy farms so noisy? Too many cows have horns.
If good cows go to heaven where do bad cows go? The udder place.
Why did the farmer place bee hives in his pasture? He wanted to live in the land of milk and honey.
What goes “oom oom oom”? A cow walking backwards.
And my parting riddle—
What is the best way to make a milkshake? Have it jump on a pogo stick.
I would love to hear your thoughts on why cows are so cool or a really good cow joke—I have enough bad ones.
As stated earlier, the travel bug has not bit us. We hunker down in winter and practice wishful thinking for warmer climates.
All in all, winter is for the birds. Really. That’s what we are doing for entertainment. We have enticed juncos, nuthatches, chickadees, sparrows, finches, a part time dove, and an infrequent flicker to our front yard with seed and such and sit back and enjoy the show.
Took Rocket J. Squirrel a few attempts to reach the feeder
We have a very basic feeder and try to keep it filled; however when it’s 19 degrees, with a brisky wind, finding alternative methods of feeding our feathered friends, like tossing food out the window for them onto the snow is the solution.
The seed buffet has garnered the attention of other critters: squirrels and deer. The squirrels are comical in how they try to avoid going through the snow to get to the food. They traverse on the branches above and tail twitch in frustration that they can’t quite reach the feeder. We spent a good hour observing how one squirrel finally took the plunge and dove into the snow, tunneling a track to feeder’s base to glean dropped seeds.
All you can eat seed buffet
The deer easily amble over to the feeder and lick seeds off the tray. They are not perturbed by our presence at the window.
We think this little guy looks like a burro so we have dubbed it Burrito
The most entertaining morning session was when the squirrel and deer arrived at the same time. The deer held their ground and would not acknowledge the squirrel’s attempts to mosey up to the seed feed. Old Rocket would inch up, tail twitching in anxiety and then Burrito would level a look that translated as “Excuse me?” and Rocket would hightail up the tree and pace the limb waiting, waiting, waiting for his turn.
Showdown at OK Feed and Seed
As for the birds—their territorial flutterings are reminiscent of playground squabbling. There is one white-crowned sparrow who is pro at fluffing up his feathers and chasing off the smaller birds from the seed buffet.
Like little kids playground squabbling
For most, the chosen winter sport is skiing, for us staying warm, while we watch from our chair side seats the front yard antics, suffices. Although, truthfully, after the third snow dump (and it’s still early December) I might just look into those Costco travel brochures that we pass by when we load up on birdseed. I imagine there are birds I can watch from a beachside balcony.
Pam Webb 