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Things I Learned In Florida
Dec. 29th, 2007 09:29 pm1.
I'm a birder.
Yeah, I know! Actually, I have been all my life, but it only really dawned on me this week. My mom's been getting me up bright and early some mornings since I was probably seven or eight to take me on bird walks to look for birds. And now, I guess, I'm officially a birder. There are a couple reasons for this:
a). Every time I hear "Sora", my first thought isn't this guy. It's this guy. It's a wee little bird sort of like a sandpiper. Hangs around in wetlands and is pretty rarely seen since it's really shy.
b). I've started keeping lists, which is automatic entry into the ranks of geeky birders.
c). I make snap judgments about people based on whether they can tell what certain birds are. I automatically dislike you if you point at an egret and say "look at the pelican!" or can't tell that a moorhen is a moorhen and not a freaking duck. Alternately, I have a good deal of respect for you if you look up at the raptor soaring overhead and can automatically tell what it is (or can tell birds by their songs. That's a talent I wouldn't mind having). I'm kind of a bitch when it comes to people's knowledge or lack thereof about birds, I suppose. In short, know your egrets, dammit.
d). I can tell a palm warbler from...well, the other warblers.
So! Florida, as most know, is a hotspot for birding, and my grandparents are moving away in January, so this was pretty much our last chance for some great birding before then. My mom and I went birding at least once every day, usually twice (morning and evening are the best times), and my dad came along each time since he's been camera-happy for the past few years. We saw the usual array of great blue herons, egrets, purple gallinules, ibises, moorhens and alligators (not a bird). But we also saw some rare ones--a snail kite, a least bittern, dozens of limpkins, about as many soras (remember him?), and monk parakeets (holy shit! not native of course, but they're counted now since the escapees have colonies all over the south).
I also spotted a painted bunting. Which means I can die now. This has been my grail bird since I first saw a picture of one in my mom's bird book. I was probably eight.
And, today, the day after we got back from Florida, my mom and I found a calliope hummingbird at our feeder. Also rare and never seen at this elevation.
It's been a good week.
2.
My family is actually weirder than I initially thought. Not in any particularly big way. No divorces even. But still. Weird.
3.
Christmas lists are pointless.
4.
It is indeed possible to get a sunburn. In December. In the Northern Hemisphere.
5.
The snake-head fish is actually not as much of a threat as everyone thought. It's rather like the killer bee that way (if you don't know what I'm talking about, never mind. Or google it).
6.
My grandfather served under General Patton (!)
7.
I actually don't really like turkey. I know, blasphemy. I mean, I don't like it alone--it needs gravy or cranberry sauce or some such. So maybe that's not so weird? I dunno.
8.
The Circle of Magic books are probably my favorite series of Tammy's. Fucking. Brilliant. I love the characters, each and every one, even the not-so-nice ones. (Except Aymery. Bastard).
9.
It is apparently virtually impossible to find Phoenix Wright games, especially the first two. I got hooked a week or so ago at the Grants after party when a girl there lent me her DS for a half an hour or so and decided I wanted one. Got Final Fantasy XII (I think? It's hard to keep track) for the DS instead, which is good and fine since it's really enjoyable. The lack of Phoenix Wright-ness was remedied today (the third one. Anyone know whether it's any good? It was the only one available). As well as my lack of Doctor Who, Karas and Phoenix (Osamu Tezuka. I'll find out soon enough whether he deserves the title of God of Anime).
10.
I will not be finishing Motley Crew before the year's end like I predicted. Though I hope to get it done before I get back to Ithaca...probably won't happen, though.
11.
Absinthe is legal in the United States as of recently.
That's about it, I think. At least, I can't remember anything else right now.
Christmas was nice. I got a bottle of Absinthe, two books (*sigh*) and various and sundry other nice things. The food was great. I made brown bread. A bag of delicious snacks that consisted of chocolate-covered graham cracker bits vanished from the face of the earth (no, really, we searched everywhere). My brother and I didn't get into any fights. When I wasn't birding, I was reading, or lying around, since aside from birds Florida is really quite boring. Got home yesterday.
I still don't know when I'm going back to Ithaca since my Dad's being lazy. I'm trying to get in touch with Blockbuster so I can get a few hours while I can.
Shadow's ashes are in a cedar box. It's weird being able to throw things like orange peels into trashcans without worrying about him getting into it. It's weird not finding dog hair everywhere, and being able to leave a plate of Cornish hen bones on a plate on the floor for an hour without him coming to eat them. Apparently we're getting a new dog sometime soon.
I dunno.
Well. New Year's is almost here. Hope everyone had a good holiday already.
I'm a birder.
Yeah, I know! Actually, I have been all my life, but it only really dawned on me this week. My mom's been getting me up bright and early some mornings since I was probably seven or eight to take me on bird walks to look for birds. And now, I guess, I'm officially a birder. There are a couple reasons for this:
a). Every time I hear "Sora", my first thought isn't this guy. It's this guy. It's a wee little bird sort of like a sandpiper. Hangs around in wetlands and is pretty rarely seen since it's really shy.
b). I've started keeping lists, which is automatic entry into the ranks of geeky birders.
c). I make snap judgments about people based on whether they can tell what certain birds are. I automatically dislike you if you point at an egret and say "look at the pelican!" or can't tell that a moorhen is a moorhen and not a freaking duck. Alternately, I have a good deal of respect for you if you look up at the raptor soaring overhead and can automatically tell what it is (or can tell birds by their songs. That's a talent I wouldn't mind having). I'm kind of a bitch when it comes to people's knowledge or lack thereof about birds, I suppose. In short, know your egrets, dammit.
d). I can tell a palm warbler from...well, the other warblers.
So! Florida, as most know, is a hotspot for birding, and my grandparents are moving away in January, so this was pretty much our last chance for some great birding before then. My mom and I went birding at least once every day, usually twice (morning and evening are the best times), and my dad came along each time since he's been camera-happy for the past few years. We saw the usual array of great blue herons, egrets, purple gallinules, ibises, moorhens and alligators (not a bird). But we also saw some rare ones--a snail kite, a least bittern, dozens of limpkins, about as many soras (remember him?), and monk parakeets (holy shit! not native of course, but they're counted now since the escapees have colonies all over the south).
I also spotted a painted bunting. Which means I can die now. This has been my grail bird since I first saw a picture of one in my mom's bird book. I was probably eight.
And, today, the day after we got back from Florida, my mom and I found a calliope hummingbird at our feeder. Also rare and never seen at this elevation.
It's been a good week.
2.
My family is actually weirder than I initially thought. Not in any particularly big way. No divorces even. But still. Weird.
3.
Christmas lists are pointless.
4.
It is indeed possible to get a sunburn. In December. In the Northern Hemisphere.
5.
The snake-head fish is actually not as much of a threat as everyone thought. It's rather like the killer bee that way (if you don't know what I'm talking about, never mind. Or google it).
6.
My grandfather served under General Patton (!)
7.
I actually don't really like turkey. I know, blasphemy. I mean, I don't like it alone--it needs gravy or cranberry sauce or some such. So maybe that's not so weird? I dunno.
8.
The Circle of Magic books are probably my favorite series of Tammy's. Fucking. Brilliant. I love the characters, each and every one, even the not-so-nice ones. (Except Aymery. Bastard).
9.
It is apparently virtually impossible to find Phoenix Wright games, especially the first two. I got hooked a week or so ago at the Grants after party when a girl there lent me her DS for a half an hour or so and decided I wanted one. Got Final Fantasy XII (I think? It's hard to keep track) for the DS instead, which is good and fine since it's really enjoyable. The lack of Phoenix Wright-ness was remedied today (the third one. Anyone know whether it's any good? It was the only one available). As well as my lack of Doctor Who, Karas and Phoenix (Osamu Tezuka. I'll find out soon enough whether he deserves the title of God of Anime).
10.
I will not be finishing Motley Crew before the year's end like I predicted. Though I hope to get it done before I get back to Ithaca...probably won't happen, though.
11.
Absinthe is legal in the United States as of recently.
That's about it, I think. At least, I can't remember anything else right now.
Christmas was nice. I got a bottle of Absinthe, two books (*sigh*) and various and sundry other nice things. The food was great. I made brown bread. A bag of delicious snacks that consisted of chocolate-covered graham cracker bits vanished from the face of the earth (no, really, we searched everywhere). My brother and I didn't get into any fights. When I wasn't birding, I was reading, or lying around, since aside from birds Florida is really quite boring. Got home yesterday.
I still don't know when I'm going back to Ithaca since my Dad's being lazy. I'm trying to get in touch with Blockbuster so I can get a few hours while I can.
Shadow's ashes are in a cedar box. It's weird being able to throw things like orange peels into trashcans without worrying about him getting into it. It's weird not finding dog hair everywhere, and being able to leave a plate of Cornish hen bones on a plate on the floor for an hour without him coming to eat them. Apparently we're getting a new dog sometime soon.
I dunno.
Well. New Year's is almost here. Hope everyone had a good holiday already.
