A "Quiet" Weekend

We had a quiet weekend here at the Aerie. Until the bears showed up.

I did some birding on Saturday with the Audubon group at Hills Creek State Park. Saw three new (for the year) species and had a good time with friends and acquaintances. The campgrounds were crowded with folks getting a good start to the summer.

Sunday morning Terry and I were going to go to the firehouse for breakfast but discovered they weren't doing it for some reason. As a result, we ended up at Mickey D's. The fire company usually serves breakfast the last Sunday of the month but they must have changed up due to the holiday weekend. Later in the afternoon, I saw and heard an Indigo Bunting in the poplar trees bordering the yard of the Aerie. That's a fourth "new" species for the weekend. Then, as we went to bed with the windows open, we heard the distinct "Who, who, who cooks for you all" of a Barred Owl. I had heard them during the winter, but I never recorded it on eBird so that made a fifth species. I'm still way behind others in the number of species seen this year in Tioga County, PA (number 7 on the top ten birders) but I'm climbing up the list.

Terry and I also spent some time going through boxes of "stuff" to put together the things we are bringing to Rick and Jess when we head west. The amount of stuff--there's a lot of "stuff"--would seem to indicate that we'll have to take the Tundra instead of the the Jeep Compass.

Monday, I cut the grass. Although it's filled with weeds--mostly plantain, dandelions, wild strawberries and hawkweed--it sure looks better when it gets cut. (If I ever used a "weed-and-feed" product, I'd have no "lawn" at all.)

We paused to remember those men and women who gave their all defending our rights and liberties and the rights and liberties of others around the world.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Lt. Col. John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Expeditionary Force

Although it was just the two of us, we did the traditional barbeque for lunch: hamburgers, potato salad, macaroni salad, corn on the cob followed by some strawberry pie.

A little after 6:30 PM we had company. Two fairly large black bears. One came up on the deck to check the bird feeders which had not yet been taken inside. That bear returned to the lawn when I made some noise and tussled a bit with the other bear. Then they bolted into the woods...briefly. They returned one at a time. One passed in front of the house checking out the spilled bird seed below the deck. The other moved to the rear of the house. The first eventually disappeared over the bank behind the RV. The second circled the house and also went over the bank before heading back into the woods in the direction from which they originally came.

Black Bear One

Black Bear Two

Black bear breeding season starts about now. I didn't pry into the sexes of the two bears, but Bear Two was slightly larger than the Bear One and was constantly sniffing the air. And had a funny, goofy look on it's face. Just saying.

Memorial Day, 2010

Thank You.

Memorial Day

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I've seen several bloggers and talking TV heads the last few days touting the meme of saying "Thank You" to serving military and veterans this weekend as part of the Memorial Day celebration. Some went so far as to stress that folks take time out from family fun activities to do so.

Now that's swell and all, but that display of gratitude should be done on a regular basis whenever one meets an active, or retired military person. It should be noted that we have a holiday for just such a public display of gratitude. It's called "Veterans' Day" and occurs on November 11th.



Memorial Day is set aside to give thanks to those who gave all in the service of our country. Men and women who's lives were cut short in their efforts to protect and defend the ideals of freedom. These are the ones who gave all in service to the United States of America.

Monday is a day for the rest of us to give thanks and remember these fallen heroes.

Regardless of what you are doing on Monday, at 3 PM stop and pause for a moment of silence. And remember. Someone somewhere paid the ultimate price so you and I can enjoy the freedoms we have today.


Let us remember and strive to see that they did not die in vain.

A day at the Aerie

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve been having a tough time sleeping. Actually, I’m getting about 7 hours of sleep it’s just that I’m starting too damn early. Last night I hit the sack about 9 PM and was awake at 4 AM. Do the math. That’s 7 hours of sleep.

Obviously my circadian clock is all screwed up and I’m going to have to do something to straighten it out. I’ll probably resort to a couple of fingers of Glenlivet over ice about 9 PM tonight and, by slowly sipping that 15-year-old Scotch I’ll be ready for the sack about 10 PM. Even if it doesn’t work and I still wake up early, I’ll at least have enjoyed my nightcap.

So what did I do this morning? Well, it’s true that I first woke up at 4 AM and tried to go back to sleep after a visit to the bathroom. When that didn’t work out (getting back to sleep), and Chester started to howl outside the door (Can cats “howl”?), I went downstairs and fed the cats, and the birds, and made myself a cup of coffee. Then I sat down and fired up the ole laptop and started surfing the net. Of course, much of what was new was posted late last night except for the news. And, being as it was Sunday night, there wasn’t much new.

I sat and listened to the birds and watched the sun come up. And while it rose, I thought of all those men and women who have died in service to our great country and who did not get to see as many sunrises as they should have. I said a silent prayer for them and their families and said thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice so the USA could continue to be the envy of the world.

Terry finally came downstairs around 7 AM and did her thing with tea and TV. We had some breakfast (Cheerios for me, Special K for her) and then we went down to Agway for some more bird feed (they’re going through 50 pounds of black oil sunflower seeds in two weeks, which is better than back in February when it was 50 pounds in a week to 10 days), a rose bush and a pot for some Coral Bells Terry bought last week for the front door.

We got back to the Aerie around 11:30 AM (we took the scenic route home) and the cats wanted to be fed again. Hey, why not. They got breakfast at 5 AM and their tummies have a schedule.

I went out to move some more soil about and plant some bulbs/corms for some Liatris I picked up from Agway. Terry grilled some burgers for our lunch and then came outside to repot her Coral Bells and plant her rose bush. I helped dig the rose bush hole in the rocky fill we have and moved some more dirt from the rapidly shrinking pile in front of the house. When I got to 10 or so wheelbarrow loads I called it quits for the day. I’ve about 10 more loads to move but I’m running out of places to put it. I want to have some of it retrievable for when we decided to put in another bed or two. I’ve already filled the areas behind the retaining walls, the raised bed in front and a makeshift bed beyond the bird feeders. I’ve also put quite a bit in the “compost” bin. (In reality, the compost bin is a couple of logs forming a U into which I’ve dumped grass clippings, sawdust, some vegetable peelings, etc. and about a dozen wheelbarrows of soil.) I’ll probably use what soil that’s left as top dressing. I’ll first rake up what stones have popped to the surface on our “lawn”, broadcast the soil with the shovel, rake it with a leaf rake, spread some starter fertilizer, and then over seed with some grass. With luck, it won’t get washed away in the first thunderstorm and even if it does, it might end up on the lower shelf where it can add nutrients for the grass that’s there. Of course, if I put some stone or landscape timbers at the bottom of the slope and fill the area behind with soil we could hold back some of the erosion and have more places for plants. I believe I’m going to have to learn to pace myself.

Liatris Bed

10 or 12 wheelbarrows full of soil on top of some leaves and grass clippings have made a nice deep 6' x 4' bed at the base of the slope by the power line.The 30 Liatris I put in here will, with luck supply food for butterflies and hummingbirds. I'll probably edge the front with stones. Lord knows we have enough to go around!
Compost Pile

Grass clippings, sawdust, soil and some kitchen scraps (here it's cantaloupe rinds) all held in place by some logs. I know I should be burying the kitchen scraps but 1) the rabbits like the cantaloupe 2) the raccoons haven't been around and 3) neither has the bear. 4) opossums are not to be feared 5) skunks are welcome (as long as they don't spray!)

(I really don't have a great deal of kitchen scraps in here anyway.)

One Sub-zero rose, yellow

Why do I feel this will be a continuing project.

The incredible shrinking dirt pile.

This was a huge mound of dirt when it arrived last fall. Three tarps barely covered it. Now, one is more than enough. I've been whittling it down a little at a time and can see the end is near!