1. I made the revisions to my ms and have sent it back to the critiquer for (I hope) her final blessing. And then I will start the process again. This is me, waiting for word:


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Late summer, when the heat is on and the humidity high, is the time when West Nile Virus again rears its nasty head. We see cases of it every year, although it's nothing now like the dreaded stretch of 2003-2005. Those were terrible years. WNV killed thousands and thousands of birds. The most visible were the raptors, followed by crows and bluejays ( Read more... )

We were finally able to release six birds last week. All the stars aligned: good weather, mild temps and a good long-range forecast. The way birds react to sudden freedom, though, never ceases to amaze me.

My favorite releases are those who take one look around, give a loud rebel yell and launch into the sky like guided missiles. They fly in dizzy ( Read more... )

1)  The sun came out this afternoon, after days of torrential storms - what my brother would call "real toad stranglers." Wildlife hasn't fared so well in this kind of weather. We're seeing a lot of bunnies and small birds coming in with pneumonia. Anything that can't get up out of the wet grass, especially on chilly evenings, is at risk for that.

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My latest wip is somewhat different for me in that I have no outline. None whatsoever. Most of the time I have at least some vague idea where I'm going, but there's been so much stress and botheration involved with other aspects of life in the past few months that it's been fun this time around to just let my imagination follow its own bliss, ( Read more... )

There is a sea of little purple violets everywhere in the grass right now, and the wisteria is so heavy this year, it's weighing down the trellis. I have to jostle the bumblebees for space just to get a sniff, but when the breeze is just right, all I have to do is stand downwind:



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1) We released an adult male Goldfinch this morning. The guy who found him and brought him to us is very cool, a rough-and-tumble ex-Marine who served in Vietnam and now works in construction. You'd like him! He's loud and physical and sometimes claps me on the shoulder so hard, he almost knocks me over, but he has a heart of gold. He is forever ( Read more... )

 
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