WHY A SQUIRREL'S-EYE VIEW MIGHT BE JUST WHAT YOU NEED RIGHT NOW

It does us good to occasionally look at the world through someone else's eyes, even if those eyes are small, black, and beady. Where is your focus today? Is it on your to-do list, your smart phone, your work, or your worries? Spring surrounds us and so do little creatures whose perspective can refresh our own. Unlike humans, they don't fret over situations they can't control. Take a deep breath and feel the stress slip away as you tour my Tacoma, Washington, garden from a squirrel's viewpoint.

Whew! That made me hungry, and we all know what squirrels like best.

Thanks for taking time to have some fun today.

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November Photo Tour of Point Defiance Park

Here in Tacoma on what some call "Black Friday," the clouds shared the sky with November sunshine, giving us a nice break from the rain. If you've had enough of shopping, traffic, and rushing to catch some elusive bargain, remember that in the background of our lives nature moves at its own perfect pace, whether or not you notice. But shouldn't you?

Come along for a breath of fresh air and some serenity through today's photo tour of our beloved local treasure: Point Defiance. Even though many readers know this place, those who don't live around here might enjoy the journey. We'll start out at the ferry landing and take a walk along the waterfront,  then back up through the woods. (Video included.)

Let's wander over to the boat house, just past Anthony's restaurant. It's a great place to enjoy all the action, especially during salmon season, when proud fishermen return with their catch. You can also watch the ferry on its way to Vashon Island and observe seagulls and other birds up close.

This video is best watched on YouTube. Just click on the YouTube logo.

No James Bond action in this video, but it offers what we too rarely take the time to do, and that is to pause long enough in our busy lives to quietly and patiently observe nature, in this case the behavior of seagulls. If you are reading this far from your Northwest home, here's a chance to watch them again and hear their haunting cries.

A long paved walkway tucked under the hill on the point's northern tip makes a lovely place to wander. Shady in the summer and sometimes downright cold in winter, it can be busy or bare. On this day, I enjoyed the solitude.

Bare tree trunks clustered here offer their own beauty.

This must be some kind of lichen.

We are approaching Owen Beach.

During the summer, Owen beach swarms with people, dogs, and cars. I like it best in the off season.

These old steps lead uphill from the beach to the road above.

Watch out for cars in the summer, but by November you might have the place to yourself.

The canopy of trees changes with the season. Few leaves remain.

              Ferns grow on tree trunks in the moist, shady environment of a Northwest forest.

Even the deer feel safe from traffic.

                 I followed them through the playground and then they disappeard over the fence.

The flower gardens have been put to bed for the winter and signs tells us that new plantings of bulbs hide deep under the mulch and soil, awaiting spring. However, even these plants now gone to seed offer their own beauty and remind us of the way nature's cycles go on without regard for mankind's folly.

As we officially enter the holiday season, I wish you happiness and peace.

Photos and text copyright 2011 Candace Brown

SONGBIRDS GO DIGITAL

My Tacoma backyard provides pesticide-free habitat for many different songbirds, and sometimes I've wished I could listen to them anytime, anywhere. Now I can. Thanks to the Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology and their Macaulay Library, you can buy a newly digitized collection of 310 songs and calls, representing 57 species of warblers, for only $14.95. If you want to hear birds, but you're nowhere near a tree, just try an MP3. If you download the collection to a device that can show images, you'll even enjoy a photo of each bird.

The Macaulay Library is home to the world's most comprehensive archive of wildlife sounds, and by visiting their website you can even hear samples from this compilation. It was nearly three decades ago that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Borrow Laboratory of Bioacoustics, and Ontario Nature, collaborated on this project. They released "Songs of the Warblers" as an LP in 1985. Now new technology demands an updated version.

"We received numerous requests for this digital release," said the Macaulay Library audio curator, Grey Budney. These MP3 files include not only the sounds of 57 different species of warblers, but also variations of songs and calls, along with a PDF of the original booklet that came with the LP, telling where and when each sound was recorded.

"Knowing the songs of warblers really enhances people's ability to find and identify dozens of stunning warblers species," said Budney. In addition to this collection, Cornell's "All About Birds" website offers bird lovers a treasure trove of delights, including audio, video, ways of participating in their projects, web cams, fun activities for children, and more. In May of 2009, I wrote a blog post about it, which you can read here.


Here in the Pacific Northwest we share our world with several species of warblers, two of which are shown in these photos, both courtesy of Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology and taken by participants in the Great Backyard Bird Counts. The top one is an orange-crowned warbler, photo by Richard Lee. The lower one is a Townsend's warbler photographed by "Craig" in Lake Forest Park, Washington.

Consider buying "Songs of the Warblers" and getting to know some of these little feathered neighbors. They are the best kind; the only noise they make is one of the loveliest in nature, and they'll eat the insects in your garden too. Please just remember to protect them from chemicals and cats, because none of us would want to live in a world without the songs of birds.

Back in Your Own Backyard- the unstructured childhood

Have you played outside today? I remember when every day, except during extreme weather, included playing outside. It ranked up there with the three main features of life as a child: eating, sleeping and going to school, all of which adults controlled. That fact brings me to the distinction everyone seems to be missing these days: PLAY TIME BELONGED TO US.

We owned that open, unstructured time, to do with as we pleased. It made us aware of something larger than ourselves, a world we all belonged in together. The quality of that time, whether it proved to be fun, or not so fun, depended entirely on our own creative imaginations, social skills, and problem solving abilities. It made us healthy and happy.

I feel lucky. We had plenty of open space, beyond just lawn. a big lawn. Our two-and-a-half acres didn’t include woods but did have a huge hay field with grass tall enough to hide in when you’re little and one of many well compacted paths from one neighbor's house to another. Brush and cattails hid a frog pond. We climbed trees, scraped our knees, dug deep enough in our sandbox to capture wiggly earth worms down where the dampness remained. We got dirt under our fingernails. Our play equipment included old blankets, boards, sticks, barrels, ropes, sand, water, mud puddles, tin cans, hammer and nails, etc. It also helped to have a mother who didn’t care if you got dirty as long as you wore your coat and rubber boots, if needed, and washed up before supper. Wasn’t I lucky?

My own sons had a different childhood than mine, of course, but it still contained some of these elements, the most important being unstructured time. They had woods to play in, built “camps” and explored, could walk to a nearby stream, and had safe places to ride bikes without constant supervision. Sure I worried about them, but with some lessons in safety and common sense, they survived, and like my generation, ended the day with rosy cheeks and a good appetite.

When I walk around my Tacoma neighborhood these days I wonder where all the kids are. I see very few. Sometimes they're on the sidewalks on bikes or skateboards or sometimes walking. Often they’re plugged into an iPod or talking on cell phones. I do see them on city playfields participating in organized sports. True, that means fresh air and exercise, but it isn’t the same thing as chasing each other around playing hide and seek or some other made-up game. The place I see them rarely is in their own backyards. Interestingly enough, research shows that even kids in rural areas now spend as much time indoors as city kids. Is it any wonder we now see so many children, including the youngest, with problems like obesity, symptoms of stress, poor attention spans and sleep disturbances? I worry about them, and I’m not alone.

In 2005 a man named Richard Louv published a book of major importance, called Last Child in the Woods-Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. This book became a catalyst for a movement to get kids back outside, and in 2008 Richard Louv was awarded the Audubon Medal. Washington State Parks has joined this cause with its No Child Left Inside program. I've also discovered a great web site called Green Hour, meant as a resource for parents and run by the National Wildlife Federation. Another good one is Let’s Go Outside sponsored by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Just type something like “kids and nature” into your search box and you’ll find more.

I feel sorry for kids living in apartments, but even in the city a vacant lot or stand of trees can mean a place with bugs to catch and rocks and leaves to collect, or room to act out a pretend scenario. Our future depends on the next generation having people who know how to think for themselves, come up with creative solutions, cooperated, and most importantly, care about our planet. All of those come from playing outside. And don’t forget this: it isn’t just for kids. Even if you’re an adult at work when you read this find a minute to GET OUTSIDE and breath some fresh air, feel the refreshing chill of autumn, hear a bird sing. Dig in your garden, rake leaves, go for a walk, have a foot race with a giggling kid. Come on. The sun is shining out there. It’s good for you. Just ask Mom.


Note: Comments are welcome, especially information to share with people living in the Pacific Northwest about this movement in our area. Thanks!
And yes, that's me in the sandbox in 1956.