Birds: Big, Small and Cassowaries



Photo taken with cell phone

 I thoroughly enjoyed reading Birdology by Sy Montgomery. I learned a lot about birds, and she made it all seem fascinating.

One of the most intriguing birds she wrote about were the cassowaries, large creatures which can be as tall as 5 ft. and are descended from dinosaurs.

The author mentions that she had traveled to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh specifically to see the remains of one of these often-dangerous birds. Well, since the museum is just down the street a ways we visited and found this stuffed version of a cassowary on display with other bird species. Cassowaries can be found these days in Australia and New Guinea.

But in the Museum's new Dinosaur in Their Time exhibit, we saw the skeletal remains of this bird's predecessor, which is a lot longer, taller and even more mean-looking if that's possible.

If you like birds, take a look at Birdology. It's a fun read.

Introducing the Boom This! Boomeys

You may have noticed that within the past couple of days the header for this blog changed. We added the "little people" as I like to call them which have enhanced my website at BoomThis.com. for a few years. We worked hard at that time to find just the right little people for each of the pages on the site.

Since we had moved them over to this blog and they are even more front-and-center than before, I began to search for a name for them. Last night we were out with a group of friends and on the wine bottle's label we ordered was the answer to my quest:  Little Boomey. The wine, from Australia, has a little boomerang on the label, hence the name.

So from now on the clever little characters will be called Boomeys! Perfect.

Will this bother you or not?

Walking last week at a local park, I realized that the huge light displays which are part of a multi-million light show at the park every winter are still in place. It's the first of April today, and I know that the county workers usually begin putting the metal scafolding and strings of lights up as early as September for the holiday show. That doesn't leave much time from now till the fall to take the lights down and have them in place again next November for the thousands of cars which will make a donation to drive through the park.

I wondered how I felt about this. The lights do look a little out of place now, but they will really be noticeable in the summer when free outdoor concerts are held every Sunday evening, drawing thousands to sit on the grass and party.

It's common knowledge that the previous sponsors of this light extravaganza backed out because of the hgh cost of maintaining the show. The county stepped in to save the annual event, but had no way to make up the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed.

So it could be that the county will just leave things status quo until it comes time to light the ligths again in November and voila! There will be a light show.

What do you think? Would seeing giant unlighted holiday ornaments all year round bother you? Or could you learn to ignore them and be glad that your taxes haven't gone up to cover the cost of dismantling the show again this year?

The Wedding Season Upon Us

At this time of year, thoughts turn to weddings. We spent some time at our last book club meeting talking about weddings, something women never get enough of it seems.

This year is extra special because there will be a Royal Wedding next month. Wedding afficionados will hopefully get their fill of romance and pageantry with the wedding of William and Kate.

We hope they or their planners are reading this blog, because we are offering information that will come in quite handy for them -- and any of the rest of you who are planning a marital event.

Yvonne Phillips. a Feng Shui master, provides some helpful tips to keep any wedding balanced and harmonious. To learn more,  read this article at BoomThis.com.

Success Finally!

I have finally been able to arrange for my blog readers to get an email when I post a new entry on one of the blogs. This had turned out to be way more complicated than it needed to be. Which is why Google/Blogger.com figured out a very slick, easy way to accomplish what had been so difficult.

I love my readers and know they really try to keep up with all of my thoughts and jottings and for that I am very grateful. But now it will be easier than ever to stay in touch.

And for that I am glad!

Shake Things Up

Have you taken your daily vitamin and then not remembered if you did or not? Brushed your teeth and then done it again? Driving around, do you have to stop and think about where you are and how you got there?

We all tend to zone out when it comes to doing our routine tasks, but what's the fun in that? To stay more alert to what you are doing in each moment, try some of the following tips:

• Put your pants on with the left leg first.
• Park in different spots so you have to pay attention to where your car is.
• Make a new recipe for dinner.
• Switch the contents of your drawers: Put your socks where your undergarments are and vice versa.
• Read a book about a subject you haven't been interested in before.
• Take a walk in a different location.

Shake things up a little. No more auto pilot!

First Moments of Spring



Spring flowers appearing in San Francisco, soon to be here!

 It's 72 degrees here and I am sitting outside on the deck. There is not much green to be seen in my view, and a pretty heady wind is blowing. But there is no denying that it feels like spring. Hallelujah!

Last night was the first night I could crank open the window above my sink and feel the warm sweet air filling the kitchen. I always relish that first day when the house is too warm and I can cool it down by cracking the window for a short while. Since it is still mid-March, the outside air eventually got too cold and I had to close the window. But this is a true harbinger of spring for me.

I don't know what your first impressions of spring are, but I hope you enjoy them. The full-fledged season of rebirth and all of its beauty will be here soon. Can't wait.