Category: Animals

Whiteout

Timothy Price66 Comments

A storm rolled in this afternoon whiting out the Sandias.

The Sandias are somewhere in the whiteout.

Daddy Owl found a nice triangle in the cottonwood that offered a little protection from the wind and sleet.

I called to Mama Owl and she put up an ear tuft for me.

There were about a hundred Robins hopping, lying around, and foraging on the levee.

A pair of Robins.

I could only get about a dozen in the telephoto frame. They were tiny dots with wider angles under the drab light under the clouds.

Squadron of fighter ducks.

The pTeradactyl in the clear water ditch.

He decided I was too close and flew a few hundred feet down the ditch.

He felt he was at a safe distance obviously not wanting to leave the Clearwater ditch and the cover of the trees.

Surround Clouds

Timothy Price55 Comments

North

South

Southeast

West

East

Daddy Owl has been working hard watching over and feeding Mama Owl while she sits on her eggs.

He was nodding off this afternoon.

ZZZZZZZ

“I was not nodding off! I had an itch I needed to scratch. Stupid Paparazzo!”

Daddy Owl was up a little higher on a new perch tonight that has a really good view of Mama Owl on the nest.

Wood Duck Daze

Timothy Price62 Comments

When I went out on a walk this morning, I found Daddy Owl in the tree he sits in when he watches over the owlets. Mama Owl’s ear tufts barely stuck up above the edge of the hole in the tree. A few cranes flew over close to the tops of the cottonwood trees. Most of the cranes have headed north. Only a few cranes are holding out.

Then I saw something moving in the cottonwoods. It was a female Wood Duck hopping and flying around between branches. A male Wood Duck soon followed. That was the first of three pairs of Wood Ducks I saw in the cottonwoods as I walked in the bosque this morning.

A couple of months ago there were some birders looking for the elusive Wood Ducks. I told them they were too early. They looked at me like I was crazy. The birders acted like the Wood Ducks are rare. Well, they were quite rare in the middle of the winter, but they are not rare now.

I took a lot of photos of the Wood Duck pairs. I was thinking about the best way to show a lot of Wood Duck photos and decided I’d write a song and put the photos to music. The song is not very polished, but I had fun doing it. I hope you enjoy Wood Duck Daze and the all photos of the Wood Ducks.

La La La La Llorona

Timothy Price70 Comments

I presented my paper Quinientos años de lágrimas: The persistence of La Llorona — 16th Century to Present at The 52nd Annual Convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association this afternoon. The convention was scheduled to be held in Philadelphia, PA, but like so many things in our world of covid cooties, the organizers decided it was best to do a virtual conference. That was a wise decision, but it certainly changes the dynamics of a conference. I thought it was fitting to add the above parody I posted last year.

The last warning sliver moon in March.Sasha: “Do you like my La Llorona eyes?”

Marble: “No Sasha! This is how you make La Lorona eyes!”

Neither of you has it right. You need to be crying. Sasha & Marble: “Cats don’t cry! Stupid La Llorona!”

Silver: “La Llorona? Meh!”

Spunk: “No stinking La Llorona will get to me behind these bars!”

Glenda: “What’s that you say?”

“La la la La Llorona?”

Loki: “I’m not impressed!”

“Talk to the paws and claws La Llorona!”

Gwendolyn: “Yeah! Talk to the paws!”

Daddy Owl: “I don’t see no stinking La Llorona! What’s that you say? La Llorona can shapeshift into an owl? Ha ha ho ho hoo who. That’s a Hoot!”

A look Back

Timothy Price51 Comments

What was left of my Yamaha 250cc Enduro after I crashed doing an Evel Knievel type jump in 1973.

While I was looking for some photos I had sneaked in the Sistine Chapel many years ago and did not find, I found the above photo I had been looking for for many years of my motorcycle after I had a spectacular crash doing high jumps. I thought the photo was lost. What happened is that after flying about 15 feet in the air, I landed on the front wheel first. Surprisingly the impact didn’t bend the front wheel, but it did torque the front forks, broke the frame under the gas tank, and bent the downtube on the frame by the engine. If I had collision insurance on it back then it would have been considered a total loss. What was even more surprising is that I was relatively unhurt by the incident. If I remember correctly, the impact split my helmet, which would have been my head if I wasn’t wearing a helmet. My friend, Mike Rhoades, who was watching from another vantage point rode his motorcycle over and said: “That was cool. I want to see you do that again!” There was no replay, as we had to find a few strands of baling wire to twist together so he could tow me home.

One of the first stories Joel Lewis will tell people about us is how I rode up the dunes with Joel on the back of my motorcycle at full throttle (about 70 mph) and how we flew through the air like madmen. The first story Mike would tell people was about my spectacular crash, also. My wild motorcycle riding gave people lasting memories.

After the crash, I took the motorcycle to Mr. Haagenson’s shop and he helped me bend the frame back into shape, line it up, and weld it back together. Then I took the engine apart, rebuilt it, souped it up, painted it black, got a tuned exhaust, a desert tank, new fenders, and made it into a really fast and cool-looking dirtbike for the time. It wasn’t long after that Yamaha introduced motocross bikes with mono shocks that we taller, faster, and much better at high jumping. A few years later I got a Yamaha 500cc Enduro and then graduated to a 750cc street bike.

The same motorcycle after I got the frame straightened out, and rebuilt it with new hardware.

I also found this self-portrait from 1979. I had a lot of muscle in those days.

Nora, the mama owl to the north, still sitting on her eggs, which should be hatching out soon. I did not see Osric, daddy owl to the north.

Moma Owl showing the top of her head and her ear tufts this morning.

Daddy Owl giving me a one-eyed look this evening.