Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Kestrel Who Came To Visit

Jigs found her.  She was hopping around the pasture down by the barn.  Quickly, I called Jigs away from her.  Making a bee line for the tack room, she could move well, but could not fly.


Missy is the smallest of the falcons... an American Kestrel.  Read more about her type here:   

It turned into a wonderful learning experience and leading to  
perhaps a license to rehab other injured birds such as Missy.
I have a new admiration for the raptors that live out in my pasture.


Missy is now back in the wild, with her injured wing completely healed.  When I turned her lose, she turned as if to say "thanks"!  And flew to the nearest tree line.  I think I still see her coming to visit now and again!


Friday, January 20, 2012


Native American Legends

How the Buffalo were released on Earth

A Comanche and Apache Legend

In the first days a powerful being named Humpback owned all the buffalo. He kept them in a corral in the mountains north of San Juan, where he lived with his young son.
Not one buffalo would Humpback release for the people on Earth, nor would he share any meat with those who lived near him.
Coyote decided that something should be done to release the buffalo from Humpback's corral. He called the people to a council. "Humpback will not give us any buffalo," Coyote said. "Let us all go over to his corral and make a plan to release them."
They camped in the mountains near Humpback's place, and after dark they made a careful inspection of his buffalo enclosure. The stone walls were too high to climb, and the only entrance was through the back door of Humpback's house.
After four days Coyote summoned the people to another council, and asked them to offer suggestions for releasing the buffalo. "There is no way," said one man. "To release the buffalo we must go into Humpback's house, and he is too powerful a being for us to do that."
"I have a plan," Coyote said. "For four days we have secretly watched Humpback and his young son go about their daily activities. Have you not observed that the boy does not own a pet of any kind?"
The people did not understand what this had to do with releasing the buffalo, but they knew that Coyote was a great schemer and they waited for him to explain. "I shall change myself into a killdeer," Coyote said. "In the morning when Humpback's son goes down to the spring to get water, he will find a killdeer with a broken wing. He will want this bird for a pet and will take it back into the house. Once I am in the house I can fly into the corral, and the cries of a killdeer will frighten the buffalo into a stampede. They will come charging out through Humpback's house and be released upon the Earth."
The people thought this was a good plan, and the next Morning when Humpback's son came down the path to the spring he found a killdeer with a crippled wing. As Coyote had foreseen, the boy picked up the bird and carried it into the house.
"Look here," the boy cried. "This is a very good bird!"
"It is good for nothing!" Humpback shouted. "All the birds and animals and people are rascals and schemers." Above his fierce nose Humpback wore a blue mask, and through its slits his eyes glittered. His basket headdress was shaped like a cloud and was painted black with a zig-zag streak of yellow to represent lightning. Buffalo horns protruded from the sides.
"It is a very good bird," the boy repeated.
"Take it back where you found it!" roared Humpback, and his frightened son did as he was told.
As soon as the killdeer was released it returned to where the people were camped and changed back to Coyote. "I have failed," he said, "but that makes no difference. I will try again in the morning. Perhaps a small animal will be better than a bird."
The next morning when Humpback's son went to the spring, he found a small dog there, lapping at the water. The boy picked up the dog at once and hurried back into the house. "Look here!" he cried. "What a nice pet I have."
"How foolish you are, boy!" Humpback growled. "A dog is good for nothing. I'll kill it with my club."
The boy held tight to the dog, and started to run away crying.
"Oh, very well," Humpback said. "But first let me test that animal to make certain it is a dog. All animals in the world are schemers." He took a coal of fire from the hearth and brought it closer and closer to the dog's eyes until it gave three rapid barks. "It is a real dog," Humpback declared. "You may keep it in the buffalo corral, but not in the house."
This of course was exactly what Coyote wanted. As soon as darkness fell and Humpback and his son went to sleep, Coyote opened the back door of the house. Then he ran among the buffalo, barking as loud as he could. The buffalo were badly frightened because they had never before heard a dog bark. When Coyote ran nipping at their heels, they stampeded toward Humpback's house and entered the rear door. The pounding of their hooves awakened Humpback, and although he jumped out of bed and tried to stop them, the buffalo smashed down his front door and escaped.
After the last of the shaggy animals had galloped away, Humpback's son could not find his small dog. "Where is my pet?" he cried. "Where is my little dog?"
"That was no dog," Humpback said sadly. "That was Coyote the Trickster. He has turned loose all our buffalo."
Thus it was that the buffalo that were released to scatter over all the Earth.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Camellias Are Beginning to Put On Their Show!

The peppermints are first... and with this fantastic weather we have been having...
the bees were in full force today!  The lovely rain we received this evening
should help them really put on a show.
 Like a beautiful pink camellia that's how you appear to me

That bloom in chilly August on it's dark green mother tree

So bright and fresh and pretty in the wintery wind and rain
That's how you've always looked to me and that's how you will remain.

 The beautiful camellia flower that blooms fresh and young today

In two or three weeks if that long will have gone into decay

For flowers have such a brief span they quickly fade away
But in sixty years of living your beauty with you stay.


 I feel privileged and grateful for to have you as a friend

And I will love you and respect you until my life will end

You are warm and kind hearted and well loved and well known
And it's due to you and to you only that into a better person I have grown.



You are wise and quite intelligent and beautiful to behold

And you don't have a gray hair on your head and you never will grow old
And on your sixtieth birthday you still look beautiful to me

Like the young and pretty pink flower on the green camellia tree. 

Francis Duggan

Monday, December 26, 2011

Season's Greetings!


Merry Christmas!!
from
The Flying Orchid





Monday, October 3, 2011

Within My Garden, rides a Bird

by Emily Dickinson

Within my Garden, rides a Bird
Upon a single Wheel --
Whose spokes a dizzy Music make
As 'twere a travelling Mill --
He never stops, but slackens
Above the Ripest Rose --
Partakes without alighting
And praises as he goes,
Till every spice is tasted --
And then his Fairy Gig
Reels in remoter atmospheres --
And I rejoin my Dog.
And He and I, perplex us,
If positive, 'twere we --
Or bore the Garden in the Brain
This Curiosity --
But He, the best Logician,
Refers my clumsy eye --
to just vibrating Blossoms!
An Exquisite Reply!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Waiting On Spring

Moon Shadow wants to know when the green stuff gets here?
Me too!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

New Arrivals

Not growing in the garden... but out in the pasture!
The newest addition to our horse family...

Moon Shadow.

A beautiful Straight Egyptian, Al Khamsa Arabian filly.
Pictured here at 12 hours old.
Mom is very proud... and so am I!