Nighthawks

Last night I took a late evening stroll up to the 'viewpoint' to ease my aching back. A light drizzle was falling at the tail end of a cold, rainy day. I left my hood off so that I could hear the sounds of the on-coming dusk. My ears soon picked up the 'peent' of a nighthawk. They seem to be more common this year and always remind me of arid evenings in New Mexico. As I neared the top of the knoll I froze beneath a tree branch. I had just noticed a pair of nighthawks flying low and swooping around each other in a frenzied aerobatic dance. I had never seen this behavior before. They are more commonly seen performing their display high in the sky where they dive toward the ground then air-brake with that distinctive 'bbrrrvvvvvt' sound. This behavior kept up for several minutes as the darkness deepened. Their tight flight formation reminded me of jet plane chases through canyons seen in the movies. They actually flew past me at knee height, close enough to hear their wings cutting through the humid air. As their 'peent' calls waned I began to notice a faint different pitched noise to the north and slightly downhill. It was then that I realized I might be close to some young ones on the ground and maybe their display was a warning to me. Or maybe a diversion rather like a Killdeer's broken wing behavior to lure predators away from the 'nest' on the ground. Nighthawks lay their eggs on bare ground and do not build a nest. With this distinct possibility in mind I turned and walked home.

Out There

I decided to go for a hike/jog in the rain/snow through the woods at Indian Canyon. Yeah, I was alone out there...good guess! No bears, no coyote families like I have seen there before nor did I hear any birds. The site of Spokan Chief Garry's last campsite was quiet and serene. He died in 1892 and the site is marked by an aging wooden sign. Actually the trails were not very muddy despite our record rainfall amount for the month of March. So much for April coming in like a lamb! It was still beautiful and the waterfall was the fullest I have ever seen. I hiked up to my car with my hands full of litter and my cheap REI rain-gear full of water.

The Moth & The Crow

Jan and I were in Seattle just before Halloween for conferences. We stayed downtown in a nice hotel and were able to do some exploring whenever we had a free moment or two. We went in a few shops, stopped at a couple pubs and even an art supply store. One afternoon we decided to walk a little north before heading west down the hill to the waterfront. As we stood on a corner waiting for the light to change I noticed a moth flitting about just above us. It proceeded to land on the shoulder of my jacket. Jan tried to brush it off but I stopped her because I wanted to see how long it would stay there. These kinds of moments, especially in a big city, keep me connected to nature. I was strangely comforted. About the same time I noticed a crow that had landed on a street sign not far away. The Corvids are my constant companions and my anchors to Mother Earth. However, I wondered if the appearance of the crow was more than a coincidence. It didn't take long to find out. The light changed and we began to cross the street. The moth lifted off my shoulder and rose in the warm autumn air only to be snatched by the crow just over our heads. The mini nature show was over.

""Parents of infants and toddlers should limit the time their children spend in front of televisions, computers, self-described educational games and even grown-up shows playing in the background, the American Academy of Pediatrics warned on Tuesday. Video screen time provides no educational benefits for children under age 2 and leaves less room for activities that do, like interacting with other people and playing, the group said.

The recommendation, announced at the group’s annual convention in Boston, is less stringent than its first such warning, in 1999, which called on parents of young children to all but ban television watching for children under 2 and to fill out a “media history” for doctor’s office visits. But it also makes clear that there is no such thing as an educational program for such young children, and that leaving the TV on as background noise, as many households do, distracts both children and adults.

” The recommendations are an attempt to be more realistic, given that, between TVs, computers, iPads and smartphones, households may have 10 or more screens.

Still, recent research makes it clear that young children learn a lot more efficiently from real interactions — with people and things — than from situations appearing on video screens. “We know that some learning can take place from media” for school-age children, said Georgene Troseth, a psychologist at Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, “but it’s a lot lower, and it takes a lot longer.”

The new report strongly warns parents against putting a TV in a very young child’s room and advises them to be mindful of how much their own use of media is distracting from playtime. In some surveys between 40 and 60 percent of households report having a TV on for much of the day — which distracts both children and adults, research suggests.

“What we know from recent research on language development is that the more language that comes in — from real people — the more language the child understands and produces later on,” said Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University.

“We believe that parents should be actively involved in determining the media diets of their children,” he said. ""

This was taken from an article posted on yahoo today. I personally think children's minds should be stimulated by direct, hands-on activities until at least 3.5 to 4 years old. Anyone who has studied childhood development will realize how supremely important this is for the brain and nervous system of a young child. You stunt normal development if you fill those hours with passive input that the child is unable to process or understand. Limiting the exposure later in childhood is important as well. I wonder if anyone has done a longitudinal study of school performance in teenagers who have a TV in their room compared to those who do not?

Recently Found Quote

"The journey toward health and sanity is nothing less than an invitation to wake up to the fullness of our lives as if they actually mattered..." -Jon Kabat-Zinn

The Sagan Series (Pt 1) - NASA The Frontier Is Everywhere

Guess What We Did Tonight...

Mullets, T-Ball, vacations and friends/family, some now gone. Anali giving me the evil eye. Mallory preciously goofy at 8 years old. Yep, watching old family videos! Many shots with the video pointed at the ground filming when you thought it was off. Boy,I need to get some more of those 8mm tapes converted to dvds soon.

I miss my 8 and 10 year old little girls but it is great that they turned into such wonderful women who happen to be our two best friends!

I miss you Mom, Uncle Norman, Great Aunt Elsie and Ann O'Grady!