deponti

First: There's some problem and my photos taken on the 30D are not downloading, so these pics are from my trusty MLC2, and it was VERY low-light, remember...so forgive the grains in the pics...!

I found, on the net, that

Mark Glenshaw





is a self-confessed GHOF (Great Horned Owl Follower)...and I emailed him, and on Sunday evening, we met up at Forest Park, and as the sun set, he took me across the park for what turned out to be a wonderful evening of sighting and observing the


GREAT HORNED OWL couple that he has been observing over the years.


( Charles and Sarah .... )


I left the place with Mark, and left Forest Park to the care of the Great Horned Owl:

It was interesting, earlier this week, to have

Stephen Silha

and his friend and co-facilitator


Peggy Holman

Steve is very caught up right now with two projects:

Journalism That Matters

and the

Big Joy Project

I do subscribe to the concept of Big Joy..in fact, I think I have been a practitioner for many decades now! I believe in experiencing the joys of life thoroughly!

However, it was the former that brought them to Missouri, as the

journalism school at the University of Missouri

is rated one of the best in the country

Funding, as usual, is the crux of any initiative, and they are hoping that good things...and some big joy...will come out of their meetings in Columbia, Mo!

Steve is one of the people who came over to attend the DnA wedding, and it was good to exchange notes with him in the very limited time that we had. And Peggy is a fascinating person, widely-travelled, and with a very interesting perspective on her work.

Changing journalism proactively, when forms of communication are changing so rapidly in today's world, is indeed a great challenge.

Here they are, at our front door:





Then they decided to do a Big Joy photograph!




I had tried to make a trip to Seattle and Vashon Island last month, but it didn't work out...so it was great to have Steve visit us instead!

I know squirrels are extremely common animals, and are sometimes regarded as pests, but they are so interesting to watch!

They watch you from the ground...




They watch you as they climb the tree quickly, to get out of your way...




They continue watching you carefully after they are in the tree (oh, I really loved photographing that beady little eye!)





But when they *think* you're not watching....they do have fun!





And..you want to know what traction is?







Here's asakiyume's post about a squirrel and his tail...

I really wish I could write fantasy the way she, or inspirethoughts, do...but I guess I am a very factual and dry person; my fantasy life is very poor indeed!

We went to the Missouri Baptist Hospital today for A, and on the way in, we saw this sad sight, of a dead bird...





And when I came home and switched on my laptop and went to my LJ friends' list, the first post I saw was one with these words:


" the very same day I wrote (a) poem, I saw this dead bird underneath a car in my parking lot. So weird and scary! Yes, because the poem I wrote was about a bird that fell down and broke into pieces eventually losing its life ... And then I see this dead bird for real."

Now that's co-incidence on co-incidence, indeed!

yathin...I couldn't find a match for this bird; could it be a caged songbird that had flown away, and was therefore killed by some predator? Or perhaps, died of the unaccustomed cold, and the inability to find food?

Thank you, Das, for sending this to me!

http://bengaloorubanter.blogspot.com/2007/06/bengalooru-slonguaze-dictionary.html


Loved it...

It was a "heritage" experience....


http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/906


Actually, since my MLC is not yet repaired, this photo was taken by D C Manohar, and the image is a large one....only half of it fits here.

To see the entire photograph, click here

Another lovely morning at Ragihalli on Sunday followed this lovely Saturday....

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/839



http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/844-who-watches



http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/829-some-beauties


http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/808-mobile-coffee


I do love going about my city, seeing what I can see....

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/796-a-big


Instead of spouting rhetoric at their students, this school has taught by example!


And an interesting thing that happened to us today...


http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/795-spreading-the

Please read my writeup about the Heritage Walk today when it appears on Citizen Matters in a day or two..then I will put up added photographs here, too. The walk was organized by INTACH in the Avenue Road area, and for the first time, the shopkeepers and residents of the area engaged actively with the walkers!


Here are some "Oriental lilies" I got for KM....there's a new young Bengali florist close to my home, and the heady scent of the lovely lilies is wonderful...and the lilies smile across the room at the little Gerbera shining suns that are very dear to me....




Went for our monthly quiz, had a gala time in the evening, too.

Life..is full, and good....long may it last! Hope all of you had weekends as enjoyable.

Got this from the blog of Pratima Jayaram :


http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/


Loved tranquillizing the sheep, but I can't get past "bobbing bobcat"! :)

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/766



Here are some Nature paintings by Ms. Kalavathi of Mysore whose nephew said the paintings were not for sale, but were just being shown:




It was a very enjoyable afternoon....

Here's someone who is getting to be a keen naturalist/birder, so...tarataraaa.....


http://srgopalan.livejournal.com/587.html

Do visit his LJ and LEAVE COMMENTS you nasty never-write-a-thing lazybones dear readers.

Here's an image I liked a lot...


http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/751


Today, I met someone who was my neighbour many years ago; he remarried after the death of his wife. My friend remarked, "Why does he want to marry at that age?" And I took exception, because I cannot believe that any age is the wrong age to marry. If one needs someone by one's side, for whatever reason, and is willing to make the commitment for it, and feels happy in the relationship, should age be a bar to that?

I just cannot agree with those who feel that marriage is only for a particular age group. And I object to the age-ism that unthinkingly makes such pronouncements.

What do you all feel? Must all adults turn more and more spiritual as they age (well, that's what Hinduism says...after grihastaashrama, comes vAnaprasthAshramA, heading towards sannyAsam or total renunciation) , or should it (as I believe) be a choice that they can, and should, make themselves?

I went along to Lalbagh this morning, and looked for the flowering Philippine Jade Vine....here's my blog post about it (along with the Asian Paradise Flycatcher, which is another spectacular sight you can see at Lalbagh if you are lucky)....


http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/731


That is the original colour of the flower...isn't it exquisite!

I found no trouble at all in being away from the telephone, the mobile, the internet for 8 days.....

But coming back and catching up with the mountains of mail, the messages, the news, the work...*that* is a different, and difficult, story!

Why can't everything sort of get done by magic when one is away, so that the euphoria of the trip doesn't evaporate quite so fast?!

Will be catching up with my friends' list....hopefully soon....

I *love* walking through the road when it is festival time; here are a few photos that I put up on the Citizen Matters blog...



check it out


Our footpaths, shaded by trees, are FULL of life and commerce and Bangalore politicians want to eliminate them...

Anonymous art can be unexpected and beautiful..


take a look at this

I wanted to crop the photograph to show only the face..but decided to keep the background in, too!


Off to Assam for several days... I know my LJ friends will pen all their most interesting, awesome and intriguing posts immediately I am off the net!

Wish me lots of luck with sightings in Kaziranga....

Here's a post from prashanthks...


http://prashanthks.livejournal.com/125431.html

Do you agree? I don't...


Since I don't spread rumours, don't pontificate (well, ONE post about security is surely not too bad), don't add grist to the news-ad-infinitum mill, I don't think there's anything wrong in my blogging.

In fact, I think that a wall of silence will probably *also* work in the terrorists' favour, that they have been able to stop normal activity. Carrying on with one's normal activity, to me, is the best way to thwart the terrorists.

So...here's my blogpost for the day; this is one of the few Saturdays when I have not gone birding, so I am at home.


Sorry Kuku....

I want to say, I am thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by what's happening...all the you-and-me people who can't go on with normality...

Here's how the cleanup went...

http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/634-a-plastic






At Muthathi village, we saw this newborn calf.... you can still see its umblical cord!




( some more images of Muthathi here )

The beauty of the Muthathi/Bheemeshwari road was awe-inspiring:





A great day, spent in the lovely outdoors, helping (hopefully) to keep it clean..and green!



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