The Terrifying Birds

If anyone knows me well, they know I love animals and have a special place in my heart for birds. I love birds so much that I even did my thesis on "Population Change of Ground Nesting, Migrating Bird in Northeast Ohio", I was told it was a stupid thesis topic. Bird enthusiasts will disagree, birds are an amazing natural indicator of what is happening in our world.

I have loved birds (and animals) since I was very young. I began bird watching, which i was teased about later in life, when I was in 5 or 6th grade, going out on excursions to very exotic bird sanctuaries in tropical southern India. I was so lucky, all the birds I saw. I am yet to get my hands on really good binoculars though I still bird watch. I hope to get a telephoto lens to capture these loves of mine in flight, nesting, up on their high perches, and gracefully gliding over the lake... *sigh*

Birds are amazing we learned how to fly from them, and have so much more to study and learn. They are a big part of our eco system even though they may migrate, or just eat bugs. Birds rock! Near me we have a regularly nesting pair of Bald Eagles, many a Great Blue Heron rookeries. One bird that has eluded me time and time again is the Cerulean warbler, which is also on the endangered species list. It travels from South American Peruvian Alps, to Ohio every year! What a trooper!

Hard to spot this pretty fella

One bird I am in love with is the Indigo bunting, I saw it first when running, in Florida, the painted bunting is a sight to see. If you go to the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge near Boynton Beach, there are apparently tonnes by the visitor center early in the morning.

Everyone thinks birders are weird, but we share a passion for passively observing animals. Yes the movie "A Big Year" is very very accurate in portraying birders, however with added humor and drama. We just love looking for birds, the thrill is in seeing what you have studied about, seeing this creature who sees no countries, but the skies, trees, and two very different places are its home. This creature is a true traveler, traveling light, solo or with family, through many a peril, it gets home to the same branch with no street address or mail box... What a wonder.

Now you know I love birds, however I am sad to say I accidentally killed one, a turkey vulture. I was going 80 mph on the highway through West Virginia, and this bird decided to just land in the middle of my lane, and I could not change lanes because a car was in close proximity in that lane behind me. It got hit.

With a wingspan of 160–183 cm (63–72 in), a length of 62–81 cm (24–32 in), and weight of 0.8 to 2.3 kg (1.8 to 5.1 lb), this is no small bird... but a predatory raptor.

It's not a pretty bird but it didn't deserve to die. I have been reading the Mahabharata and learned that things happen for a reason, maybe it had killed a baby bunny. Who knows. I still mourn this bird. You might think - "Oh silly girl." It was a life, a friend, a creature that I love and now it's mush. The bird did jump in the middle of the road though, and I was as helpless as the bird. There were two other people in the car, so I had to do what was safe for the humans, cause that is what normal people do.

When I drive alone, I do break for birds, squirrels, and other creatures that decided to cross the road. Recently a lot of birds have been "suicide flying" or "suicide landing" ie. landing in the middle of the road, or flyign really low in front of on coming traffic, or walking across the road! Yes birds have been doing this more often, especially its spring now so they are all in heat, so maybe they are a little nuttier than usual. It's made my driving terrifying. I do not wan tto kill another one!

I really appreciate when people break for animals... because it is their world too, we built the roads through their habitats, their homes. So even though it takes maybe 5 minutes or less for the squirrel to cross or the duck and her brood to cross, then its 5 minutes. We live so rushed these days, so wrapped up in our lives, and what we do, we forget there are other people and animals going about their lives as well. Slowing down every now and then, and more often too, does not hurt. Someone once told me, nothing is worth rushing and putting other people's lives at risk due to your rush! Especially your own.

So yes the birds will land in front of me, and wherever they want and I will breathe, break and wait. Patience, ahimsa, and kindness, just small things we need to remember, remember when you are wondering why the car in front of you slowed down or braked.





Breathe!!!!

Road Etiquette

I started biking on the street and running on the street too. What better way to exercise and commute than the free earth!

Observations... Cars, SUVs, Trucks, etc. so rude; especially in Ohio. They all pull forward on the pedestrian crossing, or don't give the runner the right of way. All I want to say to those people are "Hey you are in the luxury of a car, give me a break!" OR "Just because I'm jogging/biking doesn't mean I'm not trying to get somewhere."

People have gotten so acclimated to driving only and not traveling via other modes of transport, they forget to share the road and show proper courtesy. Also city planning is such that it mostly only accommodates cars, especially in a place which faces 6 months of inclement weather. A combination of people only using cars for transport/commuting and city planning leads to really tough terrain for the pedestrian/bicycler. It then becomes survival of the fittest, where cars always land up on top. So how do we change this "transportation" culture? The answer is ourselves. We have to remember that we share the road, not only with other cars, but actual lives and people on bicycles and on "bus number 11". My teacher in school would say "tomorrow is a strike, there will be no vehicles on the roads, but you may take bus number 11", which means our legs!

Honestly, in general we have all become lazy to WALK! Even from our cars to our banks, coffee stores, medicine stores etc. Everything is a drive through. Maybe if we were all forced to walk to places we would be more considerate and even healthy. Cities that plan well around bicyclist, walkers etc. are mostly the major cities such as New York, Chicago (I am sure there are studies done regarding cities that are good for biking/pedestrians), however wouldn't it be great if every city had these basic amenities?

The irony- we drive five miles to get to a gym where we are going to sit and ride a stationary bike! We complain about ridiculously high gas prices, when god has given us the power to make ourselves travel by foot, fueled by our own body - heart, lung and muscles. We wonder why we are so obese, yet we do nothing about it but suck up the high gas prices and drive. This IS all backwards.

Till we can make these changes, it would be nice if cars could drive mindfully when they see pedestrians, also DO stop TEXTING while driving. Don't be selfish.


See you on the road!


Thanks for being considerate.




Breathe!

Car's have more balls than they need... now be a considerate driver.

It doesn't matter what you drive, fancy or frugal ... share the road!

let's extend the good ol' chivalry to the roads, sharing is caring! vintage or new...!

Lexus like Texas

My father and my mom got their new Lexus (renewed the lease and upgraded, however the ridiculous deal works). So the guy at the Lexus dealership says "when you get the number plate try getting Lex 7345" (or something of the sort, however it did have LEX in it).
My father retorted "It's a Lexus, everyone can see it's a Lexus, why should the plate say Lex? I will get whatever I want for it".
Now notice many Lexus cars have Lex as a number plate? Do they want to iterate it so badly because the big L on the front and back of the car are not enough. Let's get our customers to advertise for us even more, yeah?
Tsh!

I will upload pictures I take of real silly plates etc soon.

Here's one!

Another one!