The Eagles Are Coming

I've been watching the pair of eagles at Big Bear in California lay their eggs. And now two have hatched!

You can join the 75K others who are watching here, if you'd like.

Last year I watched them diligently, checking in several times a day. And then the eggs did not hatch. That was sad. The birds kept trying to incubate for well past the 35+ day period for a eagle egg to hatch. The female eagle, Jackie, gave up first. Her mate, Shadow, hung out a little longer trying to get the eggs to hatch.

When the eggs finally broke open, it was obvious the eggs had not been fertilized and there were no chicks to hatch.

This year, I only checked in once a day or so, though I read all the updates on Facebook. It is better reading than politics; I can tell you that!

Now the eggs have hatched and there are two little fuzzy fluff balls in the nest, currently under the male eagle's brood patch as I type this. That's skin that develops during the incubation period. Both eagles have it and share egg sitting duty, although the female eagle does the lion's share, including during nights and bad weather.

Fortunately, the weather has not been too awful for them this year. Last year there was a bad snowstorm and Jackie sat on the eggs for a solid 62 hours. I felt so bad for her, sitting there hunkered down against the wind and blinding snow.

I will enjoy watching these little eaglets grow up, as I have never seen this, and this is amazing opportunity to watch nature in action. I hope the third egg hatches, too.

Five Things

Five things I did or learned last week:

1. I baked brownies (used a mix).

2. I went to the county administration building and paid for my husband's business license.

3. I saw the chiropractor and met with my banker.

4. I walked for 25 minutes on the treadmill every day except for Sunday.

5. I saw a master class in gaslighting and abuse. I learned how to achieve gaslighting and how to be an abuser. I also learned how to be the stronger party in a "negotiation" and end up on top even if I was the victim of gaslighting and abuse. 

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing is back! Look below the "ask for a volunteer" post for the questions!

Sunday Stealing: The Put Your Questions in the Box Questions

1. Where were you three hours ago?

A. In bed. I am answering these on Sunday morning.

2. Make a confession.

A. I despise someone.

3. Do you have bad habits?

A. I swear and, given my size, must eat too much even though I don't think I do.

4. What is your favorite color?

A. Blue and/or purple.

5. Can you drive?

A. Yes. I have been able to drive since I was 12. My father taught me first to drive a stick shift, which was an old Jeep that my brother and I used to get up and down the driveway (long, long driveway) to the school bus.

6. Name 3 pet peeves.

A. I am peeved when I receive spam phone calls, whenever I hear a certain person's voice or see his face, and when websites don't work properly.

7. Who is the last person you hugged?

A. My husband.

8. Name something you miss.

A. I missed Sunday Stealing while it was taking a break!

9. What song is stuck in your head at the moment?

A. I don't have one at the moment. It's too early. But that made me think of the one that goes, "It's too late baby, now it's too late, though we really did try to make it." Carole King song. 

10. What is your favorite quote?

A. Not all who wander are lost - J.R.R. Tolkien

11. Name your favorite band.

A. I'll go with Fleetwood Mac, although I can't really say I have a favorite band.

12. Name something you're excited for.

A. I can't think of anything at the moment.

13. What is your favorite movie?

A. I'll be predictable today: Lord of the Rings. All three of them, all 14+ hours.

14. What type of phone do you have?

A. I have iPhone SE. 

15. Name your favorite animal.

A. I like pandas.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: My Blue Heaven

Saturday 9: My Blue Heaven (1955)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) The music for "My Blue Heaven" was written by Walter Donaldson. Mr. Donaldson was a gifted piano player who used his talent to entertain the troops on leave during WWI. What's something you're naturally good at?

A. I'm good at music. I can pick up instruments fairly easily (with the exception of woodwinds and brass these days, my asthma can't handle those). If I can get Twinkle Twinkle Little Star out of something, I can play it.

2) The lyrics were written by George Whiting. He began his career on stage as a song-and-dance man. While touring, he met and fell in love with another singer on the bill. They went on to marry and have three daughters. Have you ever engaged in a workplace romance?

A. I have never engaged in a workplace romance. I have been assaulted at a workplace, but I don't think that counts.

3) In this song, Doris Day sings about a cozy home. Look around the room you're in. What makes it cozy?

A. Since I am in my office, I'm not sure one would call it cozy. It needs a good "heave ho" of all of my old records and things from when I was a news reporter. But the rest of the house is cozy. I decorate with earth tones - browns, off white, greens, with an occasional blue tossed in. We have an open concept living area (we called it a great room in 1987, when the house was built), so we're fashionable in that, I guess. 

4) For four consecutive years, Doris was the most popular film actress in the world, with fans flocking to theaters to see her. Is there an actor or actress whose presence in a movie or TV show makes you say to yourself, "I want to see that?"

A. I used to watch most things that had Sandra Bullock in them. I also was a big fan of Kate Jackson so I watched Charlie's Angels and The Scarecrow and Mrs. King. But now there aren't too many actors or actresses I follow. Lots of times I like them in one role but not in others. Orlando Bloom, for example, is great in Lord of the Rings, but I haven't cared much for him in other roles.

5) For all her film and music success, she found herself broke in the late 1960s. Her husband had mismanaged her fortune, something she didn't discover until after his sudden death. Do you know how much is in your checking account right now? (We're not asking the amount; just whether you know.)

A. I know how much money I have almost right down to the penny.

6) Away from performing, Doris' passion was animal welfare. At one point she shared her home with more than a dozen dogs and went on to establish the Doris Day Animal Foundation. Do any pets share your home?

A. Pets do not live in my house. My husband says the house is for people, the barn is for animals. But we only have cows so that is ok. Cows belong in the barn.

7) In 1955, when this song was a hit, cars came with AM radios, but they were pretty unsophisticated by today's standards. The car needed to be on and "warmed up" a bit before the signal was picked up and that signal could easily be lost if you were bouncing over rough terrain. Today most new cars come with Bluetooth so you can enjoy infotainment through your phone. Do you listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, etc., as you drive?

A. I like to listen to audiobooks. I listen to them all the time, like when I'm folding clothes or doing other chores, and especially when I'm driving.

8) Also in 1955, the first McDonald's opened. Does your community have a McDonald's?

A. There is a McDonald's at the interstate that runs through the county. It's been there at least 30 years and I've probably eaten there 5 times. I have never been a fan.

9) Random question: How long have you known your newest friend?

A. Hmm. I guess about six years. Her name is Aila. I haven't seen her since before the pandemic, but we talk on the phone. She moved out of the area and so we don't see each other much. But before she left Botetourt, we had lunch about once a month.

 _______________

I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Thursday Thirteen

I am too scattered to write today. It happens.

So here are the first 13 things from my FB feed this morning.

1. "They are the oligarchy. They continue to siphon off the wealth of the nation. They are supporting a tyrant who is promising them tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks that will make them even richer, and destroying democracy so they won’t have to worry about “parasites”  . . . demanding anything more from them." - Robert Reich

2. "The first chunk is about the traditional "she made him do it" when it comes to rape and gender violence. Then it shifts to world affairs:  "She made him do it" operates in politics too. The most recent example is XXXXX declaration that somehow Ukraine's President Zelensky was responsible for Russia's invasion of his country, declaring "But he should never have let that war start.” The war began with Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, well before Zelensky's presidency and well into Putin's, so there's that. As Aaron Blake at the Washington Post notes, "Since the war’s earliest days, XXXXX has frequently talked around any sort of blame being cast on Putin.... Almost every comment deprives Putin of agency and casts what’s happened as a result of the Biden administration’s (and now Zelensky’s) failings." XXXXX envoy Steve Witkoff blamed Ukraine too, saying Russia was "provoked," as if Ukraine was wearing a miniskirt. 

later on: 

In mainstream discourse, it's become standard to blame the excesses of the right on liberals, the left, feminists, Black Lives Matter, affirmative action, environmental protection, and BIPOC and LGBTQ people. It's a way that the right is granted masculine prerogatives and the left feminine responsibilities for the right's behavior. " - Rebeccas Solnit

3. "Devastated. I just won an asylum case for a Guatemalan man - he was granted withholding (a win) where he would be released from detention. As he was being released/processed, ICE put him on a plane to Mexico. Mexico just deported him back to Guatemala. He won his case. And they deported him anyway. If this is happening with this one person then I’m assuming it’s happening with others. Unprecendented." - Debra Rodman via Amy Siskind

4. “Michelle, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. The hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. I will be brave. I will live… for you”  - Sarah Michelle Gellar on the death of Michelle Trachenberg

5.  On the House budget resolution passed earlier this week:

6.  Not something I agree with, but it is what it is. I hope the parents of the child in Texas who died from measles (which we had declared eradicated in 2000), find this comforting.

7. "I know I keep harping on it but the news cycles are making it clear that not enough people grasp a core point on basic civics, so here it is again:

(1) Congress creates agencies and funds them, requiring (these days) sixty votes in the Senate. These agencies and funding are both "laws." 

(2) No one in the the executive branch can *destroy* agencies or defund them, that's also Congress' job. You can't destroy laws with zero votes that took 60 to create. 

(3) The chief's executive constitutional responsibility to "take care" that the "laws are faithfully executed." 

(4) Anyone from the exectutive branch that attempts to defund or destroy federal agencies (even in the name of curbing "fraud" or "waste") is not taking care that the laws are faithfully executed and thus violating *the* core tenet of Article II of the Constitution.  

(5) With respect to the foregoing, it doesn't matter, so far as the Constitution is concerned, if Congress cravenly avoids a confrontation with the Constitution-violating executive branch officials. There's no use-it-or-lose-it clause in the Constitution. 

(6) The aforementioned would be true, and I'd still be yelling about it, even if YYYY YYYY was genuinely identifying fraud and waste and not breaking everything he touches. 

(7) But since he demonstrably is breaking everything he touches, even if you don't care about the Constitution, you should still be anti-getting-Ebola, and be deeply concerned about what's happening right now." - Scott Pilutik via Chris Boese

8. "Thus in winter stands the lonely tree,
   Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
   Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
    I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
    I only know that summer sang in me
   A little while, that in me sings no more."
   ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay (Pulitzer Prize winning poet, born February 22, 1892.) via Sharon McCrumb

9. "In "The Substance," Demi Moore plays an aging TV star who finds a sinister potion that can give her a younger, more perfect version of herself, but at a horrifying price. Moore says the experience sometimes left her feeling raw and exhausted. “You just go fall into your bed.”

“The Substance” has scored 5 Oscar nominations, including Best Actress for Moore." - CBS Sunday Morning and CBS News

10. "Remember that the XXXXX supporter from Salem who voted against Medicaid yesterday was a lawyer before entering elected office. He specialized in getting rich drunks off for drunk driving." - Dan Smith on Congressman Morgan Griffith

11. "Donald XXXXX said he would lower prices on “Day 1.”

Well it’s Day 38 and prices are still going up." - Elizabeth Warren

12. "The FAA is close to canceling a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon to overhaul the communications system that serves as the backbone of the nation’s air traffic control and is awarding the work to YYYY’s Starlink. Follow the money and see where it goes." - Alt National Park Service

13. "Second come these protests, which I discount as being particularly important, unless they signify an energized Democratic electorate that turns its energy to organizing for the governor’s race. In that case, they might be quite important — we just don’t know yet. Let’s look at why."--Dwayne Yancey in Cardinal News via Dan Smith

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 896th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.