Vacation Reflections

I've been back from Chincoteague for two weeks, but part of me is always there. My son Alex took this photo of an immature White ibis. I had never seen this species at Chincoteague before; they are usually not found above North Carolina. We saw a total of about six in our time there, all immatures. We also spotted an unusual number of Black-necked stilts, also normally found from North Carolina south. Evidence of global warming or just an unusual summer in the mid-Atlantic?

In any case, I wanted to share this image and also one I took of a stretch of beach that was then closed to protect nesting Piping plovers. The birds in the top photo are Sanderlings, the classic wave-dodging sandpipers of coastal areas nearly everywhere. When I feel overwhelmed with work, I pause to look at this as a reminder of peace and natural beauty. Feel free to borrow it for the same purpose.

Screamin'!

Screamin' Jay Hawkins & Serge Gainsbourg -Constipation Blues

My first foray into adding video! This is a true curiosity made...curiouser.

Do we really need a genius to remind us?

"This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." — Albert Einstein