 I've never been a picky eater. Not really. This is Jell-O Week and it reminds me of one of my favorite holiday treats when I was a girl ... my grandmother's jello, served with the meal, not after. She mixed fruit in with the jello, layered it with whipped cream, and served it in a parfait dish that was undeniably festive ... layer upon layer of jello and whipped cream visible through the clear glass sides of the parfait bowl. Having a dessert-like dish served with the meal seemed so decadent ... even on a holiday. My first experience with anything other than fruit as jello mix-in was with a gelatin meat mold that was served at a dinner where I was a guest. Pieces of carrots and sliced beef floating in the congealed gelatin. I'd never seen such a thing, and wasn't sure I liked what I was seeing. But we were visiting and when it was passed around the table, to be polite, I placed a small spoonful on my plate. One bite and I was done. Nope, not going there. A more recent, and pleasantly surprising, gelatin dish I've discovered is coffee "jelly." Simple and refreshing. Friday is National Cabbage Day and a friend has tried again and again to convince me that lime jello with cabbage is good. I'll take her word for it. Would you or wouldn't you ... or have you tried lime and cabbage jello, whipped up a batch of coffee jelly, or served a savory gelatin dish? Share your story in a letter, an essay, or a conversation and see what gels. 
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 It's Daylight Saving Time today ... and I'm reminded of my night in the house of clocks ... When the cuckoo chimes I once spent the night in a house that had a cuckoo clock and a grandfather clock ... and I didn't sleep a wink. The cuckoo clock chirped every hour on the hour, and again every half hour. The grandfather clock was set to strike four times an hour: - every hour on the hour - at a quarter past the hour - at the half hour - and once again at a quarter to the hour I tossed and turned all night. My mind reeling not so much from the different chimes, but from my inability to fix a pattern to the sounds of the cuckoo clock and the grandfather clock ... I didn’t know a grandfather clock sounds four(!) times an hour. On one of our more recent walks, we scuffed through a walkway littered with pine cones. The kind of pine cones that hang from a cuckoo clock and make it tick. My grandparents had a cuckoo clock with pine cone weights, and that cuckoo clock where I spent the night had them, too. I’d always seen the weights and the clocks as one. But when I saw so many pine cones scattered across the walkway, I saw them as the cuckoo-clock maker must have seen them, inspiration for the weights and keeping time. Hello Chickadee!  If you like the cuckoo clock bird collage, grab the Hello Chickadee! printable stationery set. It includes the cuckoo clock image, a chickadee, and feathers, too.
  I'd been down that path before. It's a short trail through the woods that loops out to a field and back again.
Just weeks ago, the trail was upgraded and I found myself looking at the ground as we walked: - at the downed tree branches repurposed as edging - the new wooden bridge that carried us over that always-muddy section of the trail - at the (so many) mushrooms that blossomed after the rain - and the changing foliage ... reminding me autumn is a cool couple of weeks away It was entirely captivating until the trail took a turn. A hard left in the middle of nowhere When we rounded the corner, I glanced back over my shoulder. I'd been down this path before, but I didn't remember such an abrupt turn. But it was there, clear as could be when I looked back. And then I saw the sun ... casting light high upon the tree trunks. And farther on, the mist ... hovering over the field. Was I missing the forest ... for the mushrooms? While I was focused on the trail I discovered the mushrooms, signs of autumn in the leaves, and a squirrel sprinting across the path. But when I looked up, I saw which direction the trail was headed, the light streaming through the trees, and the early morning mist. And all of a sudden, I wasn't sure where to look, afraid I might miss something. And it made me think the next edition of Tinplate: Birds & Birding. The day before I was doubting everything about it. Wondering if I should toss it out and start over. Or forget the whole thing. I was deep in detail ... ruminating over homing pigeons, plumage, and migration. All the while, losing direction ... and all sense of why I started it to begin with. Until the walk in the woods. I realized I'd been looking down ... for too long. That it was time to look up, to review the project as a whole, check my bearings, and see where I was. I started Waystation Whistle and Tinplate because I believe in the power of hobbies, passions, and distractions to help you (and me) tell a different story about your day. I'm no birding expert, but by watching the birds I see in my neighborhood and doing a bit of research I'm learning more and more, and I'm hoping to encourage you to make a few discoveries of your own. There's plenty of work to be done, but for now, maybe that's the answer for all of us: focus on the details to make whatever it is the best it can be, but remember to look up, too. To check in to see where we are and where we're going ... so we can spot the turn up ahead ... and the light streaming through the trees. And maybe a bird or two.  It's been a week of bird sightings and activity.
I found a nest in the yard the other day. It was after a few days of strong winds ... winds that must have released it from its perch. This morning we walked through the park and saw a group of people (a gaggle, or maybe it was a congregation) grouped together, all facing the same direction, looking up at a pine tree. They were mesmerized by the great horned owl perched high above, with her two owlets(!) all fuzzy and huddled close together. In other words, a parliament of owls. Amazing. And then there was the paddling of ducks down at the pond. What's gathering in your neck of the woods? - a convocation of eagles? - a stand of flamingos? - an ostentation of peacocks? - a wake of buzzards? - a peep of chickens? - a muster of storks? - a host of sparrows? - an exaltation of larks? - a colony of penguins? - a wedge of swans? - a party of jays? I made this collage from old maps and a cancelled stamp. It occurred to me that when we look at a map, it's like looking at the world with a bird's eye view. I think we'll always need paper maps ... after all, what if there's no wifi?  Backyard birding - it's easy, free, and just outside your door. If you're looking for something to do that doesn't take too much time (an hour or less), take a walk, look, and listen.
Birds are everywhere ... in trees, on fences, power lines, and porches. Track what kind of birds you see—and how many. In my neighborhood, we’ve got blue jays, seagulls, pigeons, robins, cardinals, chick-a-dee, dee, dees, and sometimes, woodpeckers. If you find you enjoy it, get ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count. It happens every year—and you can take part. Of course there’s no equipment needed for watching birds ... but if you have them, grab a notebook and the binoculars. We took a walk this spring and heard the woodpeckers ... listen here!  I'm starting in on my next book: Birds & Birding.
As I decide what to cover in the book, it occurred to me a mind map would be a good idea. I'd love to know what you'd like to see in a book about birds and birding. Send an email, or post a comment and let me know. And what about you? Do you create bird art, go birding, or have some other bird related activity you might share? I'd love to hear about it.  Free as a bird When I was about 7 years old, there was a dog in the neighborhood who had me on edge. I'm fairly sure it was the beginning of my flying dreams. When I fly, I just lift up and go. No wings, no flapping of my arms. All I need to do is think about flying, lean forward, and I'm off. Incredible. Something to crow about To wrap-up the birds and birding theme for May, I’ve pulled bird-related movies, books, and random bits I thought you'd enjoy. These are things I’ve read, seen, made, or had experience with. If you’ve got others, comment and let us know about them.  Bird Collage #1 The early bird gets the worm The Big Year is a movie starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and Steve Martin. If you’ve ever wondered (or have no idea) what birders refer to as a Big Year, this is a light-hearted introduction. Birds of a feather flock together Chicken People is a documentary about show chickens. This one I found by chance and learned a lot. For starters, I didn’t know show chickens were even a thing. It's also supporting evidence that if there’s something you like, there’s probably a hobby group, club, or someone else who likes it, too. An albatross around the neck One of my favorite books about writing is Ann Lamont’s Bird by Bird. It’s not a book about birds. It’s a book for writers, but it’s more than that. It’s stories. Great stories, including the title story ... one we could all learn from. Happy as a lark Go along for the ride with Birding by Bus in their vintage VW bus, Valentina. Beautiful birds, a lovely couple, and a fabulous journey.  Like a duck to water The collages in this post are some of my earliest. A lot of you may not like to chop up the envelopes you get in the mail, but if you don't mind, it's an easy way to get a collection of cancelled stamps going. Cut the stamp from the envelope and place it in a bowl of water. After 10 minutes or so, you can peel the stamp away from the envelope paper and use it in collage work and journals. When I finished this one, it was suppose to be a house, but then I wondered, is it a house or an envelope? What do you think?  A feather in your cap Do you like to color or doodle? It can be wonderfully distracting. Soothing, even. If you haven't tried it, go ahead, download and print these three birds and get to it. You don't have to have colored pencils or markers, you can use a pen or pencil to add texture and patterns.  A rare bird A poetry experiment in upper and lower case letters. It could be titled, "Things I notice on my morning walk." Bird Bath STanding in the puDDle the bird Dipped ... HEAd First WiGGLEed and SHuTTered, FLAPPed and FLUTTered AGain . . . and AGAIN BIRD wriggles, Water RIPPLes ... RinSE and REPEAT  Silly as a goose When I considered the bird idioms, I wasn't sure how to add them to the post. I was going to list them, until I realized they'd make great headers for the paragraph breaks. Are you the rare bird that noticed? Feather your nest Thanks for coming along. I hope you enjoyed this birding expedition. For more on what I found on birds and birding this month, start here. Whether its birds or something else, our hobbies, passions, and pastimes bring us together ... and set us apart. They make us (and life) more interesting. When you're bored, frustrated, restless, or tired, find something that interests you and follow it for a while. The distraction can settle an anxious mind and the discovery can help you breathe. And before you go ... have you heard the woodpeckers? Click on the image to hear them ... and read about the woodpeckers here.   Click on image to listen to the woodpeckers We heard the woodpeckers, but couldn’t see them, so I had to do a bit of research to capture them in this collage.
It was late April when we took our woods walk, when the trees were still bare. The woodpeckers were on my mind because we recorded the sound of them drumming ... today I figured out how to extract the sound from the video. We're not sure if we heard a male and female, but I wanted to represent both in my collage because their coloring is different; the male has a red dot on the head, the female is pure black and white. The Downy Woodpecker is a small woodpecker: Length: 5.5” - 6.7” | Wingspan: 9.8” - 11.8” The Cornell Lab has a great site, AllAboutBirds.com for identifying all sorts of birds. Are the woodpeckers drumming in your neck of the woods? This post is part of the May playbook: birds and birding.  Morning I HeARd the CaRDiNal siNGing before I saw it PerCHeD in the BiRcH tree a CAt LOOkiNG At mE, LOOkiNG at iT And, ONe MoRe SaP BUCket tHat MaKes ThrEE This is a throwback: a collage and poem I created a few years ago. It's still one of my favorites. You can see I was starting to use sheet music in my work. It's also got a bit of shorthand mixed in: that line with the dot below it. Do you know what it means? Morning. That simple line with a dot = a word. Shorthand Shorthand is a symbolic writing system used by office clerks and secretaries before voice recorders were available. I'm not fluent in shorthand. It comes from a shorthand instruction book I found at a secondhand shop. The book has an index, so it's easy to pull a single word. It's like code writing because so few people still know shorthand. Don't you think it would be great for a secret diary or message? One big drawback, though, you'd have to learn shorthand to make it work. And the poem? I don't consider myself a poet, but sometimes I like to combine words with images to tell short stories. I don't remember now why I used upper and lower case letters for the poem, but it does make it interesting. If you'd like to write more, short poems could be a starting point. Not my hobby. Even if you don't stick with it, a new hobby might lead to something else. I haven't done much more with poetry, but the collage was the beginning of a lot more collage work. I now work entirely with sheet music and really like collage. Do you have a hobby that started while you were doing something else? This post is a continuation of the May theme, birds and birding. If you have ideas or work you'd like to share, get in touch. I'd love to see what you're doing. Get more stories like this and your Writing Prompt Journal Page when you sign-up for our newsletter ... new ideas and inspiration delivered to your inbox.   It was a bald eagle that started a conversation about feathers and that led to a discussion about finding and keeping feathers. Do you know it's illegal to possess most feathers? It's true. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918) was passed to protect birds from being killed for their feathers. If you come across a feather on a walk or hike, you can take photos, but it's best to leave it where you find it. There are hefty fines for possession. If you do find a feather and you're curious about what bird the feather comes from, try identifying it. The Feather Atlas at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife is a good place to start.  Feathers and art Feathers are symbolic of freedom and the presence of spirits. They are used in art and poetry. Here's Emily Dickinson's well-known poem, "Hope" ... Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me. Horsefeathers! The feathers at the top of the post are cut paper feathers I made from some of my painted sheet music. If you're looking for an activity, click on the image below to download and color or paint your own feathers. You can also use it as a template to draw your own, or cut paper feathers. And if you do, I'd love to see it ... and maybe share it in an upcoming email or post. Together, we can inspire others.  Click on image to get your download! Like birding, reading is a popular hobby. And it's not surprising. A good book can introduce you to new ideas, new people, adventure, and suspense. Sometimes all in one book. If you're not a reader, it may be you've just never found the right book. Ask a friend to recommend a book or look online for a list of classics. You can search by age group or topic: fantasy, mystery, cowboys, and aliens. Or, look for books about something you're interested in; there's probably a book about it. Like Pigeons listed below. Though I still enjoy (and prefer) holding and reading a paper book and always, always have an audiobook going when I'm in the car, ebooks and online reading are especially convenient when you can't get out to the library or bookstore. Here are three books that feature birds to get you started:
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
This is a classic children's book. Written and illustrated by McCloskey, it won the 1943 Caldecott award for illustration. If you're ever in Boston, be sure to visit the Public Garden where Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings are permanently installed in bronze. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Another classic, this is a mystery novel ... and a movie starring Humphrey Bogart. Yes it's an older movie, and yes it was filmed in black and white. But don't let that deter you. Last week we watched a black and white film (despite some protests), and fifteen minutes into it we were all hooked. Pigeon by Andrew D. Bleckman This is a nonfiction book about the history of the pigeon. I haven't read it (yet), but I've always been fascinated by pigeons. A lot of people shoo and poo poo pigeons, but I'm not sure that's fair. They coo coo when they stroll city sidewalks and if you look, really look at them, they've got shimmering shades of purple and green on the neck. I think this book might have us all looking at them in a new way. Have you read any of these books? And what do you think about pigeons? |
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