Wildlife

Living in the city, you don’t expect to see certain animals just wandering, or flying, about. I thought I’d start a log of sorts of the ones that I’ve had the privilege of sighting lately…

Bats! In the evening, just after sundown and when the sky is still dusky, the bats are out, zooming about erratically as they cleanse the skies of skeeters One flew about four or five feet from my head, and I was proud of myself for not ducking it. Bats are pretty darned cool.

Woodpecker – flew across the road and landed on top of a telephone pole. At first I thought it might have been a flicker – we see lots of these around, especially at school under the builiding’s eaves. But when I got a good look at this one, with its black and white and red markings, and crest on its head, I knew his true identity.

Raccoons…damned raccoons! They make their occasional appearance on my porch, wreaking havoc at the kitty food dish. They’re sooooo cute, but also soooo huge and mean and scary! I toyed with the idea of shooting them with a pellet gun (to scare, not to kill), but all I could think of was that I would hit one in the eye, and I’d have a blind raccoon living out the rest of his days on my porch, feeding with the kitties…

My absolute favorite, and most frequent, sightings: barn owls. Yep, a mating pair and baby are currently inhabiting some trees at the end of my block. There has been a pair living there for years, not sure if these are the same or their offspring, but either way, it’s probably the coolest thing I’ve experienced as a city dweller. In the evenings, I’ll take Emma for a walk, and we’ll stop across the street from their trees and watch…tonight, I was treated to all three…first, the baby, perched atop the dead tree where they nest; then I heard the screech of a parent as he flew in to stand guard over the little one; parent number two then came in for a landing, sending parent number one scattering to another branch, after which the three just perched there and stared at me, probably sizing me up to decide if I was small enough to eat (not!)

More to follow, I’m sure…

The view over the bars

The view over the barsOriginally uploaded by heavdog.Here it is folks – proof. Proof of not only a lovely evening (and spectacular sunset – have to check out my Flickr photos for more pics), but also that I did it: I got on my bike. Woohoo! I’ve been so remiss, so not in tune with the cyclist in me. It’s been all about the water this summer, I’ve been swimming, quite a bit, made it over 1/2 mile yesterday (1km, actually). With the hot weather, it’s been much more inviting to jump in the water. But today was slightly cooler, and by 8pm, it was rather inviting for a ride. So I pulled out the ‘bent, dusted off my cleats, and took the electric pumpkin for a spin…What have I been waiting for?As always, one little ride (ten miles for this one) can just put me back in the zone, make me crave more. If it hadn’t been getting dark, and had I had some sort of lights (didn’t even have my blinkie!), I might have put in another ten. Can you say obsessive? Nah, not me!But in all seriousness, it’s time. Time for me to, as Luka Bloom sings, “get up on your bike! pedal on pedal on pedal on for miles, pedal on…”

Catching up is hard to do

I started this blog back in, what, March or so, with the intention of making regular entries. Regular meaning at least once or twice a week, maybe more. But ah, we know what can happen to good intentions…so here it is, the middle of summer (okay, more like early summer, but it sure seems to be the middle, what with the temps in the high 90’s and low 100’s, and the 4th of July come and gone, but I do digress…) Anyway, here I am, a teacher on vacation, with quite a bit of time on her hands, idle time, if you will, time to rant and rave and reflect on anything and everything around me. Where to begin?

I could begin with the libraries…you may remember, back in the spring, when I blogged about southern Oregon, Jackson County to be exact, suffering from a dire lack of money and facing the largest library closure in the country. I was sure there would be a last minute effort that would save our esteemed halls of literature, that the county voters would cast a resounding “yes” to a (poorly designed) ballot measure. Nope, didn’t happen. It was slapped down by either an illiterate bunch of fools, or a lot of property owners who were fed up with carrying the load that a state sales tax could easily relieve. Or both. Doesn’t really matter, ’cause here I am, on holiday, a time of year when I typically catch up on my reading, but, oh, wait, can’t read, no libraries. Oh, yeah, I could drop a bundle at B & N, or Bloomsbury, or even, heaven forbid, Costco…but that would require money, and I’m a teacher, and we know teachers aren’t exactly rolling in the dough. So, I buy a book now and then, or borrow one from a friend, or maybe hit one of the used bookstores around, but it’s just not the same. Just not the same as summers gone by, when I’d walk downtown with a friend, have a cold coffee drink at Bad Ass, wander across the street to our beautiful new library, and browse, read, maybe do a little surfing on my PowerBook…ah, those were the days. May we get to experience them again.

Spring, finally

Twins

Originally uploaded by heavdog.

My tulips opened today, signalling to me the true start of spring. Of course, I know that the weather could turn any day, that snow of hail or sleet could fall. Why, just a couple of days ago, there was a snow advisory and a little white stuff tried to fall. Yeah, yeah, whatever. All I know is that the last two days have been beautiful…cold, but beautiful…and my flowers are blooming, the skies are clear, the sun is shining…ahhh, begone seasonal affective disorder or whatever it is that brings me down.

Winged ghosts of East Medford

On my late evening dog walk a couple of nights ago, I paused at the corner of my street to search the upper branches of the massive trees which stand between the corner house and its neighbor. Sure that I’d seen a hint of white there earlier when I drove home from a friend’s house, I waited, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. Patience, patience…yes, there it was! Sitting high up in the tree, lost among the dapple of sky and branch and leaf, was the little winged ghost: a barn owl. I crossed the street hoping to get a closer look, sending the bird soaring to another perch…but also giving me a chance to see her in flight. I stopped to watch her for a while, but was distracted by movement and another flash of grey-white above me…her mate? Not one, but two, barn owls were now living in the trees of my little east Medford neighborhood.

Their history here is a little cloudy in my head. I know there has been an owl or two living in those trees for a couple of years or more. My first personal experience with them came in the form of hearing calls back and forth between a couple of the birds, most likely mother and child, as she had nested and produced at least one offspring. And then there was the screech that sent me scurrying back to the safety of my house one evening last summer. Although I knew they were there, it was a little unnerving to hear it right over my head. Since then, however, I’ve taken Emma on many walks past or under the trees, hoping to see their ghostly silhouette or hear the call of my friends. I only wish I had better night vision, or perhaps some night-vision equipment, to allow me a closer view of the birds.

I don’t know what brought the owls to their current nesting place, though I’m sure that as we’ve encroached on their natural habitat, they’ve created new homes for themselves and their families. Why this particular tree, on a somewhat quiet street, adjacent to a not-so-quiet intersection? That I’ll never know. I do know that I feel very honored and privileged to have made their acquaintance, and I’ll always turn my eyes to the sky as I approach those trees, hoping to catch just one more glimpse of the winged ghosts.

Tribute to Medford

Fluhrer’s Bread

Originally uploaded by heavdog.

While I was out running errands on Saturday (I know it was Saturday ’cause the sun was shining and there was lots of blue sky…unlike today), I saw this sign. I’d never noticed it before, odd, since I spend a fair amount downtown. Anyway, it made me think of how far Medford has come, and how much I like the restoration that’s been happening in the downtown area. I don’t like the traffic, however, that’s come with the growth…
The last few nights I’ve been out at night, and I walked around downtown both Thursday and Friday. It’s really nice to be able to walk at night, and not worry about being harrassed, though there was a fair amount of the “I’m on spring break so I can be a crazy dumbass” crowd out on Friday. But other than that element, and of course our resident homeless and nutty street population…like crazy Dan, who always asks for money, and sometimes gets it if I’m feeling flush…Medford is a pretty decent place to live, a city with a small town feel.

I Love Spring Break! but I do digress…

Yes, today is the first day of spring break for those of us lucky enough to work or go to school in SD4, otherwise known as Phoenix-Talent. And it helps to have chosen a profession that honors the fact that sometimes, we need a break. We especially need that break when we spend the bulk of our days answering a million little questions, breaking up spats, holding our water until the next bell, which could be over an hour a way…but I do digress, as this is about spring break. And for me, and my colleagues and students, spring break begins two days earlier than everybody else’s, and those two days I think of as “my days”…
So I’m sitting here in one of my favorite hangouts, Bad Ass Coffee, drinking coffee, surfing the net, watching people go by…and avoiding the noise of the scary men on my roof. No, wait, the men aren’t scary…but the noise certainly is, as they stomp and pound and drag in the course of my reroof. Anyway, Bad Ass has been one of my favorite places since they opened their doors here a few years back. Good coffee, nice people, indoor and outdoor seating, and the crowning gem, free wireless. What more could a girl ask for?
From my seat here at the Bad Donkey, as my friend’s mom calls it since she thinks “ass” is a bad word (look in the bible honey! it’s in there too!), I have a direct view of another of my favorite places, the Medford branch of the Jackson County library. Looking at the rather hulking but beautiful building makes me very sad. If you’re not from around here, you might be asking, why does it make you sad? Because in two weeks, not only will the Medford branch close its doors, but every branch in the library will close also, and those that are currently under construction will not even open. Unless, that is, the people in this county come to their senses and vote on a levy May 15th to fund the libraries via property taxes. Hmmm, this really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, as it doesn’t share the burden with all those who use the libraries most. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll vote for (almost) whatever it takes to ge the libraries back on track. But since the closure was mostly due to Congress’ failure to renew the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act, it seems that the federal government has some responsibility in the task of bringing the libraries back. Oops, I digressed again
On to happier topics – yes, it’s spring, I’m on vacation, I’m enjoying my first morning of freedom, listening to Flogging Molly sing “Drunken Lullabies”, nowhere in particular to go, the sun is shining, I’ll soon have a new roof on my house…as the t-shirts say, ilfe is good.

Sunset over the Siskiyous

Rogue Valley Sunset

Originally uploaded by heavdog.

Well, it’s almost over the Siskiyous…looking in that general direction. Which brings me to the topic of this lovely valley in which I live. I’ll be waxing poetic about it frequently in upcoming posts, as spring is gorgeous here. Anyway, I caught this view last night as I was walking out of Office Depot, with my bag of drawing supplies in hand. Made my friends wait while I whipped out my camera, grabbed a few shots, and then jumped in the car. At least I didn’t make them wait while I drew it!

Spring Is in the Air

Having grown up in southern California, and now living in Oregon, I find it hard sometimes to get through the long, wet, and sometimes cold, winters. This winter has been especially cold and damp, bringing us two snow days and a late start at school. So it’s with sheer joy and enthusiasm that I welcome the arrival of spring-like weather…I say “spring-like” because I never trust the seasons around here. No, just when you think it’s safe to haul out the shorts and tanks and sandals, Mother Nature will rear her mighty hand and slam you with a hail storm. Yep, just ask those who run and/or march in Pear Blossom…or the track coaches who never know if they’re going to have sun, rain, snow, sleet, hail, thunder or ??? I know I’ve stood out in more than one hail storm and damn near frozen my ass off trying to get those last few kids through the field events at a track meet.
But today…ah, today…one of those brilliantly clear and warm and sunny days, right before the equinox, when the bees are as drunk as the college kids still celebrating St. Patty’s Day, and I want to stretch out in a hammock or on a beach or a rock and soak in the sunshine. Mmmm. That was today.
‘Course, I didn’t get to do much soaking, instead I was cleaning up my driveway, hauling a bunch of rain-soaked crap to the dump (my carport roof tore apart, shredded actually, and provided no protection whatsoever for my stuff in there). Still, it was lovely to be outside, with my friends, tossing all the crap in the truck, driving to the dump…and learning that it now sports an espresso stand/deli in the office where you pay for your load. An office, mind you, that looks a little like a Buddhist temple. Surreal. Bizarre. But what a brilliant idea!