Tina, Talking.

Birds of Prey

Anyone who knows where I live, or even the general vicinity, knows that this is no Nature Preserve. I do my part to prevent hastening the Earth's already rapid demise -- in the summer, whatever I can't grow in my garden we buy local and organic, I can and/or freeze veggies and dry herbs from the garden to get us through the winter, compost kitchen scraps, recycle, limit use of non recycled products, limit use of water, etc...etc..., but no matter what I do here, in my small section of earth, nothing can turn Cleveland into the place you want to be to watch nature...or can it?

(I read a nice essay about Cleveland by someone named Stephen C. the other day. It's right here.
Heard about it via Brewed Fresh Daily)

I don't know what's happened to make this a place they like, or why it even would, but we've been seeing enormous birds -- mostly predatory -- on a nearly daily basis, and they hang out near 90. Either on the trees right next to the highway, or on the streetlights. I saw one tending it's nest yesterday, which it had built very close to the highway.

The first one we saw is a huge Red-Tailed Hawk. Many of the references online say this bird can grow to up to about 24" tall, with a 50" wingspan. We've seen this one fly, and I could agree with the 50", but I think he's taller than 24". I am glad we don't have a small outside pet.
I've heard birds this size can take toy poodles and the like.

Last winter we saw, in our neighborhood, an Icelandic Gull, which, while not all that interesting to see and watch (looks like a big seagull, mostly sat around confused) was unusual. I guess he blew in off the lake, because they're really not supposed to hang out on land, much less in cities.

The most recent, and to me exciting find was a smaller raptor, the one really close to the highway. I thought initially it was a Peregrine Falcon, just based on my rememberances of the mating pair that lived on the Terminal Tower a few years back, but this one looked different to me. I'll have to keep researching it. It was probably 15" tall, steel grey overall coloring, but white belly and tailfeathers. It could be a Peregrine, I still think, but at a different stage of age or molting than many pictures I've found. Another option is something called a Gyrfalcon, which seems to be a hybrid of a Peregrine and something else...? There's a lot out there about Falcons, and I keep laughing as I read, thinking about that ridiculous SNL Falconer skit.

Yeah, it is Saturday night. Yeah, I'm posting to my blog, and laughing to myself about unfunny SNL skits...while I wait for it to come on TV.

Anyway, so that whatever-falcon, is building a nest, and I'm so excited to see if there will be babies. I'm probably going to call the city or something, because if it is unusual, they should probably try to do something so it's not living over a major thoroughfare anymore.

Really, guys, it's CLEVELAND

So, the Doppler-never-correct-within-fewer-than-24-hours guys had us all up in arms about the enormous blizzard that was coming Monday morning....no, Monday night....no, early Tuesday...so that by late Tuesday afternoon, when it actually started snowing, almost everyone who was out on the roads acted as if they not only didn't live in Cleveland, but like they'd never seen snow and had no idea how to compensate for ice in things like, um, steering. C'mon guys! It's only March 1st. No one really expected that it wasn't going to snow again, did you? I've seen it snow the third week of May! (May 20, 2002, cross my heart.)

Specifically, I'd like to remind everyone that they shouldn't have taken their snow tires off yet! Oh, wait -- you don't have them? That's fine, I understand, there were plenty of years I couldn't get them either, and I didn't drive like I was on dry ground when it was a snowstorm. And I still don't -- snowtires or not, there is a difference in how you navigate. Any decent driving teacher can clue you in if all your friends and family drive just like you do (possible).

OK. And if you drive a pick up truck, you should really carry something in the back. Because being delayed behind someone who's spinning their tires when they don't have to be is really annoying. Don't tell me you didn't expect the snow -- it's March 1st. And also, if you're not going to make it so you can move your truck after stopping, every time, you need to allow me to pass you! Taking up two lanes (or enough of two lanes so that no one can drive near you) and being unable to drive every time the light changes puts you thisclose to me calling the cops and reporting reckless driving. No one needs to drive like that, and if you don't know how to do it better, you need to get some help.

Another thing -- there are 2 possible, acceptable reasons to be on a (not hands free) cell phone during such a storm. One is that you're on the phone with 911 and they've told you not to hang up, and you're having a crime committed against you/are taking someone to the ER/are driving yourself to the ER or to meet an ambulance. If that's the case, I wish you the best, and I'm sorry you had to deal with that crime or illness in a car during a snowstorm. The second, and this is only slightly possibly acceptable, is if you're calling for help in driving; this is only acceptable if it's the first time you've driven in snow and you've been shocked that it was this hard, and you're scared to pull over. I feel bad for that person, too, but they need to get off the road as soon as possible.

Everybody else -- there is no acceptable reason. And I don't often bug about cellphones in cars, but c'mon. Didn't you see the other cars sliding past you? Or the multiple wrecks? Or the fire crews that were endangered by people not being able to stop to let them through? How is your talking on the phone helping the situation? What is it that you think is so important?

*****

A delayed segment of a driving rant -- if you have a flat tire, tradition holds that instead of continuing to drive and veer back and forth over a busy street, at 45 miles an hour, you will pull over and change your tire. Several weeks ago, I saw a guy driving down Columbia from 90 toward Lorain, bending his rim all to pieces like he had no idea what was going on. I finally managed to pull next to him, roll down the window, get his attention, and say "Did you know you're riding a flat there?"

And he was all "Yeah!" like I'd asked if he knew that his vehicle was called a car. Like *everyone* totally tries to drive on flat tires. Like its good for the wheel, or safe.

Memo to guy who likes to drive on a flat tire: Stop it.

I can't imagine why you were doing this, but you can't anymore.

If you're too frail to change your own tire, I saw you pass about three service stations, so pull in there. If you for some reason can't do that, pull to the side of the road and someone will help you. Not only have I changed many tires on my very own, but I've also had help offered by people before I could even ask. [I ran out of gas once during rush hour, in the city, and I was lucky enough to have a few people push my car to the berm for me, and someone else brought me a couple gallons of gas. True story. I didn't have to lift a finger. I was back out of there in 10 minutes and no one was held up by my mistake.]

And I am smaller and quite likely less mechanically inclined than you are (I fall on the low end of natural mechanical ability). No, it wasn't the easiest thing I ever did, but it wasn't the hardest, either, and I only had to use my owners manual for directions the first few times.

Seriously, it's all about not endangering other people just for fun. It's about the mildest way you can start to be less than totally egocentric, and it's well worth a try.

The ridiculous cold

I took my first yoga class ever on Sunday. It was great. My good friend (and Sage’s yoga teacher for over a year) taught the class, and she even drove me there, so it was a very nice morning. All I had to do was wake up -- not that that’s a small feat anyway, but when it’s 4 degrees outside it seems that much more of a big deal in itself. And then to go to a yoga class instead of sitting around! Amazing.

The yoga, and the weather both had me in a good mood this weekend. I know it’s weird -- who’s in a good mood when the temperature is in the single digits? But it makes me remember to be mindful and appreciative of all that I have and all that we’re able to provide for our family, and it also continually reminds me that not everyone is in the same situation, and spurs me to do more to help others who may need it.

Solana and I had a funny interaction in the car the other day. I had waved a woman with a ‘homeless, need help’ sign over to the car so I could give her a few dollars. Solana asked why I did that, and I told her that as long as we could afford to help people who needed it, we would.

“Well, I’m not giving her any of my money!” She said.

“Actually, when Dad and I give to people, we do it for the whole family; you don’t need to give away your coins.”

“Oh. Instead of giving her money, why don’t you ask her to come and live with us?”

I had to really think about that, and it threw me off for a minute. Why indeed!?! I told Solana that while we could afford to give money to individuals or charities here and there, it would be much more expensive to add another person to our house suddenly, and we probably couldn’t afford that. [I didn’t tell her that my in-laws did actually invite a number of people without homes to live with them when my husband was younger, and that it didn’t always work out just as it was expected to.]

Her immediate response was “If we can’t afford another person, what are you going to do if you have another baby!?”

So, now she knows that we help people on behalf of the whole family, we can’t afford to have another adult join the household, and that babies are less expensive than adults. No -- I’m not pregnant, but she is still under the impression that I could all of a sudden one day just have a baby. I’m sure she thinks that’s how she arrived. Yesterday we got the good news that my sister in law in California is expecting a baby, and while on the phone, just as she was getting the news, Solana said “Is she having the baby right now?” I think it’s so hilarious that she finds nothing odd about the idea that anyone might be surprised by a baby at any time -- and also that of course someone would want to be on the phone to their three year old niece wihle they were in the throes of labor. I mean, why not? (Someday I’ll tell her about her Dad’s friend who called while I was about to have her, and how entirely pleasant I was to both the friend and her Dad, when I realized they thought it was not unreasonable to talk on the phone while I was in labor. Or couldn’t get off the phone fast enough -- it may have been ten seconds, but when you’re 5 minutes from having a baby, ten seconds is a kinda big deal.)

To Whom it May Concern...

Just about every morning, as I drive my daughter to school, I end up having some kind of issue with other cars, or pedestrians, or whatever. I am not prone to road rage type behavior, and I don’t even really swear or anything in the car, but I feel like I should start keeping track so I can see if there are any patterns in this. Maybe I’ll write a letter to the paper if I find a common theme.

-- Guy reading a book, crossing streets, not looking up, *at all*. I like it that you’re reading -- I think everyone should spend time, everyday, reading, and if this is the only time you have to do it ... well, OK, but don’t expect people in cars to appreciate it. You don’t even look up when cars beep at you! Hopefully you’ll decide to take the bus, or leave earlier so you can read once you get to work, before you get plowed down. Don’t stop reading -- just read more safely!

-- Lumina minivan, trying to wedge me off the road, merging onto 90: It’s really unlikely that you can get ahead of me, using the roadways available, and legal means, just based on the capabilities of our respective cars. Is the maximum 4 second advantage you will gain by nearly causing a wreck really worth it? Why would it make you feel better to be reckless when I’ll just pass you once we’re on the highway anyway?