Each Wednesday I’m recording a Curiosity Journal to recap the past week. Tag words are: reading, playing, learning, reacting and writing.
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Some of you have mentioned that you’re keeping a Curiosity Journal, as well. If you do, leave your link in the comments so that we can visit and enjoy your weekly review.
Reading
I suppose I ought to finish Sanders’ book in order to move on to something more seasonal, but I can only take in a bit at a time these days and Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World
Occasionally I try to imagine the densely wooded area my state once was when settlers first moved in to try to tame it. Yes, I really do. I don’t want to give up my convenient, civilized life in the suburbs (I wouldn’t have survived a year as an early settler), but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to travel back in time to admire the thick, untamed wilderness.
So does Sanders:
Without wanting to undo all of our work, I would relish a bit more wildness. Now that the shores [of the Ohio] have been cleared, I would trade a thousand acres of parking lots for a single acre of “forest primeval,” with cane growing thicker than teeth on the river’s edge, grapevines snarling the treetops a hundred feet in the air, larkspur flaming among the roots, brilliant green parakeets in the limbs, flocks of pigeons spiraling down to roost, bears pawing the rotten logs for grubs, and sycamores fatter than silos. (91)
Sanders says that bison, “lynx, wildcat, panther, elk, otter, bear, and wolf disappeared from the region; the green parakeet vanished altogether. The whooping cranes dwindles almost to extinction, and so did the bald eagle” (81).
I knew we’d done away with passenger pigeons, but parakeets? We had green parakeets flying free, and now they’re gone forever?
Along rivers we might have glimpsed a flash of green hopping from limb to limb, a visual complement to the flitting goldfinches and glimmering hummingbirds.
I’d not heard about these now-extinct parakeets until reading about them in this book, and they were long gone before I made my appearance in the world; still, I feel a sense of loss.
Playing
I’m seriously thinking of hosting a sock hop on our shiny new wood floor. Just push back the furniture, dim the lights, and crank up the music.
Anyone know where I can rent a mirror ball?
Learning
Those parakeets…lost forever…
Reacting
Three days ago I was sitting on my porch enjoying unseasonably warm temperatures.
I noticed that in a planter on my sidewalk, one shy petunia risked unfurling. That warm air and sunshine misled the poor dear, and she found herself unprepared to withstand the first snow that blew in yesterday.
Today, she’s stunned, wilted.
Or, wait.
I think that’s me.
Writing
After recuperating from Thanksgiving activity, I’ve managed to write little more than a blog post, status update and a few tweets.
How about you? Any projects in the works?
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Credits:
Photos: All snow images by Sophie Marie Photography. Used with permission. Puny petunia by Ann Kroeker. All rights reserved.
Sanders, Scott Russell. Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World
7 Responses to Curiosity Journal: Extinct Green Parakeet, Puny Petunia, and First Snow
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Blogger: Pursuing a Christ-centered, creative, curious, slightly quirky, slow-down life and sharing it with you, post after post. (Home of Food on Fridays).
Author: Not So Fast: Slow-Down Solutions for Frenzied Families
Content Editor: The High Calling (Family/Parenting)
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I always enjoy your journals, Ann. I’ve been waiting all day for a quiet moment to come here.
And I love your heart for the parakeets. I was out on our deck a few minutes ago. I heard two sounds: The owls, on sentry duty: “who? who?” and acorns, falling to the oak-leaf litter beneath the Q. agrifolia that grace our ‘hood. This night is so still that the acorns sounded like little intruders.
But the owls remained unruffled.
Your use of the latin name of something botanical sent curious-me to find out more…those sound like lovely trees, the kind that would not take kindly to Midwestern winters.
And your owls, and the acorns dropping, those sounds…I really feel we need to pause more–we, meaning all of the human race, especially those of the hurried cultures–and listen. Look. Touch. This is our Father’s world, but so often we remain distant and detached.
Thanks for inviting me onto your deck to pause, to listen.
I am so sad about the parakeets now.
But I am very happy about your new floor, yeah for better respiratory health!
I actually pictured the goldfinches and hummers at the feeders at DWS when I wrote that line. I read in the link provided that one of several things that led to the demise of the Carolina parakeet was cutting down habitat, of course, and also their feathers were desirable as decorations on ladies’ hats. They were also considered pests by some farmers. If you’re curious to learn more, the article is fascinating, though tragic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina_Parakeet
And the new floor? Oh, my. It’s so beautiful, I feel like I woke up in someone else’s house and will have to leave soon. I wish there were a way to measure respiratory improvement in relation to the change in floor covering…I’d be curious to note a causal relationship.
Perhaps we need to trade homes for the winter months. Snow depresses you (understandably). It makes me want to dance (so, so rare here).
I’m feeling a bit sorry for the little Petunia – and for you sweet girl!
Not much writing going on here either. I seem to be in some sort of fog. But this glorious time of year helps. Maybe we’ll get a burst of energy and inspiration.
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