WAIT, IT'LL CHANGE

I've been over most of this country either by car or in my motorhome, and I am happy to report that in every city, town, village or other neck of our vast American woods natives to the area will cynically (and sometimes, proudly) tell you, "If you don't like the weather here just wait five minutes; it will change."

Everyone everywhere seems to delight in the thought that as good, bad or questionable their weather is at the moment, it will change, and change quickly sometimes.  Don't fret.  Don't gloat.  Just wait.

Well, weather does change, often for the worse.  (Nobody every complains about the weather changing for the better.) It seems to change for the worse when we least expect it; that is when we are outdoors enjoying a picnic, athletic event or some other activity in which the weather can play a part.

Such weather changes are common here in the mountains of Colorado.  (Similar rapid weather changes are probably common in other mountain regions, but I happen to be in Colorado.)  Just this afternoon, for example, we went from sunny to darkening clouds to winter in a very brief time.

Yes, in less than 15 minutes the sun disappeared behind quickening dark clouds.  Fierce winds blew in followed by rain, then sleet, then hail, then more rain.  The temperature dropped during that time from 75 to 45!  If you were caught outside, you were going to get soaked -- and get mighty cold. 

Twenty minutes later, the sun was out, the birds returned to the bird feeder (Where do they go when it rains, I wonder?  I've never figured that out.) and there are only a few white, fluffy clouds in the bright, sunny sky.

Wow!  Mother nature can sure present many faces at this altitude.

As fickle as she may be with the weather, however, she has rewarded us on other days with beautiful double rainbows or, at other times, soft soaking rains that green up everything and encourages native wild flowers to bloom.

Flowers here can spring up almost overnight.  Maybe this will be one of those nights.  We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see.  In the meantime, as I said, the sun is again shining and the temperature has risen to a nice 65 degrees.  The Stellar jays are congregating under the bird feeder again while the smaller birds have taken their places on the rim of the feeder.  The mountain bluebirds and one dove are bathing in the bird bath.  All is right on our little mountain top called Ponder Country.

But if you don't like this weather -- just stick around.  It'll change.

VICTORY -- FOR THE MOMENT

It's nice to think I might be smarter than the average Stellar bluejay, but I'm not "crowing" at least not just yet.  Just the same, the bluejays are eating sunflower seeds and other seeds the smaller birds (chickadees, nuthatches, etc.) don't want from the ground beneath my bird feeder.

Here is a picture of a Stellar dominating the bird feeder the other day.

During this reign of domination, smaller birds simply stayed away.  (The Stellar bluejay is one of the larger birds in the area, exceeded in size only by the magpie and raven.)  The greedy gang of Stellars, 10 at one count, took over the bird feeder and emptied it in one day.  They gorged themselves and the smaller birds got nothing.

Then I, being somewhat smarter than the average bluejay, devised modifications that twarted the bluejays.  See the picture above. 

Smaller birds are returning to the birdfeeder and the bluejays are enjoying their meal on the ground.  Everyone is happy -- including me.

THE BIRD FEED BATTLE CONTINUES

Stellar blue jays are clever little critters. They are also, like most jays, pigs and thieves. Hence, we, me and them, are locked in a battle; a battle of the bird feeder. They want all the seed for themselves, I want share it with the smaller song birds.

I may not win the battle, but I will never give up.

Those are the boastful words of a smart aleck who thinks he is smarter than birds that make a living by outsmarting other birds and most humans – and have been doing so for generations.

The bird feeder, a gift from one of my daughters, has an A-frame shape with the carved face of a wood spirit on the front. (It’s not actually carved. The bird feeder was made in China and the front is made of some sort of cheap plastic with the face pressed into it during manufacture, I’m sure.) On each side of the A-frame is a ledge/tray where the birdseed settles. Birds grasp the edge of the tray and eat their fill of seeds. As they do so, more seeds drop down from inside the A-frame housing.

It works well and it blends with the country atmosphere we enjoy here at our ranch in the mountains of Colorado.

Most birds, most small birds fly up to the tray take a seed or two and fly off. Stellar jays are pigs and bullies! They land on the edge of the tray tipping the A-frame in their direction that causes great amounts of seed to spill out of the tray onto the ground. Their companions (10 this morning: one on the tray and nine on the ground) nearly emptied the A-frame in an hour or so. They eat and eat until you would swear they could not fly. But they do. They fly off and tell all their buddies about this great buffet at the Cummins ranch.

Previously, I affixed two round cardboard tubes, about two inches in diameter, just above the tray. This blocked the jays from perching on the edge of the tray but did not prevent smaller birds from perching there. It took the jays about one day, however, to figure out that they could perch on the top of the tube and bend down to the tray from above. They did not enjoy eating “up-side-down,” but they persevered. The one on the tube still got to eat his/her fill and, happily for those on the ground, managed to still spill enough seed to keep everyone happy – except the smaller birds, that is.

This morning (Friday, August 28, 2009), I stapled a stiff piece of cardboard to the top of each cardboard tube. This created a three-inch canopy over the top of the tray that, temporarily, keeps the jays from perching on top and bending over to get to the seeds in the tray. The smaller birds can fly under the canopy, perch on the edge of the tray and get to the seeds without any trouble.

The Stellar jays, for now, must be satisfied with seeds that are tossed to the ground, of which there are many. They will not go hungry; they just will not be able to stuff themselves like feathered blue pigs, as they have the past few days.

I realize, of course, that the bird feeder battle is not over. The next move is theirs and I am confident they will come up with one.

When You Have Nothing to Offer, Offer Fear

I could not understand why so many of my email and Facebook postings spewed hate and fear about the Obama presidency. It could be that I am a dumb Ozark boy and don't recognize reality when it is staring me in the face. Or, it could be that some of my friends are either (a) racist or (b) suffer from the Chicken Little syndrome: The sky is falling!

I truly doubt that my friends are card-carrying racists. I acknowledge that a tiny racist resides in many of us, more so than we may want to admit. It's like that little male chauvinist that continues residency somewhere in the guts of most men. They may not recognize it but you can be sure their wives and female friends do. Likewise, I suspect that black people, who admittedly may be supersensitive on the matter, recognize racism more acutely than members of the white community.

Just the same, I will give my friends the benefit of the doubt and declare that they are not racists and, therefore, are not among those badmouthing President Obama because he is black. I prefer to believe (there's that Ozark boy naiveté again) they have some reasons based on fact for their fear.

Unfortunately, I never get to know those reasons. What I get in my email and in postings on Facebook are statements like, I do not believe that he is doing anything good for this wonderfull (sic) country. I believe what he is doing is doing for himself.

I have no idea the basis for that statement, but it comes from another Ozark boy and longtime friend.

I must ask of my friend and anyone sharing this view: How will what the president is doing benefit him? If what he is doing is so bad for the country won't the voters see this and correct the balance of power in Washington during the mid-term elections? It has happened to other presidents. But my first question remains unanswered: How will what he is doing benefit him?

As I pondered these statements of fear from various sources, I began to realize that aside from predictions of fear or outright expressions of fear, they offered nothing else.

If they register as members of the Republican Party, they would do the Party a favor by leaving.

The Republican Party has a number of good, wise statesmen who, unfortunately, have abdicated their statesmanship and leadership to the far right wing of the party. This right-wing contingent would not support John McCain for president until he selected one of their kind for vice president. And as with Bob Dole before him, McCain, a good man, was held back by his lack of religious righteousness and never allowed to campaign on his past accomplishments or his vision for the country. He was kept off message while defending his right-wing vice presidential running mate.

The religious right has no solutions to pressing national concerns, they have no interest in furthering our position in world affairs. They just want God to be our leader. Lacking solutions, they offer fear -- much like a lot of what is found in the Bible they love to quote.

The Republican Party would do well in the next presidential election to let the religious right go its own way and form a third party for all those who think we must be governed by religiously-oriented politicians. I prefer leaders (politicians, if you desire) who understand world and national affairs, economics and modern security matters, and are ready to deal with the real world in which we live. Meanwhile, Republican party leaders, those with some idea of how the world works and what we must do can return their attention to constructive debate about national issues and world affairs. They can help address the issues instead of always just being opposed to any proposal from "the liberals."

Fear operates in the absence of information. We are afraid of what we don't know. Isn't it time we insist that our political leaders provide us with facts rather than fear, with solutions rather than religious sophistry?

What do you think?

WHY SO UPSET?

We have no TV out here at the ranch. There is no off-the-air TV this far from any major town, and we dropped our Dish Network service last June. We thought we would have FTA (Free to Air) service, but that's another story for another day. Bottom line, we do not have any television and are compelled to listen to AM radio.





That means one thing: Rush Limbaugh. Actually, we found a "progressive" station that has a battery of liberal commentators on all day. Guess what? Both sides are guilty of spinning the news to suit their purposes, i.e., bias. They make out-and-out false statements, exaggerated statements and misstatements -- all for the purpose of tearing down "the other side." Seldom do they, liberal or conservative commentators, offer anything constructive.





And both sides always seem angry about something or someone. Why so?





There seems to be no room for rational discussion or civil disagreement. You must be upset over the alleged missteps, misstatements or misquotes of the other sides. Never, never ever agree that the opposing side might have a idea worth considering. Never concede that some idea from the opposition deserves further investigation. Never admit that you have no constructive counter proposal.





Just get mad. Yell like hell. Raise your voice. Make wild accusations about the intentions, morality or patriotism of those whose ideology you do not like. And all the time keep reminding people, ad infinitum, that you speak from, in Limbaugh's case, the EIB (Excellence in Broadcasting) network. That makes it sound like your rants have some actual legitimacy. The folks on the progressive radio station to which we have listening do the same thing, just with a different name or emphasis to justify their verbal abuse. Close to half the air time of either side is spent discussing, disagreeing, that is, with comments made by another radio personality. They are not even getting mad over something said or done by a person in a responsible position in the government.





Having television, however, and regrettably, will not change things we have discovered. So many people I talk to have closed their minds to anything they do not want to hear. They substitute the perceived bias of "other" networks for the bias of their favorite network. They listen to one radio station and watch one TV station. This keeps them well informed on one point of view.





Our education system has failed if this trend continues or spreads. Our schools use to teach us to consider the source, question the motives of the speaker, analyze the facts for ourselves, and always, doubt universal statements, those starting with "all" or "every." Too many of us, it seems, do not do that.





We have a population of gullible voters who will, apparently, believe anything they are told so long as it comes from the right source. (No pun intended.) When presented with an opposing view they emulate their favorite radio spokesperson and raise their voice to make accusations about those ideas or proposals with which they disagree. They (we) have adopted the tactic: If reason won't work, try fear.





We're in trouble folks if this trend continues.

Where Am I?

Since I am new to this blogging business, I neglected to tell you where I am. I am presently at the place my wife, Joyce, and I call "the ranch," aka Ponder Country. The ranch is 15 acres at an altitude of 8600+ feet in the mountains west of Colorado Springs, CO. It is somewhat centrally located in the triangle between Florissant, Cripple Creek and the delightfully small town (population 26, with Monster, a cat, elected mayor in 1998) of Guffy. It is seven miles over a dirt road to our mailbox and 14 miles to the nearest town, Florissant. Colorado Springs is 50 miles away via Route 24 ... after the 14 miles you travel to get to Florissant, CO.

We are, as you might imagine, somewhat isolated from the hustle and bustle of city life. Hell, most of the life we see consists of birds, coyotes, deer, elk, an occasional black bear and a rancher or two in the area. We do have a few neighbors, though we don't see them very often. There is plenty of time to "ponder" the wonders of the universe, hence the name Ponder Country.

The two major landmarks are Pikes Peak and Mt. Pisgah. Mt. Pisgah sets above the mining town of Cripple Creek. Cripple Creek is now more popular for it gambling casinos, having given up it's tourist-attracting-but-not-always-profitable ghost town atmosphere for the jingle of money in the slot machines. It is, however, still an interesting place to visit.

Y'all should come and visit sometime.

Birds of a Feather

Even though it is raining, the stellar blue jays continue to gorge themselves at our Ponder Country ranch bird feeder. They are like little blue feathered pigs -- giving new meaning to the phrase, "when pigs fly." They are, however, beautiful and we enjoy watching them and the other birds: chickadees, nuthatches, blue birds, etc.

I took a picture (attached) from my office window of one blue jay that has learned to perch on the side of the feeder and enjoy the seeds in the tray. He, of course, flicks out seeds for his more timid brethren on the ground. Damned clever little blue pig.

Our bird bath, also popular, is nothing more than an old cake pan that we set on the ground at an angle. We set it on a slope so there is a shallow end and a deep end. That way the smaller birds can find a depth that suits them. All of the birds enjoy getting a drink there, and it doesn't seem to bother them that some bird before them was in the water bathing. I guess in this dry mountain country you take water wherever you can get it.

I'm sure that with the rain, the water we provide and all the seeds they have eaten that we are going to find a bunch of bloated, dead blue jays on the lawn tomorrow morning.

WHY CHUCKWAGON JOURNAL?

I used to have a motor home that I referred to as the Chuckwagon. During my 18 years of travel in the "Chuckwagon," wrote humorous stories about the joys and travails of traveling in a motor home to my friends and family. The Chuckwagon is gone, sold over a year ago due to the rising price of diesel and my rising age.

But I still like to travel. The difference now is that I travel in a Hyundai Sante Fe that is easier for both my wife and I to drive. We can take more side trips (don't have to worry about whether we'll get into a situation that can't accommodate a 34-foot motor home plus tow car) and we can stop more easily at places that previously we could not because of our length. Further, it is just more relaxing driving a car in traffic than a big motor home and tow car. But our travels still generate some problems, some laughs and some interesting sights or incidents we want to share with our friends and family.

Hence, the Chuckwagon Journal. New name, same author.