myretroperspective

March 1 usually signals the beginning of the breeding season for Mississippi sandhill cranes.  So what happens when there is a leap year and an extra day in February?  The cranes ignore it and just carry on as usual.  That extra day this year happened to land on a Wednesday, which meant we had one last crane tour to conduct for the season.  We had a small, but enjoyable, group of visitors for the tour including the man who is the voice for McGruff, the police crime fighting dog.  We were able to find 11 cranes for them to observe, along with a good view of the two young eagles.  I’m thinking it won’t be long before these youngsters start flapping their wings and the next thing you know, they’ll be fledging. Then, on the way back to headquarters, we encountered this water moccasin snake on the side of one of the refuge roads.  This snake had attitude!  As we moved to the opposite edge of the road to pass it, it reared up and snapped open its mouth as we passed.  It was successful

I think I’ve beaten down my cold, so when Diana emailed me last night about a cooking class today, I said, sign me up!   I had an appointment for an oil change and tire rotation for the toad this morning at 10:30, but it was on the way to the 12:00 cooking class in Gulfport.  By the time we finished with the car, it was obvious that we were going to be late for the class.  We got a phone call asking when we thought we’d arrive.  They didn’t want to start without us.  Wow!  How cool is that? If any of you have ever watched Emeril Live, you will have an idea of how this class operated.  Just like on Emeril, we ladies were seated around the cooking area so we could all see what was going on, and provided with a recipe so we could follow along as the chef prepared the meal.  It was quite intimate with only twelve of us participating. Chef Julian Brunt was very open to any questions.  The Mississippi Taco was his own creation.  That cast iron frying pan that he used was handed dow

A couple of friends of mine out there in blogland are Donna and Dennis (aka Mcgyver) of the Cave Dwellings .  I haven’t met them in person yet, but it’s one of my desires to do so.  Donna often leaves comments on my posts, and I would like to respond to two of them that she has left recently.  Back in January she asked, McGyver just asked me, "What kind of credentials do you have to have to do your job?"..It's obvious you are a teacher, and you know sooo much about the birds, plants and wildlife..Did you just learn that? Did you get your Masters in Biology??”  No, I do not have my bachelor’s or master’s in biology.  I’ve just had a life long interest in this area.  My credentials include many years in the education field, and that certainly helps with conducting tours.  I’m at ease with speaking in front of groups.  I also spent 20 years as a federally licensed bird bander, so couple that with a willingness to introduce others to the wonders of the natural world, and t

The past nine days have been a real whirlwind for me.  After doing a crane tour a week ago Saturday and working the VC, I headed to Gulfport to pick up my daughter and grandgirl from the airport.  We had a busy and wonderful visit for several days.  Then on Tuesday, my friends Colin and Denise arrived from England for a day on the refuge.  Wednesday after work, Marti and Paul Dahl pulled in for a visit that night, and a tour on Thursday.  I worked the VC on Friday, and did another tour on Saturday, and worked the VC in the afternoon.  On the morning tour we saw a few cranes, and I was able to get this close up of the eagle with one of its young.  The other youngster was down in the nest eating the food its parent had brought.  Coolest thing about this encounter is that we could hear the young ones begging for food. Friday is when I had the first inklings of catching the cold my daughter and grandgirl had shared with me. Then, right after sunset last night Peggy and Paul (go

To most people, two sneezes spaced out over an afternoon would not be a noteworthy occurrence.  However, in my world, it could be a sign.  I often have sneezing attacks in the evening that include about twenty or so sneezes in a row.  I don’t think those little attacks have anything to do with the rig, as I’ve had them for years no matter where I am or what I might be living in.  As for the two isolated sneezes I had today, let me digress a little.   Last weekend my friends, and fellow volunteers, Diana and John attended a couple of Mardi Gras parades.  They got out all the beads that they caught from the parades to pose for a family portrait with their dog Buffy.  (I wanted to post a picture of Diana so you’ll know who I’ll be working with, and mentioning in my posts, for the next couple of months) This happened while my daughter, Robyn, and grandgirl Avery were visiting.  It seemed only fitting that we also got a portrait.  (Avery was napping at the time)  Emma wore the beads

Yes, it’s true. Late yesterday afternoon, I was presented with this bouquet of flowers as my new friends and fellow bloggers arrived for an overnight stay at the refuge. Paul and Marti Dahl, of R Sanity RV Adventures fame, took me up on an invitation to stop over on their way to Florida.  We have been following each other’s blogs for quite some time.  Many of you know how cool it is to put real faces to cyber friends.  After the flowers, Paul said they would take me out for dinner since they knew I was a ‘cheap date’.    Well, we had a marvelous dining experience at Tiki’s in Gautier, MS, and jabbered the evening away.  This morning, Diana and I took them on a back roads tour of the refuge, and were able to spot 23 cranes!  At one point along the way, I asked Diana to stop the vehicle because I had spotted the first new pitcher plant of the year.  In my experience, the pitcher plants send up their blooms first before the actual pitchers form, but there was this green pit

I was ‘up and at em’ getting ready for another crane tour this morning. I took my camera with me for Emma’s first outs hoping to get an extraordinary sunrise photo like I got last year with the early morning rays streaming through the foggy savannah.  It was a nice sunrise, but not exactly  gorgeous.  It is better to view any sunrise, however, rather than the alternative.  The fog and heavy dew did make all of the thousands of spider webs more visible though.  The work involved in creating these webs never ceases to amaze me. We had a pretty good group of folks for the tour this morning.  As usual, two people didn’t show up or call to cancel.  Frustrating, once again, as we had four people on the waiting list for the tour.  As I’ve explained before, it’s getting harder and harder to find cranes as we near the breeding season.  I’m afraid seeing as many as 32 cranes in a day is history for this year.  We did see a group of five cranes flying a

This is about the time of year that I am ready for winter to fade out and for spring to burst in. There's always so much to look forward to about the changing seasons. The days are finally not so short. I don't find myself switching the porch light on before R pulls in the driveway from work. We can't quite go for a jog after he's home and make it back before dark though. While I'm a little tired of my favorite cozy comfy fleece pants, part of me is trying to relish not sweating when I go outside for just a bit longer. I try to remember how delicious chai tea is in the winter and how simple scarves make my wardrobe choices oh-so-much-easier for me. Because seasons do change and soon enough the humidity will spike and I'll be wishing it was cool again. We'll be covered in either bug spray or mosquito bites and there will be no reason to make smores over the gas fireplace. For some reason this feels like a metaphor for our life right now. There are b

While Robyn was here, she wanted to see the Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, so we all went for a tour of the refuge yesterday morning.  Avery, of course, couldn’t care less about such a thing being only four years old.  It’s getting harder and harder to find the cranes as we get closer to the end of the month and the beginning of their breeding season.  Luckily, we were able to finally see some. Monday afternoon, all of the volunteers got together to have a cook out.  Avery was feeling a little more comfortable with all these strangers by the afternoon.  After all, most of us are grandparents, so you know it was a friendly atmosphere.  As the sun set, I drove Robyn and Avery to a motel in Biloxi right across from the airport.  They had a very early morning flight out today, and had decided to spend the night there rather than having to get Avery up at four in the morning for the drive into the airport.  Just as my mother used to, I get choked up at these partings.  It was a short, but w

That’s a pretty big order for a Gramma to produce, so I guess it’s a good thing I’m staying near the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  I picked up Robyn and Avery at the Gulfport/Biloxi airport last night in the middle of a torrential downpour.  We made it back to the rig in the rain, had something to eat, and then Avery about passed out from exhaustion.  It had been a big, long day for a four year old.  Two different plane rides, and then a drive in the dark to Gramma’s house. Both Avery and Emma are early risers, so we were off before 8:00 this morning to hike the rather soggy Dee’s Trail.  One of us was lucky enough not to get our shoes wet after the 2.5” of rain yesterday. After going out to lunch with the rest of the volunteers for a shrimp po’boy (which was Robyn’s request), we headed for the Biloxi beaches so I could grant Avery her wish.                                                    I got to show her the sea, and her mother…