Sunday, May 15, 2016

Bird Walk

At the start (I'm the one in the khaki shorts).
Picture courtesy of Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation FB page.

This was the first event of the season at Cedar Hill Cemetery. And it was for early risers! Note the start time (below).

Feathered Friends Walk
Saturday, May 14, 6:30 am
Free for All
Join Jay Kaplan from Roaring Brook Nature Center for his annual bird walk at Cedar Hill Cemetery. Jay will lead participants through our ornamental foreground in search of resident birds. Appropriate hiking shoes and binoculars are strongly recommended. Meet near the bridge along the entrance drive.
Despite the early start, I estimate about 35-40 people attended. When we ended shortly after 10 a.m., we were down to about 20 people.

Note that the description above indicates that the walk will be through the "ornamental foreground." I didn't realize what the meant. The Grounds page of the web site describes it this way:
One of the most impressive feature of Cedar Hill’s landscape is the ornamental foreground, which serves to seclude the burial sections of the Cemetery from the roadway.  Much of Cedar Hill’s wildlife is sustained in this natural habitat encompassing more than 65 acres of ponds and woodlands.
I thought we would be walking the cemetery proper but we actually were walking in the woods that surround the cemetery. The grass was pretty wet due to the dew-hence the reason for the knee high rubber boots seen in the pictures.

This was near the end of the "walk." Jay Kaplan, who led the walk, is wearing a green shirt
and cap; he is in the foreground (2nd from right). I am on the left side of the picture.
Picture courtesy of Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation FB page.

In addition to tramping around the woods and meadows surrounding the cemetery, we stopped at two overlooks with views to the valley beyond. The first overlook was right above a giant quarry operation. To the left (out of the picture below) was a cliff with a radio tower that had a falcon perched on top. It was so far away that even my binoculars only saw a brown smudge.

View of the quarry below.

The second overlook had an awesome view of the valley.

Conveniently, the fence had an opening so we could get a clearer view.

This is the view from the rocky outcrop.

This is a side view of the rocky outcrop.

But where are the pictures of the birds you might ask. Well, all I had was my binoculars and my cell phone (camera). No one has posted any good shots of the birds (except for a heron). Below is a list of birds that the GROUP spotted. I probably saw about 10-15. Cardinals and blue jays were easy as was the "Elusive" robin. The red-winged blackbird is very common around the cemetery.

Below is the list of birds (57 species) we saw and or heard:
  • Canada Goose
  • Wood Duck
  • Mallard Duck
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Red-tailed Hawk
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Killdeer
  • Solitary Sandpiper
  • Rock Pigeon
  • Mourning Dove
  • Black-billed Cuckoo
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Hairy Woodpecker
  • Northern Flicker
  • Eastern Phoebe
  • Great Crested Flycatcher
  • Warbling Vireo
  • Red-eyed Vireo
  • Blue Jay
  • American Crow
  • Common Raven
  • Tree Swallow
  • Barn Swallow
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Tufted Titmouse
  • House Wren
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Wood Thrush
  • American Robin
  • Gray Catbird
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • European Starling
  • Northern Parula
  • Yellow Warbler
  • Magnolia Warbler
  • Black-throated Blue Warbler
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler
  • Pine Warbler
  • Black-and-white Warbler
  • American Redstart
  • Ovenbird
  • Common Yellowthroat
  • Scarlet Tanager
  • Chipping Sparrow
  • Song Sparrow
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Rose-breasted Grosbeak
  • Indigo Bunting
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Common Grackle
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Orchard Oriole
  • Baltimore Oriole
  • House Finch
  • American Goldfinch
  • House Sparrow

This was my first bird walk. It was fun and challenging. Being deaf in one ear made it difficult to spot birds because the experts follow their calls/chirps/songs in order to spot them (and identify). As you might guess from the pictures, there were a few stiff necks after this walk.

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http://www.roaringbrook.org/home.html
http://www.cedarhillcemetery.org/
http://www.cedarhillcemetery.org/grounds
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Written Saturday May 21, 2016.

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Saturday, May 14, 2016

Fahrenheit 451

Cover of the 50th Anniversary Edition (2003)

"Fahrenheit 451" (the movie trailer speaks it as"Fahrenheit FourFiveOne").

Originally, I intended to watch the DVD of the 1966 movie of the famous Ray Bradbury book, Fahrenheit 451 but when I was at the library and about to sign out the DVD, I decided it might be nice to read the book too. While I remember seeing the movie (or parts of it) on TV, I don't think I ever actually read the book. So I checked out both the DVD and book from the library.

I ended up only watching the DVD extras so as not to spoil the book. I started reading the book on April 8th and finished it Thursday May 12th. Although it was only 190 pages total, I only read a few pages each day because it is a somber story and I did not want to get depressed. I also wanted time to chew on the ideas and story. I'm glad that I didn't rush through it. Like savoring a fine meal, reading this book was a marvelous experience.

I enjoyed the experience of reading it so much that when I returned it to the library, I signed out the 60th Anniversary Edition (softbound). The summary on the back cover reads:
"Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family." But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn't live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known."
The copy I read was the 50th Anniversary edition (2003) hardback (see picture above). It included a new introduction by Ray Bradbury plus a Forward he wrote in 1993 along with another introduction he supplied in 1966.

Although the book was originally published in 1953, it was an expanded version a short story from 1951 called "The Fireman." As I read the book, I had to pause several times in amazement at the foresight of Bradbury. Montag's wife isolates herself by watching wall-sized TV screens on 3 walls (and is begging for a 4th wall screen). In addition, when not watching TV she has earbuds (known in the book as "seashells") for listening to the radio. There is 24-hour banking via "robot" tellers (i.e., ATMs), and constant barrage of audio advertisements even on the subway. All this cloaks the slide to war.

The novel is ostensibly about book burning but the message really has little to do with physical books. Books are merely placeholders for ideas and ideas are dangerous in a society where everyone is expected to think the same.

I think there is a perception that the books were burned because the powers that be outlawed them. It seems, though, that people got tired of books and gravitated instead toward other entertainments (e.g., "bread and circuses"). What resulted was an "Escape from Freedom". Book burning resulted (I think) from society's desire to keep opinions politically correct and homogenized.

The book has a somewhat happy ending (or at least hopeful). The big bad city is destroyed by war and those that are left to rebuild are (it is implied) primarily the book people that had left the city to escape persecution and death. The symbolism of a more ideal future is presented through a (uncited)  reference to a quote from the Christian Book of Revelation: 
And on either side of the river was a tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. [Rev 22:2]
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Sunday, May 8, 2016

Eastwood's "Gran Torino"

DVD cover for the movie "Gran Torino."

Years ago I saw every Clint Eastwood movie when it was in released to the theaters. So when one of my colleagues lent me her DVD of  the 2008 movie Gran Torino to watch, it wasn't hard for me to accept. The fact that Martha only owns two DVDs and "Gran Torino" is one of those increased my interest and curiosity.

Synopsis: Recently widowed Korean War veteran and retired (Ford) autoworker Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) doesn't much like how his life or his Detroit neighborhood has turned out. The world has changed around him. His neighborhood is now mostly rundown and occupied by Asians: a Hmong family lives next door. 

He doesn't get along with his sons and grandchildren, all of whom seem more interested in their inheritance from him. His prized possession is a mint condition 1972 Ford Gran Torino. Through a series of incidents, Walt's dislike for his neighbors slowly warms up. Events cause Walt to act against However, a local gang that feeds on violence and fear, trigger Walt to act, though not in a way that might be expected.

The Gran Torino of the movie of the same name.

My Comments: This was a thoughtful movie I thought. Martha described it as a character study, which I think is an accurate description. On the surface, it can be seen to be about racism (the Wikipedia entry-see above and below-spends a lot of space on racism),  but I think there is more to it than that. 

Martha found a review from a Christian college that dwelt on the spiritual aspects as well as the racial ("The Incarnational Clint Eastwood: A Review of Gran Torino"). For me, this review captures my reaction better than the film being merely about racism or imperialism.

The Catholic Church plays a part in this movie and is treated pretty fairly and respectfully. The part that religion plays in the film is an indication to me that there is more here than mere racism or bigotry. In some ways, it is a modern take on the "Love thy Neighbor" instruction.

The movie also deals with masculinity, violence, food, culture, family, change, and growing old. 

"Gran Torino" at 116 minutes was a bit long for me. Short and sweet (80-100 minutes) is best I think.

The DVD package was rather skimpy: two short extra features but no trailer/preview or commentary. 

Overall, I think "Gran Torino" is a thoughtful film worth watching. I'm glad that Martha shared it with me.

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Links:
http://www.gordon.edu/article.cfm?iArticleID=898
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Written Sunday 15 May 2016

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