Goings on

mockingbird

thanks to dennis who figured this out… and sent me a link to the song.

We have one right outside our windows, and I do believe this bird is the one who starts up in the middle of the night sometimes.

800px-Northern_Mockingbird_USA — and a closeup thanks to wikipedia

and here’s what he sounds like.

hardy60sh

Nice little tidbits about the mockingbird from wikipedia.

This is the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
It features in the title and central metaphor of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In that novel, mockingbirds are portrayed as innocent and generous, and two of the major characters, Atticus Finch and Miss Maudie, say it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because “they don’t do one thing for us but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us”.
The traditional American lullaby “Hush Little Baby” has been recorded in numerous musical styles. The lyrics refer Northern Mockingbirds once being popular as pets, and begin:

Hush little baby, don’t say a word,

Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don’t sing,

Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.

President Thomas Jefferson had a pet mockingbird named Dick.
On the television show, Mister Rogers Neighborhood, the puppet character of King Friday XIII has a pet mockingbird (a wooden bird on a stick) whose name is Mimus Polyglottos.

Goings on

End of Road at Cracker Trail Ride 2011

I remember being called a Florida Cracker because I was born in Miami. Didn’t think much more of the term until I wrote horse stories for The Palm Beach Post and learned about the ranches in the middle of the state that raised cattle, and actually went to a round up at Miss Ida’s in Indiantown.

A Florida Cracker was a cowman who cracked a long whip to herd up the cattle.

There are Cracker horses and cattle, animals that acclimated to wet soggy swampland — that kind of environment isn’t good for animals with hooves, but these horses and cows did just fine here.

I also found out that we have Cracker roses (Florida is not known for that flower) — a little straggelly, but a rose is a rose is a rose.

For more photos, go to my christine davis site and my vacation site.

Goings on

Street Painting Festival 2011

I love this fair. And, since I live less than a block away, I can walk down and follow its progression. Wish Lake Worth did more of this kind of thing. The only festival I have loved better was the Luggage fair in San Francisco, an unbelievable conglomeration of street performers and acrobats who were walking up and down the sides of buildings…

Anyway, I digress. Here are photos from this year’s Lake Worth festival. (and for more, go to my christine davis site.

Goings on

a laugh

and on Monday mornings, I need one. This one is from my aunt, with whom, over the years, I have had lots of good times, but those are other stories. (Rhod Gilbert, comedy routine (june, 27, 2008)

So, thanks Lois.

Goings on

Good crossing, poppa neutrino

Poppa Neutrino died yesterday morning. And to think just a couple of months ago, he was ready for a round-the-world raft trip! I am so sorry, I just got to know him, via his site, and had such fun in the process. I enjoyed listening to his children talk about their circus careers in Mexico. And about their experiences as street performers. Who would have thunk? Here are some of my favorite Neutrino quotes…

and here’s a link to his site.