We often see the male cardinal visiting the homemade feeder at the side of the house. He seems to have developed an addiction to black oil sunflower seeds. I haven’t seen the female for a while. She may be sitting on a new nest. I hear a lot of singing these days!
Comcast is making good progress on installing the new internet cable system throughout our area. Maybe internet service will improve soon!
My projects are progressing well, and I’ll share more on that when the time comes, but all the hard work and the headaches are taking a toll. Ongoing physical therapy is quite painful and leaves me exhausted. I am not seeing benefits yet. The headaches continue. Computer time is contributing to the stiff muscles in my neck, back, and shoulders which seem to be causing the headaches. My physical therapist has found some abnormalities in my posture. I am leaning to the left (literally), and she thinks I may have a curvature in my spine. I think she will recommend some imaging to my neurologist. Since migraine remedies didn’t work, it is probable that the headaches are not migraines. Computer time is also taking a toll on my eyes.
It seems I have no other choice than to decrease computer time, so I am going to take a break. I will miss all of my blogging friends very much, but I hope to be back soon, stronger and with good news. Happy spring everyone! 🩷
Yesterday, I heard a loud commotion outside the window. I arrived just in time to see, silhouetted against the sunny sky, screaming birds pursuing slightly larger birds as they rose high in the sky. Then I noticed the mangled nest!
Sadly, I had witnessed a similar scenario before. A dozen years ago, I saw two angry mockingbirds repeatedly attacking a much larger osprey who was carrying their chick to its nest on a pole high above the parking lot. It was a hopeless situation for the mockingbirds, but they continued to attack.
Though I didn’t get a clear view of the birds yesterday, I am pretty sure the nest raider was a blue jay, known for preying on cardinal chicks.
Soon all was quiet. I saw the male cardinal pausing at the edge of the woods, silent now, and looking back toward the ruined nest as if to say goodbye. Cardinal family, you are in my thoughts. I share your sorrow, and I will always remember being privileged to witness your loving family life for an all-too-brief period.
I was too distraught to write about these devastating events yesterday, but this morning, it occurred to me that, even among humans, this is nature’s way. Many human children are victims of accidents, cruel diseases, famines, and wars not of their making. Many children die too soon. Today, I grieve for all the lost children, both animal and human.
working together to make Earth a better place to live!
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Balroop Singh is a former teacher, mother, and grandmother, writer, and poet. I found eleven of her books on Amazon! Fusion: Poems of Life is the latest one. I read and thoroughly enjoyed this book of lovely poetry, and I enthusiastically recommend it! A huge thank you to Balroop for the very kind review of my book, Earthly Days, below. It was a wonderful surprise!
Thank you to all of my WordPress friends for the wonderful posts you have shared this year. Reading what you have written and enjoying what you have created has enhanced my life. Thank you for reading and commenting on my work this year. Your support means so much to me!
A special thank-you to those who wrote interviews and reviews of Earthly Days and those who bought my books. I am grateful for the WordPress community, a place where we encourage and support each other.
May peace and harmony come to our troubled world. May brotherhood replace anger and conflict. Where there is destruction, may people work together to rebuild. May we find the will to heal and restore the Earth, our home.
I wish all of my WordPress friends love, health, happiness, and success in 2024. May all of your dreams come true!
Earthly Days in paperback and in the Kindle edition is now immediately available on Amazon, shipping in 1-2 days. It is also available on Barnes & Noble.
The paperback, because of the many color photos, had to be priced at $18.99. The Kindle edition, because it has no printing costs, is priced at $2.99. I priced the Kindle edition as low as possible to make it easy for all my fellow bloggers to enjoy the book. I would be ecstatically happy and eternally grateful for any reviews you submit, and I will share them on my blog as I have shared the review above.
Below is the Preface and Acknowledgements page from Earthly Days. I have recognized my WordPress friends for all you mean to me. Every poem in Earthly Days is better because of the experience, knowledge, and inspiration gained from my fellow bloggers. I am deeply grateful. Thank you so much for your support.
Thank you to those who have generously written such outstanding reviews and interviews. Your work is being used as a resource by my publisher in marketing Earthly Days. Your assistance in helping to launch Earthly Days is invaluable, and will be remembered always!
War crimes are defined by an international law called the Geneva Conventions, ratified by all member nations of the United Nations. War crimes have been reported to have been committed by Russia against Ukraine and by both sides in the War between Hamas Militants and Israel. This is a partial list of war crimes.
Attacking civilian targets, assaulting and killing civilians
Destroying buildings used for purposes of religion, education, art, science, and charitable organizations. Also, historic monuments and hospitals
Intentional starvation of civilians or impeding delivery of relief supplies to civilians
Kidnapping and hostage-taking of civilians, use of civilians as human shields
Rape, forced prostitution, and sexual slavery
Torture
Threats have been made by Russia to use nuclear weapons. Other forbidden weapons include poison gas and biological warfare.
References
United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect
Topics: Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes, and Ethnic Cleasning
United Nations Commission of Inquiry
This commission is investigating evidence of war crimes committed by all sides in Israel and occupied Palestinian territories since 7 October 2023.
Israel is being investigated for witholding food, water, electricity, and fuel in Gaza.
Hamas is under investigation for gunning down unarmed civilians, taking civilian hostages, and using civilians as human shields.
Animals in many places are responding to climate change by changing their behaviors. Warming seawater has resulted in a decrease in the number of krill, a tiny shrimp that is the primary food of humpback whales.
One group of whales have adapted by finding a new food source, salmon fry from a hatchery in British Columbia whose mission is to replenish the dwindling salmon population. One whale changed his diet from krill to salmon fry. He feasted when the salmon fry were released from their net enclosures.
Humans then started transporting the fry a mile away to release them. The whale followed the boat and adapted by learning to fish in the shallow water. Then he recruited a team of his buddies to fish in teams as dolphins do. I guess the hatchery will have to produce a much larger crop of salmon fry to feed the hungry humpback whales and still have enough salmon for human fishermen!
A group of forest chimpanzees migrated to the savannah of Senegal. The climate was hotter, there were fewer trees, and sources of food were far apart. The chimps responded to the heat by growing less body hair. They established larger territories. Because there were fewer trees, chimps spent more time walking upright than their forest relatives, who usually travel by swinging through the treetops.
Because there was less fruit to serve as a source of water, they had to find fresh water sources. To purify mucky water, they learned to dig holes in sandy riverbanks. When the water filtered through the sand, the holes were filled with clean water for the chimps to drink.
As a source of protein, the savannah chimps use twigs to fish for termites, spending much more time in this activity than forest chimps do. In the middle of the day, when weather is hot, these chimps seek shelter in caves, as early humans once did.
As the climate warms, the savannah will become many degrees hotter. Water sources will dry up. Life will become even more difficult for the savannah chimps. Will they be able to survive?
Marine Iguanas, famously studied by Charles Darwin, live in the Galapagos Islands, a harsh environment. To survive hot weather, they shrink their bodies. In cooler periods, they regrow to their usual size. Too long in cold water, iguanas face hypothermia, which can be fatal. Can marine Iguanas survive global warming?
For more information, watch the PBS video on YouTube, “Earth is Changing (and Animals are Adapting in Surprising Ways.)” Evolution Earth
Gulf Coast Poet 