Happy Spring! (Take a peek at this . . . . )

DC eagles and their new pair: "DC2" and "DC3"

In less than an hour, I'll set off for church, and I'll call my sister on the way.

She will say, "Have you looked at the eagle cam yet?"

She will be referring, of course, to the camera in DC that allows all of us to follow the progress of a pair of bald eagle eggs that are hatching.

That is, unless she's already off bird-watching at Mt. Auburn Cemetery . . . .

Mt. Auburn Cemetery

I can still remember the precise spot on which I was standing in spring, 1979, when I said to my friend Julie, "Whatcha doin'?" and she said, "I'm going bird watching in Mt. Auburn Cemetery."

At the time, I wasn't cool enough to know that bird watching is cool, and Mt. Auburn Cemetery is one of the most beautiful settings in the country.  (Over the course of the past 35+ years I've gradually gotten hip.)

Since 1979, Julie's devoted her efforts to observing, caring for, and depicting birds and other creatures, and she's published a lot of books of her art. Her newest book -- just in time for the first day of spring, 2016 -- is Baby Birds: An Artist Looks into the Nest. (See "Baby birds in all their beauty" in the Boston Globe.)

Happy Spring!

(If anyone's looking for me, I'll be at Mt. Auburn, watching birds . . . . )


Related posts

One of the really interesting things about looking at how Rachel Carson used her writing to wake the world up -- particularly with her prophetic Silent Spring -- is that we can then go back to some of the earliest parts of the Bible and see them as living and urgent. And reading Silent Spring as well as Biblical stories like the account of The Flood points to the urgency of changes that need to be made here and now in the way we all live our lives.

(See Looking at Rachel Carson (at St. Luke's "School for Prophets") )






Chicago has a tremendous head start in being a place that is inspired by the beauty all around us to do the difficult things that are needed. And Chicago is so beautiful all summer long, there's no reason to leave the city. Think of all the carbon emissions save on car and jet travel!

(See "One Word: Wildflowers" on Zero Carbon Chicago)

I love to walk around North Pond here in Chicago and notice the asters as September stretches into October. They make me think of my mom . . . .

(See Asters for Eva )