Road Trip to Texas – November 2024

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My monthly 2-day road trip to Texas to visit my dad was sunny and full of fall sights. The temperatures were decidedly cool. On the first day, I noticed more hawks that usual on high branches of roadside trees – particularly in Oklahoma. Some of them were probably red-tails but some were obviously smaller. Going 70 miles an hour, I only get a quick glimpse (avoiding becoming a distracted driver).

I stopped at the Texas welcome center on US 75 after leaving Oklahoma to eat my lunch and enjoyed their native plant garden. The Turk’s cap was still blooming.

The American beautyberry has clumps of purple drupes but some that were on the top part of the clump looked burnt. I wondered if they got the most summer sun…and were damaged by many days of the high temperatures.

There was a small tree that had a lots of red berries. I managed to ID it: possumhaw (Ilex decidua). It is a native deciduous holly. It grows in Missouri and I might plant one in my yard…maybe replacing a non-native.

It was very windy the next day on my drive back to Missouri. I didn’t see hawks perching….but did see some soaring. One was flying low over a field near the highway --- obviously hunting.

The sun was going down by the time I got back to Missouri. The light from the setting sun gave the roadside trees and orange glow. It was a good scenic finale for the road trip.

When does a road trip become a commute?

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The road trips to Carrollton/Dallas TX have been going on for years – increasing in frequency in recent years as my parents got older. Until recently their duration as been for at least a week; from Maryland it was a 2-day road trip in each direction which was reduced to 7 hours once we moved to Missouri. Sometimes I stayed longer – for hospitalizations/recuperation primarily. There were no trips at the beginning of COVID, but they started up again as soon as we were vaccinated. They are almost always on my own and my parents’ house became almost like a second home since I was spending at least 25% of my time there.

Since my mother’s death and the sale of their house, things are changing. I drive down one day and come back on the next – visiting with my dad for a few hours and staying in a hotel overnight. I’ve done it 3 times and am beginning to realize that the road trip feels more like a long commute.

The route is becoming very familiar. I set the navigation system but really don’t need it. The places I stop (usually Loves or Pilot….sometimes Choctaw Travel Centers) are familiar. There was a Stuckeys that I stopped at occasionally, but it was always a bit grungy and I noticed on the last trek that I had closed. My route is not on Interstate for the most part and I am very aware of the speed limits going though towns.

Music helps keep me alert…and variety helps. Apple Music on my phone playing via Bluetooth on the car speakers is the way to go!

There are several assignments I give myself to stay focused on the road and surroundings. Some of my favorites are:

  • Observing birds (particularly hawks in treetops, great blue herons or great egrets flying, soaring vultures, murmurations of smaller birds….hoping to see a bald eagle). It’s depressing to notice hawk or owl roadkill, but it happens.

  • Noticing the trees – particularly in the spring and fall. Recently I have been paying particular attention to red buds which are scattered among the roadside trees….not thrilled about the escaped Bradford Pears (Callery Pears) that are also there.

  • License plates, particularly in Oklahoma, are more varied than in most states because the Oklahoma tribes have their own plates! Most of my observing of plates is during the times I’ve slowed down for a town and there is more traffic.

  • There is plenty of time to plan what I need to do when I get to Dallas…or when I get home. On the way down, I think about topics that might interest my dad and whatever estate actions I need to take. On the way home, I think about blog posts and, this time of year, what I need to do in the yard.

Phone calls generally factor into the time I am in the car – hands free of course. I call my husband to let him know when I will get home, and my daughter usually calls me for a longer chat when she knows I am driving. It helps pass the time.

More focused purpose. I am realizing that the trips have one overwhelming purpose – to see and visit with my dad. It’s a few hours rather than 24/7 for a week like it was before. There is not much time for anything else although brief times out in nature might still happen…although not on every trip.

And that is how my road trips to Texas have become more like a commute.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 24, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

H5N1 Bird Flu Detections across the United States (Wild Birds) – A map of US counties where bird flu has been detected in wild birds as reported by the US Department of Agriculture.  It would be great if data could come from the National Wildlife Refuges (reporting through the US Department of the Interior) since they often have concentrations of wildlife and staff that would be monitoring the flocks. I know that there were instances of bird flu – primarily in snow geese - that the Bosque del Apache NWR staff were reacting to when we were there the November before COVID-19 curtailed our travel.

Electric car sales drive toward cleaner air, longer lives – Another reason my next car will be an electric rather than a plug-in-hybrid that I have now. However – this should probably be seen as an offset to the negative impacts on public health that climate change will bring; the air could be cleaner, but it will also be warmer and more turbulent. I am becoming less certain that my lifespan will last into my 90s like it has for my parents.

Living the lava life on Mauna Loa – A satellite image from NASA’s Landsat 9. It shows how close one of the flows came to Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) project habitat. Fortunately, the most recent mission there concluded in May 2022.

The Dead Sea is dying – The lowest exposed place on Earth…water level dropping 4 feet per year…salt formations and sinkholes.

Beyond cola: the strange flavors of soft drinks – Carbonated drinks were invented by Johann Jacob Schweppe in 1783. They were sold in glass bottles and that were recirculated. Regional delicacies. Everything changed with the advent of plastic bottles in the 1970s. Moxie, state beverage of Maine, continued independently for a long time – bought by Coca-Cola in 2018. Soft drinks had a heyday in the years of Prohibition. Follow the link for the whole article, more soft drink history.

Construction of the world’s largest radio telescope begins – Square Kilometer Array (SKA) – one in Australia and one in South Africa. Construction will be completed by the end of the decade, but observations will begin in 2024.

Flameproofing lithium-ion batteries with salt – Finally….hope this solves the fire problem with lithium-ion batteries and, if so, moves into new battery manufacturing quickly.

The 120-year search for the purpose of T. Rex’s arms – A little history of T. Rex finds…and the various ideas about why the animal had such puny arms.

A new weapon against antibiotic-resistant bacteria – Work to find a new treatment for Klebsiella pneumoniae infections that are resistant to common antibiotics with some strains fatal for 40-50% of infected people. A new strategy: weakening bacteria with an existing drug previously used to treat herpes that alters its surface layer to make it easier for the immune system to kill the bacteria. The idea works in the research model…effectiveness in human beings yet to be confirmed.

The science of why hawks are one of nature’s deadliest hunters – Birds and bats….The birds steer toward a fixed point in the swarm instead of singling out a bat. It’s a good strategy against a gathering of prey!

Zooming – February 2022

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I did more macro that zoom photography in February! This post features the zoomed images – morning light on our forest, a morning moon, birds, a high key image of flowers, water drops and ice, and skunk cabbage. Enjoy the slide show!

Hawk on Deck

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I was enjoying the snow flurries as I looked out my office window in late January when I heard a commotion below my window on our deck. I moved closer to the window to see what it was. A hawk was perched on the deck railing. I guessed that it had swooped down onto the deck – maybe for a meal of junco or mourning dove – but whatever the intended prey was, the hawk was not successful. It was looking all around the narrow strip of grassy yards and into the forest recovering from the failure and seeking a new target. Note: There are several pictures where the dark nictitating membrane is closed over the eye.

And then the bird flew off toward the forest. I used the picture id feature of the Merlin app to confirm my initial ID: red-shouldered hawk.

Birds through my Office Window - January 2022

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There seemed to be a lot of bird activity visible from my office window this past month. The most common ones – juncos, sparrows (white-throated and house), finches (gold and house) - do not feature as much in my photos but they were always around.

Mourning Doves are too heavy for the feeder, but they are frequent visitors under the feeder on the deck and out in the yard. They also perch in the maple. They look largest when it is cold, and their feathers are fluffed.

The Northern Cardinals come to the feeders and flit all over the yard and trees. They seemed to be more activity in January than usual because there were more of them around. We have a resident pair that are around all year but in January there were at least 2 other pairs that were occasionally coming for food…and the interactions of both the males and females were high drama to watch.

The other resident pair that we usually see all during the year are a male and female (pictured) Red-bellied Woodpecker. Hopefully they’ll have young again this year. The birds dig through the seeds at the feeder…always leave with a peanut or sunflower seed.

There was a hawk that was around occasionally. Once it was at the edge of the forest diving into the leaves…came up empty. Another time I heard a tussle on the deck and glanced out to find the hawk on the deck railing – also without prey that it had probably been stalking. I was particularly relieved that it didn’t kill one of the birds coming to the feeder!

I’ve noticed Northern Flickers more in our yard. They blend into the leaves so well they are hard to spot…don’t come to the feeders.

The White-breasted Nuthatch comes to the feeder and is very assertive – drives away all except the Red-bellied Woodpecker.

There was a mixed flock of Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds (pictured) that flew into the treetops of at the edge of the forest. I was glad they didn’t come down to our feeders! There were occasionally some cowbirds that came in the subsequent days; hope they don’t stick around for nesting season.

The downy woodpecker doesn’t come to our feeders frequently; they must be very hungry when the do because they eat quite a few seeds!

Zooming – December 2021

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The usual birds and plants in the collection for December – plus some from the light display at Brookside Gardens. My camera’s zoom feature is one I use almost all the time to control what I want in the image….usually opting to make the subject fill most of the frame. Sometimes I want even more magnification and am forced to be content with the max my camera can do. All of the images this month were handheld except for the bald eagle; my camera was on a monopod for that one. Enjoy the show!

Zooming - February 2021

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As I selected the images to include in this monthly post, I found more variety than usual. The experimental high key images are quite different than my usual photography – a type of photography I will continue to use in otherwise poor lighting conditions. There was also a lot of snow….in landscapes and as background to the usual birds. I took more pictures of deer in February too. One subject carried over from last month – the skunk cabbage is still blooming at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt Pleasant and it’s the only picture taken away from home! Enjoy the slideshow.