What's next?

I brought a parrot stand into my upstairs bedroom with my TV, so that on the occasions that I watch TV, Max and Calypso can be with me.

As always, Max is not content to explore.  She must fly around and cause trouble.

She tried to land on the door frame, but was shocked to see that it was only 1/4 inch or so, and therefore needed to be rescued.  Unfortunately, it took her several times to realize this!

Birdwatching!

While dating, I met a wonderful man from Costa Rica. We are not meant to be, romantically, but we make great friends.  He was a tour guide in Costa Rica, and knows so much about birds and birding.  A few weeks back, we went out birding  Unfortunately, I was stuck with the camera on my iphone, but we saw a Cooper's Hawk just lounging in the water!  It's about 1/3 of the way from the left and in the middle.  You can see its reflection in the water.

I went to grab my scope, and we watched her for quite a long time.  She bathed a bit; then she flew from branch to branch.  It was just magnificent.

When I was trying to figure out how to draw an arrow on the picture (obviously, unsuccessfully), I instead found a button that would intensify the colors in my picture:

More beauty:

We're hoping to get out a few more times this fall, and will take my scope out this winter to look for migrating ducks and other waterfowl.  I can't wait!

View

I took this picture out of my office window last week. My boss had bought me a lemon tea drink, and it seemed so much like summer.  Except it is starting to get cold!  If I squint a bit, I can pretend that I am looking at the Mediterranean.

Woodcarving!

Part of my post-divorce life is actually experiencing different things that life has to offer.  This fall, one of those things was taking a wood carving class through the rec department.  I learned how to make an owl:

Before and after:

She is now part of my owl collection at my office.  I'm trying to decide if I liked wood carving enough to take another class in it this winter.  The teacher was amazing, but I did get a blister on my finger from pushing the knife into the hard wood.  Even if I never carve another piece of wood again in my life, I have the memory and experience of doing so.

End of summer

I am so not ready for summer to come to an end yet.  I had such an amazing summer - a road trip with my sisters, concerts, movies, friends, etc.  I am slowly trying to wrap my head around the impending fall and winter.

I got this note in my fortune cookie, which my coworkers joked was place especially for me:

Made me happy that things are going so well at work.

Last month, I ran a 50K and wound up finishing 3rd in my age group.  Super pumped, and I received some nice prizes from that.  But perhaps the best prize was soaking my feet in an ice bucket while eating a cookie.

I volunteer at a nature center as the Treasurer, which means I spend way too much of my volunteer time inside!  Earlier this month, I was there to help with the financials, but finished early enough to take a hike.  Nature is so calming and beautiful: