January The fir stands waist-deep in the bedded snow; The storm-birds twitter, and in dark array The broken peaks in shadow stand – when slow The sun makes for a space all-blinding day, While brown deer shyly track their silent way, Hoof-patterning the snow-drifts as they go. – Maynard Dixon
Month: December 2013
Quote
Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life. – Terry Pratchett
Cryptic Cats
I always like finding new species, and am fascinated by “cryptic” ones that look just like others but have different DNA. (Are there really SEVEN Red Crossbills?) Not every species is really one, and if you obsess on the subject it will drive you mad. I like to argue and define, but my not quite …
Mattanza Magdalena
It has been a rough year for our town– four funerals in one family alone, no water for a month in summer, loss of our only food store. Perhaps my young friend Jason Otero, who is a guide and hound trainer among other skills, just decided to cheer everyone up. He staged a mattanza– literally …
“A Pointer of the Veronese School”
The words are Datus Proper’s; the dog Daniel Riviera’s Vi:
Random Doggage
Jutta’s girls in Germany:
Asian Perch
Since Mima went nuclear on Lashyn, I have been in a quandary re “what bird?” Though there are some exotic possibilities, my perennial favorites have always been gosses and tiercel falcons with gyr and saker genes. I worry about keeping up with the falcons, nor can I afford or easily control a horse, though I …
Silk Purse?
Unfair– of all the 20th century military bolt action rifles I like the SMLE best, and there is nothing wrong with the .303 British round either– like the 7 mm Mauser and the 6.5 Mannlicher Schoenauer, it punches above its weight, and has taken virtually every big game animal on the planet. But nobody ever …
Model
A scientifically grounded anatomical artist must be innovative and intrepid. Katrina van Grouw’s model for the pouter pigeon in her ten- star Unfeathered Bird and the finished drawing.
Teaser
Would you consider these cats the same species? Thoughts on this and much more starting tomorrow. Returning soon to full service– the books go slowly, but too many good things to share… (And Annie D– recognize these creatures?)