So beautiful. On so many levels. Thank you so much for being so open and vulnerable and giving. I feel very blessed. I love your new little feathered friend, your extraordinary gentleman friends and your positivity and love for all you encounter. Thank you. ❤️💕
Beautiful! I just read “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse and this was the message. We are all one…with each and other all living things. We just need to live accordingly.
I’m having friends over next week and plan to make it a garden celebration as week. Can you give more details on how you cooked the okra? It looks delicious.
Hi Mary, Okra Fries are easy to make. Here is the recipe. Preheat oven to 400. Cut okra in half lengthwise. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, and coriander to taste. I occasionally add paprika in place of the coriander. Spreak okra out on a baking sheet. It is important to give it room. Roast for ten minutes then stir. Roast ten more minutes or until you get crispy brown edges. It is important to watch it and stop cooking before it gets to brown. They can take on a burned flavor and get too crispy if you cook them too long.
This is the second time I’ve read about your coming together for a pot luck with your group of men friends.
I find it both times quite endearing that men can be intimate, and vulnerable, comfortable in their own skins to be able to have and do what you expressed in this essay.
The men I knew growing up were hard core and rowdy when they got together. Their pot luck” was usually a barbecue of hot dogs over a fire pit with much alcohol consumed all around.
What a treat your words and pictures are and so inviting and had my mouth watering and wondering if I can even grow okra here in southern Maine.
FEDCO has three varieties of okra that do well in Maine. I would order seed from them and try it out. I used to be part of the hot dog and beer club. Plant based food and berry shrubs are much nicer all around.
I thought about your experience with Sparkle after my encounter with this young finch. When she came up to me I felt like reaching out to her and part of me hoped she would perch on my hand while carrying on with her sweet finch conversation.
It really is a wonderful sound. I love the quality of the ambiance it creates. I was hanging out with goldfinches yesterday and I watched a female fall asleep while perched on top of a purple coneflower. Her constant vocalizations slowed and faded for a few seconds as she took a quick nap. When she opened her eyes her calls picked up and she joined the conversation with her flock. I also learned that if I stand still long enough they will let me get closer to them and that is when you can hear the very soft calls that they make amidst occasional crescendos.
Oh! Bill, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear of you getting to watch the female fall asleep up there. I remember once Sparkle being asleep, on her favourite perch in the living room (a collection of branches and grasses which sat up high, we named it ‘the oracle’) and after being asleep for a while she started making the smallest little parts of calls here and there. I’m certain she was dreaming. It was one of the most precious things I’ve ever witnessed, it’ll never leave me.
That is so beautiful. I think I have a new goal in life. I want to hear the sound of a dreaming finch. I may have been in the presence of this sound, but if so, the wind in the leaves and the calls of other finches obscured it.
I am eagerly awaiting the return of the goldfinch flock that feasts on the seeds from my yellow Tickseed. They usually feast for a couple days before moving on after the plants have been picked clean.
I absolutely love that you are able to not only notice, but appreciate one out of the ordinary fledgling. Not many humans can do that. Finches are remarkable. All birds are ...but last I had the pleasure of co-parenting a Finch family. The young ones fell from their nest at my mother in laws home. There were 6 babies. Half of them didn't live thru the fall. The 3 who made it got placed in the same nest but I had no choice but to move it. I new from previous bird rescue that I had a shot if I used the same nest but moved it just down a few feet so the parents could easily find the 3 babies that made it. I had to place them in their original nest in a hanging basket from an old flower arrangement. The parents found them right away. Only issue was I knew finches keep the nest very clean so predators don't get lured to the young. They were having a problem cleaning the poo out bc the basket was deeper. So I had to clean the nest 3 or 4 times a day around my work schedule. The parents would watch me from a near by tree and then when I was done they'd come feed them. It was an amazing experience that I did for almost 4 wks. I had to get nesting materials from pet smart to make the original nest a bit higher in the middle so the babies could see out, but not fall out again. So I had to actually pick them up and put them back in every time I cleaned it. The parents didn't mind me doing this at all which was crazy. There was one baby who was very slow to fledge. He was the smallest and the one who hit the hardest after the fall out. I was so so worried his parents were going to forget about him after the other 2 left an entire 3 or 4 days prior. He was alone in the nest for almost an entire wk after the other 2 left. I was ready to take him in and do a soft release when he was ready. However, his parents did not give up on him. I woke up early one morning and he was out of the nest standing on a patio chair calling for the parents. They took awhile to come. I was getting very nervous. Dad finally came. With breakfast and they left together. He wasn't the strongest flyer. Very low and slow. Did more hopping. Dad following behind. I cried. Happiness mostly but relief too. My little tiny "Allister P-Nut" made it! Here are pics. One is the Father standing on the shepherds hook in the yard. The other2 are the babies in the hanging basket nest. https://photos.app.goo.gl/X2y7YoYHqCBQtvGQ9
Hi Autumn, It is so nice to hear about your heroic efforts to care for birds. Do you read Chloe Hope's Death and Birds essays on Substack? I think you would really appreciate her stories about birds.
What a lovely post! The goldfinch is adorable, and your gathering of friends sounds wonderful. Thanks for the idea on how to cook okra!
Yes, young birds often trust people! A deceased friend of mine said, when looking at some young sparrows, “They haven’t learned to be afraid yet!”
And we fortunately can unlearn some of our fear …
So beautiful. On so many levels. Thank you so much for being so open and vulnerable and giving. I feel very blessed. I love your new little feathered friend, your extraordinary gentleman friends and your positivity and love for all you encounter. Thank you. ❤️💕
This is heaven, this is heaven... ❤️
Beautiful photos and a wonderful story of your friendship and the evening you had.
Some lovely reflections and insight. Thank you for sharing a piece of heaven. I will close and get out-of-doors and enjoy mine.
Beautiful! I just read “Siddhartha” by Herman Hesse and this was the message. We are all one…with each and other all living things. We just need to live accordingly.
That is a great book. I read it about once a year to recalibrate my priorities.
Beautifully done, Bill, in all ways!
I’m having friends over next week and plan to make it a garden celebration as week. Can you give more details on how you cooked the okra? It looks delicious.
Hi Mary, Okra Fries are easy to make. Here is the recipe. Preheat oven to 400. Cut okra in half lengthwise. Add olive oil, salt, pepper, and coriander to taste. I occasionally add paprika in place of the coriander. Spreak okra out on a baking sheet. It is important to give it room. Roast for ten minutes then stir. Roast ten more minutes or until you get crispy brown edges. It is important to watch it and stop cooking before it gets to brown. They can take on a burned flavor and get too crispy if you cook them too long.
Thank you!!
Holy moly, what an embarrassment of riches.
This is the second time I’ve read about your coming together for a pot luck with your group of men friends.
I find it both times quite endearing that men can be intimate, and vulnerable, comfortable in their own skins to be able to have and do what you expressed in this essay.
The men I knew growing up were hard core and rowdy when they got together. Their pot luck” was usually a barbecue of hot dogs over a fire pit with much alcohol consumed all around.
What a treat your words and pictures are and so inviting and had my mouth watering and wondering if I can even grow okra here in southern Maine.
Thank you for your posts.
FEDCO has three varieties of okra that do well in Maine. I would order seed from them and try it out. I used to be part of the hot dog and beer club. Plant based food and berry shrubs are much nicer all around.
Beautiful. I love the new fledglings of every species, they are so trusting! I’d like to find my way back to trusting again.
The young birds are showing us the way.
Oh Bill, she's so beautiful. Reminds me so much of Sparkle. I'm so touched by your encounter, and so glad that you took the time to just be with her.
I thought about your experience with Sparkle after my encounter with this young finch. When she came up to me I felt like reaching out to her and part of me hoped she would perch on my hand while carrying on with her sweet finch conversation.
That conversation is one of the most wonderful sounds I know. I’m so glad she came to see you. Precious, perfect being (both) :)
It really is a wonderful sound. I love the quality of the ambiance it creates. I was hanging out with goldfinches yesterday and I watched a female fall asleep while perched on top of a purple coneflower. Her constant vocalizations slowed and faded for a few seconds as she took a quick nap. When she opened her eyes her calls picked up and she joined the conversation with her flock. I also learned that if I stand still long enough they will let me get closer to them and that is when you can hear the very soft calls that they make amidst occasional crescendos.
Oh! Bill, I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear of you getting to watch the female fall asleep up there. I remember once Sparkle being asleep, on her favourite perch in the living room (a collection of branches and grasses which sat up high, we named it ‘the oracle’) and after being asleep for a while she started making the smallest little parts of calls here and there. I’m certain she was dreaming. It was one of the most precious things I’ve ever witnessed, it’ll never leave me.
Hanging out with goldfinches…how lucky are we…
That is so beautiful. I think I have a new goal in life. I want to hear the sound of a dreaming finch. I may have been in the presence of this sound, but if so, the wind in the leaves and the calls of other finches obscured it.
I sincerely hope you achieve that goal, Bill ❤️
I am eagerly awaiting the return of the goldfinch flock that feasts on the seeds from my yellow Tickseed. They usually feast for a couple days before moving on after the plants have been picked clean.
I absolutely love that you are able to not only notice, but appreciate one out of the ordinary fledgling. Not many humans can do that. Finches are remarkable. All birds are ...but last I had the pleasure of co-parenting a Finch family. The young ones fell from their nest at my mother in laws home. There were 6 babies. Half of them didn't live thru the fall. The 3 who made it got placed in the same nest but I had no choice but to move it. I new from previous bird rescue that I had a shot if I used the same nest but moved it just down a few feet so the parents could easily find the 3 babies that made it. I had to place them in their original nest in a hanging basket from an old flower arrangement. The parents found them right away. Only issue was I knew finches keep the nest very clean so predators don't get lured to the young. They were having a problem cleaning the poo out bc the basket was deeper. So I had to clean the nest 3 or 4 times a day around my work schedule. The parents would watch me from a near by tree and then when I was done they'd come feed them. It was an amazing experience that I did for almost 4 wks. I had to get nesting materials from pet smart to make the original nest a bit higher in the middle so the babies could see out, but not fall out again. So I had to actually pick them up and put them back in every time I cleaned it. The parents didn't mind me doing this at all which was crazy. There was one baby who was very slow to fledge. He was the smallest and the one who hit the hardest after the fall out. I was so so worried his parents were going to forget about him after the other 2 left an entire 3 or 4 days prior. He was alone in the nest for almost an entire wk after the other 2 left. I was ready to take him in and do a soft release when he was ready. However, his parents did not give up on him. I woke up early one morning and he was out of the nest standing on a patio chair calling for the parents. They took awhile to come. I was getting very nervous. Dad finally came. With breakfast and they left together. He wasn't the strongest flyer. Very low and slow. Did more hopping. Dad following behind. I cried. Happiness mostly but relief too. My little tiny "Allister P-Nut" made it! Here are pics. One is the Father standing on the shepherds hook in the yard. The other2 are the babies in the hanging basket nest. https://photos.app.goo.gl/X2y7YoYHqCBQtvGQ9
Hi Autumn, It is so nice to hear about your heroic efforts to care for birds. Do you read Chloe Hope's Death and Birds essays on Substack? I think you would really appreciate her stories about birds.
Ty for letting me know I'll definitely check that out!
What a sweet goldfinch! And a sweet gathering. Thanks for sharing them.