dust bath?

I came upon the strangest thing today. I'd gone out to the nearby wildlife sanctuary to retrieve the notebook I left there yesterday. Fortunately, it was still right where I left it on the shelf in the viewing blind.

See that little viewing blind (hut)? That's where I left it... You can understand how I might get distracted by all these birds and all this beauty. This is a picture from yesterday, so you can even imagine my poor forlorn little notebook calling across the pond, "Hey, you're not going to abandon me, are you?" 

Anyway, at the side of the gravel parking area, a sparrow was taking a bath in the dust. She was doing all the same moves I see birds do in bird baths, only she was flinging dust around instead of water. There were two ponds, including the one above, 100 yards from the parking lot, so it certainly wasn't a lack of water.  Anyone have any ideas? I'm mystified.

Dust Bath

While I'm at it, here are a few more pictures from today's quick stop. Should post some from yesterday, but haven't had time to go through them yet. 

Painted Turtle came out during one of the few sunny moments. I love his colors against the blues and greens.

Cedar Waxwings were there today - first time I've seen them this year.

What is this? A groundhog?
Not a muskrat - no tail visible (I have several pics - might be a short stubby one, but definitely not a muskrat one).

Audition for Angry Birds

BIG turtle in the road as I entered the sanctuary. Snapper? Looks like a dinosaur to me.

He walked under the car and settled down for a nap in the shade. It was HOT. 

There are turtles, and then there are turtles. Here are more painted turtles, the largest much smaller than the one under the car, and the little one really tiny and cute.

Heard lots of bullfrogs, but never saw one. No one has told them they're supposed to sit on lily pads.

There are barn swallows nesting in the blind where I was watching the birds and turtles (yep, same one). I made sure to stay to one end or the other so they had plenty of room to fly in and out.

This video is really shaky - sorry about that! But this barn swallow was so cute and so loquacious I had to share. Turn on your speakers.

daisies all along the path

So back to the original topic... If you have any knowledge to share about dust baths, I'd be most interested in hearing it. Please do comment.

P.S. Sparrow will not be having her dust bath tomorrow. It's now pouring down rain with warnings about minor flooding, so she'll have to settle for mud. I hear people pay good money to be caked in mud, so perhaps she'll start a spa.

lists

Here's what I hate:

Forgetting my hat and gloves in single digit temps.

Trying to cut plexiglas and having it break in the wrong place.
People at Home Depot who tell you how easy it is to cut.

Having to pull out a seam and redo it.
Dumping a box of pins all over the floor.
Having people suddenly change how they're interacting with me when they find out I'm a sister living in Haiti.

Here's what I love:

Finishing a project.
Homemade cafe-au-lait-&-eggnog.
Calls from my sisters and other family members.
Beautiful evening light in the clouds with the bare branches of winter trees against them.

The sight of deer in the woods.
Squirrels chasing each other around the tree and through the snow.
Seeing the cardinals, woodpeckers, nuthatches, juncos and other birds around the feeder in the back yard.

Fires in the fireplace.

Time with my parents.
Being able to say happy birthday to my father in person for the first time in years.

weather or not

I got a question tonight from my sister in the US: What's the weather like there?   I had to say I had no idea what the temperature is outside.  My room has been a pretty steady 78-83 degrees so far, morning or night, but the temperatures outside have ranged much more widely.  So I decided to check.  Here, for the curious, is the ten-day forecast for Port-au-Prince (screen capture). 


weather forecast
Easter Week 2012
Port-au-Prince


Then I got curious and looked up the forecast for Duxbury, MA, one of the towns I might call home.  This is what I found:

 from 60 to -6 degrees?

I blinked a few times and said to myself, "Now that is what I would call a serious cold front."

And then I moved from curious to suspicious and looked up tomorrow's forecast.

That's what I'd call a speedy warm front.

Just enjoying imagining an hour like the one from 2-3pm above. 

raindrops keep falling on my head

rainclouds over Port-au-Prince and mountains
with a hint of blue sky

I've been listening contentedly to the rain falling as I get ready for bed.  I love the smell and the sound of the rain, and it's really starting to come down.  It should cool things off tonight, and the music of the rain will lull me to sleep.

It occurred to me a few minutes ago to wonder how my laundry on the drying rack outside is doing. Should we call this the extra rinse cycle? 

visiting every parishioner

I found a bunch of posts from my time in Darbonne, Leogane, Haiti.  They are only half written, but I think I will post them as is.  Still something to be said here, even if incomplete.

Here is the first post, on the ongoing parish visits - original text below the asterisks, all one line of it (all photos were already pasted in).  I believe I started it 7/27/09 on a visit back to the convent for my sabbath day rest.  For this one, I'll add some current thoughts and recollections as well.

I remember these visits vividly - the walking and walking and walking, the prayer (and boy could they pray!), and the singing. Everyone seemed to have Psalm 23 memorized in French - a particular version, not the one from the Book of Common Prayer (French translation thereof, used in the Episcopal Church in Haiti). Must be like the King James translation of it here.  And, as is true here, there were hymns that everyone knew.  I had bought myself a hymnal and started to look them up and learn them, or at least mark the places in the book once I figured out which ones were likely to be sung.

The committee divided the parish visits up over the summer by areas of town.  It was quite an experience, and I am so glad to have been able to join them.  Each family got around a fifteen minute visit with intense prayer for them and their current needs, among other things.  I am sure it was and is an experience of bonding among the parishioners.  It would be good to try something like that up here in the US if we could figure out a way. 

* * *

In Darbonne, the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation's comite d'evangelisation, made up of quite a number of parishioners, goes around to visit each household for a short visit to pray for the family.