Harrumph, said the Wizard...

As if I don't have enough to do today, another blogger - who shall remain NAMELESS (a state his EGO can barely tollerate) - has defiled and debased my hat and all it stands for: Dirty laundry, indeed!! (See "Comments" in my previous post).

Well, Mr. ----, lacking the time this morning to photograph the back end of my horse, I give YOU a brand new award: The Dirty Dirklet. The rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs explaining why you appear to be standing in a pile of steaming horse manure.

2. Link to the bestower of The Dirty Dirklet and apologize for your wanton disregard for the magnificence, intelligence and glorious content of his/her blog and all it stands for. (Include a kind word for the hat).

3. If you have any trouble doing steps 1 and 2, just dial 1-800-EATSHIT

And without further ado, I give you The Dirty Dirklet:

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Please click to enlarge this image - it begs to be seen clearly...

The Thinking Blogger

There are a lot of blogging awards floating around out there, some quite noteworthy because they come from sites that make it their business to peruse and evaluate blogs; others are often the work of pals bestowing compliments on pals. At the risk of pissing off those “noteworthy” evaluators (and forever squashing my chances of winning a “Blog of the Day Award”), let me say that the second category – pals bestowing compliments on pals – is the better kind to receive.

A few days ago I was honored to receive a “Thinking Blogger” award from Robin. She of course had been a prior recipient and was paying it forward. I have come to know Robin through her blog as a sensitive, passionate person, someone very concerned for the environment and the natural world. This is a woman who sleeps with her curtains drawn back so that she can see the stars, and her window open so she can hear the waves on Lake Michigan. I am proud to be in her company, and she does make me think about the things that really matter.

But here’s my problem. As a Thinking Blogger recipient, I’m now supposed to bestow that award upon five other appropriate bloggers, and as you might expect a Thinking Blogger to do, I’m really doing a lot of thinking about whom I should tap.

The basic instructions are these: If, and only if, you get tagged, you're supposed to write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think. Tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all - blogs that really get you thinking! Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

My blogging community contains many wise and thoughtful folks, but they’ve already been given the award. Okay, Dirk hasn’t gotten one, but is Dirk the embodiment of the Thinking Blogger? He’s funnier than hell, writes wonderfully, and is always interesting, but in the strictest sense, is someone wearing a flag top-hat appropriate? (Anyway, he has so many awards that I don’t think there’s any room left on his trophy shelf).

Whim already has one. Craig D is really funny and an all-around good guy, but all of those knock-off record label posts didn’t exactly elevate him to rocket scientist inspirational level. Crabby would describe herself as an anti-Mensa kind of gal, so that's not the place to hang up a Thinking Blogger banner (although she certainly is thinking of mischief all the time). And then there are all the artists: Lone Beader, Life at Star’s Rest, The Wild Inside, Foam... And there is my answer... I will choose not to continue the "Thinking Blogger" awards.

Instead, I would like to recognize five outstanding artists. Karan has told me that she is excited to get back to “work” because she’s overflowing with ideas and creative energy. Carmon at Star’s Rest works her knowledge and love of horses into beautiful silver pieces. On the other side of the country, The Lone Beader thinks up miniature masterpieces and creates them with thousands of tiny beads. Foam teaches art and inspires all of us to think about the things that give life its richness and flavor, to see things more clearly. Yes, these are the bloggers I will honor with my version of the Thinking Blogger award.

These, and one other. I invite you to visit my secret site, the place where I try to enhance the wonderful poetry of Shaman with an occasional photo or two. She is also an artist (a sculptor), but this blog is dedicated to her poems. She is not seeking a blogging community, and I very much doubt that she would want a Thinking Blogger award, but she definitely gets me thinking and inspires me. And that makes five.

I'm betting that this isn't what the originator of The Thinking Blogger had in mind, so let's call it

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The Wizard's Hat Award.

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These five women interest and inspire me, and I know that their creative energies are helped by the booster rockets of wisdom and thought. Hats off to Foam, Beader, Wild Inside, Carmon and Shaman! And ladies, you don't have to pay this forward unless the spirit moves you to do so (because it's awfully hard to single out just five of your friends while passing over the others).
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Woodcock...

Meet the bird that says beeeep.

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Woodcocks have evolved to blend in with their surroundings, so that's what they do when danger (a human) approaches: stay very still, imitating leaves and twigs. Many years ago my daughter and her grandpa almost stepped on a woodcock, but that's the only other close encounter I can think of during all the years we've lived here, although I've sometimes seen one flying at dusk (recognizable by its distinctive, round shape) calling its Bronx-cheer-like beeeep.

This bird's body is about six inches in length; his/her beak is about three inches long. For some reason, he was in the middle of a road when I spotted him, perhaps sunning himself, but by the time I had the camera out and ready he had disappeared. I searched quietly and finally spied him about ten feet into the woods. He tolerated two clicks of the shutter and then began to

retreat.

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I was thrilled to be able to take these photos! Please click on them to have a closer look at this beautiful and seldom-seen bird.