Category: All Sorts

One of the things that’s surprised me about getting older is my growing fascination with historical documentaries. I’ve always liked documentaries, but I don’t remember ever being as absorbed as I get now. I used to laugh at the older generation’s fascination with that stuff, but now I get it. The older I get, the more I appreciate history and how it has shaped the world of today. I find it rewarding to learn about what people were like and how we’ve changed (if we have at all).

The Ken Burns Civil War documentary also holds a special place in my heart. First off, it’s fantastic and if you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend you check it out. On a more personal note though, I remember watching this with my maternal grandfather when I was a kid. I used to tease him for taking naps every day and for watching stuff like this. Turns out I was wrong and he was a genius. We used to watch this together, so when I put it on now, I get to feel like part of me is still with him and we’re watching it together. It’s a good feeling. It’s meaningful.

It really annoys me that after all these years, my phone’s autocorrect still hasn’t learned that I use swear words.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Isn’t it fun to see where your mind goes when you get lost in thoughts and considerations? This was stuck in my head for some reason the other night, so I did some research for the heck of it. No rants, life lessons, or takeaways today. Instead, here are some fun facts about owls taken directly from the bird preservation site audubon.org:

• Many owl species have asymmetrical ears. When located at different heights on the owl’s head, their ears are able to pinpoint the location of sounds in multiple dimensions.
• The eyes of an owl are not true “eyeballs.” Their tube-shaped eyes are completely immobile, providing binocular vision which fully focuses on their prey and boosts depth perception.
• Owls can rotate their necks 270 degrees. A blood-pooling system collects blood to power their brains and eyes when neck movement cuts off circulation.
• A group of owls is called a parliament. This originates from the C.S. Lewis description of a meeting of owls in The Chronicles of Narnia.
• Owls hunt other owls. Great Horned Owls are the top predator of the smaller Barred Owl.
• The tiniest owl in the world is the Elf Owl, which is 5 – 6 inches tall and weighs about 1 ½ ounces. The largest North American owl, in appearance, is the Great Gray Owl, which is up to 32 inches tall.
• The Northern Hawk Owl can detect—primarily by sight—a vole to eat up to a half a mile away.
• In fat years when mice are plentiful, usually monogamous Boreal Owls are apt to be promiscuous. Because easy prey means less work for parents feeding their young, males have been caught mating with up to three females, while females have been seen with at least one beau on the side.
• Barn Owls swallow their prey whole—skin, bones, and all—and they eat up to 1,000 mice each year.
• Northern Saw-whet Owls can travel long distances over large bodies of water. One showed up 70 miles from shore near Montauk, New York.

Cool, right? Still stinks that they have to vomit pellets though…

I may catch flak for this, but in my experience, every group of little kids has a consumption kid. No, I’m not anti-kid and no, I’m not trying to start an online fight about whether or not parents should bring their kids to restaurants or bars. Also, I certainly don’t think consumption is funny. But, I’ve noticed this enough that it’s become something I expect when I see a group of little kids. There’s always one with a nasty, wet cough.

Poor little consumption kid.

My dog and I have a psychic connection. She’s almost 6 now and she’s been in my life for 5-1/2 years. In that time, I’ve learned to read her looks, her sighs, and her woofs. Somehow, she’s learned to generally understand me too. Exchanges like this happen at least once a week and I think they’re pretty cool.