Birders' Nest

[Elgarian Redux]

And my dear Elgarian, I am amused that you think I have a garden! You, good sir, have a proper garden; I have a yard that is not at all garden-y -- just lawn, dirt, hill, trees, and (vicious!) mozzies. The grass gets mowed (I have a lawn service), but there is no gardening happening out there. And really, I get the usual stuff in my suburban yard, same as everyone else.

Permit me a moment to ponder this. Your description of your yard ('lawn, dirt, hill, trees') sounds like a garden to me. Here, everyone refers to 'my back garden', whether it's a lawn with a flower border or a concreted area convenient for deckchair-sitting. No one, so far as I know, ever refers to the space behind their house as a 'yard'.* However, if I think back to my childhood, I remember my paternal grandparents lived in a terrace where each house had 'a back yard'. But I called it a back garden, even though there was barely a hint of grass or vegetation in it, beyond a flower pot or two. (Thinks: was I the only person in step?)

Anyway, here's the question: is this just an instance of differing cultural linguistics?  Is a garden a yard, by any other name, and vice versa, depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on?

What is clear, if nothing else is, is that you get birds whether you have a yard or a garden, so who cares?
[Cue for fireworks and trumpets.]

* It is possible that they do, but only behind my back, conspiring so as to keep me in my state of garden/yard misinformation.

[owlice]

Anyway, here's the question: is this just an instance of differing cultural linguistics?  Is a garden a yard, by any other name, and vice versa, depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on?

Perhaps. To me, a garden is cultivated, usually planned in some way, and takes at least a modicum of effort to maintain (more than just mowing down grass and weeds). And in checking Merriam-Webster, as U.S.ian a dictionary as one can get, I see that my definition aligns with that source:
1.
a: a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables are cultivated
b: a rich well-cultivated region
c: a container (such as a window box) planted with usually a variety of small plants

(There's also a second meaning along the lines of a park, beer garden, or hall.)

So what I have is a yard. It has a few garden-y areas (two spots, one on the left and one on the right) that were planted with a variety of non-grass things (daffodils, azaleas, lily-of-the-valley, for example) by one or another previous owner^* that I've pretty much left alone (I did put some of the daffodils in, but only a few of the many), and I do sometimes (laughingly) refer to those areas as gardens, but front and back, it's front yard and back yard respectively. No lovely statuary from a talented artist, just... grass, dirt, some trees. Also a broken patio that needs to be replaced, steps that are probably out-of-code I must get a handrail for (someday), and a ridiculous number of mozzies, and not just native ones, but the vicious Asian Tiger mozzies that seek blood throughout the day, not just at dusk and dawn as the more polite native-but-still-plenty-annoying ones do.

OH! And by the way, I have a GRAND ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
Il est arrivé!!!!


It's chestnut season!!!!!

Oops, let me pay the thread tax...


Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (Kenya)
I find these birds really beautiful


Chestnut-headed Oropendola (Costa Rica)
I find these birds very noisy, and so does everyone else


Chestnut Weaver (Kenya)
I find myself very glad I'm not the subject of this bird's gaze...


^*This house having previously been owned by dentists at some point in its past, for the first dozen or fifteen years or so of my ownership, we would periodically find a package of toothpaste samples on the porch, addressed to a former owner. The then-small son loved this: it was like an unexpected Christmas present! We took pains to ensure the then-small child was dentist/doctor/law enforcement/food palate-positive, so also treated the arrival of free toothpaste with joy.

[owlice]

All this, and the picture, reminds me that there's a nice lady along the road (a fellow old rock&roller) who is throwing a party tomorrow night, and she wants me to go along and take a guitar with me. I haven't done that sort of thing for more than 20 years, so I'm a bit ooo-er! Now if I had a Sentinel Lark to take with me, I'd be an inspired man!

How was the party? What songs did you play? And I suspect having any Lark along would have been inspiring, but I suspect the party-goers were, too, yes?

[Elgarian Redux]

How was the party? What songs did you play? And I suspect having any Lark along would have been inspiring, but I suspect the party-goers were, too, yes?

Funny you should ask. I arrived, with guitar, and the house and garden (yard?) was heaving with people, including lots of young children. It was clear to me that no one was going to be able to play an acoustic guitar in that tumultuous squeeze. So I suggested to my friend that we didn't attempt it, and she agreed. 

However, to make up for this I took a guitar* out in the front garden (or is it a yard?) this afternoon in glorious sunshine (something I quite often do, and indeed this is why I'd been asked to take a guitar to the party in the first place). A chap along the way was painting his house, and requested 'Elvis or Simon and Garfunkel'. He got Elvis ('That's alright Mama', 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy', and 'One broken heart for sale'). A lady across the way had her two grandchildren (4yrs and under) with her, in her son's garden, and they were happy to dance to pretty much anything: 'When will I be loved?', 'Walking in Memphis', 'Peggy Sue', 'Get Back', 'Dream', and a couple of my own songs. She thought it was best to get them started on rock&roll early, and who could argue? I think a good time was had by all, as far as I could tell. Alas, no Larks (thread duty) turned up to wow us with their dancing techniques.

* A Taylor 210 DLX, for people like me who want to know these things.

[Elgarian Redux]

Perhaps. To me, a garden is cultivated, usually planned in some way, and takes at least a modicum of effort to maintain (more than just mowing down grass and weeds). And in checking Merriam-Webster, as U.S.ian a dictionary as one can get, I see that my definition aligns with that source:
1.
a: a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables are cultivated
b: a rich well-cultivated region
c: a container (such as a window box) planted with usually a variety of small plants

(There's also a second meaning along the lines of a park, beer garden, or hall.)

So what I have is a yard. It has a few garden-y areas (two spots, one on the left and one on the right) that were planted with a variety of non-grass things (daffodils, azaleas, lily-of-the-valley, for example) by one or another previous owner^* that I've pretty much left alone (I did put some of the daffodils in, but only a few of the many), and I do sometimes (laughingly) refer to those areas as gardens, but front and back, it's front yard and back yard respectively. No lovely statuary from a talented artist, just... grass, dirt, some trees. Also a broken patio that needs to be replaced, steps that are probably out-of-code I must get a handrail for (someday), and a ridiculous number of mozzies, and not just native ones, but the vicious Asian Tiger mozzies that seek blood throughout the day, not just at dusk and dawn as the more polite native-but-still-plenty-annoying ones do.

I am persuaded. I think.

OH! And by the way, I have a GRAND ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
Il est arrivé!!!!


It's chestnut season!!!!!

I think it's undeniable. They surely have arrived. We see the proof.

Oops, let me pay the thread tax...


Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (Kenya)
I find these birds really beautiful

And indeed they are. This picture brings out the grandeur. A bird from the Court of the Sun King.

Chestnut-headed Oropendola (Costa Rica)
I find these birds very noisy, and so does everyone else

Can't assess the noise from here, but ... are you sure that's a real bird, Owlice?

Chestnut Weaver (Kenya)
I find myself very glad I'm not the subject of this bird's gaze...

The bird equivalent of a hanging judge!

^*This house having previously been owned by dentists at some point in its past, for the first dozen or fifteen years or so of my ownership, we would periodically find a package of toothpaste samples on the porch, addressed to a former owner. The then-small son loved this: it was like an unexpected Christmas present! We took pains to ensure the then-small child was dentist/doctor/law enforcement/food palate-positive, so also treated the arrival of free toothpaste with joy.

Excellent story!

So which would you like? Free toffee apples on the doorstep? Free chocolate? Or free toothpaste?
No contest. Pass my toothbrush!

[owlice]

No contest. Pass my toothbrush!

It's the holiday tradition in this house to have a toothbrush, dental floss, and toothpaste in every small-gift-conveyance device (stocking, basket, etc.). Loads of chocolate and other goodies, too, of course, but it's not a holiday without the dental supplies!!  (Trying to build/encourage good habits, you know.)

Now curious to see whether I can find something fitting for the thread tax...


A Brush Rabbit? Hmmmm.... not a bird...


An unidentified butterfly of the Brush-footed Butterfly family? Got wings, but still not a bird...

Hmmm...

[Elgarian Redux]

Now curious to see whether I can find something fitting for the thread tax...

A chocolate American Robin?
A heron drawn in toothpaste on the patio?

[owlice]

A chocolate American Robin?
A heron drawn in toothpaste on the patio?

hahahaha!!

I got nothin', so I will try to distract instead! Will this do for a distraction?


Greater Blue-eared Starling, Botswana

[owlice]

Or this?


Green Honeycreeper, Costa Rica

[owlice]

However, to make up for this I took a guitar* out in the front garden (or is it a yard?) this afternoon in glorious sunshine (something I quite often do, and indeed this is why I'd been asked to take a guitar to the party in the first place). A chap along the way was painting his house, and requested 'Elvis or Simon and Garfunkel'. He got Elvis ('That's alright Mama', 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy', and 'One broken heart for sale'). A lady across the way had her two grandchildren (4yrs and under) with her, in her son's garden, and they were happy to dance to pretty much anything: 'When will I be loved?', 'Walking in Memphis', 'Peggy Sue', 'Get Back', 'Dream', and a couple of my own songs. She thought it was best to get them started on rock&roll early, and who could argue? I think a good time was had by all, as far as I could tell. Alas, no Larks (thread duty) turned up to wow us with their dancing techniques.

* A Taylor 210 DLX, for people like me who want to know these things.

I love this!! What a beautiful way to spend an afternoon, for you and for the fortunate listeners -- especially the tots -- too!

get them started on rock&roll early Really? By someone who didn't know a cut from the best rock album ever??? 

[owlice]

get them started on rock&roll early Really? By someone who didn't know a cut from the best rock album ever??? 

Yes, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!!! I don't know rock very well, but I do know LZ-IV. Possibly all I know, actually...

[Kalevala]

@owlice Congrats on the chestnuts!  Any sense yet as to whether or not this year will be a good haul?

And talk to your neighbors NOW about renting out their kitties! 

Just finished watching the US Open Women's Finals.  Good day to watch it as we had thunder storms coming through the area; bad day to go for a walk and look for birdies.  Better day to look at recipes and catch some tennis. 

K

[owlice]

@owlice Congrats on the chestnuts!  Any sense yet as to whether or not this year will be a good haul?

If there's a way to assess yield in advance, I don't know it, and I'm okay with that. Part of the charm of having a chestnut tree is IMO the randomness of the yearly harvest.

[Elgarian Redux]

I got nothin', so I will try to distract instead! Will this do for a distraction?


Greater Blue-eared Starling, Botswana

We'd have to be blind not to be distracted by a bird made from blued steel.

[Elgarian Redux]

Or this?


Green Honeycreeper, Costa Rica

How long did it take you to paint that bird?

[Elgarian Redux]

I love this!! What a beautiful way to spend an afternoon, for you and for the fortunate listeners -- especially the tots -- too!

Especially the tots, indeed. They are great fun. One of them (a little girl who lives where the party was held) posted a very special home-made invitation through our letter box. She has a small pink plastic guitar.

get them started on rock&roll early Really? By someone who didn't know a cut from the best rock album ever??? 

Yes, I see the problem from your perspective. But Robert Plant & Jimmy Page came a bit late for me. I was weaned on Buddy Holly, Elvis, the Everlys, the Beatles, Dylan. By the time Robert and Jimmy turned up, I was ordering my carpet slippers, comfy chair, and night-time cocoa subscription.

Well no, I never did that, actually. But I've been balancing Elgar &Co against the Beatles all my life, and somewhere in the process Led Zeppelin passed me by, I'm sorry to say. Not that this is necessarily a permanent state.

I was never much taken by The Byrds, surprisingly. (Thread duty)

[Elgarian Redux]

Yes, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!!! I don't know rock very well, but I do know LZ-IV. Possibly all I know, actually...

I'm quietly trying to figure out how this could be so ... sharply focused? Tell me sometime?

I had great trouble as a youngster trying to understand the polarisation between classical music ('real music') and rock and roll ('not proper music at all'). Both seemed to me to be essential to my musical soul, but with this difference: that the ability to play a guitar and sing a bit (only a bit) was a ticket to success for any otherwise-bewildered teenager. Just as it is for birds, I guess. (Thread duty)

[owlice]

We'd have to be blind not to be distracted by a bird made from blued steel.

Oh good, the distraction worked!! Shiny birds for the win!!! 

How long did it take you to paint that bird?

No time at all! 

That is the male; not very green, is he? That's because this species is not named for the male, as is common, but for the female:

Paying my thread tax here...

Especially the tots, indeed. They are great fun. One of them (a little girl who lives where the party was held) posted a very special home-made invitation through our letter box. She has a small pink plastic guitar.

That's so sweet!!

I was never much taken by The Byrds, surprisingly. (Thread duty)

hahahahahaha, clever!!

I'm quietly trying to figure out how this could be so ... sharply focused? Tell me sometime?

I had great trouble as a youngster trying to understand the polarisation between classical music ('real music') and rock and roll ('not proper music at all'). Both seemed to me to be essential to my musical soul, but with this difference: that the ability to play a guitar and sing a bit (only a bit) was a ticket to success for any otherwise-bewildered teenager.

I actually know little popular (encompassing rock) music. (I'd say the same about classical! ) What popular music I heard growing up was whatever my friends had on when I was at their house (I had one "cool" friend; all the Motown I know, I learned from her singles), what seeped through the ceiling when my older brother moved to the unfinished upstairs and got the means to play recorded music (I think he had two, or maybe three, records), and what I heard in my boarding school dormitory during my one-year internment there.

Growing up, we had a radio that was used only to listen to a weekly church service; no record player, no stereo. The number of rock concerts I've been to, I think I can count on one hand and still have fingers left over!¹ I didn't deliberately listen to popular music (with one exception²), probably in large part because I had no way to do so, until I was in college and living on my own. I have a few LPs and maybe the same number of CDs of popular music.

But somehow, Led Zeppelin IV seeped into me, I do own it, and Black Dog is my favorite cut on the album. Go figure!

And mostly I don't know any of the artists' names, and most times, I don't know the lyrics, though I might know the choruses and/or the title of the song.

Just as it is for birds, I guess. (Thread duty)

hahahahahahaha!!

Oh, here's a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (Ohio), one of the most annoying birds in the US to try to photograph (along with all the other little jittery birbs that just will.not.sit.still), but oh, such cuties! Obviously, he knows the lyrics.

Payin' my dues



¹BTO with Blue Oyster Cult as warm-up when I was in high school. Guy at school asked me to go because I had a car and he did not; he needed wheels, so he bought my ticket.
R.E.M. as a present to my R.E.M.-loving then-small child; I do know some R.E.M. as a result of that R.E.M.-loving now-grown child
Paul Simon as a present from a friend who didn't want to go to the concert by herself
I think that's it... or at least, that's all I remember... 

²The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 1964, the cultural event of the year and possibly the decade. I was six and had to watch it on the crappy television in the basement.

[Elgarian Redux]

That is the male; not very green, is he? That's because this species is not named for the male, as is common, but for the female:

Paying my thread tax here...

That is unquestionably a green bird. It is in fact the greenest, most utterly greenissima bird I have ever seen.

If I were wont to versify (I'm not),
I'd write about a curious bird I've seen.
Encountered once, she'll never be forgot,
Because she's green; she's GREEN, she's GREEN! She's GREEN!

Oh, here's a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher (Ohio), one of the most annoying birds in the US to try to photograph (along with all the other little jittery birbs that just will.not.sit.still), but oh, such cuties! Obviously, he knows the lyrics.

Such a lumpy-grumpy sort of name for such a lovely bird.

Lament of the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

"So here I am. I look so very sweet.
In fact, the kind of bird you'd like to kiss.
I sing just like I look - I chirp and tweet -
Yet I'm landed with a rubbish name like this!"

[Elgarian Redux]

Yes, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!!! I don't know rock very well, but I do know LZ-IV. Possibly all I know, actually...

Well now, I have been listening to 'Black Dog' a few times, and have reached several conclusions:



1. It is definitely the song that your Lark is dancing to, reposted above for easy reference. (Thread duty)
2. On the second listen I started to realise that I have, in fact, heard this before, long, long ago.
3. On the fourth listen, I was beginning to think that it really is quite tremendous, and I have been missing out. (I was never able to understand quite what the fuss was about over 'Stairway to Heaven', you see.)
4. I'm not sure how long I could listen to this sort of thing. I might be past my peak. It might have to be one track at a time, in between mugs of cocoa. Should I get the whole album?
5. It is definitely the song that your Lark is dancing to. (Thread duty again)