An Old Sketch For Something...

A rummage session in a box of old stuff produced this nigh-forgotten little... gem(?) from the bad old days.  Wonder what the heck I was smoking when I drew it--

'Cause I definitely want some more.

Twisty Snaky

My Favorite Time Of The Day

The all-too-brief magic half-hour, when everything is bathed in a nostalgic, otherworldly golden glow.  When Day and Night meet to trade places, and earthly lights begin to assert their own claims.

Related post:  Magic Hour

Ascent

Related post:  Descent

Haven't Done One Of These For A While

Black Beauty

For crows are beautiful.

The Many Colors Of A Hummingbird

So far we have had unseasonably warm weather this winter.  Which means unusually frequent hummingbird sightings in January and February.

Scenes From A Winter Forest

The Moon Is Very Far Away, Little Bird... But I'm Coming With You

BTW, the phrasing of the title is borrowed from the ending of the science fiction short story by Keith Laumer, "The Last Command".  It's about an old war veteran who feels out of place in the new society, and an old self-aware AI war machine that he used to be in charge of.  Both were relegated to the past, being no longer needed;  then suddenly they are revived and reunited, and ultimately they choose to go to certain death together -- "It's a long way Lenny... but I'm coming with you..."

I know, it's sentimental...

How To See

A Thumb-Sized Bird In A Big Tree

It's significantly smaller than one of the tree's leaves -- I'm actually a little amazed I even spotted it.  But I suppose after all this time spent watching for them, my eyes have become hummingbird-sensitive^.

Here's a reverse-zoom out of the frame, to give an idea of the scale.

Seen On A Cloudy Afternoon

Foggy Morning Crow

A Pretty Monster

More Fun With Der Erlkönig

The other day while listening to my favorite lied, 'Der Erlkönig', yet again (both the Schubert and the Carl Loewe versions), I started idly doodling the sinister figure of the Elf King -- the spirit of the forest who can deal death invisibly to humans to satisfy his whims -- to go with the song.  Then I got the bright idea of coloring it in with Paint.net.  I'm still learning to use the program (yes, I'm a dinosaur) and I've never actually drawn with it before, so the result was necessarily very basic (O.K., primitive^^), but I was pleasantly surprised by how so much like a watercolor or block print it looked.

After coloring and darkening it, as a finishing touch I squashed it vertically.  I rather like the result.  Looks like a page out of a children's book -- for older children^^.

Hummingbird On A Foggy Morning

Threading The Sun

January Morning Rush Hour

All red.

Another Early Arrival

A January daimon, again. Rather like the winter hummingbird from before, a welcome but somber sight.

Winged Figure In Parking Lot

Complete with nimbus.

Still Another 'Just Looks Odd'

I encountered this leaf, standing in the road in a curiously heroic/aggressive stance as if to block oncoming traffic.  It made me think of a lone surviving warrior courageously meeting insurmountable odds, à la Roland guarding the pass at Roncevaux.  Or maybe a midget Sumo wrestler.

Wildfire II

The smoke from the Glendora fire north of Los Angeles, as seen from Downey from about 7:00 AM through 10:20 AM today.

A Stacked Bird

NOT WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE TO BRIT EARS

Makes me think of the Monty Python skit 'The Royal Society For Putting Things On Top Of Other Things'.

Speaking of which, I suppose in the UK the title of this post might carry a very different connotation.

My Hummingbird Obsession

I'm certain it's really a subset of my other, more general obsession -- odd things seen in the sky, including things that seem to defy gravity.

As I have mentioned before, birds may be largely free from the constraints of gravity, but hummingbirds are different from other birds in that they are completely free.  They can fly forwards and backwards, they can stop and hover in midair, and they can even fly upside down.  Straddling the border between bird and insect, hummingbirds enjoy a three-dimensional freedom of movement in space -- rather like animated figures in a CGI universe -- that's denied other, larger birds, who cannot stop in midair but must always soar, glide or flap forward.

Today I was taking my noonday walk as usual, and as I was walking past the courthouse parking lot next door, I thought back to the occasion over a year ago when I wished for a hummingbird to appear and voila! one did -- and voila! one did.

From the fidgety, restless manner of this bird I knew he/she was going to take off again soon, so I waited with my camera at the ready -- and within a couple of minutes I was rewarded with what I believe must be one of the most unusual images available on the internet of a hummingbird -- behold, the 'wingless' hummingbird in flight.

LOOKS LIKE A ROCKET WITH A BEAK