HAPPY NEW YEAR! - January 1, 2025

My new year is off to a bumpy start, although the fact I remembered to put 2025 in the date above is promising.

I woke early this morning to an inhuman shriek. Either an animal was being harmed or my husband had hurt himself on his way to the kitchen. Staggering out of bed, I found him in the living room having his first cup of coffee of the day. He assured me he was fine, which was a relief. I peered outside into the dark and could see nothing. I shrugged and headed for my own cup of coffee.

After breakfast, I headed to my usual morning destination, my desk with its active bird feeder outside the window. I was puzzled to see there were no birds yet. I had filled the feeder yesterday, so it wasn’t for lack of food. It was unsettling. Dozens of birds are usually fighting for one of the perches once the sun rose. I made my way through my email, glancing up repeatedly to see if the birds had returned.

Suddenly, there was a flash of gray that moved past the window into the trees to the left. I waited a moment and it flew back the other way. I was used to seeing the small birds that the feeder was designed for, but this was a giant compared to them. The bird settled on a bare branch of the Japanese maple in our front yard, and I reached for the bird book. There it was. A Cooper’s Hawk, 14”-20”, up to a 3’ wingspan. I watched him survey the yard from his perch in the tree. Returning to the bird book, I discovered that “they come to feeders, hunting for birds. [They] call a loud clear “cack-cack-cack-cack.” Birds of Washington Field Guide, Stan Tekiela.

I had two reactions. Well, three actually. First, it was fascinating to watch this outsized visitor so near to the house. Second, my mystery cries in the night were now explained. And last but most important, I was outraged that this intruder was stalking “my” little birds. Thanks to google, I learned that it wasn’t unusual to have birds of prey stake out a bird feeder to, what else, feed on birds. (I hate to even type that sentence.) The only solution is to take down the feeder for a few days until the little birds stop showing up. Theoretically, the hawk will realize the cafeteria is closed and move on. With luck, the small birds eventually will return when you go back to feeding them.

Nature is cruel. I know this. It’s why I don’t watch nature shows. They always feature a one creature killing and feeding on another. I didn’t expect that my escape into feeding the birds would turn into a potential crime scene. If that’s what I wanted, I could’ve just gone back to following politics.

The hawk just flew past my window again. I’m off to take down the feeder for now.

May your new year be filled with light, laughter, and good health. And no hawks.

ALOHA! - December 1, 2024

As the cold, gray, rainy winter began its return into our lives, a 10-day trip to The Big Island/Kona became irresistible. I selected Election Day for our Alaska Airways departure. Dealing with crowded airports, TSA, the chaos of travel…all of it seemed preferable to waiting for the returns.

Our trip began at 5:30 a.m. when our daughter-in-law picked us up. She works in Portland, near the airport, and didn’t mind starting her day early. Getting through TSA both in Portland and in Kona was made surprisingly easy with their new equipment. No longer did we have to remove our liquids of under three ounces each or our multiple electronic devices from our suitcases. The screening equipment has been upgraded to see through the baggage. Because we were over 75, we also didn’t have to remove our shoes. It was nice to see our tax dollars working for us.

I’m happy to report that the trip out and the one returning were uneventful. Here are some of the highlights of our vacation. I promise to keep it short.

1.    We spent a lot of time on our lanai, with its view of the water and amazing sunsets. We read, relaxed, and enjoyed the myriad birds who stopped in to see if we had any food for them.

2.    Magic Sands Beach, with crashing surf on giant lava rocks.

3.    Harbor House Restaurant, an outdoor eatery at a marina. Delicious calamari!

4.    National Park Beach with beautiful white sand and tide pools, the scene of my favorite moments of all. While wading in the water as it lapped the sand, I was accompanied by a bale of large turtles (I had to look that up), swimming happily among the pesky visitors and their bare feet.

5.    The Kona Canoe Club, which is a restaurant and not a club. It’s another open air restaurant, on the water where dolphins play just off shore.

6.    A ride along the coast that eventually brought us from the west side of the island to the east side where we stopped at the National Volcano Park. We spent time on an overlook, in awe of a huge blackened volcano that had been active and destructive in the 1950s. Fortunately, it behaved while we were there.

7.    A small shopping center near where we stayed had a grocery where they made the best poke bowls I’ve ever had.

We felt so fortunate to have this chance for a temporary respite from the real world’s horror show. I'm happy to report that the hummingbirds were delighted to see me again with sugar water in my hand as I headed to the feeders.

FACEBOOK IS NOT MY FRIEND - November 1, 2024

Facebook and I have always had a dysfunctional relationship. Ten years after retiring as a plaintiff’s lawyer in Boston, I took the Florida bar exam and was offered a job as an assistant state attorney. Soon, I was heading the juvenile division and handling the gun and sex cases myself. I had mostly managed to avoid social media up until then, but I quickly discovered the gold mine that awaited me on Facebook. Teenage delinquents loved boasting about their various crimes without a thought to how law enforcement had access to their inadvertent confessions. The photos of them posing with a variety of firearms was especially helpful when they denied ever owning or using a gun.

However, the downside of Facebook threatened to outweigh the benefits when I saw it used to bully and seduce vulnerable children and put them in harm’s way. I began to see Facebook more as a dangerous weapon than a tool. When I finally retired permanently, one of the first things I did was vow never to access Facebook again. And I didn’t miss it a bit.

Time passed, and I began writing short mystery stories, many of which found their way to publication in anthologies and online magazines. In online discussions, there were increasing numbers of conversations about the importance of having a Facebook presence to aid in marketing the anthologies where my stories appeared. I resisted as long as could, feeling I was betraying the promise I had made to myself to have nothing to do with an outlet that was so poor at policing its content and responsible for so much damage.

Then, editors began requiring a social media presence in order to be accepted into their anthologies. I created a website with a blog included, but the demand for a Facebook account continued. I reluctantly caved in and set up a Facebook author’s page. I had no idea what I was doing and ended up with a bare bones page that consisted primarily of announcements related to my mystery stories and my blog entries. I was shocked and then annoyed when my account was repeatedly cluttered with posts from a bewildering variety of other accounts. My own posts were lost in the noise, so I spent hours trying to remove the intruders. The temptation to end my Facebook presence became increasingly irresistible. I have continued to resist cutting the cord, however, because I don’t want story rejection decisions to be based on the lack of a Facebook page.

That being said, I look forward to the day I am free to delete my Facebook account. I’m sure I can find a neighborhood 10-year-old to help me figure out how!