Signifying nothing

leery Originally uploaded by Theorris There is a robin nest in the tree in front of my house. I first spotted it two weeks ago when there was a hatched egg on the sidewalk. Since then, the parent robins have been making many feeding trips to the nest. What a busy life they lead. This is the father robin (noted by his flashy red breast less prominent in the mother robin). He is quite leery of me sitting under the tree.

Feeding time Originally uploaded by Theorris The father robin overcame his suspicion of me and flew to the nest. As far as I can tell there are at least 2 chicks. There may be 3. You can see the head of one in the typical feeding posture obscured by the leaf right in front of the adult.

274/365: Days of 47 Disc Golf Classic! Originally uploaded by Theorris Catinlap and I were sadly the only entrants in the D47GC, but it was a good day anyway. Cat won by 5 strokes, but I put in a very good showing for my first opportunity of the season with an 81. Don't ask what par is. I'll smack you. This is also the only 365 day self-portrait I have that contains another person.

273/365: Running though the sprinklers Originally uploaded by Theorris It is probably just a Western US thing, but it is every child's god given right to run through the sprinklers when it is this freaking hot. Especially on Pieneer Day Eve!

And what do you know? Another Pioneer Day is upon us!

Spoonbridge and Cherry Originally uploaded by Theorris This sculpture is extraordinarily popular.

Weisman Art Museum Originally uploaded by Theorris I was in Minneapolis for a conference. Other than my first night and last day it was overcast and cold. Here we have the Weisman Art Museum, a Frank Gehry building. It was not far from the hotel.

Magpie Originally uploaded by Theorris For Counterintuitive. Magpies are one of my favorite birds. Sure I like eagles and robins and pine finches and whatnot, but the western magpie is an awesomely cool native bird*. Unlike others, I like their interesting sounds and their propensity to dive-bomb any threat to their nest--cat--dog--human--volkswagen. I once had a colleague decry the horrible nature of magpies (not you Counterintuitive). I had to restrain myself from laying into her and her rather parochial views of nature. Apparently you can train magpies to talk, if you are heartless enough to remove them from the wild (which is our suburban/urban/rural environment.) *The western magpie differs from the eastern magpie (or European magpie, I think.) I am not completely sure that they are native to the western North American continent, but I think they are. Update: The American Magpie ( Pica hudsonia ) is indeed an American native. It has been in the West of the United States for ar...

Twenty-nine years ago this morning at 6 am I was awakened by my mother telling my brother that my father was dead. "Larry, your dad's dead." Her tone was plaintive and quiet. I don't know how long she had been at my father's bedside before she decided to tell her children. I do know why she called out to my brother, however. In the fog of finding her husband had finally succumbed to the cancer that had been slowly consuming him until he was literally nothing but skin and bones, she called out to my brother because she had always identified the same qualities of patience, fearlessness, and strength in my brother that my father had. My brother was 5 years old than me and aside from working a full-time job, also ran the farm now, since my father had been far too ill. I'd just finished my freshman year in high school and was spending my summer vacation at my typewriter writing about people who lost things at a terrible price and avoiding my father. I lay in...

In honor of the wet summer SLC is having, I give you this tribute: The sound of the storm is supposed to overwhelm the music. It is meant to be that way. Did I ever tell you I nearly majored in music and am a big fan of musique concrete ? I didn't? Interesting.