I just really want to tell all of you who read this blog that...I LOVE YOU GUYS. I have so many emails with questions or comments and so on and I could just bury you all in hugs. I want you to know how much I appreciate hearing from you and how good it makes me feel that people actually read and think about my silly babble.

There.

I know I haven't been around a lot this month. Things have been chaotic. We've made a number of trips to small towns in the area for job interviews for the hubby. About my most exciting sighting was a whole passle of vultures, black and turkey both I think, circling over a pasture. That was probably sad news for somebody...but it was cool seeing so many of them at once.

We've seen plenty of Coopers hawks, Crows, and Robins, and a few Scissortail Flycatchers.

Here at home I haven't actually been outdoors very much. I spend much of my time here attached to the computer trying to get as much work done as I can, and get things set up to run without me for a few months if they have to. Since most of my websites are very much dependent on my writing or my artwork, this isn't easy. It has also been extremely hot and muggy, and the river has been very low, so I've barely even been out to kayak. When it isn't over 100 degrees, its raining. Now and then it's both!

I did the background stuff to set up a forum for us here, but I don't know if I'll be able to get it going before we leave. I'm in doubt, since I'd have to get a moderator or two besides myself on board to keep a daily watch on the forum and delete SPAM, answer questions and so on. So I'm not sure if it is a good idea to set that up when I know I may be away for a while. Frank, Okie Joe, any of our "old" bulliten board gang around? Would any of you be interested in moderating a forum? Email me quick if you are!

On the personal news front...as you probably know my husband was laid off from his job in mid-July. This was not a bolt from the blue by any means. In fact, he had already been job hunting. He went on job hunting, applying for jobs both here and out of state. Our lease is up here on August 31st, so we set a deadline of August 11th. We decided if no one in town had made him a good offer or seemed poised to do so by then, we would proceed to ready ourselves to move cross country without any job promise.

First one, then another prospect seemed promising, teasing us into extending the deadline. Even now we have one last prospect that is supposed to let us know by Tuesday. *sigh*

Either way - we ARE moving. The last prospect is in Tahlequah. But if we don't move there, we will be "on the road" heading south and west until we find a place we like and a job to go with it. How much I get done as far as blogging and keeping up the email just depends on how much Internet access I end up with. I am taking the laptop, and it does have a wireless card, and it's nothing to hop up here and put up a blog entry.

I'm really excited about going to a part of the country I've never really seen! Over the last few weeks I've been pouring over bird books from the library about birds of the Southwest. Last night we made our big travel trip to Barnes & Noble with the gift cards from Gather.com to spend. We got a couple of Atlas/map books, and information on Route 66 (which we hope to explore), but I was pretty disappointed in the bird books. First, most of them were for the Eastern birds, for the obvious reason that Oklahoma is part of the "east" for bird books. There were only three for the western or southwestern birds of the U.S. One was pretty much just for entertainment purposes - a little book with pretty pictures and a few words about 20 or so species. The other two, Petersons and Sibleys, were very good references, but I don't think quite suitable. I expect I'll often be trying to identify a bird while driving by it in the car...or seeing it flash overhead. My eyes are bad enough that those books with tiny print very hard for me to read, and even harder to read holding in my hand bouncing in the car. Of the two, Petersons looked slightly the better. The birds are grouped by type and I can fairly readily say, this is a hawk, a seagull, a crow or jay "type" of bird and start from there. I really wanted something that would group them either by state/locality or by environment (woods, plains, desert) which I think would make them the quickest and easiest way to look up an unfamiliar bird.

We decided to hold off until we are actually in New Mexico, then find another bookstore and see if they have something more suited. Meanwhile, I packed up all the big U.S. bird books, and smaller Eastern guides for storage. Sigh.

Can I have a want list for New Mexico? I've wanted to see a Stellar Jay since I first saw a picture in a bird book. And a Pyrrhuloxia! I'd love to see a Roadrunner. I have seen one, just twice, here in Oklahoma, although they are supposed to be common here. I also really want to see a Desert Fox, although that would totally be luck, I know.

Looking at the book "Watchable Birds of the Southwest" by Mary Taylor Gray, I discovered that the Grackle is also called the Jackdaw. I never knew that. The only reason it matters is that my mother HATED Grackles and I can hardly hear or think the name without hearing her acid contempt. Back when I was growing up they were "invaders" from the South. Now, of course, they are very common in Oklahoma. I rather like them. I think they are very pretty and grand with their size and oilslick colored feathers. For another flashback to childhood now - I remember in my reading seeing mentions of Jackdaws in several books (I'm thinking Brighty of the Grand Canyon, etc.) and wondering what they were. I couldn't find them in any bird book. They sounded like neat birds. Well...lo and behold some twenty years later I finally find out they are the same bird we call Grackles. Huh. I'm going to call them Jackdaws from now on :)

Anyway - I'm here until August 31st - although I'll probably be outrageously busy - and then...we'll just have to take it one day at a time. But I'll keep you posted as much as I can. I'm trying to find a good digital camera before we go too....

Good birding!