Tuesday, August 04, 2020

Guess WHOOOO is coming for dinner**

Baby Northern Saw Whet Owl


"Are you my mom?"






**but only if you're serving field mice!



Contest update: sorry everyone, I'm having a bit of difficulty getting out of the doldrums here. Probably cause I haven't been able to get out much the last few days. Social isolation is difficult enough withut fresh air and sunshine.
Hopefully today will get me back on track.

17 comments:

french sojourn said...


Adorable. The little dear reminds me of a photo I saw recently of a wet owl... who knew they had such long legs.

Don't stress about the contest, other than being a wonderful writing exercise. there are more important things in life. Find some way to get some sun, and recharge your batteries, were you closer you could always help out in the vines!

Cheers!

E.M. Goldsmith said...

I love owls unless they are right outside my window making a racket at the midnight hour. But they are lovely, mouse eliminating birds.

I hope you feel better, Janet. Hello everyone.

KMK said...

Hope you feel better soon! Either baby birds or owls are always a winner for me -- so BOTH at once -- awww. Grandpa was a birdwatcher and he would love this!

Carolynnwith2Ns said...

Hey Janet my friend, get your ass up off the snot green couch. Touch your toes. Walk from room to room 25 times. Cook. You have gas now so make something delish. Put a mask on and go for a walk (after the storm blows through). I know about those doldrums you're in. They suck.
Okay Janet. Are you paying attention? Then and only then watch a Tom Hanks movie and take a nap.

Ha, this looks like one of my own journal entries. My couch isn't snot green though, it's baby poop brown.

Marie McKay said...

Hope you feel better soon. Take care of yourself. It's raining in Scotland so take a walk in the sunshine for me too, please.

Lisa Bodenheim said...

These are weird times. Take care of yourself. I found myself in a frenetic, angsty mood yesterday. I went for a walk. Then rearranged the living room, which, yes it does, includes bookshelves.

BrianH said...

Take good care of yourself, Janet. In case it helps to know, you're not the only one in the doldrums right now. In fact, they look to be pretty darn crowded. Let us know if cat pictures would help (I'd offer to mail my kitty for temporary fuzz therapy, but he's giving me a nasty look for even writing this :)

And finally, for what it's worth, a thought from someone wiser than me: feeling bad about feeling bad just isn't worth it.

nightsmusic said...

Oh, Janet, I'm so sorry you're still down. Often when I'm like that, I stuff my face in a pillow and scream for all I'm worth. Then again, I live in a house so maybe leave a post it note on your door if you try it. But it generally makes me feel better.

I love owls! I don't see them often here though I do hear them. At our previous home, we'd watch them navigating through the trees at night. It was glorious.

And for what it's worth, I got all of my floors washed this morning and Loaner Cat proceeded to walk All Over Them so now, there are toe bean prints everywhere!

RosannaM said...

Ah, the doldrums, a place I know well. But I prefer shorter trips as opposed to a good, long dwell. Hope your visit there is a just passing through variety.

What great photos. Nature delights me.

Hot and sunny here. Our walks are taken at about eight a.m. I am a lightweight when it comes to temperature extremes.

hi to all

Brigid said...

I wish I could make you a mug of good tea for one hand, a mug of hot coffee for the other, and a plate of toad-in-a-hole topped with five-minutes-off-the-vine heirloom tomatoes and goat cheese.

For my doldrums I like Edna St Vincent Millay, especially Exiled: https://www.bartleby.com/273/101.html

Brigid said...

Also Tiderip by Macaria Corbett: https://orthogals.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/tiderip/

NLiu said...

Ugh, doldrums. If you can't get out for a walk, put on some music and crazy dance like no one is watching (or alternatively like Idris Elba is present).

I get the kids to jump or bounce on the bed when they're stuck in a rut. But you may feel it injures your sharkly decorum to do such a thing.

I also find Chinese historical dramas cheer me up immensely but they might not be to your taste. They tend towards intrigue, incredible sleeves, and mysterious bouts of unaided human flight. Someone usually ends up murdered (alas, not often writers, or by sharks).

Claire Bobrow said...

I'm sorry you're stuck in the Doldrums, Janet. That's no fun. I like to think that a little electric car will pull up at your door, with Milo and Tock from The Phantom Tollbooth inside, to set you back on the road again. Tucked in the glove box you'd find a copy of The Poetry Remedy - Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind, and Soul.

(You can hear many of those poems read aloud beautifully by different actors on the Instagram feed of Emilia Clarke. I guess The Mother of Dragons is a poetry lover!).

That owl is the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Craig F said...

Still hearing Screech Owls almost nightly, but still haven't spotted.

I fully understand that quisling brain funk. I started a mid-grade short story a few weeks ago and have only gotten 1500 words of it onto Word. Someday there will be a plan on how to deal with this strange new world, until then we are all lost in some ozone somewhere.

Timothy Lowe said...

A lot of that going around. Sometimes a nice walk outside helps if it's an option. Here it is raining buckets, so we will resort to pacing the house in a circle.

At the height of the pandemic while it was still freezing outside, we made up treasure hunts for the 10yo. Clues like "roman numeral for 50" pointed to the next clue, a post-it hidden behind the big "L" (for "Lowe") on our wall. That post-it was the next clue.

This thing has tested all our creativity (and patience) for sure. Hope you find something that gets you through.

In the meantime, you ever read "The Yellow Wallpaper?"

The Yellow Wall Paper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Casual-T said...

Sorry to hear you’re feeling down, Janet.

As a professional drummer with decades of experience in succeeding to fail in securing even a modicum of financial success and worldwide stardom, I am well aware of the importance of using the correct tools for the job. Among the wider percussion community doldrums are known for their horrible sounding sounds, their use of lackluster finishes, poor shell quality, and less than dependable hardware. I used them once—and ONLY once—at a pick-up gig with Larry & the Midnight Cowboys at the Hooterville Veterinary Clinic Cafeteria, and ended up falling off the rickety drum stool, breaking the hi-hat stand, losing three drumsticks, and busting my jawbone (did I mention I fell of their drum stool?). So, for future reference, I would suggest you use any other drum brand, and avoid doldrums at all cost. Feel free to contact me with any drum related questions you might have.

Hope you feel better soon!

Barbara Etlin said...

Whoooo has the owlet and when can I come over to visit? I'll bring mouse soup. I'll even wear my owl mask.

Janet, I hope the doldrums pass soon. Maybe listen to Patrick Stewart reading a Shakepearean sonnet.