22 September 2016 - First Day of Fall

I do not like rushing into seasons. I like to relish the one I'm in. You won't hear me saying things like "I can't wait until winter when we can ski again." Or "Gee, why can't Spring get here."  You can imagine how I feel when I get advertisements for Christmas decorations in September. Can't delete or throw those away fast enough. 

I have a friend who has started a blog about being positive -- simplypositivewithdena.blogspot.com . I was so in sync with her when she wrote this:

I have a small request:   Put down your Pumpkin Spice Latte and slowly step away.  We still have ten more days of summer and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to savor it.

I realize we are in the midst of back-to-school craziness and the stores are offensively displaying Halloween decor, but it is not time to swap sandals for sweaters.  Why are we in such a rush to move forward?  Don’t get me wrong, Autumn is my favorite time of year.  I love all things pumpkin, cider mills, the colors of the changing leaves and the smell in the air – but I don’t love it until September 22nd.  I know I preach the “stop and smell the roses” routine but seriously people….stop…and smell the roses…because they will soon be gone.

But today is the Fall Equinox and while we can still enjoy an Indian Summer, we can also start moving toward a fall state of mind.  To that end, I started my celebration early this morning. In my opinion, there is nothing as good as roadside fruit and vegetable stands. My local stand has hands-down the best peaches I have ever tasted. I needed more, but also found this. It screamed fall at me. Even though I still have roses blooming in the garden, the world is turning toward fall, so this lovely pumpkin came home with me. 

Fall is a very bittersweet time for me. My sister's birthday is in a couple of days. She didn't just love the fall, she gloried in it. Every year I would get a phone call on the day that the air turned and you could smell the crispness. She loved gourds, acorns, pine cones and the changing colors of the leaves. She even found beauty in the crinkly brown leaves. She especially loved the small sugar pumpkins and they would herald a baking spree. In her world, pumpkin came out of a shell, not a can and you really could taste the difference. 

While I will enjoy fall in my own way, I often find myself looking at it through her eyes as well. This one's for you, Robin. 

21 September 2016 - Last Day of Summer

It is so hard to believe that today is the last day of summer and tomorrow is the fall equinox. I'm not sure where this summer went--it seemed to whiz by in a blur of birding and restoring equipment in my shop. And if I wasn't occupied with one of those pursuits, I was watering everything in sight because we have not had any rain since May.  It has also been one of the hottest if not the hottest summer on record. All this to say I am almost looking toward fall. Almost. It is hard to let go of summer, no matter what kind of summer it is. 

I spent my last official day of summer on top of Bountiful Peak, elevation 9,300 feet, watching the raptors migrate south.  When you are high up on a peak, the birds are a lot closer. Great fun! Saw Bald and Golden Eagles. Red-tailed hawks: adults, juveniles and dark-morphs. Cooper's hawks and 
Sharp-shinned hawks.  Good birding but the views of the valley were pretty awesome too. 

Bountiful Peak is 24 miles up Farmington Canyon. It's a very narrow dirt road about one car wide with very steep drop-offs. It consists of gravel washboard competing with ruts, holes and lots of big rocks. One of the most interesting things about the canyon is that all the rock is gneiss which is about 2.8 billion years old. 

Even with the rocky scary roads, it was a gorgeous drive.  This is looking down on Farmington, Farmington Bay and the Great Salt Lake in the far background.

Below is the Farmington BayWaterfowl Management Area where I often go birding. What looks like a mountain range on the right is Antelope Island, except that the water is so low you could walk out to the island now. 

Here's a look at the vistas and views on the drive up to the peak.

Lots of fall colors for the last day of summer, but it was a glorious day. 

3 September 2016 - Goals and Milestones

It is so interesting how life can change your outlook. In my case it was working in sales and having a boss who was both driven and goal-oriented. I think I've mentioned that I never liked being told what to do, especially if I was already going to do it. So having to come up with sales plans and goals for each customer by month, by quarter, by year was, to put it mildly, not my thing. I have always been a positive person, with the attitude of why do I need a plan? I can get this done. 

But before I realized what had happened, the goal thing sneaked up on me. And I have discovered, to my chagrin, that like it or not, it is all about goals. (Oh no, say it isn’t so!) And it is amazing what and how much you can accomplish when you have goals. Goals, are one thing, but you also have to plan how to get there. 

So my boss ruined me--in a good way. You all know I am a crazy, obsessed birder. This year, among other things, my goal was to hit 400 life birds.  I found myself laughing  when I realized it was just like making sales goals. Here’s what I need, here’s what’s in the bag and how am I going to get the rest. I found myself tracking results on a monthly basis. Which also made me laugh. I would think to myself that I left the sales job but the lessons I learned from my boss stuck. Life is goals. And it is easier when you have a plan to make them.

So today on September 3rd, I hit my 400th life bird. And it is only September. I have four months of the year left. My boss would have given me 'The Look' and said, "Making your goal is your job. Coming in over your goal is expected! What are you going to do now?"  Well, I'm going to up my goal. 

And like any other plan, priorities can change and so do my goals.  Who are you and what have you done with Lauri pops into my head a lot. I  had spent my entire life flying by the seat of my pants. Spontaneity was my byword. I would never have believed I would turn into a goal-driven person. Amazing. And I can live as spontaneously as I want—I just get more done in the meantime.

Today's bird, number 400 was an American Golden Plover. This is the non-breeding plumage. Look him up to see how gorgeous he is when trying to impress the ladies. 

And since we are talking birds, number 398, found on August 20 was a Pectoral Sandpiper. Today, I finally got a decent photo of it as well. 

Yes, fall migration is underway and many shorebirds are moving south to Mexico or South America, which partly explains why number 400 is a plover. It is hard to stay home and get things done, when your head is saying, go find a sandpiper.

In addition to goals, one other thing I disliked about working in corporate America is the tendency for Sales VPs to use sports metaphors and analogies. Erg. But I now have a rather favorite quote, and while it isn't sports related, it is from a sports guy. 

“If you are bored with life, if you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things, you don’t have enough goals.” Lou Holtz

I have goals. Life goals. House goals. Yard goals. Travel goals. Bird goals. And I have a spreadsheet with steps. Who needs resolutions?  I have goals and a plan to get there. 

I feel the need to celebrate this milestone. In about ten minutes I will be lounging on the patio with a potent Blue Goose in hand!