because I couldn't enforce "the right to refuse service". Let me explain. This summer (2022) a banded pigeon took shelter and refuge in the cafe I had created for the local Magpie population. Okay, I thought. After all, I'm an open-minded free spirit who believes in compassion, etc. and so on. Freedom is perhaps my … Continue reading The Magpie Cafe Closes
Category: Nature
Big Dry Creek Flood
Big Dry Creek runs just north of my apartment complex. The complex is perhaps 100 feet above the creek, which runs all year out of Standley Lake, just east of Boulder, Colorado. Today, Tuesday August 16, 2022, it flooded. The creek flooded in a matter of minutes this morning. After the rain, at around 11:30, … Continue reading Big Dry Creek Flood
Magpie update
At 8AM I exited my building's entry door and there were magpies everywhere. This is uncommon. At first, they were all on the ground. When I returned from my three mile walk there were three times as many. Maybe three dozen, perched on the roof and flying about. This is strange behavior for the birds. … Continue reading Magpie update
The River Why Revisited
The River Why (1983) is a novel by David James Duncan (1952) that I've reread now because the movie version (2010) casts Amber Heard in the female role. The movie is very good, the novel stellar. The novel is now historical fiction. It accurately and brilliantly depicts what it was like to be a certain type … Continue reading The River Why Revisited
Memorial Day Down By The River
This Memorial Day weekend found me experiencing time travel. In mid-March my long-time friend passed away. His daughter and son decided to have a service for him and his long-time partner on that national day of remembrance. Fitting. The "returning" celebration was held on the land they had lived on for decades. It is land … Continue reading Memorial Day Down By The River
Green
Green has been my favorite color since as far back as I can recall. In other words, always. It still is. Notwithstanding, fall is my favorite season and time of year. A paradox? Green was the WordPress writing prompt for April. I get it. So here is my response, or thoughts on "Green". "Just a … Continue reading Green
Border Wars
A border war is what is happening now between Ukraine and Russia. A war about boundaries. However that's not all. It's also a cultural war. And a war of personalities - like a marriage/divorce. In other words - this is complicated. Ant War. Why? is what I saw some fifty years ago (1979) on my … Continue reading Border Wars
Invasion and Racism
Today, I'm closing the Magpie Cafe. Because of an invasion of a bird I didn't invite. Am I racist? The European Starling started feeding at the Cafe about a year ago. At first I thought they were baby Flickers, a local woodpecker. I don't want them here, the starlings, at my cafe. I love Farrah … Continue reading Invasion and Racism
The Son Of Tarzan
would not be published today. The book would be deemed racist and sexist. Because in the postmodern world we find ourselves in - that would be true. Therefore, no publisher could touch it without considerable risk of a social backlash. Thankfully, the book was published (1917) as part of Edgar Rice Burroughs' tremendously successful Tarzan … Continue reading The Son Of Tarzan
The Call Of The Wild
is my calling. As well as a classic novel by Jack London. It was first published in 1903, and became the most read book of its time. The book made London rich and famous. I first read it in 1972, living in a cabin on the Poudre River. However, I likely read "To Build A … Continue reading The Call Of The Wild