Monday, January 5, 2009

Six Random Things Meme

I was tagged by Mike at the Feather and the Flower with a Six Random Things meme. Although up to this point, I have stuck fairly closely to birds and conservation issues on this blog, I've decided to dive into the meme world. I ask myself.....why would anyone care, but then I, too, visit blog sites looking for interesting writers and people in general. I only hope I have something of interest to share.

Here are the rules for Six Random Things:

  1. Link to the person who tagged you. *done
  2. Post the rules on your blog. *here they are.
  3. Write six random things about yourself. *below
  4. Let the tagger know when your entry is up. *will do
I skipped a couple of rules, but hey, as far as I know, anyone that wants to can do this on their blog. Who needs an invitation?

1. I play bluegrass music, although not as much as I used to play. I own a Martin D-15 LE with a spruce top and a Wynn mandolin built in the late 70's. In the early 80's I played with a band called Backwoods Harmony at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. Later I played with the Wynn boys in a band called Cedar Ridge. We played fairs and local venues. Now I just go up to the Ozark, Missouri, Square and pick with jam groups on summer evenings.

2. I also ride a sweet road bike. I posted about my Colnago Dream Plus on my blog once. I was going to sell it to buy a spotting scope and binoculars. Well, I couldn't sell the bike because I still love it, and I bought the scope and bins anyway. So, I've decided to start riding it again. There are recently completed greenways trails in my town, and they keep me off the road, where increasing numbers of drivers are text messaging and not looking at the road!

3. I went to college in 1970 on a small baseball scholarship at Kansas Wesleyan in Salina, Kansas. I am left handed and was a pitcher. I pitched when it was very cold in the early spring of my freshman year and ruined my arm. It still is painful for me to throw a baseball hard, but

4. I play disc golf for recreation and exercise. The closest course is only 2 blocks away, and my friends and I completed a country version of a 10 hole course at Lindenlure on the Finley River just last Saturday. We used big galvanized tubs for the baskets, and tucked the tubs back into the brush. It's a decently challenging course. 5. My wife and I were married in 1973, that's 35 years ago although she doesn't think I remember how long ago it was. We were part of the original Mother Earth News and Rodale Press Organic Gardening "back to the land" movement and lived way off the beaten path for many years. I had what I called the "Appalachian School Teacher Dream", where one goes to a poverty stricken mountain community, drives the school bus to and from work, and gives young people the key to escape from their world of poverty and illiteracy. So, we did all of that it in the Ozarks. However, we live in the suburbs now. My lovely, social daughter needed the town connection and besides, that simple, but hard life just burned us out after 24 years. Bicycling to work makes more ecological sense any way!

6. I have not always been a birder. When we camped on the Mulberry River in northern Arkansas in 1973, I thought that the Turkey Vultures soaring above us were Eagles for longer than I care to say. I know what you're saying...... "what was he smoking?" It was years later that my 11 year old son told me he read that the Native Americans often referred to vultures as "peace eagles", as they always appeared above their gatherings and took no life to sustain their own. I like that story, and it was one of the first of myriads of bird lore, tales, trivia, and facts that I have learned from my son since.

12 comments:

Nate said...

Nice one, dad.

Your six are far more interesting than mine... :)

Greg said...

More interesting? No, simply more years to draw from!

noflickster said...

These are great! While you get to know someone through their writing style, topics, and what they may say directly, "assignments" like the "random things" bring out aspects that just as equally interesting. To me, anyway - I find I'm often just as interested, if not more so, in the "who" rather than the "what."

Nice shout out to AR, where I suspect all vultures come from (I've never seen more anywhere else; must be all the chicken farms). My wife and I used to spend time camping along its shores when we lived in NW AR. I'd never heard the "peace eagle" story before but I like the origin. I'd tread carefully with its source, though: the "Drinking Bird" seems to have a creative imagination.
:-)

-Mike

Greg said...

You have that right! That "Drinking Bird" does come up with some dandies!
However, if Trivial Studies was a major, he'd be doing post doctoral work and would be recognized internationally..... :)

Nate said...

Careful guys, I have that peace eagle story on good authority.

Now if I can just remember exactly where I heard it...

Nate said...

By the way, with some rings, chains and bolts you could make those golf holes look pretty professional.

noflickster said...

I just re-read my comment (to paraphrase George Carlin, I do so love good writing). I realized I made it sound as though my wife and I used to camp along the shores of chicken farms. Somehow my reference to the Mulberry River got deleted, those are shores we camped along. Chicken farms were drive-by sightings on the way.

I bet googling "peace eagle" brings up something, at the very least this blog!
-Mike

Greg said...

Mike,
I read between the lines and knew what you meant. We stayed for 3 days at an improved campground on the Mulberry just north of Ozark, Arkansas without seeing another person on the trip described!

N8,
I was thinking that "peace eagle" came from Pete Dunne's The Feather Quest, but I bought it and couldn't find the reference. It was in a book you checked out from the county library book, wasn't it?
It's probably still on the shelfs.

Greg said...

Wow, nice grammar and spelling, Greg! that's "county library" w/o the book, and shelves, not shelfs.

Greg said...

I found this after Googling Peace Eagle. It's from Vicky Rogers at
http://tgaw.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/the-peace-eagle/


“Turkey vulture” and “buzzard” aren’t exactly appealing terms. The scientific name is a little better– Cathartes aura where cathartes means “purifier”. But I think the Cherokees came up with the best name. They call the birds “Peace Eagles” because buzzards don’t kill to eat. They simply recycle.

"From my perspective, “Peace Eagle” is the perfect name! When I see a buzzard gliding around in the sky, “peaceful” is definitely a word I would use to describe their flight. Their ability to make me think of my family and feel as if I were home again brings along a sense of ease, a feeling of peace. "

This, however, was not N8's source back in 1991 or 92!

Greg said...

The Flight of the Peace Eagles

http://www.dallypress.com/gazette/tvulture.shtml

The Little Sister said...

That was a lovely read.
I didn't realize that you too, had a blog. Inspiring.
I liked the 6 random things about you, but you left out that you are a wonderful brother in law, and that your out-laws love and value you very much!

xoxo
the little sister, dreaming of being the smallest sister!