The bird is a male Red-Shafted Flicker, which is a member of the woodpecker family. (Bird identification by Christelle, who identified it just based on my description.) Christelle was in Hawaii and left the day of the earthquake in Japan.
The only show I really watch right now is Top Chef. I admire the people being spontaneously creative under pressure and I like the judges. It seems to me they are constructive and smart with no element of meanness. The only problem is sometimes in order to catch the show I get stuck watching parts of Real Housewives, which seems to be on all the time from various cities. I do not understand Real Housewives, it seems to portray the absolute most worse in women. If anyone from another country is watching Real Housewives and thinking that is what American women are like, I am embarrassed. I would like to see Bravo make a Real Housewives of Idaho. They can show them home schooling their kids, gathering eggs, cleaning the barn, and being appreciative of their husbands. Their get-togethers would be potlucks with the kids and the husbands. No fake nails, no spike-heeled shoes. Not all Idaho housewives live on farms or home-school their kids, but I have not seen one element of the nasty, self-centered meanness of the Real Housewives in Idaho women.
I heard that Utah is considering an alternative currency to the US dollar. It turns out this is being considered in 15 states, Utah, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Montana, Missouri, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, Washington, Vermont and Oklahoma. 15 states without faith in the US dollar? Interesting.
Compared to the problems of the people of Japan, my problems seem like quality problems today. I watched something today about why the Japanese people behave so well during a crisis. Their culture is based on obligation and honor. In Japan, if you do not meet your obligation, as in a Samurai's obligation to his lord, then you bring not only dishonor to yourself, but to your ancestors, your family, and your future family. This seems to me to be a good motivation to be humble and less selfish.
If you are feeling a strong full moon, there is a reason. From CNN:
If the moon looks a little bit bigger and brighter this weekend, there's a reason for that. It is.
Saturday's full moon will be a super "perigee moon" -- the biggest in almost 20 years. This celestial event is far rarer than the famed blue moon, which happens once about every two-and-a-half years.
"The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," said Geoff Chester with the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington. "I'd say it's worth a look."
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/18/nasa.moon/index.html?hpt=C2
When they say that kind of stuff about the planets or the moon, I always look back to see what I was doing the last time the phenomenon occurred, if I was alive. In March of 1993 I was painting murals in Nevada and my life was a few months away from getting much better.
I have been feeling adrift since Tuesday and today I am feeling a bit better. I think watching the Flicker and the squirrels play with Spit helped. It was a "stop and smell the roses" moment. Mary Kay and I are going to the watercolor show tomorrow, which is the last day of the show, and then to lunch. Christelle is taking me to dinner on Thursday for my birthday. Mom sent a check for my birthday and I was going to go buy an interview outfit or a new pair of glasses, but I may just go get a massage instead. Just the idea of a massage makes me feel more relaxed.
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