Salt River Review

A piece I wrote appeared at Salt River Review in December. While the First Night Clock is still counting down, I want to ask any reader to glance at the Poems published on the internet box on my blog to see Summer 1971: A Novel by Sir Walter Scott and Getz / Gilberto at Salt River Review.

First Night

Tonight is First Night, which includes a Fire Clock invention that will machinate a midnight alarm. The web site features a count-down to midnight.

Recognition to the 70th Anniversary of the Start of World War Two

Archives give recognition now to the seventieth anniversary of the beginning of World War Two. In January of 1940 the city of Vasa was bombed by the invading army of Stalin in association of the invasions of Hitler.

Trips to the post office and the copy center in the cold weather can be managed with a couple of handy Scottish Oat Scones along. These look wonderful with one's plaid scarf, one can almost imagine one is a Scottish person. This recipe always works well for me.

SCOTTISH OAT SCONES

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

½ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cups quick-cooking rolled oats

½ cup margarine, melted (oil is fine)

1/3 cup skim milk

1 egg

½ cup raisins

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Add oats, margarine, milk, and egg. Mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in raisins. Shape dough to form ball; pat out on lightly floured surface to form 8-inch circle. Cut into 12 wedges (scones); bake on oiled baking sheet at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown. Serve warm.

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Thanksgiving Bird Count

At 9:25 A.M. I gradually determined there were thirteen ducks, one male and twelve female, American Golden Eye. Pale front with white on the wing, brown female ducks. Fifteen minutes later there was one partly immature seagull on a piling. At that point I ate a scone. Two more seagulls noticed this and circled around just a little. There was a seal floating in the near distance. Behind the boathouse about four crows flew above the dark green line of tree tops. One large bird was on one branch. At 9:45 A.M. the "Klahowya" passed on its way back to the ferry dock. Through binoculars, the one large bird was an American Bald Eagle.

One immature seagull was making a treble immature crowing cry. At 9:50 the rain let up. The Kalhowya neared the dock. A bird that looked like a crow through binoculars tumbled and turned all around in the air over and over. The tips of the wing feathers kept flourishing.

At 9:55 the bell under the small bell roof in the platform I sat on rang three times. I had known this would happen. I heron flew above and outside my circle. An immature seagull with a leaf landed on the railing of the pier. This seagull might have been inside my circle.

At 10 there is still a seal in the water, still an eagle on the branch. A crows flies directly overhead, inside my circle. Seagulls fly straight over low above the water toward the ferry dock area. The wheet wheet seagull sound might be on the bell roof. At 10:20 a brown duck swims out from under the pier and flaps its wings, to show from behind the whole white patches on the wings. I cormorant flies low along the water, it resembles two smaller birds. It lands. I am almost sure it is a cormorant, I cannot find it in the binoculars.

In the afternoon at 3:12 p.m. on a second try at the park pond nearby there are thirteen male mallards, seven female mallards, and seven or eight crows. All day there was steady rain with some times when it let up.

At 4:02 a fresh wind blew around the yellow leaves on a small tree near the other side of the pond.

Thanksgiving Bird Count

My Thanksgivings usually include the Thanksgiving Bird Count. Instructions can be found on the internet. Last year it was not raining during the hour I spent outdoors counting birds. Just click on the title above for the information you would need to be a volunteer counter for the project.

Blog Added

Yesterday was Finland's Swedish Day. I want to add this blog to my list, it is a blog about Swedish-speaking Finland.