vulturefeathers

vulture feather, Bonham State Park, in north Texas USA, originally uploaded by gurdonark.

I grabbed a croissant on my way out of town at the Voila! bakery, where the prices imply that natural butter is used. Then I hit the road up to Bonham State Park, about an hour to the northeast.

The weather was ideal for a hike in this wooded park--the temperature was north of 70 degrees fahrenheit. I had my Swift Audobon binoculars in tow, which came in very handy. I saw scads and scads of tufted titmouse (or rather titmice) on little saplings and on the ground. I really enjoyed watching them flit about and feed. as I noted their every aspect of appearance in order to permit me to check the idenitification in the Smithsonian bird book my brother's family got me for Christmas.

I walked the lake loop trail into a wooded area fillled with black vultures, who did not stay long when they saw me approach. I think I will get a 18X ultra-zoom camera someday, for situations like this, although my sister gave me last year a 10X ultra-zoom for which I could not find the USB cord lately. I dislike the way that USB cords vary so much from thing to thing. I should dig up my Radio Shack multiple-head USB connector. It may be that 10 times zoom is all I need.

I drove back to McKinney and had a sandwich at Which Wich, while reading a book called "Poor Child" by Anne Parrish, which I picked up on the cheap at an antique store in Farmersville just after Christmas. It's a fine read, with a trace of "Little Prince" and a hint of "Enchanted April" mixed in.

Then my wife and I worked on our garage, finding two car-loads of things we could dispense with, and then proceeding to the town landfill to do the dispensary. The fellows there were really nice, and defied all stereotypes of surly landfill men.

I then walked our dogs, who loved the weather.

I've been working on new music throughout the day as well. I love it when I am in a flow in which I can generate creative material wihout being too inhibited about process or self-criticism. This idea of writing simple synth melodies using a single sample of a mallet hitting a piece of glass crystal is working.

I listened to a goodish set of new remixes at CCMixter. I enjoy listening to works and then writing a detalied review. It's a good thing to be able to give honest and crafted feedback to someone--and the whole thing can be done with a little flair if approached with imagination and good will. I should write more reviews in general--I write far fewer than in the old days when I was a top 500 Amazon reviewer.

We ordered a St. Louis style pizza from the neighborhood St. Louis style place. I have been flitting between a Scrabble game (I am getting creamed), a chess game (I am a queen up) and various social network interactions. I'm excited that I will soon have 7 songs completed, on an idea that just came to me this morning. Things used to work that way when my music would be released on the much-lamented DiSfish records. I hope they will continue in this vein. I know what I want to do now, and it's fun to do it.

What a fun day! Tomorrow, moreover, is still a weekend day.