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Read any good books lately? If so, what and why was it good? 5 days ago
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So here it is the end of the year. I have been blogging since March (2009). I have posted 130 times. This is 131. I thought I would end the year with a review of some of my favorites and according to the numbers some of your favorites too. Here they are, not in any order:
Lyrics Gone Wrong . . . I had entertained the idea of doing this once a month, but after the second month I ran out of songs to play with.
Hummingbird Tongues . . . they still fascinate me and I am still surprising people with the fact that the birds have tongues and use them more than the beak is a straw. And usually they tongues dart in and out so fast it is a rare treat to catch it out for a picture. Yay!
Nia Belt System . . . Before you can move onto the next belt they say a year must pass. You do not have to get involved. It is a great workout without being involved with the belts. The belt system only comes into play if you care to get that involved in Nia. Nia’s belts mimic some Martial Arts; white, green, blue, brown, black. I am learning so much with my White Belt, I can see myself waiting at least another year before I move onto the next belt. There is so much to learn and enjoy in each belt, I am not in a hurry.
Say: “I Am Wonderful” . . . I like to say this, I like to hear this song. I like to remind people to go to iTunes each week to download the free song.
A Brief Look At Nia . . . still excited to share Nia with people. It is a great body-mind practice and a workout that can make you sweat yet not really feel like exercise. It is learning to follow the body’s way.
Wrapping Tips . . . WHAT? I was shocked that everyone did not read my blog. On Christmas Day and the day after the bags and bags and bags and bags of wrapping trash that I saw on the curbs just blew my mind. In this day and in these times, I was just utterly flabbergasted that people don’t re-use the wrappings. It amazed and saddened me.
My Favorite Mugs . . . so I found out that not everyone got my little joke. Ya know, back in the day (what day, I don’t know), they used to call faces mugs . . . get it now?
The Seven Cycles Of A Nia Workout . . . The workout has cycles, somewhat like Jazzercise. I like to share this aspect of Nia so people have an idea of what a workout class will be like. We set a focus and an intent, step in, warm up and move all the way through the cycles to the floor, and then we step out.
Well, thank you so much for joining me on my blog. I hope that you continue to read, I hope you enjoy and learn. I learn from your comments so keep them coming. Thank you for a great year. Here is to the NewYear.
But . . .before we jump into the New Year, share with me what your favorite post from my blog was? AND/OR give me ideas on what you would like to see posted in the New Year.
I love to watch our hummingbirds. I have always wanted to try to film them. I know it is almost impossible given our equipment and our yard, but I thought I would try. Yes, I know I posted hummingbird pictures on my last “whatever” Thursday, but remember, my blog, my rules—and a lot of people seemed to enjoy the hummingbirds–maybe it was the tongue.
I think this is getting to be their kind of weather. I am going to warn you, you will probably see a lot of them on my blog—hopefully you’ll come back. They are so entertaining. And as I always say since we are in San Jose we have them for a long period of time. It just works out that way with our wonderful weather.
So I was outside for about an hour and a half. I shot about 100 videos. Most of them were just a few seconds long because that is how fast the hummingbirds are. A lot of them are clear, a lot of them are not. Our camera auto focuses and it has a difficult time with moving feeders.
My goal was to post a short video of a hummingbird flying and maybe feeding. Well, just as it was getting too dark to film—and the shots started getting grainy—I got this really long sequence of birds eating, flying, fighting, and just all around being the entertaining birds that they are. So I apologize that it is over 5 minutes long. Also, I apologize because I am talking throughout the video, but they actually smack each other. And they do it audibly. You might not be able to hear it on the video but I could hear it. And they would do it right over my head!
At one point, around 3.28 you’ll hear “wrrrrr” that is a bird flying over me and the microphone.
So my friend who writes Zebra Sounds included the fact that hummingbirds have tongues in a post recently. I learned this after having watched them at our feeders (about 10 years ago). I had always thought that they used their beak as a straw, so imagine my surprise when I caught a tongue in a picture.
I was looking through my pictures for the tongue picture for her post — but we didn’t communicate well enough for her to actually use it, but in trying to find it for her, it got me looking at more of my hummingbird pictures.
Since I am not a professional photographer, I just have to sit there and take picture after picture and hope I end up with a good one. Sometimes I do.
I will try to learn more about hummingbirds and I will continue to take pictures and probably post more of some I have already taken. I have a lot. They fascincate me. And just like our other birds, since we live in San Jose and our weather is warmer for a longer season, we have birds around for six to seven months.
For now:
Their hearts beat about 21 times per second, their wings 55 – 75 times per second. They weight 1/10 of an ounce. They can feed on up to 1000 flowers a day. The hummingbird tongue licks up nectar at the rate of 13 licks per second. And they do eat insects.
Somewhat unrelated, to these pictures, I just wanted to mention, yesterday I was outside taking pictures and working out and one flew right up to me, within arm’s reach and just hovered where I was kneeling. I think they are a very curious bird. Maybe they are almost as curious about us as we are about them?
I want to remind my awesome readers that my pictures are all mine. I take them all myself and it is not cool at all to steal them.
Lyrics Gone Wrong . . . I had entertained the idea of doing this once a month, but after the second month I ran out of songs to play with.
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