Who are you, and what do you do?

[Whateverist]

That sounds like a pretty interesting trip you've been on, Rev. Following a year or so of sustained mania I had one bout of depression in my twenties which lasted about a year but felt more like several. My maternal grandmother was probably Schizophrenic and my mother was diagnosed bipolar. But that was almost forty years ago and I've been steady since. I don't doubt my use of recreational drugs at that time helped to trigger both states, but as I never got treated for either I don't really know. It doesn't really matter now.

I am three and a half months away from becoming one more useless human being to quote a patent lawyer friend who worked into his early 80's. As a middle school teacher (math), that sounds pretty damned good to me. I've already asked Rasetsu on pointers for being a bum. I think I'm up for this. I can't wait to read all I want to and to take cat naps in the middle of the day (brilliant idea Min). Also looking forward to taking a good walk at least every other day and having loads of time to be in (no, not in that way) and tinker with the garden. Plus my wife is ten years my senior and has a slew of health problems so I think I can help her some with her art career and make us better meals regularly.

Oh, and my real name is Mark and soon it won't make any difference as I won't have any students to protect from the knowledge of my godlessness. I've invited Rebecca up for our garden/studio party this year. It will be mostly garden and art nerds but sometime I'd like to host a sleepover for all comers from AForg.

[Jackalope]

I feel a bit left out with mah 6 inch refractor

2 inches is nothing between friends. We should have an astronomy thread to see who has what as there seems to be a few of us here.

Start one! I have a 10" SCT, 8" dob, and an 3.5" short tube refractor for quick looks. Haven't been out in a while.

[Thumpalumpacus]

This!

I'm Darrell. I help manage a nature preserve ..

.. but without this, please.

.. in central Texas.

Kidding, I think you have some incredible nature in that state, like birds and especially hummers.

Birds are the raison d'etre for my nature preserve -- specifically, the golden-cheeked warbler. We've counted fewer than three thousand mating couples, and the Balcones Canyonland area of central Texas, where I live, is their nesting- and fledgling-ground in the spring. Hamilton Pool is a small, 250-acre portion of it. We're charged with preserving our acreage in its natural state insofar as is possible. We'll be getting them back in late March, if things go as usual, and say goodbye to them by the middle of July.

I've only seen a couple of them since I changed careers a couple of years ago, but I hear them often.

We have a huge problem, which is that we have too many visitors who come here to swim in the Pool. The explosion of social media means that everyone who comes here posts pics of our stunning grotto, which while it pays the bills for the birds draws so many people that off-trail areas get trampled, microlitter is exploding, and I think it's a matter of time before we either ban swimming -- and reduce traffic, and thereby, income -- or acknowledge the entertainment aspect and say to Hell with the birds and the environment they need. It should be obvious where I stand on the matter.

I take pride in helping to protect all the wildlife in this tiny corner of the world. The pay is much lower than what I earned as a business manager, but the satisfaction is so much higher that corners are happily cut.

Once spring hits here, I'll start a thread with photos that I take out there.

[Whateverist]

I admit to being a shameless waterhole bagger. The Sierras out here are filled with great ones. So I'll have to find a way to get that information from you.

I get some birds through my garden as the creek is a natural flyway. Green Herons stalk the creek and will sit on fence posts from time to time. I've had a Sharpchin (I think) hawk take a Mourning dove in the air just as I opened the back door one day. Took me moment to figure out why there was an explosion of feathers in the air. Hawks occasionally swoop low through my garden before hopping over my fence and into the dumpster bin across the creek from me. (I always root for them.) I enjoy the swarms of Bushtits that work their way through the garden everyday quite a lot and once saw them nesting (communally) in my father-in-law's garden. Goldfinches, Robins and in the fall Cedar Waxwings glean the many figs that never ripen. This winter I have a hummer sitting on a nest built just a couple feet off the ground. I got a picture of it but it isn't in good focus.



This is another poorly focused photo to show the Euphorbia lambii just beyond the pond where the nest is located. (It is the mini-tree looking thing just right of the twin white trunks of birch.)

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This is the main food source.

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A couple more gratuitous snaps from around the general area.

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[url=https://flic.kr/p/rpPDxf]

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[Thumpalumpacus]

Beautiful stuff, Whatev. PM sent.