Sunday morning Silence

So, why am I up on a Sunday morning at 6:30am? Because I have been conditioned to wake up every morning during the week at 3:45 to go to the gym. I have often shared with my wife that waking up early, working out or just getting up to read is a whole new world. Once the cobb webs are out of my eyes and I am fully awake, either getting my workout in at this time or just enjoying a good cup of coffee is a great feeling. On the opposite end, I do get to bed earlier than I normally have done in the past; 8:30pm. The one night that is tough to get to bed early is on Tuesday eves when I have to watch NCIS.

I am amazes how many folks are up and working out at 4am. You see the regulars there; people that have been consistently there every day of the week is comforting to me. I say this because, my New Years resolution was to be " Consistent" in what ever I did. So, for the past 2 years, I have been getting up and going to my local 24 hrs gym early and I have been consistently going 4-5 times a week. There is a daily reward to waking up early and that is experiencing some of the most beautiful sunsets, even on cloudy days when you can't see the sun rise, the lightening of the cloudy sky has its own beauty.

Empty Nest

The last baby finch flew off yesterday morning. He or she was the smallest of the bunch, but finally developed enough to take the first leap. I saw both parent Finches pearched nearby on the fence and then one at a time, they would fly onto the nest that once held their five babies. A couple of chirps and they would take off. Both parents flew onto the nest probably wondering where they went. I read it is not uncommon for the parents to continue to feed their offsprings for an additional two weeks. Somewhere out there, all five are flying ,,I hope. For a moment I would have thought they might come back close to where they were born and raised. I took some binoculars with me to look around for them, no luck. I looked for them throughout the day and still didn't see a sign of them. I wondered if I would even recognize them.

This process sparked a new interest I did not think I would ever even consider. Now when I run at Bonelli Park, I am very conscious of birds I see, pointing out the house finches that are in the area, and boy there are lots out there. I saw some real pretty ones with yellow chests. So I asked my wife about buying one for the house and she replied, oh no,,, three dogs and a dumpy frog are enough. We don't need another pet. I had to agree with her. Im still trying to convince her to give away the two white dogs we took in two years ago.

I think our lives are so busy that at times we do not see whats around us and what is around us is lots of life constantly reproducing and surviving in a way that is amazing. So the process continues. Those two finches are probably already preparing another nest somewhere else to produce another brood of finches. I can only be fortunate to have them do this process before my eyes again. For now all I have is an empty nest.

Four Down One to Go

A recap of the 5 chicks maiden flights; the first two left this past Wednesday leaving three in the nest to take that plunge. I'm wondering if they are either contemplating their first flight or does Mother Nature take over and gives them that natural instinct to fly off at a certain point. Interesting to see how the first two were the strongest most likely because they were first in the chow line. Mom and Dad birds were constantly flying in feeding their brood of 5 and the nest with those 5 chicks was pretty tight. I think the first two to fly off were the ones fed the most initially.

Two more birds took flight in the morning time. I kept going outside to see if I can catch their first flight, but I missed it. I took a pair of binoculars outside to see if I could possible see a glimpse of them flying around with their new pair of wings, but no luck. One left, one lonely bird left out of 5. I am certain that this last one was the smallest. Fortunately, all 5 survived birth and their initial development; they have a chance.

Flew the Coupe

Well, the day finally came when two of the five baby finches decided to make their maiden voyage to be part of the big world. One at a time, Finch number one simply flapped his or her wings and took off into the wild blue yonder. Pictured above are the remaining three that have yet to make that leap of life into the free air above them.

Their maiden voyages are the most critical part of survival because this is the point where they are just learning to fly, which brings me to larger birds of prey like crows and hawks who feed on them when the chicks are spotted trying to take off. Fortunately Finch one and two simply took off. Kinda reminds me of my son Michael Jr. when I taught him how to swim and ride a bike for the first time. I recall Michael was so anxious to get in the swimming pool when he was around 4 years old that I simply let him jump in. He went down like a rock, but popped up like a cork and took off swimming along the poolside. I put Michael on the swimming team at the local community park. I hope the other three chicks do the same and take off.

House Finch

About a month ago, a couple of House Finches decided to build a nest on top of a bird cage I have hanging under my patio. I Googled house Finch and found a mountain full of information on their habits. Well, everything that was written was exactly the way the pair have been performing. I think they wrote their own bio. Info said they find a suitable place in a cool area and build their nest, and lay from 3-5 eggs; they laid 5 eggs. Info said incubation is 12-14 days; chix hatched on the 14th day. Info said chix will stay in nest eating from parents for 14 days until they leave nest; today is 13th day and they are almost ready to fly the coupe, I can almost bet tomorrow is the day. Amazing how they built the nest on top of the cage considering the roof is a typical A-frame. My wife wanted me to move the nest initially, but I told her that I think they know what their doing.

One website said that House finches typically have 3-5 broods in one year and can live up to 10 years. These past four weeks have been a treat watching the nest being built and all the way thru the chix getting ready to leave. During the incubation period, the male Finch would fly in to feed the female as she lay non-stop on her eggs. The broods are going to first leave their nest and will be on ground for an unspecified period until they can fly. I am hoping that as they fall to the ground (which is about 8 ft) they flap quick enough to fly off so that they do not fall prey to either my dogs or any crows in the area.

2010

I created a Post Graduate Life blog and only entered a couple posts. I guess I was burnt out from all of those papers I had to do during school. Well, here I am 2-year later and lots of changes have occurred in my life. What has not changed is my golf scores. Yes, I have been very inconsistent in my playing time, so I should not assume that my score should improve after two years.
What has changed is my job position. I was a Program Integrator for some time and last year had an opportunity to latteral into a position with our Headquarters office doing something totally different; creating/updating policy for manufacturing. I was chosen to lead an Integrated Process Team to develop Policy for Preaward Survey. Im not gonna elaborate about this since this is my first post I will write on this part of my life and other in later blogs ( as long as I decide to blog consistently).
The other change in my life is my decision to enter into my golden years in some sort of decent shape. I have made it part of my live to get up every morning during the week to go to the gym and workout at 4am. Now thats something I would have never believed I could have done. I love it and really benefit from the habit I have developed. Again, if I can do it, anyone can ( just like earning my Masters).

Ok, enough for this blog. I have to adjust my typing board. It is not ergonomically positioned correctly and my wrists are killing me. More to come.....

2nd post

This is my second blog post since my initial one this past May. I completed my golf class and am enrolling again for the Fall term. I am also taking a landscape design course. Summer flew, incredibly fast. Naomi and I went to the annual KBig summer Disco Concert. We had a great time. We met my friend Martin Orozco, who I have not seen in over 10 years. Martin and I graduated from Cantwell High in 1978. Before the concert, we met at Angies place along with Mike Garcia and his new girlfriend Ann. We spent the 4th of July at my sister Violets in-laws house in Lakewood. The cul de sac they live in was one big block party. We did take a camping trip to Shaver Lake in early July. We had lots of fun with my in-laws, Angies boyfriend Joey and his family. We stayed in Shaver Lake, but most of our time was on the road to places like Huntington Lake, McKinley Grove, Wishon Reservoir and Dinkey Creek. We spent every night at Dinkey creek around a nice campfire with Angie, Joey and his family. We still have one more week left to our summer and there is a chance that we will be going away for the weekend camping with Joeys parents at their timeshare campsite.