Happy Birthday Sir Isaac Newton

Setting aside the controversy this year with wishing Sir Isaac Newton a Happy Birthday on Christmas, there were two thoughts in different directions: the calendar and do most people even know for what Sir Newton is noted.

Happy Birthday on December 25^th looked like January 4^th for Sir Isaac in his life time which started in 1642. With a healthy long life, the astronomer lived to be 84 years old, expiring March 20 1726. Interesting thing about the calendar between 1642 and 1726, it didn’t change.

While the calendars around the world were changing with the Catholic church adopting the Gregorian calendar in 1582, England, Wales and the Colonies were not participating until the New Style Act in 1750. American historians will point out to eager students that the change in calendar is the reason for President’s Day being sometime in February rather than on Washington’s Birthday because we changed the date during his life time. Imagine thinking you know your date of birth only to find out you’ve been wrong by about a week: Poor George.

More importantly, Sir Isaac Newton formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation. Because of his work, we understand planetary motion, trajectories of comets and other fun astronomical facts. Newton removed the last doubts about the center of our system being the Sun. Believe it or not, there were nay-sayers to that fact for a several centuries.

Sir Newton was a professor of mathematics, biblical chronology and alchemy, a combination not likely in our day but quite the scholar in his time.

For more information:

https://www.newton.ac.uk/about/isaac-newton/life

http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/newton.html

http://time.com/3647786/neil-degrasse-tyson-sir-isaac-newton-twitter/

Laugh At The Absurd

Alice in Wonderland leaves her home by following the rabbit down the rabbit hole. She finds herself in Wonderland where all things seem contrary-wise but ultimately there is definition between the wise and the absurd.

Alice finds that her inner self, with kindness and good humor, is able to navigate through the nonsense and find her true self. Much to the chagrin of the anonymous antagonist, she becomes Alice in real life too.

The lesson for Alice remains ‘to thine own self be true.’

Conscious Parenting

“You’re so calm,” she accused.

“Sometimes,” I answered.

“But you have three teenagers,” she studied my face.

“Yes,” I smiled, “they’re really fun to be around. I like them.”

“How did you do that?” she exclaimed.

“It’s a long story.” I said.

When we decided to have children, I made a statement that seemed innocent enough at the time but it was a pivotal moment in my life: “I want to raise them.” I hadn’t realized, we were stepping onto the path of conscious parenting. The philosophy demands a good deal of soul searching and choosing to expand the parent’s (my & my partner's) consciousness for the benefit of the children.

Contrary to the standard, we made parenting decisions based on desired outcome. Our goal was to form a family with intelligent, healthy, compassionate children. All decisions included the consideration ‘what’s best for the individual as they are a member of this family.’ Once you think about it, it really is a simple way of going about life, especially if you’re a parent.

Babies cry. They cry for a reason. It’s the parent’s job to find the reason and fix it. The check list is short: Is baby hungry? Is baby messy? Is baby hurt? Is baby lonely? Is baby tired? Contrary to expert advice, ignoring a crying baby is not okay. Besides, a crying baby is irritating, I prefer the cooing, cuddly kind. I discovered that when a child’s needs are met, they rarely cry.

I was known as an over-packer, even for short trips. A fully stocked diaper-bag, snacks, Sippy cups, a small cooler, extra change of clothes, blankets, toys, books and a first-aid kit. Why? Because when you have kids, things happen. My kids were happy campers because mom was mostly prepared.

The toddler years: I love the toddler years. It’s a really fun time because the entire world is WOW! Everything is new for the young ones. The parent’s job is simple. Toddlers want to explore. Parents need to ensure a safe environment. We decided to forgo the coffee table because rolling, crawling, walking, summersaults, building, and dancing, are just too important to be impaired by living room furniture.

One day, another toddler mom commented on my lack of trips to the emergency room. I never liked going to the emergency room. The anxiety and related indigestion that comes with hospital visits never really appealed to me. So I avoided the whole issue with a liberal use of “NO.” I observed that most “accidents” happened when parents were inattentive. So I watched them and stop them from doing things that would inevitably cause injury. Kids don't need to get injured to learn a lesson.

Elementary years: Many people were watching how this conscious parenting thing was going to go once the kids were in school. We reviewed our own school experiences; we reviewed current data about schools today. The evidence was overwhelming, arbitrary institutional rules prevented children from a variety of behaviours we felt stronly about encouraging in our children. The list included: No being allowed to attend to bodily functions in a timely manner, not being allowed to eat when hungry, segregation encouraged ageism, and there were limits placed on compassionate interactions. All these issues were counterproductive to our goal. There is no useful purpose to being publicly humiliated or slammed into a row of lockers. Large or small, every former school student has unnecessary scars. So we opted otherwise.

Teen years: Clearly, I wasn’t thinking when they were babies because when they were 1, 3 & 5, it didn’t occur to me that someday it would be 16,18 & 20. Of course, I could go on & on about all the things I love about them, the fun things they do; the interesting things they learn and share with me and each other. They make me laugh every day. That’s our experience with teen years.

But the question: “How did you do that?” is best answered by saying that raising kids, like living my life is one small decision after another.

http://www.consciouslyparenting.com/

http://www.namastepublishing.com/products/book/conscious-parent-book-shefali-tsabary/9781897238455

A Precious Little Boy

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was very precocious. Rarely, did he sit still, he was very curious indeed. He loved to learn new things. He laughed at the way the water bounced on the sidewalk. He danced with the butterflies and bees. He talked to his dog about the beautiful sky. And sometimes, he brought flowers home to his grandmamma.

At the age of three, he started writing. He learned to write his name. He wrote his name everywhere, even on the wall which wasn’t a good thing, but he did spell it correctly. He read everything with words: junk mail, signs and cereal boxes.

One day he discovered there was a place where he could learn more. He could learn about math and writing and the wonders of the world. He was very excited about this new place of wonder. It was a place called school.

Finally, the day came, the little boy was very excited about learning even more things about the world; he was excited to go to school.

When he arrived, he was told to sit in a chair and not to move until the bell rang. Luckily, he sat near a window so he looked out to the world. When the teacher noticed he was gazing out the window, the little boy was given a note for his parents that said he wasn’t paying attention.

The next day, he was given a new seat away from the window near the hamster cages. He watched the hamster run on the wheel and he talked to the hamster about how much he liked running. When the teacher noticed he was talking to the hamster, he was given a note that he was disruptive.

The next day, he was given a new seat in the middle of the class. By now the other children noticed he was a problem child, so they teased him and pushed him and pulled on his hair. He yelled at the mean kids and hit them back. When the teacher noticed, he was given a note that said he didn’t know how to get along with others.

The next day, he thought he would bring flowers to his teacher. He didn’t understand why he was the only child given a note each day, but he sensed it wasn’t good. As he walked to school he saw a variety of flowers, so he gathered one of each kind. There was a daisy and an iris, a lily and a rose.

He waited by the door for the teacher to show him to his seat, it had changed so many times he wasn’t sure where to sit. When the teacher approached, he held out the flowers. The teacher took them and placed the flowers on her desk. The teacher placed him in a chair in the corner facing the wall.

That afternoon, the teacher gave her a note that said he destroyed property and was not welcome at school until he learned how to behave.

That night, the little boy’s mother and father discussed what they should do with their little boy. They decided perhaps he wasn’t ready to behave like the other children. They liked him better laughing at the water bouncing, dancing with the butterflies and bringing flowers to his grandmamma.

Dog First-Aid Kit 'Cuz Ya Never Know

Well-meaning intensions aside, procrastination can be profoundly revealed when a pet is injured. My story is simple: my pets never get injured, so why have a first aid kit? Because never can turn into rarely in a blink of an eye.

My little dog has a small head. She can poke her head through the fence to gaze at the neighbor’s beautifully manicured and dog-free yard. The rest of Tippy, the little dog is too wide to make it through the fence. My neighbor, an older lady actually likes to talk with Tippy. So I figured no harm, no foul.

Until one day when Tippy’s ear got caught on the fence as she pulled her head back through. It is amazing how much blood is in a dog ear. There was blood all over the yard, blood all over Tippy, and when I went to help, blood all over me.

I won’t keep you in suspense. It was a flesh wound, no stitches required but it was a mess.

Had I had a dog first aid kit, things might have been less messy. Instead, I was yelling at child one and child two to look in the various household cupboards for gaze, for tape, for antiseptic.

End result: I’ve made a list for the dog first-aid kit and will keep it readily available for the potential future occurrence. Now that I’m prepared I do hope we’ll just return to the “my dog never gets hurt” status.

Dog First Aid Kit

Muzzle (even when they love you, they nip when you make their ouch worse)
Roll of Gauze
Gauze Squares
Non-stick Pads
First-aid tape
Vet-wrap/bandage roll
Sterile Saline Solution
Tube of Antiseptic
Scissors
Tweezers
Cotton Balls
Cotton Swabs
Gloves
Pet Carrier
Leash
Cold Paks
Heat Paks
Syringe
Pliers
Thermometer
Pedialyte
Bitter Apple Product (to discourage licking)
Vet’s phone number

For humans
Band-aids
Sterile Saline
Antiseptic cream
Doctor’s phone number


Diane Harrison of Wild Side Kerry Blues sent this message.

"Great article! Things to add to your dog first aid kit: Benedryl (for bug bites, stings, hot spots and any allergic reactions. and very good to use to calm your dog down), Tagamet,(great for large breed dogs that can or get, gastric torsion aka: Bloat) Tums, Aspirin, Clavamox (a very good antibiotic that you could get from your Veterinarian. Any good Vet will sell this to you if you tell him/her it's for your dog first aid kit) Pedialyte is great, but so you won't have to worry about it going bad, get an Electrolyte powder. Gold bond powder, Kwik Stop Powder, Super Glue, And a Bulb syringe. Just my 2 cents worth! :-)

For more information about Kerry Blue Terriers:
http://www.wildsidekerryblues.com/contact.html

A Good Omen: Ladybug

When a good omen visits, it’s nice to tell nature or the world thank you for sending the message of balance this day.

Ladybugs are good omens. Since the Middle Ages, ladybugs have been connected with saving crops from being overrun by other insects.

Depending on your local history, Ladybugs may be responsible for predicting how much money you’ll have, how many children you’ll have, a cure for tooth aches or improvement of your overall health. But no matter where you live, it’s considered bad luck to kill a ladybug.

Some of the amazing fact about ladybugs includes: Ladybugs are beetles. There are at least 400 different kinds of ladybugs in North America and nearly 5,000 different varieties around the world.

Without the ladybug we’d be overrun with aphids. Aphids are a favorite food of the ladybug. Contrary-wise, Ladybugs are not a favorite food to any predator. They release a chemical so they don’t taste very good.

Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home
Your house is on fire,
Your children are gone.

Has It Really Been a Year?

Some call it reflection, others call it inventory: I think it’s just a part of moving forward in life: Review.

Periodically, my mind reviews a particular segment of life: Work, Relationships, Location, Health and Inner Stuff. When I started this process in earnest more than 25 years ago, I followed direction to put it on paper. Through the years the need to put things to paper decreases as the problem to solution or goal to fruition methodology has become ingrained within my neuro-net. So ingrained is this that it would better be described as a continuing stock inventory system rather than a yearly goal setting session.

So it was not surprising when there is a “problem” my brain goes into hyper-drive to find a solution. This trait, call it Type-A personality or liken it to the Rabbit character in Winnie-the-Pooh, is helpful at minimizing situations so that they never become real problems.

The demarcation for this particular inventory came quickly in that it’s been a year since my last cross country move. Logical to look at the state of things/life, as the dust has settled and scramble has turned to routine.

Work ~ this year has marked more regular writing work than ever. With more than 50 ghosted articles sold and a regular technical writing gig, I’m pleased with the quality and the level of output. The downside is the ridiculously low pay. My son said yesterday, “That’s great money for 1856!” and he’s correct.

Relationships ~ really the key to a happy life are the people around. It may be old age creeping up on me hopefully, just wisdom probably a bit of both. But honestly, if it’s difficult, I’m really not interested. Relationships are so much better when they’re easy. Things are easy if everyone is polite.

I’ve noticed there are two kinds of people, probably more but for this example there are two: the kind of person that accepts an apology and the kind of person that continues to tell you how awful you are after you apologize.

Disrespect just leads to hard feelings, or in tough places, mortal peril. Personally, I choose to be polite for social cohesion. It’s easier to navigate situations if everyone cooperates and is forthright. I know, some would say I’m trying to live on Cloud Nine. And I would reply: If Cloud Nine requires manners then, yes. I require good behavior from myself when I make a mistake, I apologize and so expect the same from others.

Then of course, there are the people with whom I have no business being around. Take my ex, please! Seriously, we are ex, we don’t talk, we aren’t friends. If people ask me why? He's my ex, duh... Those who knew us should attest that the world is a happier place for the distance between us. After a number of years, I had a dream where I discovered he was doing really well. I woke really hoping the dream was true that he was doing well. I don’t know if he is or isn’t. It’s none of my business, that’s the ex-part. I consider this segment complete.

I learned a long time ago a relationship takes two people with a similar vision for the relationship for both people to be happy. I remind myself of that periodically as I continue life’s construction.

Location ~ Location, Location, Location… it’s true. Wishing to be somewhere and being somewhere are two entirely different things. Make a decision. Be there.

Health ~ As an issue health has come to the fore in the news as the overweight people outnumber the physically fit. The percentages coincide with the level of poverty and unhappiness, though not by simple equation. A simple way to live is healthfully: Eat right, sleep enough, avoid anger, and love daily.

Health is one of my favorite topics. I’ve been published on this subject more than any other in the last 20 years, probably because I love eating. I love good food. The flavors, spices, and textures of good food made into a fabulous dish is one of the things that make life enjoyable.

Memorable food moments this year: avocado off a tree, orange juice from personally picked oranges, Churro @ Olvera St, Soup in a Bread Bowl @ New Orleans Square, my daughter’s potato soup, ripe jalapeños, my neighbor’s lentil soup, my husband’s veggie burgers, my son’s quesadilla, my son’s rice & beans… I just discovered, the way to make my list of favorite people is to cook a tasty dish.

Inner Stuff (old & new) ~ I have these things called thoughts and feelings. Sometimes they’re old, sometimes their new, sometimes useful, sometimes just clutter… I decided to de-clutter the old and useless, just let it go, don’t beat the dead horse. Life got lighter, calmer, happier.

I liken the inner stuff to a closet. When I started my Fibber McGee closet was full. If I opened the door stuff would tumble out with a crash. Life went from one crash to another. It also made seeing today in reality difficult, if not impossible. Reality is where it’s at baby. Reality is today!

At a moment of clarity I realized I didn’t like the way a bunch of the old stuff felt when it crashed and I set about throwing out the stuff I didn’t want anymore. Some of closet junk I gave back to others, it wasn’t mine to keep. Some of the junk was mine and I had to face it, deal with it and move on. Some of the stuff was useful, some stuff was pleasant so I tidied up and placed those items in a mental file: Things Worth Remembering.

Things Worth Remembering:
Like the Kitty: Allergic to Kitty: Don’t pet Kitty.
Kids, like vegetables, spoil if you put them on a shelf & forget about them.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Share good things, it makes the world a better place.

Estimate versus Guess

As our culture changes at an even increasing rate of speed, it becomes more important to instill in the younger generations basic facts about honesty, logic, integrity. The ways we as a society convey our ideas, using ever increasing acronyms and misspellings for the sake of brevity (lol), remain problematic. The results range somewhere between complete miscommunication and utter global disaster.

The solution may be instilling in our younger generations a better grasp of language or at least a standard for the language we use.

Do you know the difference between an estimate and a guess?

Most people would say “yes”, but for clarity's sake please read on…

A group sits in a conference room, a long table in the middle with chairs around.

Ms. L: I want you to give me estimates but I don’t want you to guess.

Mr. A: Okay

Ms. L: Please let me give you an example of an estimate. Take this table for example: based on your ability to see the table and your proximity to the table and your experience with different sized tables, you would be able to estimate the length of this table.

Mr. A: Approximately.

Ms. L: Yes.

Mr. A: Well, it’s more than six feet but less than 10, I’ll guess, 8 and a half feet.

Ms. L: Actually, that’s an estimate, because you looked at it and reasoned it out. I happen to know that this table is 8 feet long, so your estimate was very close to correct. But if you had said anything between 6 and 10 feet, that too would be correct because you are estimating.

Mr. A: Okay, great!

Ms. L: But if I asked you how long my dining room table is at home, you would have to guess. You haven’t been to my house to see the table. I might not even have a dining room table. So for you to answer, that would be a guess.

Mr. A: I understand.

Ms. L: Great. Are you ready to proceed?

Mr. A: I guess.

Ms. L: cries….

Agreement of language is essential for good communication. If you aren’t sure what something means, ask. Language is fluid. Words have a variety of definitions. If you understand the language but you don’t understand the message, ask: what do you mean by that? What’s the point?

And Johnny can't read... really?

This photo of the cross walk in front of an elementary school provides the answers to so many questions...
why can't Johnny read?
why can't Janey write a letter?
why can't the cashier make change?

Now, how do we fix the problem?

Playgrounds Build Character

Early 21st century playgrounds are full of safe brightly colored play equipment. Slides, Swings and soft cushioned material should a child stumble or fall. The slopes of the slides are designed for a smooth glide. Swings set in dirt covered with wood chips with shavings progressively lighter, finer… nearly fluff. Shade trees strategically planted for a light canopy, shading children’s delicate skin from the harsh sun.

Overall the playground leaves visitors with a feeling of ease and splendor. Oh the joys of outdoor time.


Contrast that with playgrounds of the 1960s-70s. Those playgrounds built character. Ten feet steel sheets at a sixty degree angle, stairs, no, ladder, no… those playground designers of yore made sure they welded a solid steel bar along the three upper sides of the perimeter so kids could pull themselves up to the top. Swings made of hard rubber attached to fifteen foot chains with the frame embedded in black top or concrete for durability. Blacktop on a summer day was an experience unto itself. Kids could watch the sizzling heat create vapors mirages of puddles across the playground. Run at your own risk because a fall would mean blacktop gravel burned and embedded in bloody wounds on knees and elbows.

Overall the playground left an entire generation wounded warriors before the end of elementary school. Oh the joys of outdoor time.

Relationship Ends

Ending a relationship, especially a life-long relationship, isn’t easy and usually isn’t done without thoughtful reflection. In some cases there is malingering contact that isn’t a relationship but isn’t broken off completely either.

Despite knowing this from past experiences in other relationships, there was one relationship that no matter how much I tried to let go, I found myself returning to “check-in” from time to time, sometimes months, sometimes years between checks. My obligation was often prompted by other people’s questions or stories of reconciliation after years apart. People do change, why don’t you try again? Maybe this time will be different.

Through the Years
So the magical thinking child inside of me, checked-in for a number of years wanting to make everything okay. The emotional adolescent checked-in for some time, angry at the wrongs and hoping for a change. Then finally, the spiritual adult arrived on the scene and said, ‘hey I’m just here to check-in because that’s what people do.’ The adult checking-in had no rhyme just randomly, periodically, via phone, mail, email… Still continuing to do what seemed obligatory by societal standards, though mentally and emotionally knowing nothing would change.

Grace from Above
The cosmic continuum lined up and in a series of events I found myself pulling up to where she was, standing there waiting. Must be a sign we hadn’t seen each other in fifteen years.

Revelation and Release
My appearance obviously came as a complete surprise. For the first time instead of the long standing declaration of love and care, ‘Yes, call,’ ‘Yes, this is important’; I heard, ‘No, don’t call’ and ‘No, I don’t want to see you.’

What I said was: ‘Coming here was a mistake. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry.”

What I thought was: “Finally, the truth… Thank you.”

What happened was the simple realization that there was nothing there… and there never had been.

Kidnap! For Fun

Kidnapping friends can be an educational and ongoing delight, if you’re open to new experiences in exotic locations. When I signed up for Facebook I had no idea of the fun I could have kidnapping friends and family to exotic locations with the Kidnap! application.

The trivia game provides light and memorable information about a variety of places from Boston to Auckland and man places between. Selecting silly ways to kidnap a friend, the kidnapper selects the target and sends a message:

You’ve just been kidnapped to:

Escaping involves selecting one out of the three answers provided to a trivia question, points are awarded to move through the game to higher levels. First guess correct awards 100 points, 2nd guess correct awards 50 points, get it wrong and you still escape but your kidnapper gets the points.

Kidnap is an ongoing game to challenge players in reading comprehension and trivia memory retention. I like it because it’s another way to interact with my illusive teenagers are otherwise engaged in internet communications.

Maintenance Crisis

Take what you like and leave the rest… is a good way to develop any system using historical knowledge to base the development of belief structure, family structure, community structure, cultural structure. Not only does the phrase, “take what you like and leave the rest” bring with it the power of choice but also the power of second chances.

There may be a time when perhaps we chose a direction or a philosophy that doesn’t work or that works for time, then ceases to work. Return to the study of solutions to find what may work better, then, take what you like and leave the rest.

It is in this way we learn not only from our own experience but gain the experience of untold previous generations. Some lessons need learning on a personal level. However, if one is properly trained much of the steepest part of a learning curve is transmuted to logical steps in the explanation of the current process.

For example: the learning structure of artisans, craftsmen, tradesmen for centuries has included the process of Apprentice to Journeyman to Master.

The Master assured the work by the employer or Monarch (as the period would call the powerfully rich). The Master employs journeymen and apprentices. Journeymen could be trusted to their level of expertise dependant often on the time and dedication exhibited to a particular skill. Apprentices were those often considered neophytes within the trades until the fifth year of their training.

Masters were entrusted with the project as well as the training of the next generation because it was to the Masters benefit to train his workers to serve the employer/monarch to the best of their ability. Tradesmen were respected as seen when the Master Craftsman would be invited to the Monarch’s table. Russian Monarch, Peter the Great spent a number of years as an Apprentice Wood Craftsman because he so respected the Trades.

Monarchs understood that the infrastructure of the city/state were dependant on the long-standing tradition of the Master-Journeyman-Apprentice Craft/Trade structure and supported it by paying appropriate sums, as in the “you get what you pay for” truth of economic philosophy, with regard to maintenance and building projects. When grand projects developed or catastrophe required major renovations to the city infrastructure, Crafts/Tradesmen were ready, and able to complete the projects within the stated budget, on schedule, as a sign of their expertise.

Analysis of 21st Century infrastructure problems as well as public and private building decay can be directly traced to the 1980 recession when the economic decision was made to restrict training practices of the building industry (via the national policies of deregulation and legislative restrictions on Unions and Trade Associations) which in effect stopped apprentice training in the early 1980s.

Since that time, the process of pulling maximum profits off the top of building projects or restricting bids to lowest bidder obtaining the project contract, has served to employ the unskilled laborer to render construction projects with inferior materials while producing increased waste due directly to lack of training/knowledge. Comparison of architectural plans to the balance sheet and the current condition of buildings and infrastructure proves this line of thought was monumentally wrong.

The Masters of the 1980s are likely very old or dead. Time-Vested Journeymen of that period are retired. The few Apprentice/Journeyman of the late 1970s or early 1980s are the only hope to rebuild the Crafts/Trades so badly needed in every city/state across the country.

Society needs to recognize that these men (and some women) have been treated with forceful, concentrated, and extreme disrespect for many years. To call them into service, if they are willing, will first require the mindset of society to change. Respect the Trades, pay them extremely well and the benefits to society as a whole will far outweigh the bill.

Because if you take what you like and leave the rest… history shows that infrastructure is better, public and private buildings are safe and better built when the trades are respected and paid well.

Good Morning Blue Jays

This sporty fellow in the blue suit stops by the bird feeder each morning. A voracious appetite sends him on his morning rounds through the neighborhood cafeteria, Cyanocitta cristata better known as Blue Jays are omnivorous.

A most aggressive bird, the Blue Jay drops and swoops onto the ground chasing a Titmouse of her low hanging perch in the process munching a beetle bug, then bounds back up to the seed feeder for a taste, then one hop to the peanut butter grain mix and off over the fence into the wild of the Commons Hollow Property. These birds range across most of the United States and are unique in their coloring and behavior.

Larger than most back yard birds, Blue Jays average 9 -12 inches high with a 13- 17 inch wing span. They are easily identified by their blue and white feathers with black about the neck and a stripe at the eye. Males and females are virtually identical.

Blue Jay families are highly vocal, calling to each other relaying locations of delicious snacks, water and each other. They also warn when hawks or other predators come within range.

Bird Watching books and magazines encourage responsible environmental stewardship, as well as just having a great time with friends and family learning about the place we live.

For more information about Blue Jays, visit these and other web sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_jay
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Blue_Jay.html
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/bluejay.htm

Truly a delightful time, watching Blue Jays will captivate the attention of young and old alike.