[nfbmi-talk] Beautiful! Donna Published by Cornell

Mon Jun 4 17:12:06 UTC 2012

I am sorry to be late in making a comment, Donna.
You have written a beautifuly lyrical article.  You present the 
ways, we, as blind people can enjoy nature in such a simple, 
just-like-anone-else kind of way.
May your future be as  bright as the colors of the birds you so 
lovingly describe in this charming article.
Go blue!!!
Mary Wurtzel

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "Marcus Simmons" <MarcusSimmons at comcast.net
>To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" 
<nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Fri, 1 Jun 2012 10:07:35 -0400
>Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Beautiful!  Donna Published by Cornell

>Congratulations Donna, you are on the way to the top!

>Go For IT, Girl!

>Changing what it means to be blind,
>Marcus Simmons, vice-president,
>Western-Wayne chapter
>28179 Brentwood
>Southfield, MI 48076-3069
>Marcus.Simmons at interbizusa.com
>(248) 552-8928
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Fred Wurtzel" <f.wurtzel at att.net
>To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" 
<nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
>Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2012 11:18 AM
>Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Beautiful! Donna Published by Cornell

>> Hello,

>> Cornell university is the world leader in bird research.  It is 
an honor
>> to
>> be recognized and published by this prestigious university.
>> Congratulations, Donna.

>> If you want to hear the birds in the article follow the link 
below and you
>> will get to the web version of the article where there are links 
to each
>> bird sound.  To follow the link use your keyboard to navigate 
until you
>> hear
>> your speech tell you you are on the link.  You will hear HTTP 
and a bunch
>> of
>> stuff.  Arrow to the you hear htt or any of the letters in the 
link and
>> press enter.  If the sun is shining, the hands of the clock are 
properly
>> positioned, you are not wearing plaid with stripes, hopefully, 
you will
>> get
>> to the web page to fully enjoy this very well done article.

>> 
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/roundrobin/2012/04/19/sensing-nature
s-beauty-in
>> -sound-scent-and-touch/

>> Warm Regards,

>> Fred

>> Sensing Nature's Beauty in Sound, Scent, and Touch

>> The spring 2012 issue of BirdScope recaps the

>> Great Backyard Bird Count

>> and takes a look at one particularly skilled set of 
participants.  The
>> "Michigan Bird

>> Brains" are a youth birding team organized by teacher

>> Donna Posont

>> .  All of the members, including Donna, are blind, yet the woods 
are just
>> as
>> full

>> to them as they are to any of us-as Donna shows us in this 
lyrical essay
>> about a

>> summer walk along the trails of Camp Tuhsmeheta in western 
Michigan (click
>> the links

>> to hear a

>> Macaulay Library

>> recording of each sound):

>> Courtesy University of Michigan - Dearborn

>> Trees are our guideposts in the woods.  Walking along the trail, 
tapping
>> tree
>> roots

>> with our canes, we stop and feel where a

>> Pileated Woodpecker

>> pounded into a tree trunk looking for insects.  On another tree 
trunk,
>> inquisitive

>> fingertips tell us an insect planned to reproduce by using it as 
a
>> hatchery.
>> The

>> tree fought back by growing a protective gall around the area 
and
>> radically
>> changed

>> those plans.  That whisper-soft thump is an acorn let loose by 
an oak.  The
>> feel of

>> peeling, paper-like bark lets us know we are standing beside a 
white
>> birch.
>> If one

>> of my companions picks up a leaf, its toothy edges reveal it 
comes from an
>> American

>> elm.  The balsam firs guide us to a nearby picnic pavilion.

>> Moving down to the lake it's wonderful to breathe deep and take 
in the
>> scent
>> of the

>> wild columbine blooming in June.  Behind the thick undergrowth a 
catbird is
>> claiming

>> his territory.  Up over the wooded hill there is an ever present 
chorus of

>> Eastern Wood-Pewees

>> ,

>> Blue Jays

>> ,

>> Red-eyed Vireos

>> ,

>> American Robins

>> , and the always-delightful

>> Black-capped Chickadees

>> .  The occasional

>> Ovenbird

>> is calling for the "

>> teacher-teacher-teacher

>> ."  In the middle of it all we hear the "yanking" of the

>> White-breasted Nuthatch

>> , walking upside-down to find his meal.  We heard a

>> Barred Owl

>> here recently during one of our jaunts.  He didn't stay in one 
spot for
>> long,
>> probably

>> busy hunting for a mouse.  The kids love this bird's questioning 
call:

>> Who, who cooks for you, who cooks for you now

>> ?

>> Along the sandy beach there is a new chorus performing for our 
auditory
>> delight.

>> To the left, in the tallest oak tree, a

>> Red-winged Blackbird

>> utters hisoak-a-ree

>> greeting.  He isn't really being friendly, only trying to draw 
attention
>> away
>> from

>> his multiple mates nesting in the cattails.  On the other side 
of a bridge
>> a
>> pair

>> of

>> Baltimore Orioles

>> is singing, claiming this neck of the woods for nesting.  The 
melody of the
>> male oriole

>> is answered by a chattering female flying over the lake.  She 
may be
>> carrying
>> a twig

>> or grass in her beak to line her nest.  Around Flanagan Lake, 
the chorus
>> includes

>> Song Sparrows

>> ,

>> Northern Cardinals

>> ,

>> Common Yellowthroats

>> , and thepeter-peter-peter

>> call of a

>> Tufted Titmouse

>> .  If we manage to get there early enough, we might hear a 
gagging sound
>> that
>> can

>> only be the

>> Great Blue Heron

>> patrolling for his morning breakfast of fish.  A

>> green frog

>> utters his strumming banjo sound to accompany the lakeside 
singers.
>> Sometimes my

>> fellow hikers feel the imprint of a hoof in the mud where a deer 
ventured
>> to
>> the

>> edge of the lake for a cool drink.

>> Next we wander to the camp's Botting Garden where blueberries,
>> raspberries,
>> and strawberries

>> grow.  The raised herb bed is home to aromatic basil, lemon 
thyme, English
>> thyme,

>> sage, chives, tarragon, chamomile, and cilantro.  Cherry 
tomatoes grow
>> among
>> the herbs

>> too.  The fragrant scent of lavender leads us to the perennial 
bed, where
>> we
>> find

>> more columbine and some dainty foxglove.  Interspersed among the 
vegetable
>> and fruit

>> beds are marigolds and nasturtiums, nature's own insect 
repellents.

>> Without sight, our other senses are fine-tuned to nature's 
rhythms and we
>> find ourselves

>> in harmony as she reveals herself to us through touch, sound, 
and scent.

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