[nfbmi-talk] Beautiful! Donna Published by Cornell

Gkitchen ghkitchen at comcast.net
Mon Jun 4 19:11:19 UTC 2012


Dear Donna,

Congradulations, this is a very wonderful article about not only the various 
birds buthow the blind can enjoy nature as much as anyone else!

Best,
Georgia
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mary wurtzel" <marywurtzel at att.net>
To: "Marcus Simmons" <MarcusSimmons at comcast.net>; "NFB of Michigan Internet 
Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 1980 10:11 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Beautiful! Donna Published by Cornell


>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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> mons%40comcast.net
>
>
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