The List

So who are the five cutest animals at Sheep Pasture? First, let's set some ground rules. We're only looking at Sheep Pasture's "working" animals. No dogs allowed since all except Bee the Beagle are visitors. Second, personality matters. Our ducks, geese and chickens are great looking, but most don't have a distinguishable personality. This is probably because we don't treat them as individuals but members of a flock. With chickens different breeds do have distinct traits. Dorkings and Sussex are quiet and friendly while Andalusians are flighty. Ducks have more individual differences being both more intelligent and more inquisitive than chickens


#5 The NRT has three roosters at Sheep Pasture. Big Blue, the Andalusian, is a beautiful bird, but he has a nasty disposition and has attacked everyone who has ever gone into his pen. The Old English rooster, Screech, is probably the most hen-pecked rooster in the world since all the hens in his pen in the Heavy Horse Barn are bigger than he is, and the biggestof all  is the superstar Rocco who thinks she's human. My choice for number five cutest animal is Spot, the Hamburg rooster who lives free range with our Sheep. Spot is a really beautiful bird with a rose comb, spotted black and white body and white hackles. Living free range he is in constant danger which has made him, so far, smarter than the average chicken. If he is rude to visitors, he could end up on another farm, and if he is not careful he could become dinner for a fox, raccoon or coyote. However, Spot has learned to hang with the sheep and seldom goes on exploring expeditions with the ducks and geese. On cold winter's nights he actually roosts on one of the woolies to stay warm. Of all the roosters we've had he is the friendliest. I wish the NRT would put him in a safer place!

#4 Teddy the mini horse takes the next place. She beats her more outgoing beau Max and her pasture mate Merriweather the goat. Teddy reminds all the folks who take care of her of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. While Max and Merry will race over to the barn to get a treat, Teddy MAY amble over in her own good time with an "oh, I didn't expect you to save anything for me" attitude. When it comes time to get her annual teeth cleaner or a shot, however, Teddy turns into a little demon. Teeth cleaning involves filing the teeth so it's no fun. Our vet sedates Max with a tiny dose of anesthetic, but Teddy requires a shot normally reserved for a 1,000 lb mare. She's one tough little girl and right now with her winter coat she looks like the wild horses seen on prehistoric cave paintings.

#3 Rocco the hero chicken. Rocco is the exception that proves the rule about chickens-she is full of personality. This is because Rocco was hand raised by the NRT staff to be an education chicken. She hung out in the office until she was fully grown and likes being with people. When she moved to her home in the Heavy Horse Barn, the staff traded some turkey poults for three bantam hens to keep her company. When a hawk invaded the barn one day Rocco fought her off and saved two of her friends while losing a wing in the process. Actually Rocco saved all three hens, one poor bird was killed when the hawk returned as Rocco was being rushed to the vet. Rocco then spent six months in the Property Management Office recuperating. No wonder she thinks she's a person! Rocco is a Silky chicken which means her feathers look more like fur. A beautiful silkie would look like a big ball of fluff. Rocco is the punk rock silkie-orange mohawk, unfluffy "fur" and purple skin. Still she's always first in line to greet visitors to the Discovery Center in the Heavy Horse Barn.

#2 Simba the ox is the newest animal at Sheep Pasture. He was born with a viral disease which almost claimed his life, but thanks to the hard work of his breeder and the NRT vet Dr. Dana, he survived. The NRT got Simba right before Harvest Fair, and in the transition from his home farm to Easton he lost about 30 libs from an already skinny body. He is now in the little Pig Barn with his companion Fauna the goat, and he is growing well again. He is a sweet and curious little guy who is just beginning to develop the  strong features of an adult ox. He has a black face with a red top knot that makes him look very cute. He and Fauna will be put out on pasture in the spring. Right now he is feasting on hay, grain, and beet pulp which is apparently the breakfast of champions for fattening calves.

#1 Bonnie and Edwin are bunnies the NRT  adopted from the Animal Protection Society of Southeastern Massachusetts. Edwin came first. He's a typical Dutch bunny that would look like a wild rabbit except for his mostly white coloring. Edwin escaped from his owner and lived for quite a few months in the wild. The NRT got him to be the education bunny to show kids the special adaptations of rabbits. Edwin has always been a curious guy and really enjoys tossing his toys in the air to make noise. We got Bonnie as a companion to Edwin. She's a lop-eared brown bunny and her story was that she had been abused in her first home. The folks at the shelter were looking for a quiet place for her and never expected her to be able to work with students in an education program because she didn't like being touched. Edwin took to her immediately and they have been a spayed and neutered couple ever since. Bonnie was about four years old when we got her and with three years of protection  and affection from Edwin and gentle care from the staff at NRT, Bonnie has finally been able to work in our education program this year along with Edwin. Her floppy ears and soft brown eyes make her very cute while her brown fur and giant rear legs make her an excellent example of adaptation. Overcoming fear of humans and abusive treatment at the advanced age of seven is a great achievement. Congratulations to Bonnie, the cutest animal at Sheep Pasture. I'm sure she would want to extend her thanks to her best friend Edwin.

Rescue Me!

OK, did I create the Wilderness Ed Handy Pack for under $10? Not a chance, even if you give me credit for the "common" household items I had to go out and buy. I do have a survival pack that fits into a one quart ziplock bag, but that means it has to be carried in a backpack. If your survival pack has to be carried in a backpack, you might as well include bottles of champagne, caviar, and a two-way radio. Still I learned a lot for Wilderness Ed Handy Pack 2 which will include a little more, fit in a fanny pack, and, if I could just find a source of plutonium, would enable me to build an A-bomb. I'm sure both M40 and Macgyver can see the advantages of exploding a nuclear weapon instead of waiting for folks to see your smoke signals.

The Handy Pack 1 is based on meeting the needs in the Rule of Three. Remember-take care of injuries first. Cotton pads, needles, dental floss, and regular thread along with the universal solution, duct tape are in the pack to take care of open wounds. The duct tape is a five foot swatch of bright orange tape wrapped around a Sharpie. Pack 2 will include aspirin and Imodium. Another possibility is water purification tablets. Those tablets use iodine to purify water and in a more concentrated mix can serve as an antiseptic.

The next need was shelter and the Handy Pack is well supplied here with two 55 gallon trash bags and ten feet of polycord wrapped around the outside of the pack. The polycord has a failure weight of 288 pounds and in a long term survival situation can be unwound into smaller cables. I also included about 50 feet of 100 pound test fishing line  and 20 feet of 15 pound test monofilament wrapped around two nails. Rubber bands and scungi's complete the shelter building kit. I'm not going to detail how to build your shelter from this stuff, but like most things in the kit all the pieces have multiple uses. For example, the 55 gallon bags also can make a poncho and a rainwater collecting device. I would have liked to have found a survival blanket made out of mylar and costing $2, but no luck. I did include a six foot long piece of aluminum foil that can serve as a heat reflector once a fire is started, but the real reason for including it was to make cooking pots.

Fire starting equipment is well represented with a BIC lighter, lip balm, cotton balls, popsicle sticks and wooden skewers. I'd tried to fit in a magnesium firestarter into Pack 2 as a backup, but that adds $8 to the cost. I did include a small magnifier that I already had at home. If that fails as a backup to the BIC, there is enough in the kit to make a fire bow.

Water is the next need. I plan to boil water so making a bowl out of the aluminum foil is a priority. Once the water is prepared I have one and two and half gallon ziploc bags to serve as canteens. Food is the last priority, and I hope to get by without killing bunnies and squirrels. The fishing line can be used to make snares and I've also included five fish hooks for a passive fishing set up.  A pill bottle was used to hold the hooks, needles, thread, paperclips, and safety pins. A pencil and a plastic spoon complete the kit which will also include a one page version of M40s survival guide.

The costly items for the pack are mostly signaling items. I spent $5 for a whistle, compass, and thermometer combination and $4 for an LED flashlight. I would add a $15 mini leatherman and the $8 firestarter. Trying to keep the costs down I replaced the leatherman with $3 worth of large exacto blades not a fair trade at all!

So what kind of a kit would I make for the 8-11 year olds. I'm not sure about giving kids a lighter and sharp exacto blades, but I like the rest of the kit except for its size-definitely need a small fanny pack!

I expected to do an end of the year list about the five best things to happen in Easton town government this year, but when I sat down to do it I discovered that 2011 was a year of planning for good things that will come to fruition (hopefully) in 2012. Shovelshop, the Trustees of Reservations, lights at Prospect St, and a solar field at the landfill all progressed this year, but we'll have to wait til next year to see these benefits. We'll also have to wait til next year to see if the Five Corners project is a benefit at all. So, instead of giving up on a year end list completely you'll be seeing my views on the Five Cutest Animals at Sheep Pasture.

Beware the Platypus!

In my new role as a volunteer at Sheep Pasture I'm slated to lead two groups of kids aged 8-11 in a new program called EcoRangers. For those of you with visions of a wheezy, out of shape, old guy stumbling after kids in the woods, you're seeing the same thing I see in the mirror every day. As Chief Dan George said in The Outlaw Josey Wales I shall "endeavor to persevere." In order to prepare for the wilderness survival part of the course, I'm doing what every outdoorsman does: scouring the Internet.

It turns out that reading a URL is a vital survival skill. I missed the .au on one site and discovered in wilderness survival situations I should beware the platypus because the male has a poisonous spur. Good advice but unlikely to help at Sheep Pasture. Given the number of poisonous snakes and crocodiles in Australia I'd assumed that Platypuses were the least of my worries. Ultimately I found M40. Mr. M and I are unlikely to be chatting over coffee at Lil Peach. He hates easterners, liberals, Macs, and most other wilderness survival guys. In fact I suspect that M40 is an Internet handle for Michelle Bachman's husband. On the issue of survival he makes a lot of sense, however. We at Sheep Pasture take great pride in being able to start a fire with a firebow. M40 points out that this is the 21st century and that anyone who might get lost in the woods should carry a BIC lighter. He also reminds us that signal fires and mirrors are fine, but that most of us should just reach in our pocket and use the damned cell phone (presumably not an IPhone though since Mr. M is down on all things I). M40 has really studied survival and notes that most folks get lost near other people and are found in 24 hours or less. He touts something called the rule of threes in order to make plans to survive until rescued:
              A severe injury can kill you in THREE MINUTES-take care of injuries first
              Severe weather can kill you in THREE HOURS-shelter and a fire are your next priorities.
              Lack of water can kill you in THREE DAYS-water should be your next goal.
              Lack of food can kill you in THREE WEEKS-food should be the last thing to worry about.
M40 explains that anyone who walks in the woods should carry a tiny survival pack that would allow you to meet all those needs. You can buy one of those packs for $35 at L. L. Bean, but I'm putting together a revised M40 version that should cost less than $15. Hopefully, this will really impress folks at the bar at Stone Forge. I'll reveal the contents of the "Wilderness Ed Handy Pack" in tomorrow's blog.

A Prayer for Animals

 This prayer has been attributed to Albert Schweitzer. Do you remember who that once famous man was?

Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering;
for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated;
for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars;
for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put to death.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity,
and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion
and gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals,
and so to share the blessings of the merciful.

Warned Out

Many thanks to Barbara Tourtillot whose website is a remarkable collection of primary source documents for genealogical and historical research. Barbara created the site in honor of Edythe Frances (Buck) (Roy) Meservie who came from a long line of Easton residents. She writes "it is my hope to use this site to help preserve the memory of those that lived and died in the Town of Easton, Massachusetts." Her site includes a transcription of the town's birth, death, and marriage records from 1697-1847 and many other treasures. Recently I've been looking at her transcriptions of "warnings out" from 1790-1794 for clues about our Revolutionary Soldiers.

Warnings out were the ultimate expression of non-townie status. In the old days towns were founded by groups of people who in some sense pledged to work together rather like being a shareholder in a modern corporation. Folks who wanted to move into a town were supposed to be officially admitted. As population grew and more and more people moved about, this old policy began to be overwhelmed. By the years after the Revolution, the only importance of this old system was that a town was supposed to be responsible for the welfare of its "townies." If you weren't an official townie, you were the responsibility of the town where you can from.

The welfare system in Easton, where the poor were auctioned off to the lowest bidder, might make you wish you came from another town; but it was the only safety net offered. For some reason, between 1790 and 1794 Easton warned out a number of non-townies. This apparently had little effect since if you didn't leave the only penalty was to be denied welfare if you went broke. Another reason for these acts being too late and too little was that most of the people warned out had lived here for years and even fought for the town in the Revolution. My favorite is Dr. Samuel Guild who arrived in Easton in the late 1760's. He apparently became the head of our Sons of Liberty organization, taught school while establishing his practice, served on town boards during the war, enlisted on a privateering expedition and also served on land. He served the town as a physician for 48 years and delivered over 1,000 babies at a time when births were still usually performed by midwives. Yet on February 11, 1790, the town father's remembered that Guild had "lately" come to Easton from his native Walpole and warned him out. He and his wife and five children were given two weeks to depart. He, of course, ignored the order and more than a decade later, serving as the town Justice of the Peace, was instrumental in breaking up the George White crime ring. Chaffin writes Guild died May 11, 1816 "after an active, useful, and influential life." Not the first or the last time a short sighted town group valued a small (and in Guild's case potential) cost over good service. At least Guild seems to have taken the slight with good spirits.

Kiva Loans

I am an international financier. I've been reluctant to write about this because there are problems with my kind of banking. No, I don't add unwanted charges like Bank of America or break legs for late payments like the boys on the corner. I make microloans through www.kiva.org. I've been doing this since shortly after Christmas in 2008 when I saw my cousin give kiva loans as gifts. I've loaned $1,700 in that time in $25 chunks. Lest you start thinking good thoughts about me, a lot of that sum is simply reinvestment of paid back loans. Of my 68 loans, one ended in default (I lost $2.94!), 47 were paid back in full, and 20 are currently paying back. I'll be making three more loans later today.

Kiva along with Heifer International and the Mercy Corps are my international development charities. Heifer funds agricultural programs around the world while the Mercy Corps mixes emergency relief with development projects. With Kiva I get to loan money to a real individual or group almost anywhere in the world. Kiva provides all sorts of information worthy of a real banking operation plus the pictures and stories of people seeking the loans. Right now I have money in El Salvador, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Uganda, Togo, Kenya, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Armenia, Pakistan, Mongolia, Palestine, The Philippines and Lebanon. I'm surprisingly low on loans to South America right now, but that has been a major focus throughout the years. My two loans to Americans helped a writer buy a computer and a farrier fit out a truck to shoe horses. The main focus of my loans has been on agriculture-people wanting a loan to buy seed, or chickens, pigs, and cattle, but I have loaned money to someone trying to buy a taxicab, stock a convenience store, buy novelties and make native crafts. Most of my loans pay back in under 15 months so that the money can be turned to a new use quickly.

I really enjoy doing this, and, as you know, I usually tell you that what I like is something you should try. Microloans are not without controversy, however. You hear stories that in some countries men force their wives to apply for loans and then take the money for themselves. Since microloans are often risky, interest rates tend to be higher than the norm for a given country thus opening the process up to charges of gouging the poor. Another problem is that the loan process itself is part of the inexorable and homogenizing process of globalization. The Kiva organization works hard to overcome these problems. They have checkers making sure the money gets to where it belongs and you can often read updates on your loans from these people. Information about the lending agencies is easily available at the Kiva site so you can refuse to loan to an agency that charges steep interest rates. Can't beat the charge that I'm spreading capitalism, however, but I'm not sure there is any better way to lift people's standard of living. Just thought I'd mention Kiva at this season of the year (and Heifer and Mercy Corps also). I'm not exactly brimming with Christmas spirit this year, but helping others help themselves is always a good thing at any season.

The Multiverse, the Nook, the Ovenbird and the Oak

Here's a nice article on why theoretical physicists are upset about the idea that their theories prove we live in a multiverse rather than a universe. The short take is that it messes up their dream of explaining our universe's rules as fundamental principles of everything. The kicker is that while our current theories point to a near infinite number of other universes we can never find experimental evidence of their existence or what rules they play by. Personally, I like multiverses. The permutations of our genetic code pretty much guarantee that you are unique in this universe where there are as many stars as there are grains of sand in all the beaches and deserts of the world. In a multiverse there is/was/will be a nearly infinite number of beings with your genetic code. The nature part of ourselves taken care of, the nurture would kick in to randomize our experience-somewhere in the multiverse Catherine Zeta Jones and me are shopping for Christmas presents for the grandkids. Maybe the physicists are just jealous.

I love my Nook Color as I have said a number of times, but recently I have been thinking about divorce. The sexy new Nook tablet is in town, and I considered dumping my dear little Nook for the new hotty. Luckily Barnes and Noble must have been hearing it from other Nook Color owners, and they issued a software update that allows Nook Color owners to play videos with apps from Nexflix and the Smithsonian Channel. I watched a documentary on Pompeii last night and it played flawlessly with good color and sound. Another app called TunedIn turns the Nook Color into a radio that can pick up stations from around the world in case you were looking for any of a  dozen stations in Bosnia. Amazing and I still haven't read a book on the darned thing! The first purchase I ever made with my own money was a shortwave radio-still have it by the way, but now I have that, a TV and a library in a package that weighs less than a loaf of bread.

I've written recently about the great acorn bust this season. Squirrels are getting increasingly desperate to find food. As they search the ground for seeds and insects, they are becoming easy prey for hawks. Reports of unappetizing bits of squirrels found at Sheep Pasture are increasing. Chipmunks store food in their dens for winter and then eat their way through that as they hibernate. The lack of acorns may mean that many of the poor little creatures will starve in their dens. This will have several consequences. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Living Bird magazine, a surprisingly large number of Ovenbird fledglings are eaten by chipmunks so this common but elusive native warbler will benefit from acorn bust. You've probably never seen the little bird, but it's call is often heard-"teacher, teacher, teacher."  Losing chipmunks may also starve out some of the deer ticks that infest our woods. Strangely, a lack of chipmunks may also hurt the trees that provide the acorns. Chipmunks like to eat mushrooms. Certain mushrooms attach themselves to the roots of oak trees and form a symbiotic relationship that provides nutrients to the tree. It turns out that some of these mushrooms have given up producing airborne spores. Instead they depend on chipmunks to store the fungi in their underground dens where some of the spores come in contact with tree roots or even the seeds of the trees. Scientists have known for a long time that chipmunk dens disperse tree seeds like acorns. Only recently have they discovered that the dens also inoculate the sprouts with a helpful fungus. I told you nature was complex.

Nature is Complicated!

One of my new volunteer assignments at NRT is designing a bird "garden" as part of our overall plan to make Sheep Pasture even more bird friendly. The idea originally was to drop a garden in at the base of the old mansion's foundation, but a true bird garden needs shrubs and trees which would obscure the foundation's rock wall which has become a photo opportunity for visitors and a teaching tool for junior geologists. Then there is that "permaculture" word that I keep dropping into blogs. Permaculture is a development of the wildlife garden movement that aims to combine ecological principals with horticulture. Wildlife gardens can be as simple as adding plants that attract butterflies, beneficial insects, birds, or mammals to a normal garden or as complex as a design to mimic and improve the natural environment. Interestingly, many of the plantings put in by Olmsted served this function and making a designed landscape look more natural than nature was a big part of his work. Today, with an increased knowledge of what makes an environment work, it can be hard to know where the natural environment leaves off and the designed one begins. Permaculture aims to go one step beyond complex wildlife gardens by providing food for both animals and humans. My grandmother had a huge blueberry patch at her house in Scituate. If we were quick enough, it provided more blueberries than we could ever use and supported birds and small mammals as well (luckily no bears in Scituate!).

So what I'd like to do is develop the bird garden along permacultural lines. I aim to "develop" a large acreage surrounding the foundation, essentially the whole area originally designed by Olmsted as an enriched natural environment. This will involve designing with nature instead of always fighting it. To give an example, Peg Hoffman and I spent some time last summer cutting Winged Euonymus out of the edges of a small grove we use for education around now. This plant is an invasive non-native, but it also provides berries and excellent cover for birds. The grove needed to be opened up-it's a relatively pretty vista and other native edge species like hazelnut and grape will now have a chance to grow well. Near the foundation is a rock formation completely surrounded by Euonymus. It would be completely detrimental to our bird restoration program to remove this patch because it provides cover and some winter food for a species of sparrows we are trying to promote. See, nature is complex!

Obviously, to work on a large scale like this I'll need help. More on this later, but what I'm thinking about is a crew of folks who are interested in permaculture to provide food for themselves. The bird garden would be a sort of proof of concept. If we could get enough people involved, perhaps we could trade volunteer labor for a lease on a couple of acres of land to turn into a garden that would provide a CSA for participants while benefiting nature. And yes, you can have tomatoes in a permaculture garden.

If you see Maggie and me wandering around the foundation area, know that the first principle of permaculture is "observe." Sort of like the old adage "Measure twice, cut once."

Diana Batt's Wildflowers

Ever see the back page of Cook's Magazine? It has a lovely watercolor of some vegetable or fruit with many different varieties making a beautiful and instructive print.This semester I was lucky enough to work with a student from Stonehill, Diana Batt, who combined an interest in botany with a talent for art. Among several projects Diana decided to create three posters of seasonal wildflowers that can be found at Sheep Pasture. Diana read Chet Raymo's The Path for the class and decided to continue a long tradition of flower painting at the old estate.

The idea was to include some very common and some relatively rare plants to make wildflower viewing fun for both adults and kids. Each poster has 8 to 10 flowers. Instead of watercolor, Diana used acrylic paint and colored pencil. At the bottom of each poster is a description that includes botanical lore. Diana has taken "artistic license" with some plants to emphasize the most important feature. The flower of the blue violet is much bigger than the leaves, but you'll certainly be able to find a violet if you're a child whose never known the name of the plant. The posters are in final draft form so I can't post an example, but I think the posters might be collectibles.

Demographics

Still wandering through the primary sources available on potential Revolutionary War soldiers in Easton. It's probably a hopeless task to try to figure out which source is talking about which one of the five Joseph Drakes in town or to distinguish between someone who might be called Howard one day and Hayward the next. Most Town Clerks just split the difference and called those two families Haward. However, certain interesting facts are beginning to emerge from the whole mass of data.

In 18th century Massachusetts you needed to own property valued at £20 in order to be a voter. 99.9% of the time you had to be a white male also although there are rare cases where a particularly distinguished woman was allowed to vote in town meeting. In some frontier towns all males were allowed to vote just to complicate the historian's task. In 1771 Easton had 110 official voters that made the £20 limit. Late in the 1770s that number jumped to 195 voters. What's going on? Actually I don't know for sure since ideas move faster than my data entry skills, but there are two possibilities. One is some kind of demographic bulge hit the town during the war, but the most interesting idea is inflation. As the Revolutionary War went on the government of the nascent country and the individual states printed paper money that were little more than IOUs. This caused a fairly substantial inflation that Chaffin talks about in his History. It's likely that our town father's didn't correct the £20 property requirement for inflation so that some normally poor folks suddenly found themselves voters. I haven't found a historian who talks about this issue, but it's potentially an important one.

In an agrarian community like Easton, it took a while to accumulate the land needed to become a voter. In fact, by the time of the Revolution farms had been subdivided among heirs for two or three generations making it increasingly difficult to put together a farm valued at £20. This meant that voters tended to be older than the average age of all adult males. This was exactly what the philosophers of the "stake in society" school of voting wanted. However, in a world where younger men were being asked to serve in the Revolutionary War Eastoners may have heard the same grumbling that was heard during Vietnam when 18 year olds complained they were old enough to die for their country, but not old enough to vote. Letting inflation increase the number of voters, mostly younger males, might have had the unintentional benefit of building support for the war effort. On the other hand, did deflation after the war disenfranchise voters? If so could this be a cause of the famous Shays' Rebellion, that drew in a number of Eastoners as rebels? We may just have enough data to unravel this and to heck with the five Joseph Drakes.

Is There a Blue Grosbeak in Your Future?

In this season of joy and peace, I'd like to send a warm shout-out to the dear folks in Washington who purport to be our leaders. Yes, Congress and the White House thank you for doing nothing about global warming we all love 60 degree days in New England in December. You guys were right all along!

Another planet warming gift may be the Blue Grosbeak. This bird is a wimpy cousin of the Northern Cardinal. The Cardinal once wasn't so northern; it's invaded New England in my lifetime an early precursor of climate change. As everyone knows the Cardinal is a frequent visitor at bird feeders. Despite the big beak that gives it its name, the Blue Grosbeak prefers bugs. You're not going to find it huddled in your bushes even in a winter as warm as this one because the big beak makes it hard to search for bugs hibernating in cracks in bark-that's Chickadee, Titmouse, and Nuthatch work.

In a normal summer Blue Grosbeaks might make it as far as southern Pennsylvania. Even further south in its main territory its an uncommon inhabitant of brushy land. The bird has been seen in Easton before 2011 since it's included in my Easton bird list probably from a sighting by Dick Grant, an excellent birder. Recently, I bumped into Kevin Ryan an experienced and avid birder; he has traveled to Africa to go bird watching, Kevin noted a Blue Grosbeak sighting at Sheep Pasture in October. I emphasize experienced birders because a male Blue Grosbeak can be confused with other blue birds. Take a look:

Male Blue Grosbeak

Indigo Bunting

Female Bluebird

A recent genetic study shows that the Grosbeak and Bunting were a single species until sometime between 4.1 and 7.3 million years ago (about the last time you and a chimp had a common ancestor). 

OK, so only an intermediate birder like me might confuse the first two with a female bluebird, but deciding between the bunting and the grosbeak is a matter of deciding who has the bigger beak unless you get a good look at the chestnut wing patches of the Grosbeak. The Indigo Bunting is a bird of brushy fields as well and as such has declined as that habitat has disappeared in Massachusetts although the bird can still be found breeding in most towns on mainland Massachusetts.

The diet of the two birds seems similar, insects in the summer, seeds later in the year. The Blue Grosbeak should be able to feed on bigger seeds. One source notes that the grosbeak is able to eat snails which would need a big beak as well. Ironically, one of the observations that put Darwin onto the idea of evolution were differences in the beaks of finches on the Galapagos Islands.

One rose doesn't make a summer and one bird seen late in the summer may have simply gone wandering in a good season for food, but one never knows. Keep your eyes open next late spring and summer and you may get a surprise.

New Information on Richard Hart, Brother of Al Capone

As you may remember, dear reader, I posted on Veteran's Day the amazing story of Richard James Hart, the brother of Al Capone, who became a famous lawman after World War I. Yesterday I received an e-mail from a great grandson of Richard Hart, who provided additional and interesting information about the famous man. I had written that Vincenzo James Capone had enlisted in the army and risen quickly to the rank of first lieutenant. My sources told me that his service was relatively uneventful, but Mr. Hart tells me his great grandmother Kathleen had a picture of her husband receiving a medal from General Pershing, the overall commander of American forces in France as well as several other pictures of him during the war. Unfortunately, further research has been stymied. First there were two Vincenzo Capones who served in the American army in World War I and both were born in 1892, the year of our Vincenzo’s birth. However, neither description in their military records matches our man very well. As noted in my blog, Vincenzo had adopted an alias (to avoid anti-Italian prejudice) when he had left home in 1908. The problem is he didn’t adopt the name of Richard Hart until after the war, and the family doesn’t know what name he might have enlisted under! 
Ironically, there is a slight connection with the Veteran’s Day Speech I delivered the day I wrote the blog. There I told the story of Louis Frothingham, one of the founders of the American Legion. According to Mr. Hart when his great grandfather wanted to join his local chapter of the Legion in Nebraska, he was asked to provide proof of his service which he claimed to be unable to do  (despite the pictures). Mr. Hart supposes that the proof would have revealed his great-grandfather’s family connection.
Hart provides another interesting point. His grandfather Harry met Al Capone and his other gangster uncles and their mother Theresa in 1944 not 1946 as I said. Thus, no near deathbed meeting with a completely debilitated Uncle Al. Harry was 18 and had just graduated from High School.

Looking at the Blinking Cursor

Well, I've just spent five minutes looking at the blinking cursor in the title bar thinking about what to write. Lots to talk about I suppose, but I just don't want to hear what I have to say about anything right now!

1. The Annual Meeting of the NRT is Sunday. It's my farewell to trying to influence what goes on there, but I'll be continuing with a few volunteer things including a large bird garden (part of a bigger endangered bird program) and daily small animal care. I really do enjoy small animals more than people although I'm also scheduled to run a new Eco-Rangers program as well.
2. The Original Agricultural Commission Dog and Pony Show hits the road Monday to explain what a Right to Farm bylaw might entail for the town. There is apparently concern that everyone will put a rooster in their backyard just to annoy the neighbors (more than the screeching children already do).  I remember Wes Paul telling me how upset his daughters were with the sounds of nature at night after living their first few years with the street sounds of urban Quincy so roosters are a real problem for some people. However, the bylaw only applies to commercial agriculture on five acres or more. The intent of the bylaw is to protect commercial farmers by letting potential buyers know that there are farms in Easton and by providing a voluntary grievance procedure before things go to the formal complaint level. On a five acre farm resolving a rooster grievance should be as simple as asking the farmer to keep the hen house away from the property lines. Backyard chicken flocks would still be regulated as at present under health and public nuisance laws where the Queen of Hearts rule of "off with their heads" probably still holds sway.
3. The Hockomock Film Club will be showing a small independent film called Arranged a week from today. It tells the story of two young teachers, one orthodox Jewish, the other Muslim who bond over the ancient tradition of family arranged marriages. It's a warm, funny, quiet, gentle movie about cultural differences and individualism, but I found it rather surprising as well. Definitely a conversation starter for folks who have been talking a lot about traditions lately.

Friday Forum

Rick Martin has joined Curmudgeon's Corner at L'il Peach. Yesterday he was passing out a sheet (only to the other curmudgeons) about buying American during the holiday season. As readers know I'm a big believer in buying locally and as the chairman of the Agriculture Commission I'll be telling folks about local food as well. Once you get through the anti-Chinese screed in Rick's paper, his sheet makes a lot of sense. Basically it says you can stimulate the American economy more with your holiday purchases by buying things that keeps the money in the US. The argument is that if you give a gift certificate to a nearby restaurant, the money will stay closer to home and be spent in the US economy a second time instead of going to cover our already poor balance of payments with China and other countries that make the stuff we no longer make here. The director of OA's kitchen does a fund raiser to fight Pancreatic Cancer. This year I won a raffle prize of a lube job and tire rotation at May's just over the line in West Bridgewater. That's another example of Rick's ideas-gift certificates for services keep the money here and helps to keep our friends and neighbors on the job. Dog grooming certificates, tickets to the Brockton Rox, all sorts of things can be great presents and help your neighbors more than buying Mom and Pop the 96 inch big screen TV for the Media Room in the McMansion. And remember, as a public official, I can't accept gifts of more than $49.99! If you have second thoughts about the big screen TV after reading this, I think it's called recycling if you anonymously put it next to the yellow topped container in my driveway.

I'm having second thoughts about my skepticism about Big History. The Teaching Company had Professor David Christian's course on sale this month so I bought the 48 lecture program and am listening to it now. It is much more intriguing when Dr. Christian has 24 hours to explain himself than the hour he had at Stonehill recently. The Teaching Company is one of the more intriguing businesses in itself. It has over a hundred college lecture courses available for sale at prices ranging from $100-$600. However, every course goes on sale at least once a year and can be had for audio download over the Internet for under $70. A nice colorful catalog comes every couple of weeks to tell me about the sales. How the company makes any money is beyond me, but I've listened to over a dozen undergraduate courses and only found one I didn't really enjoy. I love ancient history and philosophy, but I've also taken a great course on World Literature, another on Linguistics, and a third on the Story of the English language. So much better than listening to Dennis and Callahan, or Feel the Rush Limpburg. Can't say that course on Sumerian history actually changed my life, but it did start a fascination with the origins of civilizations. You get to keep the courses you download forever (the company had a "cloud" before anyone knew what a cloud was), and many of the courses are worth listening to several times. The Teaching Company is now offering video downloading (sale courses are $110). I bought a TC DVD course on American Art a few years ago and while Spielberg has nothing to worry about, the production values were pretty good-a professor wanders around a set made up to look like a better classroom than I ever sat or taught in and the pictures were inserted where appropriate. Yesterday I saw my first video download of a course by an archaeologist on the origin of civilization. I went with the video because the catalog promised 3-D renderings of ancient cities. Last night in the intro lecture it was mostly the professor wandering around and talking. We'll see.

Yes, I did once again fail to present the first permaculture blog. Hang in there!

A New Restaurant in an Old Place

  I stopped by the new Hibernia Irish Pub on the one week anniversary of its "soft" opening. Hopefully, I managed to get there ahead of one of our readers who prides herself on trying out all the new restaurants in the area! Hibernia is located in the old Pickle Barrel/Blackthorn location. The place still smells like new paint and lacks the cozy ambiance of the old Blackthorn since the walls in dining area are lined with seven big screen TVs. I was in early since I had stopped in on an impulse while on a mission to pick up Chinese food so I was the only person in the dining area. Both waitresses offered to change a TV to a channel of my choice. The bar area looks to have been reconfigured, but that may have happened during the unlamented incarnation as Pub 402.

My wait person and new best friend, Erin, was quick to point out that the new owners were well aware that no one misses the Brennan's/Pub 402 days and want to get back to the hay day of the old Blackthorn including the Irish music. Erin also pointed out that the goal was to have affordable food and drink and resist the temptation to gouge because "it's Easton." So what's the food like? The idea of the soft opening is to have a "starter" menu until next week while the kitchen staff shakes down the new equipment. Erin, who my mother would have said was vaccinated with a phonograph needle, was quick to tell me that the executive chef had another restaurant (a foodie plus according to my visits to the food channel), made all his sauces from scratch, and preferred natural unprocessed ingredients. I also learned that the owners come from Cork (as do my Irish ancestors), that Erin also has Irish roots, that the top price on the regular menu is going to be $13.95 for the steak tips, that there's going to be a kids menu, and that the bar has 31 beers on tap. Erin also noted the full menu will have Irish specialties like Shepherd's Pie along with a Cajun Blackened Chicken and a Curried Chicken. I noted that the sausage on the pizza was also Irish.

I was planning to eat healthy with an egg roll and shrimp with pea pods, but I splurged once I decided on the Hibernia. I started with a Magic Hat #9 with Apricot which Erin assured me was a fabulous choice. The 31 beer choices don't seem quite as inspired as at the old Blackthorne but some old friends are back like Hoegarten. A pint of draft is only $5 with Guinness at $6. There are a number of specialty black and tans. Bottled beer is in the $2.50 to $3.50 range. Frankly, the Magic Hat seemed a little skunky-not sure if that was the apricot. A later blueberry beer was fine, but lacked the garnish of blueberries usually to be had at the Stoneforge. I ordered the Rhode Island calamari. I'm a big fan of the calamari at Maguires and was interested to see how this version measured up. The batter on the squid was delicious. For the first time in my experience the banana pepper was also battered and fried. One reason to test a restaurant with calamari is because it's easy to screw up. Sadly the rings were either freezer burned or overcooked because they were often dry and chewy. As you'll see in a moment I'm willing to chalk that up to an overheated fryolator. The dipping sauce, on the other hand, was superior. A rich, delicious tomato sauce with just the right balance of tomato tartness and sweetness, it was obviously made from the freshest ingredients. At $6.95 the portion was appetizer sized unlike the calamari at Maguire's which can easily make a meal. For my main course I chose the Grilled Pesto Chicken at $8.95. It came with the choice of fries or onion rings. I chose the onion rings. Not sure if the starter menu is the lunch menu, but the portion was lunch sized with just a half a dozen onion rings. The rings came with a different batter than the calamari, a good sign, but they were overdone-a clear indicator that the fryolator was running hot on the calamari also. The grilled chicken came in a regular sized roll and was excellent. The pesto was obviously freshly made and the chicken was topped with a grilled tomato slice under a pile of gooey and delicious cheese. I think the restaurant will make good on its promise of fine family fare at a fair price with great entertainment. According to Erin, Tuesday night is trivia night, Wednesday's Amy Basse performs and then there is more Irish music on the weekends. Where else in Easton can you get three bottled beers, a sandwich, and an evening's entertainment for around $20. Welcome home, a worthy successor to the Blackthorne.