Liz Tyner - Liz's Latest

Extinct...But Not Forgotten

6/13/2021

During a visit to an exhibit at my local zoo, I had a chance to walk among replicas of some of the beings of the past. At some point, I decided the creators of the cartoon Ice Age had done more research than I ever realized.

I think of the word dinosaur as being in use since the creatures first walked the earth. But it's a relatively new term, only coined in the mid-1800's, and taken from the Greek word for a terrible lizard.

Since the Greeks did have a word for terrible lizard maybe they had an inkling that different beings once lived on the planet. Finding one fossil could have led to mythological tales.

I doubt I would have been able to survive long in such a fierce time. I just hope that some of the animals who went extinct were poisonous snakes. And I don't think I'll ever miss the T-Rex again.

Warning: Cactus May Be Painful To Touch

4/3/2021

When I was walking in the arid section of a nature preserve, someone warned me to avoid the cacti that were thick on the ground.

It reminded me of the time I was carefully treading across a fallen tree which made a path over a ditch and the guide told me the mud underneath wasn't a soft as it looked. It didn't look at all soft.

I didn't really need the warning about the cactus.

I'd discovered, as a teen, in an area that had few cacti, that just one can be unpleasant. I didn't think I was sitting near it, but I learned that a safe distance from a cactus is a little farther away than I expected.

Fine: $225 to Feed the Prairie Dogs

4/3/2021

The sign told me that it is a $225 fine to feed the prairie dogs. And by comparing the activities of this village to a similar one, I'd say that people haven't been feeding them. But it's not the threat of the $225 fine that keeps the critters from being treated. It's the note that says people food isn't healthy for them. This helps keep visitors from being tempted to treat the little ones when no one is watching.

These animals do seem happier than the ones in the other village where I saw the scraps of carrots. More relaxed, and not watching for a treat.

It's unusual for me to find critters that will pose as long as I wish.

The sign also said the prairie dogs liked having their photos taken, so I have to believe that whoever made the sign knew about wildlife..

Modern Art Style

2/19/2021

I think I first saw a picture of the car before I was old enough to drive, and was fascinated but not impressed with the sight as modern art.

After forgetting about it, I discovered the actual car in front of one of the Smithsonian art museums.

Again, I spent some time perusing it.

Later, I showed the picture to someone else and he took a moment to look at it. To study it.

Now it sticks in my memory.

That's the secret, I believe, that artists are striving for. To create something that another person will take an extra moment with. That will linger in their mind.

Art is subjective. People can disagree about it. And it's even subjective within me. What I don't think is art on one day, may speak to me on another day.

Valentine's Day Flowers

2/14/2021

Roses are considered the traditional Valentine's Day flower, but these wildflowers called cinquefoil are from the rose family give me the Valentine's spirit when I see them in the woods near my house.

In fact the woods seem filled with flowers I'll spot during spring and summer if I slow down for a moment and look for them.

A passion flower, trumpet vine and partridge pea growing wild in nature.

But the odd thing is that I don't remember any wildflowers from the place I used to live. I'm sure it had some but it had mostly been tilled for farming. I'm thankful for the food it produced, but the opportunity to explore woods left in their natural state—but with a well-tending walking path—have given me a much better appreciation for nature.

Sadly, I know, that without that walking path for ease of access, I wouldn't have discovered the wildflowers. They would have been forever hidden from me and I wouldn't have even suspected their presence.

How Much Does An Author Read?

2/5/2021

Reading….

Sadly, as a writer, I’ve been keeping the deep secret that I don’t read much anymore. The time, you know. As soon as I finish writing one book, I’m anxious to start another one.

So as I sit here—now a non-reader—and I look around my room.

I see the 900 page reference book I purchased a few months ago. One of the new romance novels I bought. Plus, on my nightstand, there’s an out-of- print book on writing that I was lucky to find online. And I just finished Dean Koontz’s book, Trixie, A Big Little Life, a non-fiction audio book...but I stopped reading at Chapter 20, right before the end because it’s mainly a biography about a dog, and we know what happens at the end if the book was written after the main character’s death. So, it ended happily for me as Trixie will live on.

As for e-books, I downloaded The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and am planning to read it at night. Some of the other books on my e-reader have been read recently. I started one a second time.

It dawned on me that a writer who says they don’t read much may be comparing themselves to the person they used to be who would leave the library with a big bundle of books every two weeks. Or every week.

It’s kinda like thinking you didn’t have that many calories on a day until you walk by the trash and see the candy wrappers. By the evidence around me, I read a lot more than I realized.

Fawn Memories

1/24/2021

Most countryside changes in the spring and summer are obvious, but you'll never see some of them just by driving along the road. In fact, seeing fawn can be difficult in a wooded area even when they're only a few yards from your house..

Before I moved to my current acreage, the trees were just woods and the occasional critter I saw pleased me. I never knew how many animals truly roamed until I moved near a pond.

For me, perhaps the most fascinating are the small deer.

Even while I'm striving to keep an eye open for them in the springtime, I usually don't see any until they've doubled or tripled in size from their birth. I would say in humans, it would be equal to discovering them at about five years old.

But even when they're in the pre-teen or teen size, I'm happy to see them. The one following was born in the spring, and I took the picture in September.

By the time December rolls around, they're getting difficult to distinguish from the older deer.

Then the next spring, they may be having little ones of their own.

Unless they have a strong distinguishing characteristic, it becomes difficult to keep up with them from year to year.

But it's a good guess to assume that the buck you see in the woods in the winter started out as the little guy having fun in the springtime.

Photos from my collection.

Explaining Enough or Not Enough

1/18/2021

Worried about describing too much in a book? Well, if you're worried about it, chances are you might be explaining too much.

You're writing a mental video...as well as a book.

The reader needs to see what is going on.

Sure you need to add a little explanation here and there. Usually, it's called backstory. With that, and character's thoughts and actions, depth is created.

But, would you rather have someone tell you about the movie they saw, or would your rather see it yourself?

The reader is the same way. Create the videos for them with your words.

How much is too much and how much is too little?

It's hard to say without reading the story. I was in a writing class once and the teacher said everyone needed to cut the extra explanations they were using in their stories. Except one person needed to add more. That was me.

But the difference in my writing and the others' stories could have been because I'd written poetry and non-fiction pieces for publication. I'd already learned to pare my writing way back, but not how to bring it into book length.

Thriving Bald Eagles in My Area

1/1/2021

At one time, wild bald eagles were never seen in the area where I live. Never. Their numbers had declined throughout the USA.

The thought was that a pesticide ingested through eating other critters which had also eaten the poison, was causing them to lay eggs with too thin shells.

This has been questioned..

And the suggestion was raised that people may have been the ones to hurt the population. I don't think this is up for debate.

Public awareness changed the path of their decline, however.

In the USA, they've now been moved from the category of Endangered Species to Protected Species, and they're thriving in my area.

For the first time ever, I've been able to see eagles regularly in wooded areas. I don't think they're thrilled to see me, but they ignore me gracefully. Seriously, if they were as ferocious as they look, I'd not be taking their picture because I'd be cowering from them. They can get angry. I've seen a local video of one of the young ones...maybe one pictured...knocking another eagle for a loop.

From a distance, the young ones look a little more like buzzards.

To put things in perspective, their nests can reach the approximate size of a twin bed.

I don't expect to see any hatchlings because they'll be hidden. That doesn't disappoint me. The youngest ones aren't cute and cuddly.

Coloration changes on the eagles' head as they mature, and around the age of five years, they become the bald eagles we are more used to seeing in photos.

A success story for the eagles, and for the fish they prey on, not so much. But the increased population of eagles meant I was able to see this one flying over me when I was taking a walk outside my house.

Christmas

12/19/2020

Most years I've tried to take photos for Christmas, and many years they've not been especially cheery. I cannot seem to help it.

I spent months waiting for snow, saved an old pair of boots, found a trap, and that's really a Santa hat on my leg. And yes, this is a selfie and it was a COLD day. Ah, the memories.