As a writer, we need to watch everything around us, because you never know when it’s going to come in handy. Last weekend I went out and picked grapes with Dorothy Grant, which was targeted research for her WIP, but I listened to her tell me about the grapes and filed that information away. Then we had a conversation with a fellow who wants to become a writer, and I got to share some of the information I’ve learned here and there over the years. Last night, we had neighbors over for dinner (side note that I love living in a small town, in a house where we’ve made new friends we can do this with) and I wound up having a passionate conversation with two of them about fantasy and science fiction. Towards the end of it, the neighbor we call Dave the Falconer turned to me and said ‘anytime you want to write about falconry and get it right, come talk to me.’ he thrust out a long arm over the table, and patted his forearm. ‘You don’t get the birds to fly right at you, they don’t do that, and you don’t have them land on your arm. I want them to come here,’ he patted his fist, ‘where I can grab their jesses and control them, and they have flying room out away from my body.’
I don’t currently have plans to write a falconer into a story, but if I do it, I will definitely take Dave up on his offer, and it’s already cool to watch him training the birds in his backyard (next to ours) or have him bring over a Cooper’s Hawk chick for socialization pats from us.
You never know what you’re going to learn, or from who you might learn it. The other couple at dinner that night have lived across the back alley from our house long enough to have known the previous owner (who had built our house with her late husband back in 1950) so I got to walk through the house with the neighbor lady and talk about the changes we’ve made, picking up a little history at the same time. She hadn’t known about the hidden windows, and was astonished when I described what we’d found as we renovated.
I’m headed out here shortly for a work day with the naturalist group. The main goal of the day is to pick up trash from the side of the road (we sponsor a section of highway near the state park). Knowing us as I do, we will all be making interesting observations, from birds to the clouds, to the nature of the trash we’ll be hauling off. At least, I know I’ll be doing the latter. Trash can tell you a lot about a person. When it’s on the side of the road, mostly that they are not a nice person with good habits, but as a writer, I never know what I’ll see that I can use in a story somewhere, sometime.
But now, I need to fill the camelbak and get my hat and gear ready. It’s going to be relatively cool today, topping out about 95 after a week of well over 100 degree days, but I will need lots of water and electrolytes to make sure I’m not completely wiped after a few hours of work out there. This is the other way observation is useful… I have learned that here in Texas you need to drink more than you think you need, or you will suffer for it, if in no other way than muscle cramps and fatigue. Dehydration is a serious issue.
This should be an interesting day. And if you keep your eyes and ears open, they are all interesting days!
(header image: photo by Cedar Sanderson of a long-horned bee taking refuge from a rainshower in a sunflower)
Mad Genius Club 
9 responses to “An Observation”
I suspect all the old Texans have already told you new Texans that that rather belligerent “Don’t Mess With Texas” saying started as an anti-littering slogan. It worked, too, although today you might not believe it!
They had not, but I like it! We did two hours, three of us, got 6 bags of trash picked up. No diapers… lots of beer cans, fast food wrappers, snack packages, and various odd bits of paper. The only bones I saw were near the creek, where there were catfish skeletons and something that was either pig or deer (no skull, so I didn’t try to identify it).
The danger is that the plot rabbit will come along.
Remember — plot rabbits may ramble along anywhere, but they LIVE in rabbit holes — and what do you go down with research?
When we used to do Renn Faires as actors (as a family for part of our homeschool), there was a Raptor rehab and education group that we became good friends with. Because we knew them so well (and laws were different) we got to hold them on a number of occasions, and fly/receive them on a few. They are so amazing, from the kestrel to the horned owl. Two of our sons apprenticed during the shows, but we never had the money and vehicles for them to learn it long term. They are just amazing creatures!
We did trash-pickup along the highway a couple of times – the local Star Trek fan club in Ogden had sponsored a stretch of highway. The bits that I dreaded were shreds of steel-belted radial tire – so very heavy!
The most amusing thing was half a bra… and then about half a mile farther down the road, the other half…
Someone told us that the odd shoes by the side of the road are usually thrown out of car windows by bored toddlers.
Part of what I like about online is that you find places where you *can* stick your head in and go “k, does anyone know enough about X that I won’t get laughed at?”
Missed the hidden windows story.
My nephew would be so envious of having a falconer as a neighbour. He is nuts about raptors, in fact he goes to summer camp to a place where they learn falconry, this has been his third year.
That’s very cool! We had no idea when we first looked at the house, his birds are kept out of sight in the back yard. It was a pleasant surprise.