February 15, 2005

Not in the MSM

I was listening to NPR this morning; the topic was bloggers. There are bloggers who blog every day, and some of them actually break news stories that the MSM (main stream media) either don't know about or won't cover. And by the way, I'm glad they explained what MSM meant, because otherwise I wouldn't have known. I guess I'm a blogger novice, or perhaps even a blogger wannabe.

There are awards that are given out for blogs. Generally, to even be considered for an award, your blog must update every day. Well. When I started this blog, I set a goal for myself of posting at least once a week. I only wanted to post when I had something real to say. So far, I think I've been averaging about one post every four days or so, so I'm actually doing better than I anticipated. So far, anyway. But it's not going to get me any awards.

Needless to say, since I didn't know any such awards existed, awards weren't my motivation to begin blogging. I wanted a place to post stories-in-formation, thoughts-in-development, and other creations of my mind that didn't have an outlet. This is not a place where the one writing claims to have all the answers.

I have a list. It's a list of questions to ask God when I finally get to heaven, assuming I do. One is about events like the tsunami --- why? Another is about sexual desire --- what causes it? A third is about mosquitoes --- what's the point?

Today, however, I do in fact have an answer --- I think. It's been raining lightly all day, and as I listened to the sound of the drops falling off the roof and landing the leaves and grass, I heard another sound. Chirping. I looked out my window, and grabbed my Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Birds (Western Region), which I bought at a thrift store several years ago because I thought it would look nice on my shelf. The Field Guide suggests to me that the birds I see (the ones I saw a few days ago) are, in fact, white-crowned sparrows. The ones I saw didn't have the black and white stripes on their heads ("crowns" in bird lingo) like the ones in the picture, so I was a little confused at first. But then I read that "first winter birds have brown-and-buff crown pattern." And that's what I saw.

So I guess my news for today is that I have white-crowned sparrows out foraging for food on my lawn today, making a beautiful sound that is the perfect accompaniment to the sound of light rain. And that's news you won't find in the MSM.

3 comments:

reverendmother said...

Just found your blog (through reverend mommy, yes there's a reverendmother and a reverend mommy). I like it! There is a really gentle spirit here. Thank you. I'll be back.

Theresa Coleman said...

beauty is not usually reported in the MSM.
Blessings on you today -- I have a Field guide I use regularly, but it the "Field Guide to North American Aircraft." Slight different

=o)

~pen~ said...

i, too, found your blog through reverend mommy and find such a gentleness here.

as an aside, when you spoke of the sparrows, it brought to my mind all the Scriptures where Jesus talks about the birds - none the least of which (after a search, believe me it's not off the top of my head): Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

~*peace*~