Category Archives: Activism/Protecting Animals/Politics

International Women’s Day 2026: “When women thrive, we all rise.”

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I say it every year, but this is more than simply a day to celebrate Angel Boy’s TENTH birthday, March 8 is International Women’s Day 2026.

“When women thrive, we all rise.” The initiative highlights that empowering women brings collective progress.

This year’s theme is “Give To Gain”, a campaign that urges collaboration and generosity to accelerate gender equality.

The theme highlights that by giving support—through funding, knowledge, or advocacy—we gain a more inclusive world. 

The campaign encourages taking concrete actions, such as investing in women, providing resources, increasing visibility, and fostering mentorship.

Of course we’ll commemorate Angel Boy’s ten years around the sun, especially since this is the year he becomes a double-digiter. No longer a baby, he enters the world of the pre-teen with my same shoe size and he’s nearly as tall as me. I predict by the end of summer, he’ll have surpassed my sixty inches. Happy Birthday, Angel Boy!

Have You Ever Seen a Hummingbird Moth?

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This is another post in my continual quest to NOT allow current events to cause mental and emotional distress. I don’t actively ignore the news; instead, I’m trying to manage my visceral reactivity, if that makes sense.

I didn’t get good pics of March’s full blood moon, but look who I discovered on the deck this morning! He didn’t look too perky so I put him near a flower and hope he rallies…

The White-lined Sphinx Moth, Hyles lineata, is a common “hawk moth” (Family Sphingidae) and gigantic at almost four inches! I’ve seen them around here on very rare occasions but have mistaken them for hummingbirds because they’re so big.

Hummingbird moths are excellent, beneficial pollinators, especially for night-blooming flowers, helping gardens and ecosystems thrive, though their caterpillar stage might munch on host plants like tomatoes, a minor trade-off for their adult benefits. They are harmless to humans, mimic hummingbirds, and are crucial for plant reproduction, making them a positive addition to any pollinator-friendly yard.   

Hummingbird moth symbolism often centers on luck, transformation, peace, prosperity, and longevity, appearing as a messenger for change or a sign to look closer at life’s illusions, blending butterfly themes (change) with hummingbird traits (joy, flexibility) as they are mimics of hummingbirds and symbolize a spiritual connection to nature’s deeper messages and joyful living.

 A Secret Path

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Even if all the doors are closed…
A secret path will be there for you that no one knows.  
Shams Tabrizi

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

 Back to self, back to joy.

According to Google, Shams Tabrizi (c. 1185–1248) was a wandering Persian Sufi mystic born in Tabriz, Iran. While he traveled extensively, he is best known for being the spiritual guide of Rumi in the 1240s. He later lived and died in Khoy, Iran, where his shrine is located.

(I figured this was more positive than commenting on current events.)

Happy Valentine’s Day

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My Scrub Jay Family Returns! CORRECTION!!!! This is a Western Bluebird!

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Update: A kind reader commented and asked if this was actually a Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) and after some research, I’m convinced he’s correct! I automatically assumed it was the same scrub jay family that returns every year, but this is a much smaller bird.

I might rewrite this entire post to reflect the correction, but for now, as you’re reading, just replace Scrub Jay with Western Bluebird and it all works out.

My blueblue California Scrub Jay family has returned to build a nest in the tree house. While so much is WRONG in this world right now, the fact that these birds reappeared is heartwarming.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

While they don’t use the same nesting material year after year, jays often return to the same location, referred to as site loyalty. They are very attached to their home ranges, and pairs often stay together for multiple years, leading them to build new nests in familiar spots within that territory.

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

How lucky am I that these guys feel safe here at Casa de Enchanted Seashells!

Welcome home!

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

I can’t resist a connection to Leon Russell. Although it’s not at all about blue birds, his song, Bluebird, is musical perfection. Sadly, I don’t think there’s a video of a live performance. https://youtu.be/Zhaq-wWykZU?si=6fegLI90ZUqI-N5q

Hell on Earth

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Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
William Shakespeare

After last night’s horrific anti-Semitic massacre at Bondi Beach in Australia during a Hanukkah celebration and the violence at Brown University in Rhode Island, at least right now, this world we inhabit is not a warm and loving place.

I spent quite a bit of time in Providence while DIL was there getting her doctorate and Angel Boy was at Yale doing the same thing. I walked around the campus and the neighborhood, even Governor Drive where there was a report of another incident which proved to be false.

When AB endured his serious medical scare, he was at the same Rhode Island hospital where the shooting victims were taken because it’s the closest trauma center. These poor kids were simply taking their mid-term exams when they were attacked.

It looks like they have a suspect in custody, but the damage is done. I read that at least two of the students had already witnessed other school shootings.

What a hellish world this is.

Thanksgiving Day Thoughts

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I don’t know what everyone else will be doing on this day that really doesn’t seem to celebrate anything but a toxic and heartless dominance over indigenous peoples, but in my little world, except for family, there isn’t a whole lot to be grateful for. This is a Thanksgiving mainly of fear for the future, an unsettling feeling that we don’t know when the other shoe will drop and this country will erupt in absolute and total chaos.

But that’s just me…

“Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.” Joy Harjo

While we’re in the midst of preparations to enjoy a feast with friends and family tomorrow, I hope we don’t forget to honor, and with gratitude, recognize the Indigenous Peoples.

For many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning and protest because it commemorates the arrival of settlers and the oppression and genocide that followed.

“Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.” Chief Seattle

“When you know who you are when your mission is clear, and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will; no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive.” – Chief Seattle, Suquamish/Duwamish (1786-1866)

Chief Seattle (more correctly known as Seathl) was a Suquamish and Duwamish chief. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, but I bet he regretted it as soon as he realized what it really meant to his people.

Photo of people and tents and quote credit to Chief Seattle and Native Red Cloud Maȟpíya Lúta~Hińhan Wakangli. Photo credit of Chief Seattle from Wiki

All Alone

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…they opened their wings
softly and stepped
over every dark thing.
Mary Oliver

Sitting at the top of a tree near the lagoon, this lone egret seems deep in thought and as bewildered as I am about the time change; like why is it almost dark at 5pm?

Same, egret, same.

It’s Halloween Again…

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I’m not feeling too happy this Halloween, there’s not much joy in the air as this bizarre regime continues to decimate the programs that support the needy, kidnap people off the street with zero due process, and reveal an absolute lack of any humanity.

BUT I’ll be dressed as a Hello Kitty witch this year, so all is not entirely lost…

Happy Halloween!

Black-headed Grosbeak

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It’s a bird I’ve never before seen and I’m sooo happy he chose to visit the gardens at Casa de Enchanted Seashells!

The Black-headed Grosbeak is a migratory bird, with nesting grounds from southwestern British Columbia through the western half of the United States and into central Mexico.

I think this is a male; black head, black wings and tail with prominent white patches. Its breast is dark to tawny orange in color, more like the color of cinnamon.

Not a great zoom with my phone

The black-headed grosbeak eats pine and other seeds, berries, insects, spiders, and fruit. I didn’t hear him sing, however, his voice is a rich warble similar to that of an American robin, but more fluent, faster, softer, sweeter, and mellow with rising and falling passages that make the song much longer than the robin’s. The note is a sharp ik or eek. Both the male and female sing, but have different songs.

Its symbolism includes a message to live in harmony with yourself. to forgive yourself, trust your instincts, meditate more, and be kinder to yourself. When this bird flies into your life, it also prompts you to practice contentment. Alternatively, a Grosbeak meaning suggest being supportive of those around you who are struggling.

What an amazing garden visitor!