So, a hundred years ago today,* on the morning of June 30th 1908 (June 17th in the Julian calendar, which was still in use in Russia at the time), something happened in the sky over Siberia, though exactly what is still a point of contention even now.
Since the area was so remote, twenty years passed before the first expedition arrived at the site to try to figure out just what had happened. Piecing together the physical evidence (trees knocked down in a thirty-mile diameter area but still standing in the epicenter), eyewitness accounts (from traders and herders close enough to see the fireball but far enough away to survive the blast), and indirect evidence reported hundreds and thousands of miles away (a train almost derailed by seismic waves, air pressure graphs, odd nighttime luminescence), led to the conclusion that something had exploded a few miles up in the air. The generally accepted theory was that it was a meteorite, but lack of a visible crater and some other anomalies have led some to speculate that it was a comet; more exotic theories ascribe the Event to a UFO, or the Earth's collision with a black hole, or a speck of antimatter. The theories are interesting in themselves for what they reveal about our evolving obsessions over the last century; here are a dozen of them listed in chronological order, taken from Surendra Verma's THE MYSTERY OF THE TUNGUSKA FIREBALL [2005]:
#1: a meteor [1908]
#2: a comet [1934]
#3: anti-matter [1941]
#4: a UFO [1945]
#5: a laser beam from space [1964]
#6: a mini black hole [1973]
#7: a massive lightning ball [1977]
#8: a plasmoid ejected by the sun [1984]
#9: a geometeor erupting from the earth itself [1991]
#10: a Mad Scientist [1994] (specifically, Nikola Tesla's death ray)
#11: a massive methane venting [2001] (the epicenter is a swamp/bog, after all)
#12: mirror matter [2003] (like antimatter, but different)
In retrospect, it's surprising that it took so long for the 'Mad Scientist' theory to be put forward, or that the UFO idea came so early (two years before the 'flying saucer' craze started). Despite so many theories, two definitely dominate the discussion: the meteor (based on eyewitness accounts and sheer probability) and the comet (to explain the lack of a crater or visible debris). And since the fuzzy edges of science are where the new mythologies flourish, we'll probably get more ingenious theories before the meteor/comet debate gets definitively settled.
In the meantime, time I think to dig out my favorite story based on the Tunguska Incident, Dunsany's "A Big Diamond", from THE TRAVEL TALES OF MR. JOSEPH JORKENS [1931] (far better than D. R. Bensen's AND HAVING WRIT [1978]) while listening to Alan Parsons (without The Project)'s 'Return to Tunguska' (from A VALID PATH [2004]).
--JDR
*Nt: drafted on Monday, June 30th, though not posted until Wend. July 2nd
Monday, June 30, 2008
Congratulations Are In Order
So, over the weekend GAMA (the 'Game Manufacturers' Association') handed out the Origins Awards (so called because they're presented at Origins, the yearly gaming convention overseen by GAMA). The awards tend to seesaw back and forth between popular games that define the genre (those most people play and that most of the industry talent works on) OR to small, quirky, innovative games (with minuscule audiences but cutting-edge potential), depending on who's writing the rules that particular year. But despite their contentious history, the awards actually reward outstanding achievement more often than we have any right to expect.
This weekend marked one of those times. For the first time ever, the same person won both the Non-Fiction and the Fiction awards in the best book category:
Non-Fiction Publication of the Year
Hobby Games: The 100 Best
Published by Green Ronin
Edited by James Lowder
Fiction Publication of the Year
Astounding Hero Tales
Published by Hero Games
Edited by James Lowder
Both are worthy winners, and both faced strong opposition (the Fiction title beat out a DragonLance novel by Hickman & Weis, as well as a Forgotten Realms/Drizzt novel by Bob Salvatore, among others). I'm particularly pleased to see the 100 BEST HOBBY GAMES book win, since I'm a contributor (one of one hundred). I would have been pleased to see it win in any case, since it's an imminently readable book, full of good things, where a hundred industry professionals tell you about a game they like and why.
So, congratulations to Jim on getting a pair of statuettes to reward his labors. Well done!
--John R.
current audiobook: JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL
This weekend marked one of those times. For the first time ever, the same person won both the Non-Fiction and the Fiction awards in the best book category:
Non-Fiction Publication of the Year
Hobby Games: The 100 Best
Published by Green Ronin
Edited by James Lowder
Fiction Publication of the Year
Astounding Hero Tales
Published by Hero Games
Edited by James Lowder
Both are worthy winners, and both faced strong opposition (the Fiction title beat out a DragonLance novel by Hickman & Weis, as well as a Forgotten Realms/Drizzt novel by Bob Salvatore, among others). I'm particularly pleased to see the 100 BEST HOBBY GAMES book win, since I'm a contributor (one of one hundred). I would have been pleased to see it win in any case, since it's an imminently readable book, full of good things, where a hundred industry professionals tell you about a game they like and why.
So, congratulations to Jim on getting a pair of statuettes to reward his labors. Well done!
--John R.
current audiobook: JONATHAN STRANGE & MR. NORRELL
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Worst President Ever?
So, President Bush sometimes rejects criticism by saying that he prefers to leave evaluation of his administration to the judgment of history.
Bad mistake, it turns out. If early results are any indication, history will judge Bush far more harshly than his contemporaries do.
Four years ago, near the end of his first term, a survey of historians had 81% judging his presidency a failure, 11.6% of whom ranked him as the worst president ever. Only about one in five (19%) judged him a success.
A few months back the same historian repeated the poll of his fellows, and discovered that now over 98% consider Bush a failure, and less than 2% rank him a success. Within those whose judgment was critical of the current administration's place in history, 61% ranked him the worst president ever, and the remaining 35% placed him in the bottom ten (several apparently put him in second-worst place, right next to James Buchanan).
So, in as short a space as four years, the number of professional historians who judge our current president as the worst to ever hold that office has more than tripled: from 19% to 61%. Granted, it's an unscientific poll. And it's true that instant history can go badly off the rails. But it can also lay down judgments that stand the test of time: the portrayal of Hoover in Frederick Lewis Allen's excellent ONLY YESTERDAY [1931] as a well-meaning, energetic executive utterly incapable of handling the crisis history dealt him accords well with the consensus opinion ever since*, while Haynes Johnson's SLEEPWALKING THROUGH HISTORY [1991] remains a superb account of how Reagan pursued his agenda during his years in office (and the damage he inflicted on our country in the process).
However, in the end I am doubtful. It seems overwhelmingly likely that history will judge George W. Bush very harshly indeed. But the Worst Ever? I'm not even sure he's the worst in my lifetime. But then that's a subject for another post.
--John R.
* even sharper in its criticism, and even more strongly in line with subsequent judgements, is Allen's SINCE YESTERDAY [1939], since it covers the disastrous final year and a half of Hoover's term.
Bad mistake, it turns out. If early results are any indication, history will judge Bush far more harshly than his contemporaries do.
Four years ago, near the end of his first term, a survey of historians had 81% judging his presidency a failure, 11.6% of whom ranked him as the worst president ever. Only about one in five (19%) judged him a success.
A few months back the same historian repeated the poll of his fellows, and discovered that now over 98% consider Bush a failure, and less than 2% rank him a success. Within those whose judgment was critical of the current administration's place in history, 61% ranked him the worst president ever, and the remaining 35% placed him in the bottom ten (several apparently put him in second-worst place, right next to James Buchanan).
So, in as short a space as four years, the number of professional historians who judge our current president as the worst to ever hold that office has more than tripled: from 19% to 61%. Granted, it's an unscientific poll. And it's true that instant history can go badly off the rails. But it can also lay down judgments that stand the test of time: the portrayal of Hoover in Frederick Lewis Allen's excellent ONLY YESTERDAY [1931] as a well-meaning, energetic executive utterly incapable of handling the crisis history dealt him accords well with the consensus opinion ever since*, while Haynes Johnson's SLEEPWALKING THROUGH HISTORY [1991] remains a superb account of how Reagan pursued his agenda during his years in office (and the damage he inflicted on our country in the process).
However, in the end I am doubtful. It seems overwhelmingly likely that history will judge George W. Bush very harshly indeed. But the Worst Ever? I'm not even sure he's the worst in my lifetime. But then that's a subject for another post.
--John R.
* even sharper in its criticism, and even more strongly in line with subsequent judgements, is Allen's SINCE YESTERDAY [1939], since it covers the disastrous final year and a half of Hoover's term.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
How Bad Is It?
So, last night my father-in-law called from Yellowstone, where he's working for the summer, and happened to mention that from the ridge where he was calling he could see smoke from the fires in California.
From Yellowstone. Which is in Wyoming. A state that does not even border upon California.
Granted, you can get a great view from up there, just a few miles from the continental divide. But still.
A bad time to be a wild tree in California.
--JDR
From Yellowstone. Which is in Wyoming. A state that does not even border upon California.
Granted, you can get a great view from up there, just a few miles from the continental divide. But still.
A bad time to be a wild tree in California.
--JDR
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
1983 Marquette Tolkien Conference (schedule)
And, as promised, here's the sequence of papers and presentations from the 1983 Marquette Tolkien Conference, as re-constructed from my notes. I've sometimes used descriptive titles rather than the formal titles given by the authors to the final papers in order to better convey the contents of each piece. When I eventually turn up my copy of the program book I'll post a more authoritative version, but for now this shd give a pretty good idea of how rich with good things that conference was.
FIRST DAY: THURSDAY
I. Opening Remarks: Chuck Elston, Marquette Archivist.
II. Christopher Tolkien's Statement, read by Taum Santoski (outlining the first four volumes of the HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH SERIES).
III. Jared Lobdell: Tolkien as the Last Edwardian [this piece was given pride of place as the first full presentation]
LUNCH
IV. Jim Allan: Invented Languages [On Writers who used Invented Languages before Tolkien]
--Taum's remark after this session ended: "this is going to be an interesting 3 days"
THE RECEPTION
THE SUPPER
V. KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Dr. Joseph McClatchey: "I Wonder What Kind of Tale We've Fallen Into?"
THE SECOND DAY: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16th
VI. Lyle Dorsett: Detailed description of The Wade Center's Inklings collections at Wheaton.
VII. Taum's Santoski: Detailed account of Marquette's negotiations (through Rota) to purchase Tolkien's Manuscripts in the 1950s. [draws heavily on unpublished contemporary documentation]
VIII. Dr. Blackwelder reads Paul Kocher's piece on demonstrations of Illuvatar's love and mercy towards his creations. [Prof. Kocher being too old and frail to make the trip himself]
IX.Darrell Martin's presentation of THE SILMARILLION as it stood in 1966 when Kilby saw it, with a detailed comparison between Kilby's notes and the published book.
--Darrell either included in this or followed it with either readings or discussions of "The Second Prophecy of Mandos" and "The Awakening of the Elves" (the elvish fairy tale/counting tale).
X. ROUNDTABLE discussion: Deborah Rogers, Jared Lobdell, Darrell Martin, Verlyn Flieger, Dr. McClatchey, myself, Mike Foster, & Richard West.
--the first topic: Religious Aspects of Tolkien's Writing (Verlyn, Mike, Jared, Darrell, McClatchey, Deborah), followed by discussion.
--the second topic: Tolkien Among His Contemporaries (Deborah, JDR, Mike, Verlyn, Richard, Jared), followed by discussion that threatened to get off track re. whether or not Tolkien was a 'dirty pro'.
--the third topic: Tolkien and Fantasy" (Jared, McClatchey, Darrell, JDR, Verlyn), followed by yet more discussion.
XI. Clyde Kilby (Guest of Honor speech). [Unfortunately, no copy of this survives among the papers in Taum's box, and the totality of my notes regarding it in my 1983 notebook read "Kilby (see pocket ntbk)" --i.e., I took notes from his talk in a separate mini-notebook that has yet to resurface.]
THE THIRD DAY: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17th
XII. Dr. Blackwelder: ruminations on unconsidered details of LotR [includes interesting statistics re. Tolkien's works, like their being 50 named characters in THE HOBBIT and 318 in THE LORD OF THE RINGS, with another 314 in the Appendices; adding in THE SILMARILLION, UNFINISHED TALES, and ATB brings the total to 907]
XIII. Verlyn Flieger: "Perception is Creation" [applied the Indeterminancy Principle to the effect of Tolkien's invented languages within his tales].
XIV. Anders Stenstrom: "Exopoemic, Epipoemic, & Empoemic" [proposed a new three-part classification for all Tolkien criticism; probably generated the most discussion of any presentation at the conference].
XV. Lester Simons. "Tolkien's World: Compelling and Appealing, But Why?" [The longtime Tolkien Society membership secretary posed an intriguing question, then spent the hour moderating the ensuing discussion, ending the conf. on a high note.]
Note: Fr. Campbell sent in a piece that was to be read in his absence by Taum Santoski, but in the event it was not actually presented because we were running out of time at the end of the conference.
--Of course, the conference was more than the sum of its papers. For example, while getting myself a cup of tea, either just before the first session or in the mid-morning break that first day, I met Wayne Hammond for the first time. I recognized his name at once from the addendum to Richard West's bibliography he'd published a few years before, introduced him to the person I was with (who may have been Richard himself; I'm a little vague on that point), and suggested he sit with us for the next session -- thus beginning a friendship that's lasted twenty-five years.
--JDR
ADDENDUM:
I should explained the absence here of some presentations listed in my previous post. The above are the presentations I actually attended; in some places, the papers were double tracked, so that attending one session meant missing another that was opposite it. In many cases, the choice was, as Chrysophylax says, cruel hard. Another reason why getting to read the submitted papers afterwards when I was helping the editors get the project into shape was so satisfying -- esp when a submitted paper differed greatly from its analogous presentation, as in the case of Darrell Martin's piece.
--JDR
FIRST DAY: THURSDAY
I. Opening Remarks: Chuck Elston, Marquette Archivist.
II. Christopher Tolkien's Statement, read by Taum Santoski (outlining the first four volumes of the HISTORY OF MIDDLE-EARTH SERIES).
III. Jared Lobdell: Tolkien as the Last Edwardian [this piece was given pride of place as the first full presentation]
LUNCH
IV. Jim Allan: Invented Languages [On Writers who used Invented Languages before Tolkien]
--Taum's remark after this session ended: "this is going to be an interesting 3 days"
THE RECEPTION
THE SUPPER
V. KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Dr. Joseph McClatchey: "I Wonder What Kind of Tale We've Fallen Into?"
THE SECOND DAY: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16th
VI. Lyle Dorsett: Detailed description of The Wade Center's Inklings collections at Wheaton.
VII. Taum's Santoski: Detailed account of Marquette's negotiations (through Rota) to purchase Tolkien's Manuscripts in the 1950s. [draws heavily on unpublished contemporary documentation]
VIII. Dr. Blackwelder reads Paul Kocher's piece on demonstrations of Illuvatar's love and mercy towards his creations. [Prof. Kocher being too old and frail to make the trip himself]
IX.Darrell Martin's presentation of THE SILMARILLION as it stood in 1966 when Kilby saw it, with a detailed comparison between Kilby's notes and the published book.
--Darrell either included in this or followed it with either readings or discussions of "The Second Prophecy of Mandos" and "The Awakening of the Elves" (the elvish fairy tale/counting tale).
X. ROUNDTABLE discussion: Deborah Rogers, Jared Lobdell, Darrell Martin, Verlyn Flieger, Dr. McClatchey, myself, Mike Foster, & Richard West.
--the first topic: Religious Aspects of Tolkien's Writing (Verlyn, Mike, Jared, Darrell, McClatchey, Deborah), followed by discussion.
--the second topic: Tolkien Among His Contemporaries (Deborah, JDR, Mike, Verlyn, Richard, Jared), followed by discussion that threatened to get off track re. whether or not Tolkien was a 'dirty pro'.
--the third topic: Tolkien and Fantasy" (Jared, McClatchey, Darrell, JDR, Verlyn), followed by yet more discussion.
XI. Clyde Kilby (Guest of Honor speech). [Unfortunately, no copy of this survives among the papers in Taum's box, and the totality of my notes regarding it in my 1983 notebook read "Kilby (see pocket ntbk)" --i.e., I took notes from his talk in a separate mini-notebook that has yet to resurface.]
THE THIRD DAY: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17th
XII. Dr. Blackwelder: ruminations on unconsidered details of LotR [includes interesting statistics re. Tolkien's works, like their being 50 named characters in THE HOBBIT and 318 in THE LORD OF THE RINGS, with another 314 in the Appendices; adding in THE SILMARILLION, UNFINISHED TALES, and ATB brings the total to 907]
XIII. Verlyn Flieger: "Perception is Creation" [applied the Indeterminancy Principle to the effect of Tolkien's invented languages within his tales].
XIV. Anders Stenstrom: "Exopoemic, Epipoemic, & Empoemic" [proposed a new three-part classification for all Tolkien criticism; probably generated the most discussion of any presentation at the conference].
XV. Lester Simons. "Tolkien's World: Compelling and Appealing, But Why?" [The longtime Tolkien Society membership secretary posed an intriguing question, then spent the hour moderating the ensuing discussion, ending the conf. on a high note.]
Note: Fr. Campbell sent in a piece that was to be read in his absence by Taum Santoski, but in the event it was not actually presented because we were running out of time at the end of the conference.
--Of course, the conference was more than the sum of its papers. For example, while getting myself a cup of tea, either just before the first session or in the mid-morning break that first day, I met Wayne Hammond for the first time. I recognized his name at once from the addendum to Richard West's bibliography he'd published a few years before, introduced him to the person I was with (who may have been Richard himself; I'm a little vague on that point), and suggested he sit with us for the next session -- thus beginning a friendship that's lasted twenty-five years.
--JDR
ADDENDUM:
I should explained the absence here of some presentations listed in my previous post. The above are the presentations I actually attended; in some places, the papers were double tracked, so that attending one session meant missing another that was opposite it. In many cases, the choice was, as Chrysophylax says, cruel hard. Another reason why getting to read the submitted papers afterwards when I was helping the editors get the project into shape was so satisfying -- esp when a submitted paper differed greatly from its analogous presentation, as in the case of Darrell Martin's piece.
--JDR
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The 1983 Marquette Tolkien Conference
So, as I mentioned in a post from a few days ago, recently I've been digging through boxes in the storage room, and among the things I've unearthed in my sorting is a box containing almost all the papers from the 1983 Marquette Tolkien Conference -- the first Tolkien conference I ever attended and still one of the very best. As promised, here's a list of the papers and presentations, in alphabetical order:
R. E. Blackwelder: "Reflections on Literary Criticism and Middle-earth"
Fr. Robert B. Campbell: "The Theme of Joy in The Lord of the Rings and its Importance in the Plot Development" (in absentia)
Lyle Dorsett: "Tolkien and the Inklings: Archival Resources at the Marion E. Wade Collection"
Verlyn Flieger: "Words and World-Making: The Particle Physics of Middle-earth"
Karen Wynn Fonstad: "Mapping Middle-earth"
Mike Foster: "In the Hands of the Ring-Maker: J. R. R. Tolkien's Revisions of Manuscripts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings"
Gary Hunnewell: "Sauron is Alive and Well in Argentina: The Evolution of Tolkien's Audience in America"
Paul Kocher: "The Many Guises of Love" (read in absentia by Dr. Blackwelder)
Jared Lobdell: "Sequels in the Edwardian Mode: A Problem in Calquing"
Darrel Martin: "The Silmarillion from Manuscript to Publication"
Joseph McClatchey: "I Wonder What Sort Of A Tale We've Fallen Into?: Myth, Monomyth, and Mythopoeia in the Literature of Middle-Earth"
Taum Santoski: "A History of the Acquisition" [a history of Marquette's acquisition of the Tolkien manuscripts]
Anders Stenstrom: "The Aspects of Research Towards Tolkien's Secondary World: A Set of Concepts"
Roundtable Discussion of Tolkien Criticism: (i) Religious Aspects of Tolkien's Writings, (ii) Tolkien and His Contemporaries, (iii) Tolkien and Fantasy
Panelists: Mike Foster, Verlyn Flieger, Jared Lobdell, Darrell Martin, Joseph McClatchey, John Rateliff, Deborah Rogers, & Richard West (moderator).
--I've not yet found my copy of the program with the schedule, but I did find the notebook in which I took notes on the talks. Looking through them, I was reminded that not only is the Guest of Honor speech, by Clyde Kilby, missing from Taum's box, but there were a number of informal presentations that did not get written up and submitted for the proceedings, such as Jim Allan's or Lester Smith's. Accordingly, and since the sequence was as important part of the conference, I'll be re-construction a schedule and posting it as well as a complement to the preceding list of papers.
--John R.
R. E. Blackwelder: "Reflections on Literary Criticism and Middle-earth"
Fr. Robert B. Campbell: "The Theme of Joy in The Lord of the Rings and its Importance in the Plot Development" (in absentia)
Lyle Dorsett: "Tolkien and the Inklings: Archival Resources at the Marion E. Wade Collection"
Verlyn Flieger: "Words and World-Making: The Particle Physics of Middle-earth"
Karen Wynn Fonstad: "Mapping Middle-earth"
Mike Foster: "In the Hands of the Ring-Maker: J. R. R. Tolkien's Revisions of Manuscripts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings"
Gary Hunnewell: "Sauron is Alive and Well in Argentina: The Evolution of Tolkien's Audience in America"
Paul Kocher: "The Many Guises of Love" (read in absentia by Dr. Blackwelder)
Jared Lobdell: "Sequels in the Edwardian Mode: A Problem in Calquing"
Darrel Martin: "The Silmarillion from Manuscript to Publication"
Joseph McClatchey: "I Wonder What Sort Of A Tale We've Fallen Into?: Myth, Monomyth, and Mythopoeia in the Literature of Middle-Earth"
Taum Santoski: "A History of the Acquisition" [a history of Marquette's acquisition of the Tolkien manuscripts]
Anders Stenstrom: "The Aspects of Research Towards Tolkien's Secondary World: A Set of Concepts"
Roundtable Discussion of Tolkien Criticism: (i) Religious Aspects of Tolkien's Writings, (ii) Tolkien and His Contemporaries, (iii) Tolkien and Fantasy
Panelists: Mike Foster, Verlyn Flieger, Jared Lobdell, Darrell Martin, Joseph McClatchey, John Rateliff, Deborah Rogers, & Richard West (moderator).
--I've not yet found my copy of the program with the schedule, but I did find the notebook in which I took notes on the talks. Looking through them, I was reminded that not only is the Guest of Honor speech, by Clyde Kilby, missing from Taum's box, but there were a number of informal presentations that did not get written up and submitted for the proceedings, such as Jim Allan's or Lester Smith's. Accordingly, and since the sequence was as important part of the conference, I'll be re-construction a schedule and posting it as well as a complement to the preceding list of papers.
--John R.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Suet
So, so long as I've been talking about the hummingbirds, I might as well mention the other birds we've been feeding. The goldfinches continue to be the birds we see the most of, since we have a finch feeder full of finch mix, though some house sparrows also join them. Most of the juncos (snowbirds) are now gone, which makes the behavior of the pair who've stayed behind all the more striking. The chickadees haven't been coming around lately (since I had to give up leaving nuts for them on the balcony when the squirrel started coming around), nor have the red-winged blackbirds (the best singers of them all) -- but then the blackbirds come around more in the spring and winter, so that's not surprising. Recently the starlings returned, and the elegant grey-feathered grey-beaked birds that I think are young startlings have been around a lot down in the yard and in the maple. The crows are, as ever, in constant attendance, and follow me whenever I go on walks, in case I leak peanuts. I haven't seen the flicker (woodpecker), whom I once rescued from inside the townhouse (when we dropped by to visit it while it was still under construction, before we moved in), in a while, but she's a shy one and I might just have missed spotting her (and her visits also seem to be seasonable as well, with this being the off-season). There are also the ground-birds (sparrows, the occasional robin, and sometimes passing pigeons) who like to check out the area below the feeder for whatever falls below; these birds are of particular interest to our cats whenever they're outside.
In addition to the hummingbird feeders (two at present) and the finch feeder, I have a suet feeder hanging from a tree out back. This used to be a favorite of the chickadees
and the flicker; the crows are fascinated by it but don't have the right kind of feet to hold on to it. Sometimes one will land on it and hang upside down for a few seconds, pecking vigorously to get some suet to take with it when its hold slips, while one or two others will wait below for any loose bits that might fall.
The day before yesterday I made my own suet for the first time, from a recipe Janice found online for me. The birds seem to love it -- they went through three days' worth in the first day, so I had to make more tonight -- but this may just be because it's softer than the commercial blocks of suet I had been buying and it's easier for them to take off a chunk and fly away with it. Certainly the crows seem to like it. So here's the recipe I've been using: if anyone has one that produces a somewhat harder cake of suet I'd be glad to hear it.
Melt 1 cup of crunchy peanut butter and 1 cup of lard. Add 2 cups of oats, 2 cups of cornmeal, 1 cup of flour, a third of a cup of sugar, a half-cup of raisins, and a half-cup of sunflower seeds. Mix and spoon into empty suet containers. The recipe also called for a half-cup of safflower seeds, but I cdn't find any and it seems to work just fine without them.
--John R.
In addition to the hummingbird feeders (two at present) and the finch feeder, I have a suet feeder hanging from a tree out back. This used to be a favorite of the chickadees
and the flicker; the crows are fascinated by it but don't have the right kind of feet to hold on to it. Sometimes one will land on it and hang upside down for a few seconds, pecking vigorously to get some suet to take with it when its hold slips, while one or two others will wait below for any loose bits that might fall.
The day before yesterday I made my own suet for the first time, from a recipe Janice found online for me. The birds seem to love it -- they went through three days' worth in the first day, so I had to make more tonight -- but this may just be because it's softer than the commercial blocks of suet I had been buying and it's easier for them to take off a chunk and fly away with it. Certainly the crows seem to like it. So here's the recipe I've been using: if anyone has one that produces a somewhat harder cake of suet I'd be glad to hear it.
Melt 1 cup of crunchy peanut butter and 1 cup of lard. Add 2 cups of oats, 2 cups of cornmeal, 1 cup of flour, a third of a cup of sugar, a half-cup of raisins, and a half-cup of sunflower seeds. Mix and spoon into empty suet containers. The recipe also called for a half-cup of safflower seeds, but I cdn't find any and it seems to work just fine without them.
--John R.
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