[TN-Bird] Re: Ol Coot
- From: "Ginger Goolsby" <vgoolsby@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <kings4birds@xxxxxxx>, <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:42:36 -0500
In the past, I was newsletter editor of the Knoxville TOS and often used
quotes in the newsletter. I e-mailed Jeff and asked if I might use the one
you have referred to that Jeff used in his e-mails. He graciously said "yes
and when I asked the name of the author.I should have known...the author was
Jeff Wilson!
Ginger Goolsby
Morristown, TN
From: tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tn-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of kings4birds@xxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 1:47 PM
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [TN-Bird] Ol Coot
I'm torn about clogging up the list, and others have and will be more
eloquent than I, but I'm going to be worthless until I express myself. Like
Mark, I'll ask forgiveness if this is long.
From the first day I met Jeff at the pits, August 17, 2003, I was captivated
by his enthusiasm, energy, and passion for birds. In the years since I
learned so much from him, "rules" I realize great birders follow as second
nature; but his delivery of them was unique, and blazed them on my brain.
Get out there. "You won't find anything sitting on the sofa." Be prepared.
Know what to expect, when and where, so you'll know what is unusual. Know
habitat...this grass, that seed... An encyclopedic source of knowledge I'll
miss terribly. Don't wear white. "Next time you show up in a white shirt I'm
going to knock you down and roll you in the dirt!" Bad weather=Good birds. I
know this isn't originally Jeff's rule, but didn't he perk up when
conditions were terrible? Look at the bird! Once when I reached for a field
guide he batted it away and said, "You can look at that when the bird is
gone!" Look at every bird. And he had the patience to do it. Don't forget
to look up, followed closely by Don't forget to look down. And, Sometimes,
just sit still. He delighted in close encounters, and had a lot of them!
And, Bird to the horizon. His words ring in my ears when I'm in the field,
and have helped me find and appreciate birds. And since birding in many ways
is a metaphor for life, I learned a lot about that from him, too. I never
heard him refer to himself as a teacher, but he was a grand one.
So I'll go out, and raise my glasses to Ol' Coot. Like he said,
Good Birding!
Gail King
5595 Ashley Sq. N.
Memphis, TN
and, to poach a tag line: "What is this feathered thing that lift my heart
to the heavens?"
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