Sunday (Newspaper) Bird Blogging

I'm one of those fossils who still enjoys reading the newspaper in the morning, especially Sunday mornings, even if all I have to read is the Albuquerque Journal. It's an ingrained habit -- a compulsion really. I grew up in a family that read four Chicago newspapers a day: the Sun-Times, the Tribune, the (Herald) American and the Daily News. As you can see above, Bosco the peach-faced lovebird likes to join me in the dim light of early morning.

Bosco told me how much he enjoyed the Journal story on conservation pioneer, Stewart Udall, and the photo of Mr. Udall walking with poet Robert Frost back in the heady days of the Kennedy administration, when he was Interior Secretary. Can you imagine anyone in the Bush administration hanging out with a poet? For that matter, can you imagine anyone in the Bush administration being a courageous, even visionary, environmentalist? 

Because the news is often depressing these days, we like to bring out the big smile mask seen above and at least pretend to be in a cheerful, optimistic mood.

Above, Bosco is happy, even without the smile mask, while reading a report about more funding that'll be available at New Mexico's upcoming legislative session for important things like pre-kindergarten education, new schools, health care for more children and even $11 million for buying paper ballot voting machines all over the state. That was before we read the article about the likelihood of cold-blooded Samuel Alito becoming a Supreme Court Justice. Out came the smile mask, once again. (Click photos for larger versions.)

P.S. Bear Down Chicago Bears in today's NFL playoff game against the Carolina Panthers!