Wayward Scaup

#NatureTwinning Part 52

Lesser Scaup--Thursday, 4/12/18

It's nice to have some interesting blouses that can be worn with a pair of pants and some shoes--boom, work outfit done.  I decided to add a bit more to the outfit with a completely unnecessary multi-strand necklace.  I like that this necklace has (fake) pearls and a mix of metal colors, so it's very versatile (for those of us who have to take a deep breath when considering wearing a necklace with silver and shoes with gold, for example).

Outfit cost per wear (OCPW): $8.63

It's always a special pleasure to post a wild bird photograph.  Look at this jaunty lesser scaup in his breeding plumage.  The Cornell Lab identification states: "Head is purplish-iridescent, but is only visible with ideal lighting."  I guess I approximated the ideal here because I can definitely see that gleam in his feathers that always reminds me of the colorful sheen of a pool of gasoline.  He's also totally sporting a pompadour like a 50s Elvis.

Upper Newport Bay

Birds Fountain at Maritz Apple Allee Demonstration Garden--Friday, 4/13/18

This was a day I worked from home, in a supremely comfy oversized knit blazer, jeans, suede flats, and a t-shirt and flowy scarf.  I totally would have worn this to work, if it had been warm enough to go outside without socks.

OCPW: $10.18

I'm telling you, that outfit title was hard-won.  It took a bit of investigation to figure out where this dancing goose fountain was located...a lot more effort than identifying the lesser scaup (a well-known fellow, even though he moves around rather) and probably more effort than it was worth.  So I need to take a moment to savor the pleasure of having put the proper name on something.

Missouri Botanical Garden

In other news...A few months ago, I told you to read Every Heart a Doorway, the first novella in the Wayward Children series.  I have since read #2 Down Among the Sticks and Bones and #3 Beneath a Sugar Sky, so let me revise this instruction:  Go read these books right now.  So very, very good.  The second one, telling the backstory of Jack and Jill (not at all what you'd expect) was my favorite, but I have very high hopes indeed for upcoming #4 In an Absent Dream.  I mean, get a load of this brief but attention-piquing description:

This fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.