Most birds that belong to the same family prefer similar habitat. Oh, there are a few independent sorts (unlike other members of the Thrush family, the robin spends a lot of time on lawns), and plenty of room for variation, but in general, the same kinds of surroundings will satisfy nearly all members of a family.

The wild places and open spaces near you, such as parks, cemeteries, or golf courses, will determine which birds are apt to call your place home. To get a hint of the possibilities, start by taking a look at what’s around you.

• Live near a city park or greenspace? You can expect to attract birds that seek the gracious old trees, dense shrubbery, and green lawns that are usually part of a park. That may mean an influx of orioles, tanagers, vireos, titmice, woodpeckers, and other birds.

• If your house or neighborhood is near farm fields or grasslands, you can count on coaxing in some of those birds of the fields and hedgerows. Meadowlarks, quail, pheasants, red-headed or red-bellied woodpeckers, field sparrows, grasshopper sparrows, buntings, and a host of blackbirds may come calling.

• Is that a woods at the end of your block? Your chances of tempting thrushes, vireos, warblers, grosbeaks, towhees, chickadees, titmice, kinglets, and even wild turkeys just went up.

• If there’s a lake, large pond, river, or creek within walking distance, you may spot some surprising guests in your own backyard. Yellow warblers, cedar waxwings, swallows, purple martins, flycatchers, and red-winged or yellow-headed blackbirds may check out your appealing yard.

• Nothing much but roadways or parking lots in your part of town? Don’t despair. The shrubby landscaping put in along highways, in parking lots, and in commercial or industrial areas also attracts birds. Then it’s just a hop, skip, and flap of the wings for these native sparrows, common yellowthroats, mimic thrushes, and other birds of the bushes to find their way to your yard.

• Yards, yards, and more yards, on every side? Not a problem. Shade trees attract orioles, tanagers, vireos, and grosbeaks; lilacs (Syringu vulgaris) and other common shrubs are perfect homes for cardinals, mockingbirds, robins, and song sparrows, among others. Wrens also like the civilized life. And all that open space may make your place a good site for nest boxes for swallows or purple martins.

Who lives near you? What habitat do they like?

How intricately these wild animals are part of nature, I thought, and how vulnerable they are to the shifts and changes that will result because of global warming. I was reminded of the words of a wise and thoughtful Cherokee medicine priest, David Winston, who told me that the Cherokee believe that humans are here on Earth, in part, as caretakers of the Great Life. Creation gave us all gifts, he said, and the gifts are the basis for that specific species’ offering back to Creation. The bee makes honey, the maple tree runs sap and the silkworm spins silk.

Our gift as humans is our large cerebral cortex, he says, and our offering or role is to find our way back to the path of being truly human and to leave the Earth better than we found it by using our problem-solving abilities. He says this gift was too much for us and, traumatized, our spirit shattered into two, our hearts as one and the shadowy side of human nature as the other. The result of this shattered spirit is the “John Grabs All” mentality toward the Earth.

Weaving our heart and shadow back together is very hard work, what the Cherokee call remaking yourself. This is necessary to heal so that we may find our way back to fulfill our sacred spiritual contract and become caretakers of the Earth.

I have a deep sense of trust that humans’ problem-solving abilities will begin to get a handle on solving global warming. Next time around, instead of “John Grabs All” we will humbly acknowledge that we are all interconnected and we need to caretake the whole.

How are you being a caretaker of the planet, or the animals on our planet? Share your thoughts in the comment field below.

I have some “survival” supplies at home, but this is primarily because of my interest in camping. I have tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, flash lights, waterproof matches, propane and other camping gear I could use following an earthquake. I can filter and sterilize water if I need to, and I have enough canned food to last a few days. Most importantly I have a few bottles of Chardonnay and a deck of cards to pass the time.

A recent report sponsored by the US Geological Survey, the California Geological Survey and the Southern California Earthquake Center concludes that a 6.7 magnitude earthquake will occur along one of the many faults in California in the next 30 years (99.7 percent chance).
Like I said, I am not prepared for such a catastrophic earthquake, but we can all take some fairly simple steps to get prepared for such a disaster.

Educate yourself. Read information available from the U.S. Geological Survey or any other agency tasked with public safety in an emergency (such as the California Office of Emergency Services). Many cities also provide free community outreach training, such as the San Francisco Neighborhood Emergency Response Team training.

Prepare your family. When the next big one strikes, how will you communicate with your family? What about your pets? Where will you go if your home is destroyed? Make an emergency plan for your family. Many of the agencies mentioned above have information on emergency planning.

Prepare for “72 hours.” The conventional wisdom recommends stocking 72 hours worth of supplies including 1 gallon of water per day per person, extra medications and food for your family and pets. Lists of recommended supplies are available online.

Prepare your home. Take steps to protect your home, such as securing your water heater, cabinets and wall hangings to minimize the damage from an earthquake. You should also consider earthquake insurance (if the astronomical premiums don’t send you to the hospital).

Do you have an ‘earthquake preparedness’ kit at home, in your car, or office? What are you doing to get prepared? Add your comment below.

The cherry, apple and peach blossoms delight the eye on every turn in the road. The hummingbirds return from their astounding flight from South America to feast on the fresh pollen.

Flocks of red wing black birds and yellow finches dart through the air and an amazing turquoise goddess, the secretive indigo bunting, graces my feeder for a few hours before slipping away on her adventures north. Everywhere, the birds are seeking housing or building nests in the trees. At night, the owls hoot through the woods to establish their territory, and the black bears start raiding the feeders and garbage pails.

I want to be young, to play to frolic, to feel and be in all my senses. There are trails that want to be walked, vegetables and flowers to be planted and limbs to be trimmed, friends to see now that the snow has gone.

May also is the time of Mother’s Day. I give thanks to the Great Mother of us all. However badly we treat her, she still tries to feed us, shelter us and provide for our needs.

But her face is not all gentle. In all the old Feng Shui texts, we are taught the need to acknowledge and pacify demons. Old superstition?

Without warning, storms come, tornadoes and earthquakes ravage countries. In Burma, a cyclone ravages the lowlands and thousands of people are dead, bodies washing down the rivers. In China, an enormous quake collapses the work of new technology as factories, apartment buildings and schools are pulverized.

In the United States, tornadoes race across the heartland and southeast. In a matter of moments, homes and ecosystems are reduced to piles of debris.

Feng Shui is based in large measure on the ancient wisdom of the I Ching. In the I Ching, the hexagram Chên speaks of this (Wilhelm translation).

The Arousing (Shock, Thunder)
Shock brings success.
Shock comes-oh, oh!
Laughing words-ha, ha!
The shock terrifies for a hundred miles,
And he does not let fall the sacrificial spoon and chalice.

The Image
Thunder repeated: The image of Shock.
Thus in fear and trembling.
The superior man sets his life in order.
And examines himself.

Just like the beautiful blossoms of the spring trees that soon fall to the ground and are scattered by the wind, all is ephemeral. Youth is a wonderful stage that cannot be clung to. All we accumulate will one day be swept away. As the recent Hubble pictures of galaxies colliding show us, the universe is in flux, an evolving system of birth, death and new life.

We all will pass away. What is important in the miraculous now.

Feng Shui teaches us to clear the clutter, to focus on what is meaningful in the now, to stand in our center, whatever winds blow through our world. Our lives are short, yet we are part of a greater chain. Can we embrace that with beauty and compassion? Can we be like the flower petal that graces all who see her and fall as bountiful compost to feed future generations?

In the merry month of May we can learn to walk in grace, knowing all that is born will pass away. We may weep, but we can choose to join the dance in gratitude and joy, gaining our own mastery by embracing the whole of the Tao.

Remember, giving is the most important ingredient in abundance. Think how much more you have than those suffering from the effects of these devastating natural disasters and give of your abundance, for all our relations.

Readers: What are you grateful for? Let us know in the comment field below.

The “New Wave” style of planting, pioneered by Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf, draws its inspiration from the horizontal brushstrokes of a painting. Oudolf and his followers base their trademark style on vast and massive undulations, composed of large groups of flowering or colorful foliage plants. Wave plantings are essentially made up of perennials, annuals, and grasses; shrubs and roses are rarely used in this style.

Groupings of plants, whether in the form of islands, more or less regular rows, or large swaths, play against each other to produce a bold overall effect. Each section is composed of a single plant variety, selected for flower shape or color or the texture or hue of its foliage.

The wave garden’s undulating look is to a great extend due to the use of perennials whose supple leaves, whether broad or finely serrated, verdant or silvery, sway in the wind. This effect also be created by using ornamental grasses, whose stalks and seed heads not only take on a tousled and fluid appearance as they rustle in the breeze but also create a transparent scrim through which the forms of other plants are glimpsed intriguingly.

To create your own “New Wave” garden, group 15 to 20 plants of the same kind together in meandering bands and narrow swaths you have previously outlined on the earth of the border. Use species of different heights, but don’t attempt to arrange them according to their height; instead, set groups next to each other in a way that makes the most of the differing texture of their foliage, their habits, and the color of their flowers.

After a few years, the most invasive species will end to overwhelm their neighbors. It will be necessary to use a spade to cut back the conquering tides and regain the clean-edged design that is a hallmark of the style of planting in waves.

Dear Shamana,
Yes, children are taught about acids and bases using baking soda and vinegar because they are opposites. They make a fun “volcano” with a heap of baking soda (mountain) and vinegar, which is added in a drizzle down the top, resulting in “lava.” When combined, baking soda and vinegar neutralize each other in a safe bubbly, hissing kind of way.

Baking soda is alkaline, a base, with a pH of around 8.1. Vinegar is acidic, and most commercial distilled white vinegars contain 5 percent acetic acid and has a pH of about 2.4. Neutral is 7.0.

There is one instance when I recommend combining baking soda and vinegar, and that is in the drain. Sometimes the bubbling and hissing in the drain when you combine these two is enough to dislodge hair and gummy buildup. (I recommend a cup of baking soda down the drain, followed by a cup of vinegar.)

Otherwise, readers take note that when you combine baking soda with vinegar you end up with a neutral liquid that isn’t much use for cleaning.

The other half of my blog genesis is my career. I’ve seen firsthand how devastating injuries can be. Imagine not being able to use a computer because the pain in your wrists is so debilitating. What would you do for a career in this day and age of the computer? Professionally, I’ve dedicated my life to preventing injuries in the workplace.

My goal here is to use my expertise to educate individuals and families and help them to take small steps to make their homes safer, healthier and greener. Why do I believe this is valuable?

Injuries happen.
People die unnecessarily every year because simple safety precautions are unknown, overlooked or ignored. According to the Home Safety Council every year nearly 20,000 people are fatally injured and more than 20 million people require medical care for home injuries. Homes with infants, young children and elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable.

Hazards can be hard to identify.
I wouldn’t necessarily look at the window drapery or blind cords in a person’s house and think “danger,” but these items are listed as one of the Top Five Hidden Home Hazards by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Many common household items pose hidden hazards.

It can be hard to make the right choices.
We live in a fast paced world. Companies race to introduce new products that will make our lives “better,” sometimes with little regard for product safety. It’s not always easy to know what is safe, healthy or green, and many of the products that are supposed to make our lives better end up causing more harm than good.

Through my blog, I’ll teach you what to look out for and prevention methods to keep your family safe. I’ll help you sort through the confusion and pick the safest products to use in the home, and I’ll explore ideas that are good for your home as well as the planet.

So tip No. 1, keep reading this blog and create a Safe Sweet Home.

“Trash trees” are fast-growing, not classically beautiful like an oak, often short-lived, and have little or no dollar value for lumber. They’re the chokecherries, poplars, hackberries, box-elders, and other trees that spring up in unattended areas almost as soon as your back is turned.

When I first heard the term years ago, I thought they were in the league of weeds. I could see that the trees in those brushy hedgerows weren’t nearly as beautiful as the graceful dogwood that held a place of honor in my yard—and for which I’d paid a pretty penny. Sniff! Trash trees, who needs ’em?

Oh, how young and dumb I was.

Eventually it dawned on me that just about every bird that landed in my dogwood came from the trash trees. Maybe we can’t make boards out of them, and maybe they aren’t classic beauties, but “trash trees” are hugely valuable to birds. They offer ideal nesting sites, they’re great cover, and the mixed thickets create corridors for birds to safely move about. And that’s not even considering all the insect food and fruit they offer up, let alone their use as nesting material.

One of my most successful bird gardens ever was a 6-foot-wide strip that we simply stopped mowing, along one side of our country yard. Goldenrod and asters soon moved in, followed by blackberries, wild grapes, and saplings of all sorts. Sumacs, pincherries, chokecherries, wild plums, and lots of other fast-growing native trees sprang up.

In just a few years, I had a great natural hedgerow that was burgeoning with vireos, flycatchers, orioles, bluebirds, wrens, robins, flickers, native sparrows, even quail.

Trash trees? I don’t think such a thing exists. Trees that volunteer, grow 6 feet tall in a year or two, and provide super bird appeal are more like true treasure.

Step 1
Use a rectangular vase that is approximately 6 inches by 4 inches by 3 inches. You will need at least 40 tulips or four bunches in order to create this very sculptural design.

Step 2
First, cut one-half inch off the bottom of the stems, and place them in a bucket of cold water leaving the wrapping paper on. The flowers need to be hydrated immediately as they have often been without water for long periods of time. Keeping the wrapping paper on helps make the tulips stand upright.

Step 3
After the tulips have spent at least one hour in the water, take them out of the bucket, unwrap them, and lay them out on a clean worktable.

Step 4
Clean the tulips by carefully pulling off all the lower leaves and most of the leaves near the head, letting the small leaves just below the head stay attached. Tulips can often be quite dirty so you might want to dip them again in a bucket of clean cold water.

Step 5
After you have cleaned all the tulips, lay them flat on the worktable, and make a pile of tulips about eight tulips wide. When you place the tulips on the pile, put the stems that are leaning toward the right on the right side, and the straight stems in the middle.

Step 6
Make sure that all the tulips are the same length by measuring the tops with the palm of your hand.

Step 7
Hold onto the tulips with one hand and then slide a knife under them so that you care able to pick them up with both hands in a bunch.

Step 8
Gently place a see-through rubber band around the stems to hold them rightly. The rubber band should be about four to five inches below the heads. You may want to have someone else hold the tulips while you do this. Make sure that the rubber band is not twisted.

Step 9
Lay the tulips back on the table with the flowers hanging off the side of the table so they don’t crush. Then with the knife make a clean cut several inches up the stems.

Step 10
Then pick up the tulips and hold the stems in both hands. Twist the stems one way with your hands on the base and the other way with your hands near the flowers.

Step 11
Carefully check to see that the tulips are all the same height and symmetrical, with none of the flowers sticking their heads up above the others. If they are out of alignment, you can pull or push them gently up or down by the stems. The tulips should all be facing outwards.

Step 12
Test the length of the bouquet by putting it in the vase. You may need to clean the vase after this since tulips may still be quite sandy. The tulip stems should be at a maximum of 2 inches above the vase. Here, you will probably have to make two cuts. Make the first cut conservatively so you do not accidentally make the tulips too short. Make the second cut so that the tulips are the length that looks right. Then, when you are sure you have the correct length, make the final cut.