I dunno who taught me to spell "torkey", but he musta been Swedish or
something.
Just back from 3 days & 2 nights in Garrett. The rain chased me out today
earlier than I planned to come back. Spent the nights at Carey Run. And some
afternoons for much needed naps.

Birding was pretty bad but for the Henslow's at Pea Ridge that are still
there and "singing" if you can call it that. One was on a tall brown weed
out there and was being answered by 2 others to my right. Other than that I
had several Torkeys, 2 of them right along Savage River Road this AM. Also
must have seen at least a dozen fawns. They are up and about now.  Most of
the usual northern species that we go out there for are hibernating until
it's time to migrate. Breeding is over and if you stumble onto them, it's
purely by accident. I did drive thru Accident, but I didn't see much there.
(for the uninitiated, there is a little dot on the map out there named
Accident)

    For those of you who have any knowledge of bird art, you are keenly
aware that the best bird carver in the world happens to live right here in
MD and has a shop right next to Penn Alps in Grantsville. Gary Yoder is one
of the lucky few that has never had to figure out what he wanted to be when
he grew up. He went to a teacher when he was 11 and said he wanted to learn
to carve birds. 40 years later he is still carving them and has never had to
do anything else. While I was watching him work - a treat in itself - one
lady made a comment. "You must be very patient to do this." I loved Gary's
answer. "You only need patience for things you don't enjoy. I don't need
any. I love doing this."
    Gary does not see himself as a woodworker that happens to carve birds.
He sees himself as a bird artist that happens to use wood.
    Now for the kicker. For the benefit of the artists that have those
quaint shops there, they are raffling off a Chickadee that Gary will carve.
Nothing this guy does is cheap. The carving will be worth about $2500. It
will be raffled on 12-5-09. They go for $5/ticket or 3 for $10. I took the
$10 option. I urge anybody that happens to stumble into Garret between now
and then to grab some tickets. The winner gets one of those things that's
almost like hitting lotto. Gary usually has about a 3-year waiting list for
his work. Jump in now and win one for Christmas.

Jerry Tarbell
Back home and mostly dry now in Carroll County