The Aviary began as Francis Baumli’s yearly informal newsletter and formal epistle. Intended for friends, colleagues, and disciples it served its practical and hortatory purposes for twelve years until it came to a reluctant halt. Other work obligations, time with family, and relocating to Saint Louis made continuing with this missive—which had burgeoned to proportions that felt massive—just too overwhelming. It was time to give it up—at least temporarily, maybe permanently. But the issues that did get produced persist as a repository of Baumli’s autobiography, pompous pontifications, and humble musings. Here they are as first prepared, thence preserved, now proffered.