9/14-First overnight this season to dip into the 40's-46° here.
9/16-Saw a black squirrel over at Johnny's, the first in several years. We have seen them occasionally but they haven't established a foothold in this part of Lansing unlike MSU and Downtown.
I finally got the lawn mowed today being the dry day bracked by rain. I hunkered down and got 'er done in one go, when I usually take 2-3 days. It was a beautiful day, with temps only reaching 69° with rain promised in the evening. After we got back from our celebration late lunch while C had her soak, Buddy chilled with me on the couch:
The big scamp, who likes to go roll around in the drive and hang out, has expanded his presence: in the middle of the street🙀Dude!
At the Diner, the bath has been popular:
Harry
Nutkin
Mr. Redbird-wasssuppp??
Inter-species relations
It's a curious thing, the relationship between MamaC and Buddy. We've seen times where she will come very close, usually when he's on the deck or in this case, in one of his castle keeps:
Now, Mama is a veteran, having survived for several years bringing her kids over to raise under our shed. The latest occurance was this past week-Bud was in the North Keep, surveilling the Diner and Back 40. C saw her come up to the North end of the deck, next to the lavender planter. They looked at each other for a bit. In all instances, his Lordship has conducted his duties with professional, calm confidence. She always wanders off to graze. My theory is that this is part of her own security strategy: by approaching Bud, she is testing him to see how he reacts to her. Is he going to be a threat while she is eating? Or is he just a tiger who lives with the apes who will not hassle her? Unlike the squirrelies, who can be quite combative amongst themselves and others-it's just how they roll. No, the tiger is cool at the moment.
9/19-Rain day. During a lull, Bud went out for a quick patrol. Unusually, he rested on the garage-side step.
I let him in, gave him a towel job, a snack and he joined me on the couch to groom. Outside, the avians flocked to the Diner-many of the Raucous Caucus were there:
Folks had to wait in line for a booth to open. I spotted up on the Eastern branches of GF Birch, Mr. Redbird and Mr. Purple Finch having a chat. Mr. Redbird appears to still be recovering from his recent molt:
RB: Man! I hate rainy days. Always brings a crowd and it's usually the RC's (sparrows, not Roman Catholics).
PF: Right?! Well, at least there's plenty to drink and eat in the 'hood. Damn those apes for messing up the climate. Never used to be all these extended extremes of heat/cold, wet/drought. Sure, we'd have a spike now and then but the weather was fairly consistent. Now...
RB: OUUUFFFFF!!! (a sudden burst of rain and wind caused both to briefly flutter then settle back to their perches) Oh, I'll be glad to have my feathers back. I look like shit. You look like you are just about done.
PF: I'm getting there, mate, thanks for asking.
RB: Back to your comment-yeah, man-I know. It's such a mixed bag with the apes. Here in our 'hood, the apes are cool. Many have Diners that are consistently open every day which is really nice during the snow times. Some have additional offerings like these folks who live here. It's a nice spot-good place to bring up the kids, few hawks. Gotta keep an eye out for that tiger especially if you are a ground-feeder. He's done some birth control on those RC's. But to pull back out of this Eden, you discover that it's the apes as a whole that is the problem.
PF: Oh yes (excitedly) in inter-species chat groups-the stories they tell! Selfish and greedy bad apes!
RB: Have you ever watched them have sex?
PF: (laughs, blushing as he is prone to do so) Of course! It's so damn funny!
RB: And the noises they make O-M-G!
PF: You've heard that the ape disease of gambling had taken hold with some in the avian community?
RB: NO!
PF: So I have heard and it began with our witnessing their "private interludes".
RB: What do they bet on and what do they bet with?
PF: Usually seeds of some kind. The rarer forms have more value.
Now, the bets center on a choice of several popular activities as well as when (day, night, nooner) and how often:
-from behind (our way)
-from in front (uhhh hard to do while balancing on a branch)
-mutual genital (NO WEIRD-we don't do that!)
-poophole (gross!)
RB: (nearly falling off the branch, fanning himself. His feathers have taken on a brighter glow, even in the mist) Hokey smoke! So, this is done in avian betting clubs? Do other species join in? Gender based?
PF: All of the above
RB: Wow, just wow. Learn something new everyday.
PF: I know! Hey, booths have opened up! He takes off and hollers over his shoulder-how's the wife?
RB takes off as well. Fine, he answers. Yours?
PF: Good!
They settle into their booths. The food is ready and they begin to dig in. Another shower begins but they don't mind-the food is good and filling on a chilly, wet early Fall afternoon.
~
In Memoriam: Peter Max October 19, 1937 – September 14, 2026 noted artist of the 1960's with his pop and psychedelic artwork that "expressed the blissed-out exuberance of the countercultural 1960s" (NYT). Certainly, The Beatles' animated short Yellow Submarine points to his influence and style. His work (and Warhol's) certainly led me to my interest in silk screen printmaking.
~
New wild cat species discovered in Bolivia: Meet Mr. Tilcayo:
This new species Leopardus tilcayo is the first new living cat species named in over 100 years. I weighs only about 3 pounds and measure 18" long-smaller than an average house cat. Unlike someone we know, lol.
~
MADads: Big Canvas Art Prints is hawking their newest line: you can have an image of your favorite dog, sitting on the can taking a dump while on its Iphone. Oy.
~
Really bad AI imagery: In a AI generated vid concerning archaeology, the camera pans across a desk with college textbooks. One read "Archaeology: Theery and Practice". Gawd-they didn't program the vocab intensively enough nor did they proof.
~
FUBARland:
From The Canadian Resistance Army:
Nothing like the pipes and drums to get the Celtic blood up. Bastards!
Had a pleasant celebration yesterday of my 72 orbits around the sun. C only had office hours at the U so I picked her up and we had a late lunch at Soup Spoon Cafe. Tasty meal! We came home, C went to have her end of the day soak in the tub while Bud and I hung out on the couch surfing YT.
The bouquet was from Trader Joe's-I had bought some wine and the clerk, seeing my birth date on the license, rang a bell and another clerk swung by and returned with the small bouquet. A very good example of establishing a loyal client base by a retailer. Probably cost them a few bucks but I certainly will remember the gesture.
We watched Edward Scissorhands-a bit of a companion piece with Lars and the Real Girl. Both feature a person who is outside the norm and it becomes a tale of how the community deals with him.
9/7-Waning Crescent Moon and Jupiter just before dawn:
9/8-East Garden:
9/11-deck garden:
Buddy is a longfellow and a funny boy: legs and tail hanging over the end of the chair cushion:
Seasonal rosy pink colors in the hydrangeas and sedum:
The new squirrel, who I think was here in March, is certainly making himself known-took on MamaC and LG squirrel-then I saw him introduce himself to Bud:
Fortunately, Bud is pretty chill around the squirrelies-too big to eat unlike their unfortunate cousins the Chippers. He just keeps a patient eye on them. This one hung around for a couple of minutes before retreating. I've named him Harry, pointing to the Michael Caine character Harry Palmer from his mid-60's roles-a cool, tough crook turned spy. This guy has moxie, for sure.
We've been noticing Bud likes to lounge in the driveway. Certainly, a clear and visible signal to all-this is my realm. Our neighbors across the street have commented several times mentioning this trait of his.
I planted 4 russian sages around the ground down stump of our oak that perished in the past couple of years. I tried growing grass but it failed. Then I realized when I was mowing that I would be scalping any grass because of the slope. I put in the sages so as they mature, their spread will cover this bare spot.
9/12-took down the tomato bushes. Production had ended and what fruit remained wasn't turning. Better luck next year!
On a comfy early Fall afternoon after eating, folks were taking a siesta:
After a while, MamaC was feeling peckish and thought she'd check out the Buffet. Well, something new! Some elderly romaine lettuce C put out and I added some toms that were in various stages of ripeness. One of our family jokes is that few of our wild friends will try lettuce. None of the Buns-hell, they turn up their nose at carrots!
Mama evidently enjoyed a different kind of green as she snarfled it all up. Not so much with the toms. Someone will eat them.
9/13-after living in Tucson, AZ since 1980-81, my brother Mike and his wife are being moved to an assisted care facility in The Villages, FL located NW of Orlando. Martha's sister lives nearby. I wonder how Mike will react to living in a tropical climate for the first time since he was in 'Nam.
~
This Summer was the hottest on record for the contiguous 48 U.S. states in NOAA's 132-year history dating back to 1895.
~
I had never heard of this: The Northern Crusades (also known as the Baltic Crusades) were military campaigns from the 12-15th century aimed at converting pagan tribes and Slavic populations around the Baltic Sea to Latin Christianity.
~
Callanish Stones: a prehistoric stone circle and stone alignment on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The monument was built during the Neolithic period, around c.2750 BC.
Tom Richardson
Gail Higginbottom & Roger Clay / RCAHMS.
A lunar and celestial observatory most likely tied to ceremonial rites.
Lunar Standstill: Research shows the stones are precisely positioned to track the Major Lunar Standstill, a rare event occurring every 18.6 years when the moon skims unusually low across the southern horizon.
Solar and Stellar Alignments: Specific stone rows align with equinox sunsets, the midwinter setting sun, and stellar risings like Capella or the Pleiades.
~
Hypnokitty!
OBEY ME! FEED ME!
~
FUBARland: it was good to see some good old-fashioned, boots on the ground canvassing from both the El Sayed and Lawrence campaigns in our neighborhood!
To which I commented: "Sieg Heil". Within minutes, I was informed by the META fascists the post was removed as I had:
The comment may contain symbols, glorification or support of people and organizations we define as dangerous.
Jeffrey Kristin
Sep 13, 2026
Sieg Heil!
You shared this on someone's profile
This goes against our Community Standards on dangerous organizations and individuals.
Be advised folks-we know YuckyZucky is deeply smooching some Orange Roach ass. Quite Orwellian to define my analogy as dangerous when the point I am making is that this man is just as dangerous as Adolf. The term dangerous is quite popular this election cycle I have noticed, especially featuring in the attack ads against El Sayed and Lawrence.
THEY'RE DANGEROUS!!
This is why we fight.
Update: so, I am on probation until 10/26. My first time-hitting the algorithm's trip wire-what is funny is that no consideration for context: I wrote words that exist on a no-no list and when they were discovered, the system kicked in.
The time had come when she had to report back to her unit. He was staying behind, holding down the fort at home, his right leg still recovering after being shattered in March. He was pretty proud of his hobbling abilities with a cane. They embraced hard at the end of the drive. Mila had run off in tears to the back fields when her mother broke the news.
Finally, she gently pushed away, head down, and began walking the half mile to the pick-up point near town. He just stood there, watching the back of her head, hair in a bun topped with an olive green beret, rising above the straps of her weapon. He was close to tears when she quickly whirled around, still walking backward, and placed her hand on her heart, looking at him intently, eyes welling up, before turning back. He smiled and waved.
This was all seen by Mila, who had returned from the fields and come around the side of the house. "For now at least," she thought, "I still have two parents and this is all that matters." Her father's smile broadened as she walked up and gave him a hug. Together, arm in arm, they watched their mother/wife disappearing around the bend by the field of sunflowers.
Day 1658 (August 2026)
Mila hadn't returned to her childhood home in a couple of years. She had joined a local drone battalion when she was 18 after both of her parents were killed in action. She had been wounded and chose to do her final convalescence there. Little had changed with the house as Mila had boarded it up when she was first deployed. Their fields were all overgrown now although when she reached the familiar bend in the road near the house, she saw that sunflowers were still being cultivated. She stopped the car as she was filled with memories. It was a quiet day, a lull in the recent relentless drone attacks by the Russians. She reflected on the cost of this awful war for her people: 125,000-150,000 KIA with triple those numbers in wounded. Yet they have held and inflicted massive casualties on the Russians but Mila wondered for how long? The Americans had deserted them and the rest of the world, with their own internal issues, are now dithering. What a waste, she thought. All because of one man, one terrible man who had no regard for the lives of others. All for his personal, delusional dream of the renewed Soviet empire.
Her ruminations were interrupted by a the sound of birds. A flock of goldfinches has flown into the sunflowers for a snack. She remembered them-beautiful markings and sweet calls. She sat and watched as her mind shifted and began to relax. Happy memories of her folks and home flowed into her for the first time in years. She watched as a mating pair of finches fed each other and she responded with a quiet awwww. After a few moments, feeling better, stronger, she started the car to drive the final yards to her home. There was work to do: get better, get back into the war and help end it. As the car began to move, she glanced out her window and saw a goldfinch flying next parallel. The finch looked back at her for a few beats as if to say best of luck to you before wheeling away to join its friends.
9/3-4: Rain days! It has been quite a while since we have had such weather. A cold front is swinging down bringing storms ahead of it. The morning of the 3rd brought dramatic skies as storms arrived. Here is a shot taken in NW Jackson County showing a cloud formation that storm chasers refer to as a Mothership:
It is caused by a powerful, rotating updraft within a severe supercell thunderstorm combining with warm, humid air rushing upward. The photographer estimated that the top of the mothership reached up to 10 miles.
We got a good rain out of this storm. Later in the afternoon, another system arrived with big winds and a lot of thunder. Little rain though, we happened to be in a dry slot between storms. The big blow created this curious sight: our street was filled with leaf litter. But, on MI Ave., a 2 laner with a 3rd turn lane, only the turn lane had debris. Cars driving blew out stuff in their lanes leaving a road with clear blacktop with a "green" lane in the middle.
Overnight, storms arrived around 5 am with a lot of thunder and downpours. These occurred on and off most of the morning. Total rainfall for the two days was little over one inch.
9/5-three doors down across the street, a new roof was being installed with long periods of staccato nailing. From time to time, one could hear some music the crew had on-it was Mexican. Made me smile, considering there's a couple of MAGA households up the street from them. Yeah, we're here. Build a bridge and get over it.
C got some more lawn signs: El Sayed and Lawrence. Rather than placing them near the roadside, I brought them in the middle of the lawn. You wanna be a prick and go after these expressions of 1A? Well, then you can add trespassing to malicious destruction/petty theft to your crimes.
9/6-beautiful day-mostly sunny, 70's after a chilly start in the 50's which brought heavy morning dew. While doing yardwork, I noticed the gold finches had returned for a late summer treat: echinacea seeds still on the stalk, which sounds like a menu item at a fancy-schmancy restaurant. They also enjoyed the feeder:
The tomatoes are pretty much finished being one of the worse growing seasons in recent memory. Saw a huge spider web that was attached to one of my cages with a thin line going up to the eaves:
Meeting up with an old friend? I spotted what I thought was a new squirrely at the Diner so I grabbed some peanuts.His reaction was curious: now, most new squirrels when they even hear the slider open will flee or catching sight of me on the deck. In this case, I went out, said howdy to Buddy who was chilling on a deck chair cushion and flung the peanuts in the direction of the squirrel. Not only did he not budge seeing me, he calmly continued to eat a sunflower seed as peanuts rained down around him. Odd I thought-this one either knows me or is astonishingly fearless.
Definitely a mature squirrel, a long skinny tail. Doesn't have any stripes on it nor does he holler like Frank. Not part of the BigTail clan. While he is enjoying a peanut, MamaC has caught wind that peanuts are now available, for a limited time only today, while supplies last, no substitutions on the Buffet. I frequently see her in this spot-she keeps an eye on things.
Instead, she opts for grazing on a sunlit spot on the berm imbibing some freshly mowed grass.
Eventually, she changed her mind and waddled over to the Buffet. The new squirrel was still there, quietly munching on a seed. MamaC is shocked to see that the squirrel hasn't fled for its life-not uncommon for them to do so. He's not budging so she pivots to face him. No reaction. With a quick squeal (or whistle) she charged. The squirrel jumped back about 4 feet:
By the time he pivoted to face her, she had already moseyed away in search of peanuts!
Since then, new squirrel has taken on LG who was none too pleased about his presence. LG charged him as well and the two flew into a classic squirrel circle chase with the new guy whipping off towards Johnny's like a comet swinging around the Sun.
9/9-another rainy day. No storms, no drama, just a nice rain on and off most of the day. Nearly another inch of rain!
~
Living with cats
In the afternoon, when I hear Bud come through the portal after hours of being on patrol, he will pass through the library, check out the couch and enter the kitchen looking for me. If not seen, he will mew "Where are you, Dad?" He will expand his search, listening for a reply and mewing. Whether I am in my office or on the can, I'll holler. In the latter case, I have opened the slider a bit and Bud will walk up. I'll say "hi, I'm using the litter box and will be right with you and serve your afternoon tea. He'll come in, tail my leg and adjacent shelving unit, often not stopping-just passing through. He has made known his wishes and is just giving me a feline brotherly greeting. After enjoying his tea, he'll come hang out with me, do his toilette and curl up.
~
Buddy came bounding in through portal with something in his mouth. It was a sparrow. He does this sometimes with his kills rather than eat them outside. There are other times, he is presenting us with a gift: ooohhh, I wuv you and Mom sooo much, I will give you the pleasure of the kill.
And he let the bird loose.
The poor thing flew around many rooms with me unable to trap it by myself and it whipped in behind a bookcase in my office. I couldn't get to it. When C got home from work, she were able to put a towel trapping it in one end as we ran to take it outside. I am happy to report that it safely flew away. We were not happy with His Lordship for a bit but soon forgave him. The event made me think of this tune from 2006:
~
Seen in the garden: I believe I saw this guy with a blue body:
Meet Mr. Pondhawk Dragonfly
~
Such has been this Summer that I only visited this place in my dreams.
~
In Memoriam: Gloria Steinheim-3/25/34-9/2/26
Gloria Steinheim with Dorothy Pitman Hughes in 1971. Hughes passed in 2022,
Amidst a sea of notable men of the modern era, she was one of the women who helped change history. I've been lucky to have been alive during this extraordinary period where women across the country and globe, stood up and changed the world. Part of the mess we're going through today is a backlash against Steinheim and the movement she helped create.
I am quite proud that my Mom joined the ranks of these women early on. Despite not being able to drive, armed with a manual typewriter and a telephone, she worked on a number of things.
In the early 60's, while my brother Mike was in high school, she and Dewitt Public Librarian Faye Hansen went on a lengthy campaign with the Dewitt Public School Board asking them finance a library in the Dewitt High School. Mom had some leverage being the mother of one of their students and took lead. Faye was well-respected in the community and provided expertise. Their argument was that books would greatly benefit the kids. The world is changing bringing new and different job opportunities in the coming years. Isn't our job to give them a helping hand? Well, as I was told later, the long- time school Superintendent, C. H. Fuerstenau relented, saying-well, Bette Kristin, you have your library.
As the 60's progressed, Mom was involved with civil rights-writing and calling her elected employees about a number of policy concerns.
~
Fun vids:
Interesting vid: why don't we remember our dreams. Weird isn't it that we are built to remember stuff in waking life (a curious attribute to begin with) but not dreams?
The Elephant Whisperer:
~
We were watching a film where an unusual restaurant in Paris was featured: https://paris.danslenoir.com/en_GB/-where patrons eat in complete darkness and the servers are blind. C knew of it but never visited.
~
Very original and strange film-Lars and the Real Girl from 2007 starring Ryan Gosling as a traumatized young man having a tough time with life in a small MN town. A buddy from work orders him an artificial silicone female doll (not a blow up) who is anatomically correct so he has a companion. Nothing raunchy at all here as he is quite the gentleman. Worth dipping into.
Available on several streaming companies.
~
Clever sign from Oxfordshire, England:
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“Adopting cheerfulness as a strategy does not mean closing your eyes to evil; it means resisting our drift toward compulsive dread and despond.” -Garrison Keillor
I ran across this quote while checking up on what he's been up to since his cancellation. We were devoted fans, tuning into A Prairie Home Companion every late Saturday afternoons for years. The quote is from his 2023 book, a reflection upon entering his 80's.
FUBARland
With all that needs to be addressed in this country and world, what was a major topic amongst our leadership this week:
Does god have a penis?
~
This week Roach, in response to dwindling beef supplies, told the American people that he will allow 300,000 metric tons ground beef and beef trimmings to come in duty free. Already derided as "mystery meat", with the summer's cyclospora outbreak fresh in everyone's mind, we gotta ask:
~
Roach, angry about not being allowed to give a speech at the 25th anniversary of 9/11 event, won't attend. It's all about him. His staff, despite the v bad optics, have got to be relieved. Who knows what irrelevant, crazy shit will come out of his mouth in such a speech. Here's a good prediction market bet: he'll blame Biden.
Update: Roach gives speech at Ground Zero and embellishes his long-standing claim that he was there with a new spin: he was pulled out of the rubble by a couple of beautiful, burly firemen.
Joke: he also claims to have survived the Titanic and Hindenburg disasters.
~
The independent Treasury oversight watchdog issued a lengthy report showing that for this year, the IRS revenue is down 35% vs a normal year. You can thank Muskrat and his Doge boys who axed nearly 30% of IRS auditors and staff. Couple this with the ballooning deficit now at 40 trillion, during a REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION. Huh? These fuckers have been whining about it since the Reagan era.
Well, moving forward, Dems need to verbally bitch-slap any idiot who returns to this tired argument to deny help to the people and tell them to shut the fuck up. Where were you when Roach caused it to balloon? Coward.
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