FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood:

Ahh, civilization-The first day of Summer here was marked by the parking lot for Sparrow West, just over the berm, getting new asphalt. Hours of Beep, Beep, Beep-not so constant as to trigger a misophonic outburst but still annoying. The following day, we were treated to the detail work with liquid asphalt by the smell of it. Some beeping but it was the odor that kept us inside due to a steady North wind bringing it directly into the house. Bummer, it would have been a beautiful day to have supper on the deck.

The hydrangea is in full bloom:

We didn't see any Chucks out of their apartment, probably due to the commotion and smell. On day 2, MamaC came out to forage and enjoy some bread but no sightings of the younguns. 

A big tail imbibed as well:

At one point we had a young squirrel up in the birch, BigTail and MamaC at the Diner:
 

Our wind chime: a wedding gift from 15 years ago from one of C's colleagues who is now retired. We're not big fans in general of chimes especially those that tinkle constantly. We appreciate this one, in fact as a tool for it takes a good stiff breeze to get it going. Hear chime=big wind.

Tiger in my backyard:

Life with Cats: Something we appreciate and value about our big guy is his communication abilities. There are nuances, believe me, if you are not responding to what his Lordship desires, he will let you know. You get the stare or it upgrades to vocalization. Other times, he can be casual as he was the other day: would you like to come in? I ask opening the slider screen. He was on his side at a slight angle, looking at me with his green eyes. Well, I don't know he answers and shifts to a different position. Oh, the temperature is lovely (shifting again) but then, you have correctly observed that the odour out here is acrid. But then I'd have to get up. On the other hand (rolling and licking his lips) I am a tad peckish. Well, I said, I'm going into the kitchen to make some food for myself. He didn't answer-just began licking his rear foot.

I put together the rice mix as the water was boiling. I finished up and pivoted over to the sink and saw him sitting in a Bastet pose, staring at the window. I raised my finger (uno momento, senõr), grabbed his dirty food dish to soak, got a clean one ready and went to the slider. He chirped as he strode in, tailed me affectionately heading for the kitchen where I made him a snack. He ate heartily and retired to rest on the side of the couch where I usually sit. It carries the scent of his Dad.

 ~

First calla lily bloom:

C and I were out front weeding the front bed. I discovered that our Pruner Girl has sampled the day lilies-something I don't remember deer nipping before. Sigh. 

 

6/25: Fireflies are here!

Still no sign of the chuckettes. It seems a bit early for them to have left home--I past posts confirms this. Perhaps MamaC sent them out because of the parking lot repaving noise/odor. Stay tuned!

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Hodgepodge for $500:

6/17-Mothership supercell storm, Westfield, IL. Turquoise color often is an indicator of a tornado-in this case one that is rain-wrapped.

Drew Brummel

6/25-150th anniversary Battle of the Little Big Horn:

Painting Custer's Last Stand by Edgar Samuel Paxson, 1899.

Sand Cat: meet Mr. Felis Margarita. First discovered in Algeria in 1858. Recently, a video first posted in 2017 turned out to be the first material evidence that this is the world's only felid adapted to true desert conditions.

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A bad case of the Tuesdays at the grocers: 

I was at a local grocer looking for Impossible Burger. I don't shop there often and couldn't find it in its old location in the Meat Department freezer. There's no buzzer to gain attention so I had to wait and win the lottery of actually seeing a Meat employee. I was lucky. A 30ish dude appeared in a barely lit corner by a butcher's saw, opening a large box. "Good Morning" I say. No response. I say it again, projecting my voice. He's handling a large, plastic vacuum-sealed hunk of beef. He answers without turning his head. "Be right there". Certainly a bit of irony here as I'm about to ask a meatman where to find vegetable matter impersonating cow flesh. He puts the hunk down and comes over. "Yessir?" I ask my question. He's obviously heard it before as he answers quickly "Aisle 21, section 8B". I must have had a puzzled look on my face. "Yeah" he says with a sardonic grin "they like to move things". I thank him and go to Aisle 21. Where it has moved to makes sense: with other frozen "meat" in the "alternative meat" section. Clearly, the guy was having either a bad day or just another day in Retail Hell. 

As I go though the self-check out lane, I don't see many familiar faces from 6 months ago. Then, I hear a voice do I know-their store director-who snarled at me once, whom I witnessed verbally mistreating a clerk. A major reason I don't shop there.  She was doing what she seems to do best: bitching to someone about a bagger/clerk/slave- "I gave him 2 things to do: this and that. I go out there and only one thing is done and it's wrong". Luckily, I am moving out of earshot towards the door for the rest of the rant, thankful to be retired.

 

 ~

Another trippy vid from the Ai created group Frugit She Holds Me Like This-clever use of cat's personality translated into the human loving experience:
 

Yikes! This was a strange one: Purcell's The Cold Song from his opera King Arthur: 

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MADads: A telling sign of where our country is at the moment: A quickie from Home Depot featuring a gift for Father's Day-surveillance equipment. 

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FUBARland: Algae, a parody of the song Alfie from the film with the same name.

 

FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood:

Around the house: 

The Diner and Back 40 

Buddy in his castle keep:

Marigolds and heliotrope:

Salvia and scavola:

Tiger in my front yard:

Road lilies in full bloom:

The West Garden: 

6/21-Solstice Day was grey, warmish with a bit of humidity. Rain promised for later on and overnight. Buddy was taking it easy:

He rested his chin on the edge of his outpost:

These days, the hydrangea is the star of the Back 40 with its glowy blooms:

I've been less fastidious about mowing the lawn as of late and I found that I enjoy it. I realized that I have a variety of greens for our wild friends to enjoy especially our 7 live Rombas like the one pictured above. The result is a visually softer landscape featuring these days flowering clover. I'll mow soon and this cut makes the greenness more uniform. 

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A real life Attenborough event:

As I was walking through the house, I glanced out front and saw a dark object in the middle of the street. "Hmm, a big rock" I first thought. Once I focused, I realized that it was moving and it was a turtle! I watched as it made its way into the front yard and stop. I ran to grab the camera and hollered at C who was doing yoga. When we arrived, the turtle was digging into the ground:

I described its markings and mused it might be a Snapper. My former Girl Scout corrected me and said that it more likely was a red-eared slider based on my seeing a red area on its head. She ran and got some water for it. I was off petting Bud when she hollered "She's laying eggs!" I missed it. C went inside and googled the critter for more info. Upon returning, we witnessed the turtle moving loose soil. "Yep" C said, "now she will sit on the soil using the weight of her shell to compact it. Then she will cover it and will be leaving soon". Sho' nuff, within 15 minutes Mrs. Turtle had left, presumably for the creek which lies 80-100 yards away to the East. The eggs will hatch in August-September with the little ones emerging at night and heading to the creek. I put a cloche over the nursery to keep the predators away and hopefully we can time lifting the cloche with the emergence. Stay tuned! 

 ~

Another unusual find: I was putting away some trimmed limbs on the brush pile when I spied a skull near the new access hole MamaC had dug into the apartments. I used a gardening trowel to show scale:

Based on size, the hump on the top of the skull (the saggital crest) which indicates a mammal whose jaw strength can crush bone and teeth that this belonged to a opposum. It is missing its canine teeth. Now, just where did this come from? We've had a resident Blossom (our nickname for the species) but haven't seen her since late Winter. Is this her? Did she die in one of the apartments and MamaC cleaned house? Tis a mystery. 

6/22-first full day of Summer. I was out mowing and was treated to see this visitor:

If indeed this monarch is a descendant of one who visited this garden years ago, according to google, it is roughly 7 or 8 generations removed. Made my day! 

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In memoriam: Major Oak, Sherwood Forest

The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in England's Sherwood Forest, famously linked to the Robin Hood legend, officially died after failing to produce any leaves.  Conservationists attribute its demise to decades of soil compression from millions of tourists, combined with prolonged stress from recent extreme heatwaves and droughts.

Conservationists will leave Major where he is. His slow decay will provide a home for many species including mammals, insects, birds and mycelium. This is what I am doing with Grandfather Birch, whose one of three main trunks has died. I had the top of the dead trunk topped off so we would not have to contend with the constant dropping of limbs. Hopefully, this trunk one day won't collapse at once onto the house🙀

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Hilarious vid concerning Stoffel, a famed honey badger, who is one tough MFer, take on zookeepers at the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa in a lengthy inter-species battle. Above everything else, Stoffel shows that apes aren't the only species who create and use tools.

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I came across this kid's TV show from my childhood: The Beany and Cecil show:

Created by animator Bob Clampett after he quit Warner Bros. and based on a television puppet show Time for Beany which ran from 1949-1955. It was revived in 1962 and joined The Jetsons and The Flintstones as the first color cartoons on ABC.

I vaguely remember the series (I was 8 years at the time) and did not care for it. I was (and still am) a devoted fan of Rocky and Bullwinkle which was also on ABC beginning in 1959. I didn't care for the dumbed down characters and lame satire plus it seemed like a rip-off of R & B right down to their secondary character (shown here in the boat to the left of Beany) of Dishonest John who looked a lot like Snidely Whiplash. Oh, and the magpie who looked to be a close cousin of Heckle and Jeckle. Boo hiss.

Another animation tale: 

During WWII, famed animator Chuck Jones and Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) created a series of propaganda/training cartoon for the troops featuring Private Snafu. From 1943 "Spies":

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The Enchanted Highway: From Wiki-a collection of the world's largest scrap metal sculptures constructed by local artist Gary Greff beginning in 1989 at intervals along a 32-mile stretch of a two-lane highway in SW North Dakota. 

Pheasants on the Prairie

Geese in Flight 

Grasshoppers in the field

 Deer crossing

 

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David Hockney's dachshund paintings: his beloved dachshunds, Stanley and Boodgie, served as his primary muses between 1987 and 1995. Following a difficult period marked by the AIDS crisis and the loss of close friends, Hockney retreated to Malibu and used his dogs as a way to process grief. He created over 40 colorful, intimate portraits of them, famously capturing them asleep or lounging in his studio.

~ 

Our eager algorithms-you can click on a couple of semi-related vids on YT and they will whisk you away to a new realm, so buckle up!:

Southern Culture on the Skids Camel Walk southern stoner/punk music with insane earworm riff from 1996:

From the satirical mag The Onion: First openly gay racehorse:

Mr. Six, mascot of the Six Flags theme park, likes to party:

Frugit, reportedly Ai generated with I Knead Dem Biscuits with fun animation:

 

Jones' Goodass BBQ and foot massage-created by Ramiro Castro in 2004:

 Whole lotta misspelled b'day cakes:

Smells like Teen Spirit in classical latin: 

With stars of the series Trailer Park Boys, The Kittyman Sea Shanty, arrgghh: 

 

From British Electric Swing group The Correspondents Fear and Delight 2014:

Finally, the very surreal Finland's Leningrad Cowboys cover of These Boots from 1993:

Whew, what a long, strange trip it's been.

And now, a dose of our current reality: 

FUBARland: the Reflecting pool mess has gone from bad to now, an environmental disaster. But since the EPA has been neutered and all the problems being blamed on vandals by the regime, it looks to remain the very swamp that the Roach was elected to drain. As I have noted in earlier posts, one of the hallmarks of this regime is irony. This disaster as well as the destruction around the White House, DOGE and everything else that Roach has done, indeed show the effects of a Vandal-in-Chief.

Meet Mr. Reflecting Pool contractor John J Cafaro, Roach donor and Mar a Lago neighbor:

Where do they keep finding these creeps? A MAD magazine character comes to life. And you think what I have just posted about my journey with the algorithms was nutty? Sheesh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE!

 

Archaeologists recently uncovered a 5,000-year-old celestial calendar in the village of Bulford, just 3 miles east of Stonehenge. Consisting of two massive ancient pits aligned with the sun for solstice gatherings, the site predates Stonehenge by about 500 years. It is thought that this was a wooden prototype for the more grand stone version seen above.

How these calendars work:

 

FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood: 

6/14-On and off rain showers and sunny periods. Temps: lo-70's.

Shadows on the shed:

Bud chillin' on the deck: 

After the rain:

The West Garden: 

Day lilies on Molls' resting place next to Mr. Honey Locust :

A wet Mr. Finch on the ground by the pool:

I've noticed that the Diner has become a place for young finches to meet. There are periods when there are several females alone at the feeder, other times both sexes are present (double date?). The avian version of having malts together.  

Nutkin family at the Diner:

MamaC on the berm coming to see what her kid is doing. Ya know kid, the BWL needs linemen...

They have learned how to prairie dog:

They learned from a master: 

6/15-more rain on the way. The Nutkin siblings having breakfast together although shortly after this photo was taken, I saw them put their dukes up for a quick box before running off. That's a Nutkin for ya!

C took this photo of Buddy snoozing on top of the loveseat basking in the golden rays of the morning sun:

#cutebuddypix His wound is pretty much healed, yay! One rainy afternoon, we hung out together on the couch and he was in a chill mood:

MamaC seems to be determined to have some kind of connection with Buddy. She approached him again on the deck. They stared at each other for a bit before she turned and went back to grazing.

One early evening, we spotted one of the Buns grazing with a mature Stampy. I am happy to report they did so in peace.

The weather continues to be unusual-I would call it a UP Summer. It has been driven by persistent "backdoor" cold fronts pushing in from the Northeast rather than warm air masses moving up from the south, weather systems circulating around Hudson Bay have dragged cooler Canadian air into the Great Lakes region, keeping temperatures frequently in the 60s and 70s. It has also been quite wet. April's rainfall was over 8", 4.8" above average normal; May's total was 1.51", 2.15 below normal and so far in June, we've had 3.6" with the normal being 3.76". More rain coming today (6/16) and tomorrow with temps in the low 70's if we're lucky. As I write, I am in my sweats and bombas-it's chilly in the house with the windows open only a crack. Welcome to Michigan, lol.

~ 

Big rains +1" were predicted for 616-6/17 but did not materialize, we received barely .25". This time of year, storms tend to come in from the SW unless connected with a cold front sweeping down from the NW. This system strangely moved in due W to E. We caught just the edge.

The road lilies out front are in full bloom:

We're at that time of season where something in bloom can be seen from any window in the house. I learned this idea from my folks who practiced it where I grew up.

People not brought up living in nature will be hard-pressed, even with great imagination, to understand the experience because it is multi-sensory. A good example of this appears in my poem from 2009 "Before the First Snow", I wrote:

A milky gibbous moon
Above, I hear softly,
trees speaking in tongues. 

~

Spring Rain

I know it’s there but cannot see yet,
the coming event horizon.

Doctors point to the expiring warranty 
on my 71 year old organs.

Long and short-term memory loss happens:
Who was that? What song is that from?

Everyday chores take much longer, 
I need devices to help open things.

I’m not coping as well with life’s one thing after another:
Roseanne Roseannadanna was spot-on.

Yet, when my feet hit the floor in the morning,
And I hear my sweetheart murmuring to our cat who answers,

the coffee and toast are delicious while outside, 
Mr. Redbird is promoting his virility,

the Spring rains have arrived and
the woods are a hundred shades of green,

I quaff the power of life that has awakened around me
and I am grateful for another day. 

Fun Vids:

Breathtaking storm chaser footage getting very up close and personal with tornadoes: 

How western homesteaders insulated their cabins in areas that have severely cold Winters-odd Ai generated imagery:

Experiment in Britain using European bison to rewild a forest.

Why isn't this being widely used? Because of human aesthetics who prize tidy gardens. 

Beavers hard at work in the Adirondack Mountains, NY:

 

Florida's python problem is reversing due to a surprise natural solution: otters

 

Cats and creatives:

 Sumerian tablet and cats:

 

In ancient Egypt, when a household cat died, its humans would shave their eyebrows as a public symbol of mourning.

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FUBARland: Idiocracy in full bloom, everything is a fucking mess. One good thing: this regime is spending our money hand over fist. Any opposition political hack worth his salt in the future has been given a gift that will keep on giving: when some POS Republican starts whining about money being spent on helping people because we can't afford it, this asshole needs to be immediately bitch-slapped with: you voted for the Big Beautiful Bill et al which was chock-full of waste. So shut the fuck up. Repeat. We have the receipts.