I was driving home via the street just north of the house. It has a curve with a number of crab apple trees planted along side the street, just up from the Farm Bureau solar array. C had mentioned seeing a number of hen turkey by the trees the other day and today both Toms and hens were hanging out although in separate groups. What was extraordinary was that 3 of the hens were in the trees having a snack! I slowed to view this rare sight and they all got nervous and ran into the adjoining woods where the creek flows. Now, crab apples aren't the heartiest trees and the main branches aren't that big. But here, strong enough to hold a hen.
A modern update of the "you'll love our stuff/prices" advertising:
Home Depot sez it is making it easier to buy stuff from their site with your Iphone when you swipe right. Yep, fall in LUV with your new frig! Gawd, Tinder association with Black Friday.
Do the appliances keep track? Do they get depressed when folks swipe left? Nobody wants me! wails an unsold microwave in a agony aunt feature in the Times Modern Love section. Did they want black instead of stainless steel? Is 1000 watts of power too much, making me seem overly aggressive?
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Meanwhile, both my credit card and debit card have been hacked in a matter of days of each other. I received a fraud alert from the CU and went in yesterday to get new card (rather than wait for it to be mailed) but no dice. Evidently, the printing software was having a bad Monday and was glitchy. Going back this am. Watch out! My finger points at Amazon.
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Thanksgiving feast! Puff pastry galettes with caramelized onions and a menagerie of mushrooms sauteed with rosemary; ramekins with dressing baked crispy, roasted asparagus. Served with mushroom gravy. Dessert: for C-vegan chocolate cupcake from Sweet Encounters downtown Lansing served with almond milk vanilla and caramel ice cream, I had a slice of carrot cake (Kroger was out of the single serve pumpkin pie with topping). For Buddy, it was a fresh can evening-Friskies Whitefish and Sardine shreds at room temperature-one of his favs. Yummers!
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11/24 Mostly sunny and cold: 23° this morning. Sharp North breeze.
Li'l Woody hard at work, I could hear him tapping as I brought in firewood.
Buddy basking in the sun away from the wind.
11/25: 16° Turkeys out and about
11/27 and 11/28 Snow and cold
Big Woody hard at work
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Meet Hermagoras sigillatus, a stick insect found in tropical forests such as those found in Borneo.
Here they are out of their environment. Extraordinary camo!
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When I lived in OK for a bit, I found work via a temp service at a factory that assembled and packaged fishing rods. It was in a town a half hour drive away and I worked a 4pm-midnight shift. My co-workers were a diverse group: a pair of ladies from Columbia, several Cherokee women, a New Orleans lesbian chef who was a refugee from Hurricane Katrina, a variety of black, white and hispanic folk. The job was simple-one person broke open a folded box, taped the bottom, put in the requisite number of rods into it then sent the box down a conveyor to the next person who stuffed paper on top and taped the box shut and placed on a pallet. My partner was an old hand and team leader, a young guy whose nickname was "Gadget" because he had an Walkman. He had a limited amount of tunes available and this one we heard every night, several times:
This is Evanscence, an odd convergence of goth and soprano.
Our supervisor was a small black woman who always wore a do-rag with the demeanor of a drill sergeant. She was no-nonsense and had everyone on a short-leash. Hitting nightly production quotas was her main goal-we were packaging the rods to be shipped nationwide to stores before fishing season arrived. When I arrived for my first shift, her comment to me was that I was too well-dressed with a oxford style shirt. The next day I wore a long-sleeved t-shirt. One shift there was a big problem that she brought to our attention. She had done some QC on random boxes and had found that they were missing some rods. She was hollering! She was going to halt production, have us go through every box from several pallets already done and make sure all were correctly packaged. This seemed insane to me so I stepped up and made a suggestion. The mere action pissed her off even more-her eyes lit up as she stared at me. "Why not take the weight of a correct box, then simply weigh all of them?" was my idea. "This saves time since you don't have to re-tape everything and therefore less time spent away from production". Her eyes narrowed-she had me pegged as a college-boy anyway from the shirt incident and now this. "Sure" she said "since it's your idea, you get to do the job" with a bit of a smirk, as if this was some weird punishment. "No problem" and I set off to do the job. She got production going as I found an empty pallet, put a scale on a table and began breaking down a stacked pallet. Having spent years in grocery stocking, this was familiar stuff to me. Under her watchful eyes, I went through all the pallets from that night's production. In the end, I had found 4-5 boxes that were short. It didn't take that long and I returned to my station and the grins of my co-workers. I did earn a grunt of appreciation from the Super who from then on had a softened attitude towards me. I had earned her respect.
The blurb from the vid: Time-lapse of the Sun in the West, one picture every 24 hours: the solar analemma. Watch as the Sun traces out a figure 8 in the sky each year.
Why does the position of the Sun change day-to-day? The Earth spins about its axis at about a 23.5 degree angle to its orbital axis around the Sun, and the Earth orbits the Sun in an ellipse, moving faster when closer to the Sun. The result is that the position of the Sun in the sky changes not just minute by minute as the Earth rotates, but day to day as well as the Earth moves through its orbit. The figure 8 path traced out by the Sun when viewed in 24 hour increments is known as the solar analemma.
From 1998, a film by Hirokazu Kore-eda, known as "Wonderful Life" in Japan. From the Criterion site:
If you could choose only one memory to hold on to for eternity, what
would it be? That’s the question at the heart of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s
revelatory international breakthrough, a bittersweet fantasia in which
the recently deceased find themselves in a limbo realm where they must
select a single cherished moment from their life to be recreated on film
for them to take into the next world. After Life’s high-concept
premise is grounded in Kore‑eda’s documentary-like approach to the
material, which he shaped through interviews with hundreds of Japanese
citizens. What emerges is a panoramic vision of the human experience—its
ephemeral joys and lingering regrets—and a quietly profound meditation
on memory, our interconnectedness, and the amberlike power of cinema to
freeze time.
Oh, and so much more. A commentary on Japanese culture, with its bureaucracy and rules, rules, rules. Having watched the American TV series "The Good Place", which has a similar theme, it was interesting to compare the two societies-their beliefs and values. There's a good whiff of Fellini in this film as well especially in its satire. One subplot not discussed in the blurb and integral to the story are the folks working in the afterlife, who interview and figure out how to put the newly dead's favorite memories on film. Where do they come from? Why are they there?
Intriguing concept, beautifully realized and thought provoking. Please don't be put off by the subject matter-it is not morbid at all.
Mr. Grumpy Oak finally gave up 99% of his leaves over the past couple of days. My neighbor has been out there everyday mowing the leaves. Today was partly sunny, temps in mid-40's with a light wind. With snow showers rumored to arrive Sunday, I thought I'd better get out there and finished up the leaves for the season. About mid-day, I came across this guy:
There's been enough rain and warmth to mimic March so he gave it a go, his head craned towards the waning late November sun. Not sure if he'll make it to seed but I bet he will go dormant and I'll see him again in the early Spring.
On this day, I was in the 4th grade. The first news flash of the shooting had gone out and we were told by our teacher. It was after lunch and classes were on hold as the school administrators decided what to do. Meanwhile, with a class full of antsy nine year olds, our teacher gave us permission to go outside if we wish. Despite it being wet, chilly and overcast, me and a couple of guys went out and shot some baskets. I clearly remember Chuck, who was a bit of a wag, remarking that it must have been a relative of John Wilkes Booth who had shot the president. We were all in disbelief-who would want to hurt JFK?
We were soon summoned back to the building and told that we were being sent home. Back in those days, such announcements went public via the radio. Mom often had the radio on so when I got in, she had made me a grilled cheese and a glass of milk and we went into the living room. It was a large space with picture windows on the North and South sides. She had all the drapes closed so we could see the B/W TV better, as it was on the South end. She was grim. So was Dad when he got home and together, we watched Walter Cronkite recap the awful news about what happened in Dallas.
My next door neighbor is out mowing nearly everyday possible to keep up with the huge droppage of leaves (see above). I am lazy and just will try and tackle it before the snow comes...or just not worry about it. For him, it gives him something to do.
You can see where he mows.
Oaks can be difficult
for they are late droppers. Now, I have not known many oaks but at least
this one is quite obnoxious. Like one of those drunken louts in a pub who is only tolerated because he is 6'8". "Ha, ha, ha" he yells everytime you are
out, "I got more for you M............s!
Patterns
Hoosegow-slang for jail The word comes from the Mexican Spanish word “juzgado,” meaning “tribunal” or “judge. The ending was corrupted to "gao".
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I just learned that the Britspeak word "spare" means "to be very angry or upset". This adds a layer to Prince Harry's memoir "Spare" which Yanks would presume meant his status in the line of succession. His brother William is the heir, Harry is the "spare". Evidently, Harry is pissed about it all.
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Gaza and the Israelis:
this
is a very, very, very old feud and it is
astonishing to see it rear it's ugly head in 2023 as a continuation from
several millennia ago. I'm not knowledgeable about their holy books
but I would bet there are warnings about this kind of savage tribal
bloodletting. But it seems few are listening to these warnings and
worse, each side thinks they have the blessing from their version of a
supernatural being! WTF.
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Common Lionfish, pterois miles, the Moe Szyslak of the coral reefs.
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Deborah Byrd
For the past few weeks, we have been treated with both a morning star, Venus and an evening star, Jupiter.
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A watergirl who becomes one with the sea, helped by a flying spirit guide. Artist unknown.
Stumbled upon while surfing YT: fabulous time-lapse shorts of plants growing from seed. My fav is the sunflower.
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C bought me the Mad Magazine Stocking Stuffer and this was a feature from a bad gift catalog. Reindeer Orgy! This puerile sense of humor from Mad always appealed to me and I would rightfully say is one of the foundation stones of what I find funny.
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Meet Mr. Red-breasted Nuthatch! I saw this little guy in the willow next to my office today. I had no idea he lived here!
PS He's been hanging out- flitting around. I noticed his shape even with the shade closed. I wondered why he was here and it came to me: crabapples! I bent over and craned my neck to see the tree. Yep, he's been feasting all day at the Krabappel Kafe!
Modern fable: Simpson's Edna Krabappel dies and reincarnates as a crabapple tree. It's one of god's jokes, the kind he is gently scolded about by the administrative angels. Stranger still, the tree contains much of Edna's consciousness. So, the teacher reads up on crabapple trees (please don't ask me how) and decides that since she creates this fruit and it is an important food source for many, she will be the very best she can be as a crabapple. So it goes. She opens the Krabappel Kafe and remains open for 40 years. Edna had never felt such a rewarding life. That was her gift-she was a nurturer.
The administrative angels thought this would be a perfect way for the almighty to make up for his bad joke: Moving forward,each reincarnation will speak to her strength. It's such efficient use for this resource purred the actuaries. None of these half-wits bumbling around, doing a half-ass job, never learning a damn thing from one life to the next.
Now, this is unfair. You created this glitch and you continue to be shocked, shocked I tell you sir, when we only use the cards we have been dealt. Use your powers, wave your hand.
Upgrade us.
Oh well, small victories. It's always a rare find to run into folk where work gives them joy and have managed that tricky jujitsu in life, pursuing successfully that what makes them happy and so much more and get paid for it. Teaching, I have found, is such an environment. C, her band of fellow travelers and all the Ednas, good on you.
"The Snowman" is a 26 minute animated film made in 1982 based on the Raymond Briggs 1978 picture book of the same name. There are no words so everything is communicated through gestures and facial expressions-which is well done here. Very inventive style of animation with some fabulous scenes (I won't spoil your surprise). The plot is simple: after a night of heavy snow, a boy gleefully gets up and rushes outside and builds a snowman. That night, the boy finds that the snowman has come to life. They become buddies and spend a night of adventure!
A charming film for all ages-we both were astonished that somehow in the past 41 years, this never hit our radar. It should be a holiday classic right alongside "A Charlie Brown Christmas".
From the 1969 album "Unhalfbricking". Written by Sandy Denny when she was 19, this piece is a good example of the fusion of English folk with rock that Fairport was working on. Richard Thompson's guitar work is quite restrained and delicate. Many feel this is just too sad of a song, but while I agree it is melancholic, the song speaks to truths about our existence. We've all asked the question about the passage of time especially as one ages. Certainly, as Denny indicates in the final verse, love helps ease the uncertainty and loneliness of our life's journey.
AGD Beukho
Across the evening sky,
all the birds are leaving,
But how can they know,
it's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire,
I will still be dreaming,
I have no thought of time.
For who knows, where the time goes?
Who knows, where the time goes?
Sad, deserted shore,
your fickle friends are leaving,
Ah, but then you know,
it's time for them to go,
But I will still be here,
I have no thought of leaving,
I do not count the time.
For who knows, where the time goes?
Who knows, where the time goes?
And I am not alone,
while my love is near me,
I know it will be so,
until it's time to go,
So come the storms of winter,
and then the birds in spring again,
I have no fear of time.
For who knows,
how my love grows?
And who knows,
where the time goes?
The Prague astronomical clock or Prague Orloj is a medieval astronomical clock mounted to the south wall Old Town Hall in the Old Town Square in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.
Getty Images
Steve Collis
The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest
astronomical clock in the world and the oldest clock still in
operation. It was created by clock maker Mikuláš of Kadaň and Prague's Charles University professor of mathematics and astronomy Jan Šindel.
The clock mechanism has three main components – the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details;
statues of various Catholic saints stand on either side of the clock; "The Walk of the Apostles", an hourly show of moving Apostle figures and other sculptures, notably a figure of a skeleton that represents Death striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months.
When I was working at an insurance company, one of the more enjoyable aspects of the job was where our building was sited. It was built into a side of a slope with the rear overlooking a bend in a creek in a wildlife protected area and our offices had nice big windows. Our wild residents included coyote, fox, Canadian Geese who nested near the creek, weasels and a variety of water birds. Of course, we had a great number of deer in small groups, usually Moms and their young. During the Winter, they would band together with numbers reaching up to 20. We would see them in the mornings, walking their usual paths with steam rising from their backs as their body warmth and the sun burned off the overnight frost/snow.
One November during the rutting season, we had front row seats for a deerski brief encounter. A female had trotted over the creek and up a rise directly in front of my office probably 50 yards away and stopped. Following her, on the other side of the creek was a 12 point buck and he was taking his time. My boss, who was a experienced hunter and I watched for a bit before he suggested we go up to the upper level for a better view. This was the underwriting wing and we stood by the window watching the event unfold...very, very slowly. Our colleagues, always curious about what we were up to, joined us. Soon, half the floor including the company VP were watching. The buck had taken 5 minutes to take 4 steps! According to my boss, who had witnessed mating before, this was typical behavior. Someone suggested that popcorn should be made. A betting pool quickly formed as to whether or not Bucky was going to get lucky. The doe stood there quietly, looking over her shoulder every so often to see how her proposed lover was doing. It took Bucky another 10 minutes to take a few more steps. Speculation was rife: some wondered if it was his first time. A couple of women wryly chuckled how that brought back memories. Finally, the Department Head quietly suggested that perhaps we should give them some privacy (hint hint time get back to work, folks). My boss and I went back downstairs and when we returned to our office windows, the would-be lovers had vanished. The event was the highlight of our week although some vocalized their disappointment at missing a chance to witness some wild LUV.
As we approach the cold months, if you think Michigan sucks, then consider life in Svalbard. Also known as Spitzbergen, this Norwegian archipelago is located in the Arctic Sea, north of the Arctic circle about 650 miles from the North Pole. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen, the northernmost settlement in the world with a population greater than one thousand. In 2020, there were over 1700 residents.
Whaling was the first industry followed by coal mining which has diminished in recent years. Now, tourism and a number of scientific establishments are the main sources of work. Noteworthy is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity where duplicates of seeds are conserved in case of human-made and natural disasters.
A major part of life is the climate with 2 distinguishing features: the midnight sun and the polar night. I was watching a vlog made by a resident of Longyearbyen who filmed what the coming of a polar night was like. On October 26, the sun sets for the final time until February 15. For the next two weeks, there is an extended twilight that lasts until 2.30 pm. After this, the days are in darkness and full moon days are a blessing. It's also v cold although global warming has had an impact. The average winter temperature has risen by 7°.
You can imagine what the costs of groceries can be in such an isolated village where nearly everything has to be imported-the vlogger and her partner (with doggie) spend $350/week!
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Great Horned Owl
I was watching a owl doc from someone who advertised themselves as an owl nerd. I found this to be a strange experience-the nerd spoke in a Joe Friday monotone and while one can admire the "just the facts ma'am" attitude, this one goes overboard. Other docs when examining a list, such as the variety of critters an owl eats, will give a few examples. Oh, not here. Owl nerd reads out all 34 species!
Fun facts: birds of prey such as our friend here, females tend to be larger, heavier. One theory is that the mating pair will go after different sized prey, therefore they are competing against one another. Efficiency! Another is that the size helps the female protect herself from aggressive males (always a problem) and her nest when she is taking care of her nestlings.
A mating pair of GHOs, sing duets to each other. His voice is deep while hers is much higher. Awww, making music together.
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Modern fable: once upon a time an older couple got a new cat and all got along quite well. The cat was very polite and possessed a soft voice but was persistent. When he wanted something, he made it known that he wanted it as soon as possible.
One evening, the cat was annoyed with them. He was waiting, mewing by his usual door to be let in, clearly in view from the kitchen and they did not respond. When they finally did, he entered in a huff. The wife explained to him, as she put down his supper dish, that she and her husband were getting older and their hearing was not as good with certain frequencies. Still miffed, the cat responded by asking: do you want me to use my ancient voice? The wife, distracted by the microwave alarm, said "why sure, why not?" "Ok" said the cat and let out a big roar that rattled the nearby dishes. The wife was shocked and unsettled to be sure, standing wide-eyed holding her soup bowl. The cat walked off, having fulfilled her wish as was his polite nature and used his ancient voice from then on to get what he wanted.
The moral of our tale: never underestimate a cat's abilities or pay attention when asked a question.
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A groaner from a silly WG: if our cat went on a diet, he would be Bud Light.
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Travis Keahi
Water at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, one of the few
coastal salt marshes on the island of Maui, has been bright pink since
at least October 30, officials say, after its salt content surged amid an extreme drought.Normally, runoff from nearby mountains flow into this pond diluting the salinity. Scientists think the color is due to halobacteria, a single-celled organism that thrives in very salty water such as the Great Salt Lake and the Dead Sea.
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My folks moved to Tucson, AZ in the early 1980's when my Dad retired. He enjoyed the outdoors: he golfed regularly, biked and joined a group of older gents who hiked. One thing they liked to do was to hike overland off trail which they termed as "bushwacking". They also hiked down into the Grand Canyon and back in one day. Bear in mind that the two trails down to the Colorado River are 6.8 and 9.3 miles. The Park Service advises that for the average Joe, going down will take 4-5 hours, coming back 7-8 hours. Dad hiked well into his 80's until he stopped and just biked for his main workout. I doubt I ever have been in this kind of shape!
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Some critter likes this poor Japanese willow and has done this for several years. I contacted an old boss of mine who is a woodsman for ideas. Seems too high for rabbit, maybe a really big cat (like Buddy) who is really stretching to strop his claws.
PS My friend contacted me back: it's a buck who made these marks, which was my first thought. Perhaps too late in the year to be removing antler velvet, more likely marking his territory as we get into rutting season. Just weird that they (or the same buck) keeps coming back to this little tree.
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11/11-It was nice out today-partly sunny, mid-40's and most importantly, very light wind. I put the East Garden to bed leaving the echinacea and their seed heads out for the critters.
Mr. Burning Bush still looking radiant despite have lost a fair amount of leaves. He is quite proud of this especially having suffering the slings and arrows from the youngsters who were in their glory a few weeks ago. "You got nothing now, don't ya sonny boy?" he sneers. "Just a bunch of twigs".
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Unknown psychedelic band from the '60's: The Electric Jellyfish
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He owns several grooming stations in the reef.
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11/12-The Hindu festival of Diwali
Vishal Bhatnigar
This is an ancient celebration dating back as far as the first millennium CE. It lasts five days of which the main festival night falls on the darkest night of the new moon that usually occurs mid-October to mid-November.
The Festival of Lights celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance and hope over despair. Considering the state of the planet these days, this is something most folks can get behind. These are eternal struggles our species deal with, then and now.
The crew of Apollo 8: (l-r) Frank Borman, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell
Frank Borman, mission commander of Apollo 8, died on Novermber 7 at age 95.
The Apollo 8 mission, December 21-27, 1968, was notable in NASA's overall project for a moon landing and significant in our species' history. For the first time, a manned spacecraft circumnavigated the Moon; we saw the "dark side of the Moon" (The moon does rotate, but it rotates at the same speed that it rotates around the Earth. The moon completes one full rotation on its axis in the time it takes to orbit the Earth. That means the same side is always turned toward us) and we saw what the Earth looks like from space. This famous photograph, "Earthrise" taken by Bill Anders on December 24, 1968 changed forever our view of our home. A beautiful blue orb, rising above the barren landscape of the moon, shining in the blackness of space.
Bill Anders
Walter Cronkite noted how anyone seeing this, could not wonder why we live in enmity, instead of embracing our brotherhood, alone together in the universe.
The other two men in my family saw combat, an experience I am just as happy to have missed. My Mom was too, having had a husband and first-born who served and made it back home alive.
My father, Victor, was with the Marine Corps at Guadalcanal during World War 2. He was pulled from combat because he contracted mosquito-borne tropical diseases-malaria and lymphatic filariasis that stayed with him until he died. These mosquitos saved his life considering the bloody battles to come: Tarawa, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. I would not be here either.
My brother, Michael, was with Air Force Special Forces in Vietnam. While on missions deep in the jungles, he was exposed numerous times to the tactical herbicide Agent Orange. The defoliant was used to clear out the jungle canopy to deny cover to the enemy. He suffers from the ill-effects of this chemical to this day.
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