FIVE SECOND STORIES

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.