The Cambrian Period was the first geologic period of the Paleozoic Era beginning 538 million years ago lasting 53 million years. On land, Earth was lifeless but underwater, there was an explosion of life, diversity and evolution. Our species lineage can be traced to these earliest creatures.

꩜

I came across a charming folklorish term: A mermaid's purse. This refers to a collagen protein strand casing that surrounds the fertilized eggs of species including some sharks, skates and chimaeras.

꩜

We love Buddy's open desire for belly rubs and wonder how he became this way. None of our former cats would tolerate much intrusion in this area of their body. I had this fanciful thought the other day: perhaps when he was in the wild, Buddy had a puppy friend. Now, dogs are huge lovers of belly rubs and I wondered if lonely kitten Buddy, seeing all the attention his friend was getting, decided to imitate him. Bud is quite intelligent especially when it comes to problem solving, so this theory seems plausible. At any rate, this behavior is something that helped cement our falling in love with this big guy.

꩜

Another nugget I just learned (or had forgotten, always something to consider when you are North of 60): thesaurus in Greek is thēsauros meaning treasury. An apt name if I have ever seen one.

꩜

Boxing day: this morning, it was 50° and the squirrels were busy at The Diner.


Freddie and Stubbs

Squirrel Nutkin

All our diners have been looking well-fed. I wonder if this season will become known at the Fat Winter by our wild neighbors.

꩜

Buddy enjoying his new catnip delivery vehicle, Mr. Chameleon. A new phrase in our lexicon: partaking the chameleon.

꩜

And now, for a bit of buzzkill:

Wa Wa

Authoritarian cruelty, Russian style.

Opposition leader Alexey Navalny disappeared for two weeks leaving his allies frantically searching for him. Finally, word arrived that he had been transferred to an distant gulag located above the Arctic Circle known for two seasons: very cold and mosquito. Evidently, Putin, with "elections" close at hand wanted to make sure Navalny was as isolated and incommunicado as possible. It will take his allies 44 hours to reach him by train from Moscow.


Alexey Navalny

꩜

We've crossed a threshold in this country where bad behavior by people in the public area is no longer controlled by shame. In the past, those who violated widely accepted community standards, were shamed by public opinion into resigning, retiring, deciding to spend more time with their families. Now, some have learned if they can stand the heat, this gives them leverage. They simply say "fuck you" and continue to do what they are doing. This is why all the court cases in the country are so important right now. The rule of law is one of the final barriers preventing the country turning into a Fascist, violent, chaotic mess. What is just as alarming is that this concept has spread across the planet thanks to Trump etal and the numbers of dictator wannabes are proliferating. A very toxic and dangerous plague is upon us. 2024 already is looking to be a nasty shit-show. Buckle up and good luck to us all.

꩜

Fun fact: the highest flying bird is the Bar Headed Geese who are known to fly over Mt. Everest while migrating from China to India. The highest recorded altitude is 30,500 feet.

These geese have evolved to develop better lung capacity, better gas transferal systems and a tolerance for low oxygen environments among other things to successfully fly at high altitudes.

꩜

By and large in most bird species, only the males sing. Notable exceptions in our area are the red-winged blackbird, Northern cardinal and rose breasted grosbeak.

꩜

Cindy Goeddel

How foxes hunt in snow: they will jump straight up in the air, sometimes several feet, and plunge headfirst into the snow with their mouth wide open. If the attack was successful, the fox will emerge from the snow with the prey in its mouth.

꩜

Madagascan folktale: How the Baobob Tree got its shape.

When the gods finished planting life on Earth and went home, they discovered that they had forgotten to plant the Baobob trees. Now, planting all that life on an entire planet is exhausting work even for gods so they were tired and in need of rest and refreshment. So, they simply threw the trees down to Earth from the heavens and headed for the pub.

I thought this was charming and struck by its concept through observation: what happens to objects dropped from a distance as they accelerate. There's a visual aspect-foreshortening. Items coming down look thicker at the nearest point to the viewer and anything on top, due to the speed, tend to fold upward.

꩜

Our traditional tree topper is a very old angel ornament named Mirandi made of spun glass, an early word for fiberglass. It was given to me by my parents who had it for years. The earliest photo I could find is from 1957 but I think it is older. Its box has no date printed by the manufacturer, although I found one identical online stating it was from the 1930's. But, the company may not have updated the box for years, so who knows. The company was founded in 1888 in Manitowoc, WI as a early ornament and toy maker. It was sold and reorganized as the National Tinsel Co. in 1918 and ended the toy program. Today, the company is known as Santa's Best, located in West Chester, PA.

I do not know about where the name Mirandi came from. I have a feeling the true name is Miranda, with little Jeffrey preferring the ending "di" to "da". My mother was quite well-read and I could see her using a character from Shakespeare's The Tempest especially since Miranda is a strong woman and that would have appealed to her.

꩜

"Space Guitar" from 1954 by Johnny "Guitar" Watson. He was one of the pioneers in the use of feedback and reverb, influencing many future guitarists such as Guitar Slim, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa and Stevie Ray Vaughan. His style moved with the times from southern blues to urban blues to funk. He was known for a theatrical swagger onstage and stylish clothes. He died in 1996 during a performance in Yokohama, Japan and is barely known or remembered by the general public today.

꩜

Jumping off a perfectly good cliff. I don't have the cojones to ever do this or parachute or paraglide. I have, however, gone soaring in a fixed wing glider. Much safer and a lot of fun.