FIVE SECOND STORIES

C just came back from Kansas City where she gave a short speech at an event presenting the 19th Kansas City Voices,"...an annual publication with an eclectic mix of fiction, essays, interviews, articles, poetry, and art. We seek exceptionally written and visual creations from established and emerging voices". Her collage was among those selected from a thousand written and visual entries. Congrats and well done C!

Bud, on C's bed, was happy that Mum was back. It was funny, in her absence he really didn't hang out in her room. Except when the Culligan Man came with a salt delivery-under her bed is his official safe place. We're happy about the choice-so much better than going back to being a rafter kitty. Anyway, he generally hung out in my office. I warned C when we got home near midnight from the airport, that he would probably desire some attention. She took a bath and eventually turned in around 1.30 pm. Kids...

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Bud has persistent logic with his demands. Say, I put down his second supper but he ignores it and sits by the baby Einstein. This signals his wish for treats, first. Nothing will dissuade him until I comply with Section 7c: disbursements of treats and honor a reasonable request. I swear, his Lordship must have been a barrister in a former life.

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Little remembered worldwide epidemic: From 1915-1926, encephalitis lethargica affected at least one million people resulting in death of at least 500,000. Now thought of as a disease of the past, it is still seen occasional cases today. It is known to cause postencephalitic parkinsonism which appears in Oliver Sacks 1973 non-fiction book Awakenings, that recounts the life histories of those who had been victims of the 1920s encephalitis lethargica epidemic.

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The other day, Bud and I were on the couch in front of the fire when he engaged in a vigorous round of ear cleaning. He folded the ear back inside out, licked his paw which he then swept across. Repeat as needed. A sharp shake of the head caused the ear to snap back into shape. No need of Q-tips!

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A couple of fun science facts from the Why Files:

 

What about the conspiracy theory that claims that the moon landings were all staged and Stanley Kubrick directed the first Apollo moon landing? This is an interesting and entertaining debunking. Good storytelling.

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The legend of Princess Tuskawanta:

 

Johnny Milano

A detail of Tuskawanta, the Algonquin princess who drowns at least one male each year in Lake Ronkonkoma as she seeks her true love, according to the legend.

 

A 32 foot sculpture created by Michigan native Todd Arnett.
 

 https://nypost.com/2018/10/30/the-haunted-tale-that-keeps-long-island-locals-out-of-this-lake/ https://nypost.com/

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The Third Eye Depicted Through History and Across Cultures:

 A: The third "parietal" eye of some amphibians and reptiles. 

B: The Ayurvedic chakra system including the third-eye chakra. 

C: Rene Descartes' depiction of the pineal gland (aka third eye) as the central relay station of consciousness (i.e., the "seat of the soul"). 

D: The Hindu God, Shiva, with an open third eye on the forehead.

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Between now and September, we have a chance to witness a nova explosion in the constellation of Hercules, an event that happens every 80 years or so. The last one was recorded in 1946. For a few days, the nova, 3,000 light years from Earth, will be as bright as the North Star thus visible to the naked eye. In June, Hercules appears directly overhead at midnight. From NASA:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2024/02/27/view-nova-explosion-new-star-in-northern-crown/

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Mr. Bun is back! We haven't seen him since late January. It looks like he is beginning to change out of his Winter coat. They begin mating season in February so perhaps he has been, preoccupied.

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3/4: We set another daily high temperature of 69° breaking the record set in 1897. The lilacs and honeysuckle are showing bud. The daylilies are coming up. 

Buddy enjoying the sunshine and warmth

3/6: The last I saw of the Bessey snowpile. (see 3/1 post) She was about the size of a baseball in the morning and she was gone by the afternoon, beginning her voyage to Lake Michigan.

We had some days of rain then it turned cold. 

3/10: We had overnight snow. His Lordship was not pleased.

Early morning found Stubbs alone in the Diner

Poor daffs but they're hardy.

Cold day in mid-30's. Became partly cloudy around noon and typical of this time of year, the snow was gone by 2pm.

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3/11-first sighting of Mamachuck. I wondered to C if she is preggers-C replied that considering the time of year, she probably is!

3/13-daffs in bloom, forsythia ready to pop! In 2023, daffs bloomed the first week of April with the forsythia opening the following week.

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Things from my childhood that you rarely encounter today:

Auto dashboard compasses

I had a couple of uncles who had these-it was somewhat of a fad and had a feel of something adult boy scouts would have. Gosh, those pre-GPS days!

Ham radios

I had another who uncle who tinkered with this. Seemed to go along with folks who bought Popular Science/Mechanics magazines.

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Seen while surfing YT: unusual influencer-a preferment evangelist. We're talking about water and dough here, folks.

My feed is filled with all sorts of anti-roach commentators from MeidasTouch to MSNBC to Rachel Maddow to Jimmy Kimmel that are non-stop, gleeful updating of this slow motion trainwreck. They might as well go all in because if the son-of-bitch wins, given his vengeful threats, there's probably a good chance that they will be liquidated if he decides to go full Putin. Just today there's news of a hammer attack on one of Navalny's former aides in Lithuania. He managed to survive.

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Utah DPS

In November 2020, this metal monolith was discovered in a Utah canyon standing nearly 10 feet tall. It was removed a few days after discovery. In the following months, such structures were sighted across the planet in California, Colombia, Isle of Wight, Romania, Netherlands, Turkey and Australia. All were removed shortly after discovery as well. 

The latest sighting occurred a few days ago in Powys, Wales.

Craig Muir

No attribution except for the CA piece has ever been made to any individual or group. Not surprisingly, theories abound.

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Given the widespread popularity of tattoos, it's not surprising that someone has hit upon a service to preserve a loved ones tattoo after death. That's right, you can have Mom's Jesus Sacred Heart and Dad's We The People tatts next to Grandma's samplers! Save My Ink Forever began in 2016 (available in most states) with pricing beginning at $1,700 for a 5" x 5" framed piece.

Charles Ham

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