The paradox of Spring in Michigan: you get a taste of warm weather and you yearn for it in your bones. That's why so many from here retire to the South. At the same time, you love when it's a cool and extended Spring so all the blooms last longer. It is so beautiful. We had a blast of cold air sweep down and it got down to 29° on the morning of 4/25.
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After two years of a problem carburetor on my gas mower, which two repair shops were unable to fix (for a price). My neighbor across the street has had an electric mower for three years so after consulting with him, I made the investment. It helped that they were on sale at Lowe's with an enticement of a free battery on selected models. Unless you have a small yard, having two batteries is the way to go. My grass out front was pretty thick in places which was easily handled by the e-mower. No more carburetor, no more oil and spark plug changes and no more gasoline.
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Earth Day Buffet at the Diner
It's end of term for C and typically, she helps clean out the department frig and brings home a semi-annual selection of goodies for our patrons. Big slices of pizza, sweet goods and Middle Eastern cuisine topped the menu. It was a fine afternoon, bright, coolish with a good breeze. Folks across the street were entertaining relatives from Montreal so the Québécois flag was flying in front.
Mr. Birch's leaves are beginning to come out:
Stubbs enjoying a sweet:
Greedy Napoleon grabbed a piece of pizza nearly as large as himself:
Another squirrel came and chased him away from it:
A surprise! Another nutkin, smaller, perhaps a female-Napoleon's wife Jo? sampling a sweet.
Mr. Robin stopped by to partake the waters:
Mr. Redbird flew in and sampled a danish:
DHS sauntered through the Diner without stopping-just making his presence known. Later, he conked out on top of C in front of the fireplace.
The next morning, nothing was left. I'm sure the coons cleaned up.
From Wiki: About 66 million years ago, our planet experienced Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) it's fifth extinction event, a mass extinction which destroyed a majority of the world's Mesozoic species, including all dinosaurs except for birds. In the geologic record, the K–Pg event is marked by a thin layer of sediment called the K-Pg boundary or K–T boundary, which can be found throughout the world in marine and
terrestrial rocks. The boundary clay shows unusually high levels of the
metal iridium, which is more common in asteroids than in the Earth's crust. This is helpful for determining age in an excavation: below the K-Pg boundary-dinosaurs, above-none.
What caused this? Many scientists feel that a large meteorite hit Earth and radically changed the climate. The impact site is known as the Chicxulub crater.
It's been calculated that the meteorite was 6 miles in diameter. When it impacted creating an 150 mile wide crater, it threw a large amount of dust containing iridium into the atmosphere and literally dusted the entire planet creating this distinctive layer.
A minor extinction event happened roughly 12,900 years ago. The Younger Dryas or Mini Ice Age, temporary reversed the gradual warming of the planet after the Last Glacial Maximum. Although planet wide extinction of flora and fauna was not as extreme as the K-Pg event, the period of extreme cooling contributed to extinctions of more than 35 species
of megafauna including giant sloths, sabre-tooth cats, mastodons and mammoths. It also impacted human populations. Africa seems to be one of the safest places and research has showed the greatest amount of species survival especially around Kenya.
What caused the Younger Dryas is controversial among scientists. One theory points to another celestial event as iridium is found in sediments from around this time.
One curious line of thought is that memories of this event became integrated into the oral history of surviving cultures. As a result, they became obsessive skywatchers for it had been told that oblivion had come from the sky. Perhaps priesthoods were created, eventually leading to worldwide astronomical calendars such as Newgrange, Stonehenge and the Pyramids.
One scary theory about where these meteors come from points to the annual Taurid meteor shower that occur each Fall and cluster of debris known as the Taurid Resonant Swarm. As you can see by this map, Earth's orbit crosses the Taurid path twice during the year.
The 1908 Tunguska, Russia event is thought to be linked to the Taurid debris. A meteor air burst of 3-50 megatons flattened an estimated 80 million trees over an area of 830 sq mi. Fortunately, this happened in Siberia where human population is sparse. This explosion over an urban area would have been catastrophic. And what was found at the site? Iridium!
Within the scientific community, there are those quite concerned about another large object from the Taurid orbit hitting Earth as depicted in:
Scientists estimate that 150 million years from now, Saturn's rings will have mostly disappeared and may look like this.
A kitten in Turkey was born with four ears, evidently the result of a recessive gene. Her name is Midas.
The black heron from Africa also known as a black egret uses a hunting method called canopy feeding — it uses its wings like an umbrella, creating shade that attracts fish.
Tony Castro
Here's a group hard at work.
Werner Suter
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Fun Fact:
London landmark Big Ben is actually the Great Clock of Westminster renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 in honor of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Big Ben refers to the Great Bell, part of the chiming mechanism within the clock.
David Bezaire
Many early European keyboards were made out of woolly mammoth ivory.
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Fun vids:
Resurrection plant-from Wiki:
Selaginella lepidophylla (syn. Lycopodium lepidophyllum), also known as a resurrection plant, is a species of desert plant in the spikemoss family. It is native to the Chihuahuan Desert of the United States and Mexico. S. lepidophylla is renowned for its ability to survive almost complete desiccation. Resurrection plants are vascular rooted plants
capable of surviving extreme desiccation, then resuming normal
metabolic activity upon rehydration. The plant's hydro-responsive
movements are governed by stem moisture content, tissue properties and a
graded distribution of lignified cells affecting concentric stem stiffness and spiraling. During dry weather in its native habitat, its stems curl into a tight ball, uncurling only when exposed to moisture.
Wild evolution: Giant honeybees, including Apis dorsata (shown), send waves cascading across their open nests by flipping their abdomens upward in a coordinated motion. The behavior seems to deter bee predators such as hornets.
Wild evolution: the pink orchid mantis:
A microburst over Lake Millstatt, Austria:
How water behaves in zero gravity-an experiment devised by 10th grade Nova Scotian students for astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS):
View of Earth taken by ISS astronaut going outside to make repairs:
A woman missing an arm has it replaced with a prosthetic vine/tentacle:
Bernoulli's principle: formulated by Daniel Bernoulli states that as the speed of a moving fluid increases (liquid or gas), the pressure within the fluid decreases. Although Bernoulli deduced the law, it was Leonhard Euler who derived Bernoulli's equation in its usual form in the year 1752.
Elf girl hypnotizes a chicken
American artist David Popa renders charcoal images on ice floes:
Two bees work together to open a bottle of soda. "That's righty tighty, lefty loosey, right?"
Clever surrealism from a lad in UK:
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4/17-we had a tornado warning ahead of a band of storms. The rotation was seen on radar East of Eaton Rapids, along with several reports of hail moving to the Northeast towards Mason. We were in no danger here. C's last class of the term was ended early. This system was followed by a blast of cold air with lows at night into the 30's.
4/20-we had flurries! Meanwhile, the grass is needing to be mowed but it is only 43°!
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Critter news
C's new name for Bud is Buddy-roo. Buddy is rather generic used for kids, dogs, cats-she added the suffix reflecting his vocalizations.
So, up to this point I have been referring to this squirrel with the truncated tail as Stubbs. But now, this one has nipples. Have I mis-gendered for some time? It knows me and will come dashing up for peanuts. Could it be Skye from a couple of years ago? Tis a mystery.
I believe I have finally ID'd our birch residents: this is a male House Sparrow. Upon research, I found that they like to nest in tree holes and once the eggs are laid, both genders take turns roosting.
Yesterday evening, I spotted Mr. Bun lounging in the grass on Benny's yard just beyond the East Garden. His grandson had been over in the afternoon to mow the lawn. Mr. Bun was enjoying having a snack on freshly cut grass and looked like he felt safe and relaxed.
The power of Spring: life has awakened and this energy is widespread and intense with all the growth and baby making. This is overwhelming to predators who feel this in their veins with every breath.
Molls, in her final Spring, had a youthful spate of hunting. For a good week, she was bringing in nearly a kill per day, proudly displaying the corpses in the library for us to admire and praise her prowess. His Lordship has indulged in this predator bacchanalia as well with a bit of a twist. In a feline gesture of thankfulness, he has brought in kills, offering to share them with us by placing them under both of our desks. Sigh. While we reluctantly accept his predator instincts and allow him to be an inside/outside katter, still it is shocking to discover these partially eaten corpses. We're hoping this blood lust will abate as the season goes on. Meanwhile, we're going to cleanse the rooms with healing sage to honor the dead.
Diner News:
A black squirrel visited, the first since last Fall.
Of course, Napoleon got into a fight with him:
After a couple of bouts, they settled down for a peaceful bite:
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The Museum for the United Nations-UN Live has just announced the launch of Sounds Right, a global music initiative that enables nature to earn money from its own sounds. Earthrise, Earth Percent, and Spotify will also participate. Nature will be listed as a musical artist in its own right and will be awarded a percentage of profits from sales. Those royalties will first go to EarthPercent, a charity cofounded by
ambient music pioneer Brian Eno. Then, an advisory panel made up of
conservation experts, biologists, environmental activists, and
Indigenous peoples will distribute the funds.
Elderly hamsters: these critters average lifespan is 2-3 years. Occasionally some go beyond. Here is a 3.5 year old looking shaggy reminding me of when many of us had Covid hair:
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The aye-aye is a nocturnal lemur endemic to Madagascar with a lineage dating back nearly 70 million years.
David Haring
He has a passing resemblance to a more famous creature, perhaps a distant cousin:
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I started watching the latest Godzilla and noticed something new in the MPA ratings: creature violence! Yes, for those sensitive to imaginary critters causing mayhem and widespread destruction as well as squaring off against other imaginary creatures and kicking ass. Oi.
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We're heading into morel mushroom season. When Michele and I had our place West of Eagle, the former owner left instructions where to find morels in an adjoining property that was a very old woods. We were able to find the spot and enjoy feasting on some freshly picked 'schrooms.
I learned from C that in France, which has a long history of eating wild mushrooms, pharmacists are trained to identify mushrooms and large posters of them are displayed in windows and shops during the mushrooming season.
Foragers take the mushrooms they have gathered to their pharmacist
where, free of charge, the mushrooms are checked for toxicity.
We have in Michigan, a self-proclaimed mushroom capital of the United States. For the past 65 years in May, the tiny village of Mesick (oh, you just can't beat this delicious pun and warning), located 20 miles Northwest of Cadillac, holds an annual mushroom festival.
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Curious thing about Hindu-Arabic numerals-each contains the number of angles the number represents:
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Nutkin has a new moniker: Napoleon. He's small, very ambitious and pesky in the face of adversaries. Since last Fall, he has expanded his range to include Benny and our backyards and Diners.
I noticed Stubbs splooting while eating peanuts. Like a Roman patrician lounging at a feast:
When I go out to hang the bird feeder, I usually greet Mr. Birch and give him a pat on his trunk. I inquired how he was doing and he replied that he was ok, getting old and that his top was thinning of leaves. I doffed my cap and said that "I feel you, bro". He chuckled. Two red admiral butterflies were orbiting his trunk and finally settled.
Later in the day, I was shocked to see that someone had carved a new large hole in the dead trunk. I keep up to date what's happenin' at the Diner and back 40 so it was surprising that I had not seen the work being done.
Then I saw someone was inside:
I am not sure who this is and have been trying to see them go out and back, wondering if they were sitting on some eggs. No sightings other than this instance. Stay tuned.
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Fun vids:
A singing highway in Hungary:
Massive sheep herd in New Zealand being guided by some very hard working doggies! Sheep murmuration!
Fairy forts (also known as lios or raths from the Irish, referring to an earthen mound) are the remains of stone circles, ringforts, hillforts, or other circular prehistoric dwellings in Ireland. From (possibly) the late Iron Age
to early Christian times, the island's occupants built circular
structures with earth banks or ditches. These were sometimes topped with
wooden palisades and wooden framed buildings. As the dwellings were not
durable, only vague circular marks often remained in the landscape. The remains of these structures, in conjunction with the vegetation around them, are associated with local traditions and folklore, perhaps involving fairies or other supposed supernatural entities, who would "defend" the structures from destruction by builders or farmers.
As of 1991, there were between thirty and forty thousand identifiable fairy forts in Ireland's countryside,the oldest of them possibly dating back as early as 600 BCE.
I first came across mention of Fairy Forts from the YT Try channel where Irish folk try a variety of food and drink. A passing comment by one gave full warning not to disturb a fairy fort out of fear of upsetting the fairies.
Irish folklore is rich with these creatures and the following vid explains eight examples of the better known fairies.
We had a beautiful, warm Spring day for the solar eclipse, the first in this area since 2017. In both cases, we were not in the path of totality-that has not happened since the year of my birth in 1954. The next total solar eclipse in the lower 48 states will take place in 2044, the next one to be seen in MI will happen in 2099.
C, I and several of her colleagues gathered in the parking lot behind Bessey Hall. Any open area on campus was packed with students and there was such a good vibe.
Here, we had 97% coverage occurring at 3.12pm EDT:
Nick King
We borrowed viewing glasses from C's friends. I made a pinhole camera: several apertures were made on a piece of aluminum foil taped over a square hole in a chunk of mat board. The light passes through the holes and is projected on another piece of mat board. Size and clarity of image is adjusted by changing the distance between the mat boards. This is also known as a camera obscura, an ancient piece of technology going back centuries.
At 97% coverage, we noticed that the light around us has softly dimmed the environment and the birds had quieted. The return of the sun was announced by a male cardinal, high in the trees, like a feathered muezzin.
Other notable things on this fine day:
The first dandelion:
The first butterfly-a red admiral. To some, their appearance symbolizes spiritual awakening, transformation, and renewal. I saw another today.
Unusual sighting-Mourning doves on the pool railing:
The discovery of a transplanted daff by our squirrel friends who moved it across the front walk from its homeland:
The vibe I mentioned before-millions of Americans gathering to witness together (although not at the same time), an event not tied to an entertainment star or sports. Something more basic, to remind us of where we are in the solar system, to show us there are much larger, fundamental things at play. Additionally, this was a welcomed respite from the relentless meat grinder of culture wars and politics which consume so much of our daily consciousness. It was like a cool drink of water.
This gene, TKTL1 whose discovery was first published in 1996, separates modern humans who have the gene from early hominins such as the Neanderthals who do not. A single amino acid change in this protein promotes rapid expansion of neurons in the brain. Research implies that this aided our early ancestors to develop a wide variety of skills and explains how they eventually wiped out all other hominins and took over the planet.
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Extremophiles: organisms able to live in extreme environments whether it be temperature, radiation, pressure (under the sea) and PH.
A good example of extremophile are the Tardigrades aka Water Bear. They are microscopic, being only .020" long, and are known to survive in outer space (NASA did experiments)
Manta rays jumping. Scientists haven't figured out why exactly-some type of communication including a mating dance. Or maybe it's just fun.
A giant robot resembling the 1970s anime figure Gundam has been tested
in Yokohama, Japan. The robot stands at nearly 60 feet tall and weighs
24 tons.
Mushroom spores released at night.
A dog named Stella loves jumping into leaf piles. Worlds largest anamorphic illusion in Seoul, South Korea. Salt ponds in the San Francisco bay area.
Jatrapha curas is a plant found around the world in subtropical and tropical climates. It has a unique property.
The ribbon eel a species of moray eel, the only member of the genus
Rhinomuraena and is found in sand burrows and reefs in the
Indo-Pacific Ocean.
I thought English actor Terry Thomas was a hoot when I was a kid. Here he is at the gas station, smoking.
The adult Wednesday Addams lays some life wisdom on an insanely cheerful Driver's Ed instructor.
Very angry donuts attack a French computer tech whose nose resembles a frankfurter.
Cat entertainment.
Leaf skiing-never heard of this.
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More stuff:
Hunting buddies: during the warm seasons, coyotes and badgers will form
mutually beneficial relationship to get food. The coyote uses his speed
to take down swift prey, the badger will follow it if it decides to go
down a hole too small for the coyote.
Jason Rudolph
Iconic architecture from San Francisco: Coit Tower
Matt Boyle
This art deco concrete tower was built in 1933. Coit Tower is named for Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an early San Francisco philanthropist and adorer of local firefighters. In addition to her love of San Francisco and
firefighting, Coit was noted for sometimes dressing like a man and
pursuing what were considered masculine pastimes—like gambling, sharpshooting and phallic symbols.
A rare spotted zebra born in 2019 in Kenya likely has a genetic mutation called pseudomelanism.
Frank Liu
A two-headed turtle was born in MS in 2019.
Divers off the coast of Norway come across a giant squid egg sack containing thousands of baby squid. These sacs are rarely seen as they tend to fill with water and sink to the sea floor, too deep for divers to go.
Nudibranchs-from Wiki: belong to the order Nudibranchia, a group ofsoft-bodied marine gastropod molluscs that shed their shells after their larval stage.They are noted for their often extraordinary colours and striking forms.
They live in seas worldwide, ranging from the Arctic, through temperate and tropical regions, to the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.They are almost entirely restricted to salt water, although a few species are known to inhabit lower salinities in brackish water.
Nudibranchs live at virtually all depths, from the intertidal zone to depths well over 2,300 ft.
Their greatest diversity is seen in warm, shallow reefs,
although one species was discovered at a depth near 8,200 ft.
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Saturday afternoon at the Diner: while chilly, the sun brought many of our regulars in. Nutkin, in his manic Looney Tunes on speed persona, was everywhere. Evidently, he has learned his lessons from multiple ass-kickings by the big squirrels. If they show up, he skedaddles out of their way and returns asap once they have gone.
M/M Redbird stopped by for a bite
Stubbs enjoying a peanut on birch limb
Nutkin and Mrs. RB
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I was watching an Aussie storm chaser's vid of his encounter with the infamous 2014 "Pilger Twins". Like many, he has a proximity warning to alert him that he is close to a tornado (many are rain-wrapped and invisible). His was vocal, male and flat, saying:
You are approaching a twisting storm. Please exercise caution.
Think of the robot's voice on Lost In Space.
It struck me as curious for choice and style of warning. Perhaps Aussie humor, wry and ironic. Or, where he was from, it was the only one available.
