FIVE SECOND STORIES

Pool project:

The new pool has been installed and landscaping completed.

The electricians came and ran power out to the pool equipment. Not having dealt much with this trade, I was surprised they were able to run a new line out of the breaker box without turning off the power. I mentioned this to the 30 something owner. He grinned and replied "of course we can, we're electricians!"

 

 I knew it might be risky planting anything near the Diner. I put in 3 peonies and 7 echinacea.

Sho'nuff, that afternoon one had been beheaded of its bloom.

The following morning, all had lost their blooms. My finger points at the Chucks rather than rabbits. The echinacea is the East garden has never been attacked and the Chucks aren't known to wander over. It could be deer as I noticed that one of the rose of sharon had been nipped at chest level. Measures will be taken against the Chucks. For now, I have the plants protected by cloches.

Garden: 

Mr. Zucc is doing well.

The first cherry tomatoes are ripening:

 

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Fun vids:

Origin of the Michelin Man:

Interesting jazz cover of Bowie's "Is There Life on Mars" by Postmodern Jukebox:

 Baby hedgehogs and Mum:

Stunning visuals from Luc Bresson's 2017 "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets"-the planet Mül and its inhabitants.

The film on the whole was not very good. In fact, it was the worst box office failure for a European independent film. Still, the director who brought us the funny and visually wonderful "The Fifth Element" (oh, the alien diva performing on an orbiting platform with a beautiful blue planet as a backdrop sequence is a fav) has some great ideas.

From the series "On This Spot", shorts highlighting women artists working in NYC starting in the 1960s.

Laurie Simmons:

 Pat Steir:

Due to an odd quirk of genetics and some unique evolutionary circumstances, two humans who lived at different times in the distant past managed to pass on a very small fraction of their genomes to you. And to me. To all of us.

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How Mendolsohn's Wedding March became so popular: this music was one of two chosen by Princess Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for her wedding to Prince Frederick of Prussia in 1857. It was a hit with brides who wished to emulate the royals and became firmly implanted in British and American culture.

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Critters:

Seen while out and about: I was south of here to order some mulch when I spotted a very large turtle on the road shoulder.

Corey Seeman

He had come out of a cat-tailed marsh. Who he was is a bit of a mystery. The largest Michigan turtle is the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra Serpentine) which according to sources typically is a foot long, with some individuals topping out at 20 inches in length. This guy was much larger! Of course, I did not have my camera with me. I have seen such a large turtle where I grew up-it appeared one afternoon in our front yard coming perilously to my Dad's roses. Fortunately, he was just passing through. 

I thought about stopping and helping Mr. Snapper across the road without thinking that the critter could be heavy. But then I thought perhaps he was on a recon mission, gathering information in order to make an informed decision. I decided to leave well enough alone.

I was having a sandwich in a parking lot just west of home when I saw this fellow:

Eastern Bluebird

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A critter I had never heard of: Meet the Hyrax! And no, this is not a creation of Dr. Seuss.

From Wiki: Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Also called dassies, they are small, stout, herbivorous mammals typically between 12 and 28 in long and weigh between 4 and 11 lb. Hydraxes, with one exception, live in Africa. While they are superficially similar to marmots, they are much more closely related to elephants and sea cows! 

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A new squirrel at the Diner! There seems to be a new gen of squirrels with crooked tails-this one is smaller than Liza. But like Rolla, Stubbs and Liza, it seems to have some genetic memory. Very friendly and not bashful about asking for peanuts. I haven't been able to sex although it may be female, so I am going with an ambidextrous name: Mel. She's pretty feisty-if there's a squabble or I see some major tail switching-it's usually Mel.

 

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Lovely piece "Silver Sea" by Dmitry Oleyn, a Ukrainian painter based in Germany. Born in 1979.
 

Rhythms of Life Land Art Projects-Andrew Rogers

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/rhythms-of-life-land-art-rhythms-of-life/zwWBR_yu8dh_Iw?hl=en 

Fun Facts: 

Half of the world's population lives here in the yellow areas:

The Earth spins 1000 mph faster at the equator than at the poles!
 

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Tis a real shame the direction the country is heading. Part of MAGA is a chunk of the people who have been pissed off for decades about the 1960's cultural revolution. They loathe gains made for Civil Rights, Women's Rights, Gay Rights, measures to help the poor not to mention the growing secularization in the country. They've been working hard to attack and reverse the gains made. They've hitched their stars to a vengeful narcissist who will enable their bloodthirsty desires for retribution. 

But, because our species is really stupid, always forgetting the past and not learning from mistakes, we can just look at history to see what's coming. The pendulum is in motion and we are entering a new era. Buckle up, folks, it is gonna suck.