Friday, June 13, 2025

FIVE SECOND STORIES

6/8-lovely day:




6/9-Bad Chuck! I was working in the yard when I noticed 2 of the 3 tomato plants had been attacked. So, I installed a fence. Christ-only in the ground for a week and tons of nice green grass at your disposal and you attack the toms.
 
I wasn't sure of the culprit until two days later when I saw MamaC on the deck nosing around the fences. Bad Chucky.
 ꩜
 
On the other hand, we welcome new neighbors! I happened to look out and saw this tiny Nutkin at the Diner.
He/she was unperturbed by other species-MamaC and one of the female blackbirds were at the Diner:


Then a sibling came and joined in! I wondered where their Mum was, perhaps dead but then I realized that they probably had reached the stage in their development where they go off on their own. No staying in Mum's basement until they are 30! My research confirms this.

Some fun facts about the red squirrel: while their mating season lasts 100 days, females enter estrus for only one day! They often venture from their territory prior to ovulation, evidently advertising a preview of coming events. When the big day comes, they will mate with 4-16 males. I guess they want to better their chances at conceiving as they do not live too many years in the wild. It is estimated that only 20% of their young make it through the first Winter.

I think their nest was in the woodpile as I had seen something dash in and out. I had thought it was a chipper but now I think it was a Nutkin. Like other squirrels, they tend not to hang out together when they grow up. I think it was comforting for these two to be together while they are carving out their respective territories. While they are little and fast, they are known amongst the squirrelies to be quite fierce and aggressive towards anybody. I've seen them both here and over at Benny's so we shall see if one considers the Back 40 to be its realm.

 ꩜
The peony is in full bloom:
DHS keeping an eye on things:

Mr. Redbird was enjoying the spa while RW was having a snack:
Later, we were having supper on the deck and Buddy was rescenting the calla's in his continual attempts to intimidate the resident chipper, when a squirrel approached:
It was LG (little guy), who is finally gaining weight and his fur is filling in after the molt:
 
Everyone was surprised when LG came closer and prairie-dogged in front of us:
I commented to C that I wondered if this is a descendant of our squirrel friend Rolla who appeared 5 years ago, doing the same thing, at the same part of the lawn. Later when Bud was lounging, he came up on the upper deck, walked past him and turned. Bud was chill and just sat there. Two feet separated their snouts. After about 3 mississippi's, LG spoke, wheeled and headed towards the Diner. Bud made no response. 
6/10-we traveled to Tawas City, about 160 miles North of us to visit C's Aunt Gerri who had just had her 92nd birthday. She was married to C's father's brother Al and while the two families only got together for Christmas and Easter, she had a needed, positive effect on C. They had a good chin wag catching up on family matters and we took Gerri out to lunch.
 
We were surprised to see lilacs and dutch iris still in bloom, showing how much 160 miles of latitude makes with the timing in the Spring.
 
At the house, the most realistic dog not taxidermized either us had seen and had to inquire if this was a departed pet:
Gerri is a squirrely fan:
And a prankster-outside by her fence, a mysterious figure looms by the pines:
Gerri and C:
On the way home, we spotted a group of Sandhills about 5 miles North of Dewitt:
6/11-planting is done and all three of the peonies are blooming:
 


 ꩜
 

Passing noted: two giants of 60's music have died-Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone on June 9 and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys on June 11. Both were 82 years old. 

Favs from Sly: Stand! and Everybody is a Star. 

Favs from the Beach Boys: Wouldn't It Be Nice and Don't Worry Baby. 

 ꩜

Hodgepodge for $500:

Alien bacteria found growing on Chinese Space Station:

Scientists recently discovered a previously unknown strain of bacteria, Niallia tiangongensis, on China's Tiangong space station. This rod-shaped bacterium, identified from samples taken from the cockpit, is a new variant of the known terrestrial soil-dwelling microbe Niallia circuans, that can cause sepsis. The newly discovered strain exhibits unique adaptations to the space environment, including the ability to break down certain proteins and a protective biofilm that shields it from radiation damage. These adaptations could have implications for understanding microbial dynamics in space and potentially for developing better cleaning processes and protection strategies for space missions. 

Salt Mine Church in Poland: 

C's immediate supervisor at the U, bestie and partner in crime, went to her ancestor's homeland and visited this famous church located in the Wieliczka Salt Mine. The mines have been in operation since the 13th C until 1996. The miners finished St. Kinga's Chapel in 1896 located 300 feet underground and is the largest underground church in the world.

We are not surprised: 

A study examining corporate executives and prison inmates found thatroughly 21% of each group exhibit clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits, according to CBS News and Inc. Magazine. This is notably higher than the 1% rate observed in the general population. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist, a standard tool for assessing psychopathic traits, was used in these studies.

Seen while out and about-the future is here:

I was picking up a take-out order at the front of the Los Tres Amigos Mexican restaurant near me when I was startled to see a waist-high robot slide by. Evidently, it has been working there since this past January. It is a Servi Plus made by Bear Robotics. I thought: well, if you own a Mexican restaurant and this increases the risk of an ICE raid resulting in your staff being dragged off-it is a wise investment to try  stay in business. On so many levels, a sad sign of the times.

The prophetic kitty: 

Oscar, a therapy cat at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, RI, was noted to make his own ward rounds in the nursing home, sniffing and observing patients. Indifferent to most, he would then decide to curl up on the bed of only certain patients. The patients he identified would invariably die within a few hours. This uncanny ability was observed in over 100 cases and he was so precise in his assessment of impending death, that the staff developed a protocol that required that patient’s family to be called in, in anticipation of death. 

Oscar was an adopted by the Center in 2005 and died in 2022.

One wonders if this ability was another reason why the Egyptians revered cats? Did at some time, a similar occurrence was noted by some ancient tribe? 

Bastet-Egyptian Goddess

A Matter of Perspective:

Michaelangelo's David next to human:

Beautiful fowl: 

Male Mandarin Duck 

Found only in the Eastern Hemisphere yet closely related to the North American Wood Duck who is another snappy dresser:
June's full moon-Strawberry Moon:

This year's Strawberry Moon marks an important event in the lunar cycle: the lunar standstill where the moon's orbit causes it to appear low in the sky. The moon rises and sets at its extreme northern and southern positions. This phenomenon happens every 18.6 years when the moon's orbit is tilted at its greatest angle relative to Earth's equator, causing the moon to appear unusually low or high in the sky. 

Many researchers believe that the one of the earliest phases of the Stonehenge site was devoted to predicting this 18.6 year cycle beginning in 3,000-2500 BCE.

I witnessed the low moon early this morning. I woke up out of first sleep and hit the bathroom. Sitting there, I looked out the window to across the street at my neighbors and the moon was mostly obscured by the trees in back of his house.

Longest Place Name in the US:

CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMAUGG 
A lake located in MA, it is the 3rd longest place name in the world. It is an Indigenous word in the Nipmuc language that roughly translates to "English knifemen and Nipmuc Indians at the Border or Neutral Fishing Place". The lake is known officially as Webster Lake.

Lionel, the Lion Faced Man:

Born Stephan Bibrowski in Poland, he suffered from a rare condition called hypertrichosis and became a famous sideshow performer with Barnum and Bailey for a time before becoming a fixture at Coney Island, NY. He died of a heart attack in 1932 aged 42 years. When I first saw his picture I thought of a famous Star Wars character:

George Lucas states that Chewbacca was inspired not by Lionel but by his Alaskan Malamute dog.

Mark the date!

On April 13, 2029, the asteroid Apophis is scheduled to fly within 20,000 miles of Earth, the closest flyby of a city-killer object in recorded history. Discovered in 2004, this bad boy measures 1480' x 560' and will be a naked-eye object when it stops by. 

 

Artist's rendition
 

Amish "Hex" signs:

From Wiki: Hex signs are a form of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art, related to fraktur a highly artistic and elaborate illuminated folk art found in the Fancy Dutch tradition. Barn paintings, usually in the form of "stars in circles", began to appear on the landscape in the early 19th century and became widespread  in the early 20th century when commercial ready-mixed paint became widely available. Two schools of thought exist on the meaning of hex signs. One school ascribes a talismanic nature to the signs; the other sees them as purely decorative. Both schools recognize that there are sometimes superstitions associated with certain hex sign themes and neither ascribes strong magical power to them. However, the Amish do not use hex signs.

Patrick J. Donmoyer

 The Sacagawea dollar:


The Sacagawea dollar (also known as the "golden dollar") is a United States dollar coin introduced in 2000, but subsequently minted only for niche circulation from 2002 onward. The coin generally failed to meet consumer and business demands but it is still generally accepted in circulation.

These coins have a copper core clad by manganese brass, giving them a distinctive golden color.

When C and I were having lunch with Aunt Gerri at The Lodge restaurant in Tawas City, we got into a conversation with folks at an adjacent table. They had overheard our birthday toast and joined in. The man was older (82 he said) and I believe his granddaughter. He came over and gifted Gerri, first a Kennedy half dollar coin then as he was leaving, a Sacagawea and a tiny Jesus figurine about the size of a small thumbnail. 

꩜ 

Fable: Tornado culture

Tornadoes are strange critters: their existence is very brief lasting from a few minutes to a couple of hours at most. Now, what about all that energy? Well, it goes back into the atmosphere and the spirit joins others of its kind. Considering the numbers of tornadoes created worldwide each year, this is a huge community. A couple of tales:

Arnett, OK 


A drone flew into this twister on 5/18/25. It was part of a supercell that produced several tornadoes. This one roped out after 6-7 minutes. However, the community was quite displeased with the tornado for not destroying the drone which penetrated the vortex several times. Having your vortex penetrated is a giant no-no in tornado culture and then not to destroy it, well, the culture was appalled and the twister was cancelled. The comments online were brutal:

-"It's not rocket science for Christssakes-don't think, fling!"

-"Nice, penetrated 8 times. What a wuzz". 

-"A friggin' disgrace!"

-"What a landspout!"

-"You're one and only shot at existence and you blew it."

 His spirit spotted on his way to Iowa:


 Morton TX

Two human idiot storm chasers got too close to this 2.2 mile wide monster wedge out in BF Texas. It drew up a lot of dust as it had been dry there and the radarman commented to the driver "oh, he's a dirty boy". This was a bad mistake as it really pissed the tornado off and it suddenly swung around so the chasers drove into the gorilla hail quadrant of the storm which blew out both front and back windshields. They were lucky to escape with their lives. Afterwards, the spirit was revered by his community in the next place they go to after they die. It is said that in such cases, such spirits enjoy free drinks for many years from their mates in honor of his service and dedication.

 ꩜ 

Interesting film: The Fall-2006


Set in 1915, a Hollywood stuntman is in the hospital after jumping off a bridge. He befriends a 5 year old Romanian girl who is recovering from a broken arm and spins magical tales.

Filmed in 24 countries with little if any CGI. The story may be a bit fragmented for some but visually, it is wonderful. Where else would you see a keyhole that is used as a pinhole camera that creates an extraordinary vision for the little girl? 

Only found on Mubi-go for the free 7 day trial then cancel. 

 

 

 

 


 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)