The other morning I received a text and pix from our friends across the street: there were a pair of Sandhill Cranes in their front yard who eventually walked over between our place and Johnny's.
Research says that the reddish tinge indicates that these are juveniles who turn grey as Fall approaches.
~
Due to the vicious attacks by the Pruners on their homes, the gnome brothers Cyril and Michal have moved. They are now hanging out around the bird bath.
MamaC looks to be bulking up for her Winter weight:
Mr. Redbird joined her and had a bite at the buffet while she was foraging-look how big she is compared to RB!
Later, one of the young nutkins stopped by:
#cuteBuddypix:
Sometimes, he just loves to sprawl out of his basket located in my closet.
~
8/22-finally, we had our ritual first ripe big tomato BLTs. Yum!
Sadly, the new fruit is not ripening. Johnny stopped by with a couple of giant zucchini (made bread out of one) and he said he was having the same problem. Now, the cherry toms are doing ok so at least we are getting some tomato goodness this year.
8/28-This odd early cold outbreak has brought late-September weather. The Diner has been busy as Avians and Mammals alike, triggered by the cooler weather, have begun their pre-Winter bulk up. Little Guy has been quite persistent in his quest for peanuts-he recognizes both of us and will run up onto the deck when we step out. His tail is a bit weird-it has a segment that looks like he got an extension. His tail and behavior reminds me of earlier squirrels and we wonder if he is an offspring. Are memories of finding food passed on? He seems to be part of that group from Rolla to Stubbs.
The morning had started out rainy although it just got stuff wet with little accumulation at our house. It cleared in the late afternoon with brilliant blue skies with bright white cumulus piles sliding by in the distance:
8/30-good grief, temps up in the UP Copper country dropped down to 29° this morning! Our readings were 46°.
꩜
Damn deer
One of the bastards yanked one of the transplanted coneflowers practically out of the ground with it hanging on by its roots. Bad enough they are barely getting used to their new place after I yanked them out of their homeland where I planted them. So, I put most under cloches, others with fencing. While I was at it, I put fencing around the smaller Sharons who both Pruners and bunnies have been nibbling on. It appears that the Pruners attacked the undisturbed hostas around the shed and one by the picture window. I don't think it was MamaC, who has a voracious appetite. She would have mowed those down long ago. Tis odd that they should have attacked now after leaving them alone for months. They mowed Johnny's hostas some time ago, so what gives? Well, my theory is the attack was done by teenagers. Here's my tale of scenes we'd like to see:
~
One August evening, two male teenaged deer were out wandering around their neighborhood. The intense heat and humidity had gone so it was a pleasant night. They were just messing around as yearlings often do. Both had developed their antler spikes, were full of energy and horny looking forward to their first rut in about 3 months. Moseying through one backyard, they spotted a delicacy: hostas. In August! They picked up their pace while keenly looking around. No dogs, no apes. Oh, they couldn't believe their luck! As they strode over, the smarter of the two stopped and expressed some concern: odd they these had not been eaten and it's August. There's got to be a reason. Plus, weren't we warned about these? Perhaps we should restrain ourselves and just take a few leaves. Make it look random leaf loss, after all, there's a drought going on. His buddy stared at him like a coke head confronting 10 lines on a table in front of him. Ahhh, screw the adults, he replied. They're just saving these for themselves. Look, you do what you wish on the hosta you choose and the same goes for me on mine he said. Fair enough answered the smart one and they got down to some premium feasting.
The lads got home before first light and settled down in the vicinity of their herd, which these days was just them and their Moms and a couple of aunts, who they generally saw only when they got up around midday. Both were rudely awakened by their Moms early in the morning, not with a nuzzle but with a hoof. Blinking, the two lads struggled to their feet, shocked at their Mother's behavior. Lurking in the undergrowth about 20 yards away were the aunts. The smart boy's Mom began: do you want to get us all killed? Again shocked, the lad's jaw dropped as his mother glared at him. The other mother followed: we have a bad situation here because of you two idiots. The herds in this neighborhood have an understanding with the apes concerning some properties. The one you attacked last night is off limits. We told you it was off limits. It is off limits because that homeowner is pretty tolerant of most species. In fact, he helps feed the community, even the crazy groundhogs. In return, the herds have agreed amongst ourselves to not eat certain plants of his. You two have violated our understanding and it puts all of us at risk. Why do you think we're able to live here in this safe area? Because there is no hunting. Too many violations of the understanding and the apes who live here will get pissed and go talk to the Big Apes. And then the Big Apes will go to the apes with guns and we will all die. The first mother spits out: do you understand? WE ALL DIE! Just go away from us. We don't want to see you for awhile and the mothers turned away and joined their doe sisters who were waiting nearby.
The two lads grew up that day, learning the shocking reality of their lives which up to this point, had been fairly idyllic. Sure, there were things to learn and watch for: dogs and those big shiny things with apes inside that moved very fast. But this, was astonishing. They walked together along a creek, both just staring ahead, silent and ashamed. They came to the edge of the woods where the creek turned into a stretch of flat swampland. This marked the edge of their herd's territory and they had been warned not to go beyond. But of course, boys will be boys and often, upon a dare from others, they would venture out into the swamp for a quick nibble on some exotic plants. But not now. The fear had sunk in and they remained in the safety of the shadows. Life was forever different now and those idyllic days are now a wistful memory.
Josh Honeycutt
꩜
Old Boy Shtick:
Don't you just hate security seal fails? Like when the flap that is supposed to give you leverage to pry off the seal rips off? Now you have to take a short knife, poke a hole in the seal and either use the knife or sometimes a small pair of pliers to peel the MFer back. Oy!
And don't get me started about (air quotes) "self-seal" plastic bags for cheese, meat, whatever. First, finding the right area to clip off. You have to leave enough plastic ABOVE the sealing clips to be able to open the damn things. It just never seems to work. I often just cut the product out and wrap it in something else that is easier to handle.
꩜
Wild Weather scenes:
2024 Tornado near Carbon Iowa:
Aaron Rigsby
Drone footage from inside a tornado in Spiritwood, ND:
8/25/25-A Haboob roars into Phoenix, AZ-excellent vid of the storm approaching the suburbs:
A Haboob also hit Phoenix in 2011 producing very apocalyptic scenes as it blew through downtown at night:
꩜
Fun Vids:
Some intricate crop circles:
Even if all crop circles have been made by human hands, they are beautiful examples of landart.
The Old Wolf Under The Tree:
Dip into the first minute-nice combination of image, prose, music and tales. After this, it's all music. I think this would make a nice series of animated shorts with the tale presented on the chyron. That is how I originally thought this vid would be.
Strange ad for product to treat Demodex Eyelash Mites:
Yet another example of weird shit that can afflict our species. I had never heard of the Demodex mites nor have I encountered anyone with this issue. While remotely entertaining and a bit trippy, I can imagine the horror for some deeply neurotic folk who worry about everything. This points back to an old saying I am fond of-probably from MAD magazine: if you are afraid of everything in the world, stay in bed. But then, you have the dust mites in the covers to contend with.
AI from Kelly Boesch-Transforming scenes:
I stumbled across this wild short:
Blahaj is a plush toy made by IKEA and according to the blurb "The
product details on IKEA's website highlight the toy's gentle nature,
reassuring customers that this blue shark is not dangerous at all, just
soft to hug and safe to have by their side.The idea of the shark being a "reformed predator" is an element of the fan lore created by its online community. Note towards the end as the camera pans across Blahaj's desk, there are workbooks on "de-escalation strategies" and confidence building. Not sure why the sharks have such love for waffles. Perhaps it's something they can really sink their teeth into vs pancakes which are soft and meh.
One squirrel's solution for beating the heat:
꩜
FUBARland:
Flashback to the 60's-you know things will be really bad when folks
like Bernie Sanders and Gavin Newsom are assassinated.
8/21-we finally got some rain on 8/19-20 from systems that again fell apart when they reached the black hole of central MI. It was also highly localized: my rain gauge showed nearly a half inch where the official reading at the airport was .80". Not much but better than nothing. I've been deep watering the honeysuckles in the Back 40-the first time in 15 years. This year's Rose of Sharon continue to struggle with the drought and pruning from the deer. I continue to see a lot of leaf drop and deceased younger trees when I am out and about. I have dubbed the season as The Summer of Dying Trees. A cold front swung down and will bring a spell of early Fall weather with warm days and cool nights-a couple going down into the hi-40's! At least this will provide relief from the intense sun and heat. On the other hand, this will not help out the tomatoes who having lost the first wave of fruit to bottom-end rot, the second wave are having issues with ripening. How strange is this year? It's the end of August and we have yet to enjoy our ritual of eating BLTs with the first ripe tomatoes. Waaa!
Earlier, to celebrate what could be one of the last pool days with C going back on contract, I cooked a fun feast. An Andalusian white bean and red pepper stew from Jamie Oliver, a romesco sauce, garlic naan from Horrocks and MI fresh peach, n/a Bellinis. Yum!
C later used the leftover romesco added to pasta and asparagus to make a tasty supper.
꩜
How Buddy communicates: when C went out to do some deck yoga and was setting up her session on her laptop, Buddy walked up and cheek-rubbed her bare foot, tailed her knee then lay down next to her leg. I wuv you Mommy.
꩜
Our new handsome Stampy-his territory extends across the street as they have a feeder in the front yard.
Last night, we had a visit from a grown adult (sex unknown) who galumphed in from the West. Short, less fluffy tail with a subtle area of beige on its side and, like the younger Stampy, has a nice white blaze on the forehead. Could this be a parent? It lumbered over and had a snack at the Diner while MamaC and one of the LongTail squirrels were nearby. No freak-outs, just folks doing their thing and everyone stayed calm:
Space Lounge Night: curious mix of post-war fashions, Jetson's futurama with friendly aliens-far classier joint than the one Han Solo walked into during the first Star Wars film.
Man encounters male Great Pacific Octopus:
I did not know about the special arm that these critters have. This modified arm is called a hectocotylus and is used to mate with a female, transferring a packet of sperm called a spermatophore into her mantle.This arm has grooves to store the sperm and a spoon-shaped tip that helps in the transfer process.The arm is often shorter than the others and may remain curled to protect it.
꩜
Critter Dragnet: cop questions a cat
Cop: I want to know where you were around 1.35 am yesterday morning.
Cat: You're boring and when are you gonna give me those treats you promised if I came in?
Cop: I'll give you those treats after you start answering my questions.
Cat: No, treats first-then answers.
Cop: This isn't how things work, kitty-kat. Start talking.
Cat: Meow.
Cop: Cute. You can end this "I'm just a dumb kitty-kat routine". You've already proven that you can speak English. We know you were in the park from security cameras. We have spoken to a couple of your associates who were with you. We want to know who ate the fish outta the park pond. Your pals said that you were the instigator of this act. Start talking, fur butt.
Cat: Meow.
Cop: Ok wise guy, I'm gonna put you in with the pooches at the pound. We'll see how tough you are with those characters. They'll just love to kick your tabby ass and there is no place to hide. Enjoy. "Guard, bring in the transfer restraints"!
Episode ending: The cat was found guilty of eight counts of piscicide, malicious destruction of city property with the killing of the fish, defecation on said property and willful failure to cooperate in a police investigation. However, he managed to escape while being transferred back to the pound after the trial and remains at large to this day.
꩜
Nazi summer camps for kids in 1930s America:
꩜
Cold War Tales: the BBC reportedly had a policy that in the event of an outbreak of nuclear war, they would broadcast the "Sound of Music". The idea was that the family values portrayed in the film would reassure and improve the morale of viewers. Hmmm. Now if Britain was attacked, it's doubtful that anyone would have electricity to watch TV as one of the first strikes would be an airburst electromagnetic pulse that would take out electronics. If the attack was elsewhere with Britain unscathed, would this silly film really help? Guess it would depend on the direction the winds were taking the fallout.
꩜
Colloquialism origins:
The saying "worth your weight in salt" goes back to Roman times where payment especially for soldiers was made in the form of salt.
The term "hillbilly"is
thought to have been brought to America by Scottish and Scots-Irish
immigrants who settled in the Appalachian Mountains.The term combines "hill" (referring to the mountainous terrain) with "Billy," a common Scottish diminutive for William. In Scotland, people who supported William of Orange (King William III) were called "Billy Boys".
Creature Feature:
The producers of this film helped put the term "low budget" into low budget films: one of the worst "creature feature" I have seen-from 1959 The Giant Gila Monster. Following in the footsteps of The Blob, The Thing From Another World, Them!, and Creature From the Black Lagoon, this film surpasses all with unbelievably cheesy special effects and nonsensical plotting. For one thing, they used a Mexican beaded lizard, instead of a Gila monster. They never filmed any human next to the lizard to show its scale. Instead, scenes with the lizard looked to be filmed as it wandered around inside a terrarium. In a sequence where the lizard derailed a train, they spliced in shots of a real train with those of a model train where indeed, the lizard looked quite large! The humans were generally horny teenagers cruising around in hot rods (one couple were killed at the beginning while necking in a lover's lane. That lizard turned into one helluva cock blocker!), idiot authorities, ranchers with guns and upset parents. Here, the lizard punches a hole into a balsa wood structure after clumping through model cars:
Truly, one of those movies where it's so bad, it's funny.
꩜
Fun Fact: there is a fourth kind of chocolate along with dark, milk and white: it is Ruby Chocolate made from ruby chocolate beans:
They are grown in Ecuador, Brazil and Ivory Coast. Ruby chocolate was first introduced in the market in 2017. It has a distinctive pink color and its flavor is said to be similar to white chocolate with fruity tones and a light tart finish.
꩜
More horror for Palestinians with real tribal shit going down:
This has been a longtime wet dream for Israeli hard-Right extremists and is yet another example of extremist parties/policies making their move for power across the planet.
You hear in certain quarters about how mainstream media is not covering such things and I can verify from the sources I read: not a peep specifically in either The Times, The Guardian or Washington Post. They might allude to it within reporting about the whole Gaza mess, but nothing like what the BBC has done.
The West as a whole has been shockingly meek and inactive in the face of sunken-eyed, ribby children starving to death. Somehow, this narrative has been imposed: any criticism of Israel for the behavior of the Netanyahu government is considered anti-Semitic. This is bullshit and the Israeli government has learned from our current bunch of idiots in Washington: just lie and gaslight. Roll things back on the accusers and make them the enemy. Meanwhile, you go on and do whatever you wish no matter if people are hurt or killed. They do not care.
Yet, on the other hand, this type of brutal conflict over land happens throughout history, most likely from the beginning of our tenure on the planet. When my first wife Michele was researching her family history, she came across some a tale about her central Ohio ancestors in the 19th Century. It seems neighborhood men went out on a lengthy hunting foray and when they returned, they found their families living rough in the bush. Their cabins had been attacked and burned down by a raiding party from Pennsylvania. I don't remember the cause of the dispute, how long it lasted or how it was resolved. This story stuck in my memory as this isn't the sort of thing you learn in school-those tales are almost always about conflicts between Indigenous tribes and European settlers.
8/9: another string of hot days and we're getting some pool time in. Our friend Chana came over for a dip although she is a non-swimmer like me. Nevertheless, it was refreshing for all. Our resident cicada droned and a monarch stopped by the East Garden for a bite and honored us with a flyover the pool. This lone monarch and a pair of tiger swallowtails are all we have seen so far this season.
A tiger swallowtail at the butterfly bush outside the main bath:
Meanwhile, the lack of rain is concerning. NOAA drought monitor lists our area as experiencing abnormally dry conditions. I looked back at my records which I have kept since 2019 and made a startling discovery: since August 2024 to present, there have only been two months that have shown above average precipitation-December 2024 +.56" and April 2025 +.09". This is the longest stretch of constant below average readings in my records. When I am out and about, I've noticed a lot of small trees dying around shopping centers; small evergreens half-browned; on campus, several stressed mature trees are dropping their leaves like it is Fall. We're currently in a neutral pattern-neither in a La Nina or El Nino. Some forecasters feel a La Nina might form late Fall/early Winter which will mean less precipitation. Others are thinking it will be a cold, snowy season. We'll see.
8/13-a long series of storms hit MI yesterday evening. By and large, again, they missed us. We got a 5 minute shower which got stuff wet but accumulated little. At least it cooled things off and it was a good sleeping night.
Diner news: we have a new neighbor!:
A new Stampy with a nice fluffy tail. Just as MamaC's kids have left home, so have the Stampy's. This one is looking to establish his own territory with thoughts of finding somewhere to overwinter. He might get an apartment under the shed or go more au naturel with a burrow in the brush pile.
One of the young Nutkins at the spa:
Plant of the year goes to the Transcendia, here sharing a pot with the Persian Shield. We love the colors, its flowers and hardiness to the sun:
The tomatoes have had a tough year. I've discovered that my compost needs amendments as it does not hold moisture very well and there are fertilizer issues. I've had to play around with the watering and the result is blossom-end rot on the first wave of big tomatoes. The cherry toms are doing so-so but the yield is down. Plus, MamaC has been coming on the deck and pruning. Well, that's gardening.
A refreshed Watergirl coming from hanging up the swimsuits on the clothesline:
When I retrieved them this morning, I found a cicada shell on a clothespin-he had rested up on when he emerged:
A Sky Janitor coming in low:
I found this guy on the garage-side steps:
This is a orange woolly bear caterpillar, which I have never come across. He is related to the brown and orange ones we see in the Fall whose brown and orange banding, according to folklore, can predict what kind of Winter we will have. When asked about his thoughts about the upcoming season, he replied that he did not have a clue.
Some late callas in bloom:
Buddy, chillin' on the dining table. He likes to be elevated and still keep an eye on the Back 40. Good lad!
I witnessed an unusual sight: I saw MamaC chasing something behind the honeysuckle in the Back 40. All I saw of were shapes. 3 Mississippi later, I see her running back and chasing Buddy! He is a lot swifter and had a good 20 yard lead when she broke off pursuit by the hammock. Bud came up to the garage-side door and I let him in. He had no explanation for this event other than to vociferously lobby for a meal.
꩜
C related a tale of finding a bakery in St. Louis, MO while at a conference with a funny sign in their window:
꩜
Strange Places:
Mexico's Island of Dolls (Isla de las Munecas)
Located in the canal-heavy Xochimilco section of Mexico City, Isla de
las Munecas is an artificial island whose only inhabitant for decades
was a man named Don Julián Santana Barrera. After discovering the body
of a drowned girl in the 1950s, he decided to festoon the plot with
hundreds of dolls in a well-intentioned and/or insane attempt to satisfy
the girl's ghost and keep malevolent spirits at bay. He then spent the
next half-century adding to the collection.To make the story even creepier, in 2001 Santana Barrera reportedly
drowned in the exact same canal where he found the body of the young
girl. Despite his death, the dolls still hang on the island today, and
local lore goes so far as to suggest that they come alive at night.
Lake Tele, Republic of Congo
Located amidst one of the least explored areas in the world, Lake Tele
is rumored to be home to the Mokèlé-mbèmbé, a Brontosaurus-like creature
that is the Congo's answer to the Loch Ness Monster.
꩜
Dragonflies
We were having supper when I spotted one doing his thing above the pool. He swooped and turned on a dime, doing amazing loops. More about them in the following vid. Some fun facts: their earliest ancestors ones came out around 325-350 million years ago and were the size of a small crow! Yikes!
꩜
8/12-5.50 am-Jupiter and Venus get close in a planetary conjunction:
꩜
FUBARland:
We highly recommend the latest, deliciously brutal season of South Park and I loved the bit about his official portrait: pretty much naked Roach, doing a Caesar impersonation with a slight toga, showing off his tiny weiner. I couldn't find the entire pic so I took what I could off a clip:
The extended joke is that this is the official State portrait. This means in every federal office in the country, you'll see this awful thing. Imagine, walking into SSA and where in normal times in the past, you'd see a portrait of Carter or Bush or Obama. Now, you see this.
We also dug the routine concerning Kristi Noem's artificial face, which over time sloughs off and oozes along the floor until it can be caught and reglued. As well as her knee-jerk shootings of any canine who comes into range. These skits for me, really have a MAD magazine/Looney tunes feel to them.
The Roach exerted federal control over Washington, DC, replacing civilian police force with National Guard under the false reason that the city was lawless. He did the same thing in LA. Commentators opine that this is part of a plan to get the public use to troops occupying large cities. In this case, I think it is also to create a security zone around the government buildings and employees-the White House, Capitol Hill, Treasury, SCOTUS. This will make it easier to clear and deter protesters-for national security reasons. And prevent another January 6 from happening, only this time, it's the forces for democracy who are leading the charge.
Something I have a hard time getting my head around is the level of sheer destruction this one man is doing-to us, our country, our culture and the world. And, he's just getting started.
