FIVE SECOND STORIES

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.