FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood:

10/3: A waxing Gibbous Moon at around 8 pm:

The cicadas were still calling as we closed down for the evening. I was looking out front and I noticed dark shapes just North of the mailbox: deerskis! I called C to come take a look and she spotted a third who was larger. A Mom and her 2 fawns. They were nibbling on grass. I wondered if these were the pruners as that morning, I discovered that the fencing around the young lilac about 15 yards from where they were standing had been disturbed. This morning brought a new horror: they had attacked and eaten nearly all of our tomatoes both green and ripe:

Looks much like the evidence left during their attack a week ago. Anything salvageable was quite low or, weirdly, very high on the cherry bush. Clearly, they were standing on the upper deck. Something must have spooked them off-either Buddy or, most likely, C when she opened the frig to get a drink. The light/movement would have sent them off. 

I have to wonder if the drought is forcing them out of the woods and into the neighborhood to look for food. Never in the 15 years we have been here, have we had such issues with the Pruners. What? Nothing to eat in the woods? Geez. I am sure this is the same crew that attacked the hostas around the shed. 

On the other hand, one could make the case that MamaD is trying to get as much nutrition into her kids as she can to help them survive the upcoming cold months. Something is pushing this behavior. 

With no flowers to bear fruit left, I pulled the toms for the season.

At least Martha's marigolds are looking good and in full bloom:

 

The drought continues: -9.74" below normal for the year; -14.24" since September 2024. When I am out and about, I am seeing trees with the leaves from the inner branches browned and a ring of dried brown leaves around the base of the tree. Not much rain in sight—we're gonna get a cold front bringing Fall temps around Tuesday of next week with lows on Wednesday flirting with the freezing mark. 

10/4: it got up to 89° today breaking the record high of 86° in 1951. Our usual gang were at the Diner:
  

Nice cumulus clouds throughout the late afternoon into early evening:

~ 

I haven't seen or heard any robins in a few weeks. Have they left early because the drought has reduced their available food supply? 

Our latest seasonal pest: the Eastern Box Elder bug (Boisea trivittata) who are out in force, often congregating in large groups on the house siding. 

They join their buddies, the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug which have been here all season.

 ~

#cutebuddypics: Ole Curly Tail himself, giving a big stretch (he is, after all, a Longfellow) and covered with debris—something he seems to enjoy. And bring into the house.

~

While it can be expensive to live on Earth, you do get a free annual trip around the sun! 

~ 

Fun Vids: 

 The Milankovitch Cycle:

Ice ages occur every 100,000 years or so. Our last one ended 12,000 years ago. We are so lucky to be living in a relatively stable period. Our species evolved and thrived in this time. The concern is that our impact on the climate can bring about an end quicker than it usually does.

From Kelly Boesch AI: I'm a Nature Baby. I love the full-sized, well-dressed hare who gives her a hug.

The Scottish wildcat aka The Highland Tiger-I had not heard of them! Critically endangered due to habitat loss and persecution (predator)-while they used to live throughout Great Britain, now only survive in Northern and Eastern Scotland. They are from the same feline strain as the Maine Coon-while our domesticated kitties come from the North African wildcat.

They are endeared to the Scottish people as representing their own self-view: tough, ferocious and will not submit to being domesticated or dominated by...Englishmen.

Curious new instrument called a cantareel,  a device that gives an acoustic guitar a hurdy-gurdy-like sound, was invented by Japanese musician and inventor Keizo Ishibashi. The invention was inspired by the Medieval hurdy-gurdy, an instrument that produces sound by rubbing strings with a large wooden disc. The Cantareel attaches to the guitar's soundbox and uses rosined O-rings, powered by a spinning wheel, to bow two strings simultaneously, creating a continuous, fluctuating sound. Here, the inventor plays The Water Is Wide, an old English folk song:

 AI generated creatures give opinions to human reporters:

 A rare Blue Jay/Green Jay hybrid is found in TX:

 

Green Jays are found in Central America, Mexico and So.TX. I have never heard of them. 

 ~

New ad campaign from Downy continues the odor obsession in our culture. I guess if you're facing being viewed as a potential DEI hire, you at least gotta smell Maavaalous, darling.

The Unstopables™ Unlimited Collection Redefines Laundry Luxury with Fine Fragrances for Everyone

New scent beads bring high-end fragrances to everyday laundry, making luxury accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Starring supermodel Jasmine Tookes, the tagline is that this product will make women smell like they are unstoppable. 

Now available at Walmart.

~ 

FUBARland:

Another crazy week with the Roach and Hegseth trying to cos play the film Patton:

The film begins with a motivational speech by General Patton to the US 6th Armored Division just prior to D-Day that included this famous line:

No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. 

Our FUBAR idiots trotted out these nuggets, not to the troops, but to the leadership:

Roach: "It's a war from within... "We're under invasion from within" as he directs generals to get ready for deployment inside the United States.

Hegseth: No more “fat generals and admirals"...

Meanwhile, the Roach is more and more unhinged in so many ways, it would take pages to report. Bottom line:

Time for the 25th Amendment to be invoked. 

Then we get to deal with the other idiot, the chameleon JD Vance, whose views shift and change like desert sands depending on who he is talking to. Oy.