11/12: Bright and sunny, with blue skies late in the day, reminiscent of what we often see in January:
Slowly it warmed up. Late in the afternoon, we had a new visitor at the Diner:
BigMama had stopped by last week. We reckon this is one of her younguns. Large white head and a non-fluffy tail like a kittykat:
We've named her Bernadette.
11/13-14: The weather warmed up to the mid-50s with some sun. It was time to tackle the leaves as the snow had caused most trees to drop them.
11/15: It was in the low-60's before noon and overcast. I finished up the leaves in the East Garden and the final work in the garden, taking down the echinacea.
Our mature burning bush is looking magnificent, standing out as all the younger ones in the area have dropped their leaves.
The drastic cold then warm-up has given some folks the wrong idea that Spring was nigh:
Dandelions:
Forsythia:
The Diner and Back 40:
11/15:
C drove for the first time in nearly a month!
11/16: A gorgeous day with a brisky wind with sun and clouds mixed. It was a busy afternoon at the Diner with practically everybody who is anybody stopping by. Tis that time of the year.
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Nice cat drawing by Japanese artist Misato:
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Fun vids:
Hilarious and cheesy send up of heavy metal bands with a feline twist:
Country artists love their cold beer:
Dune, in the style of '40s noir:
Classic Monty Python: Hell's Grannies
World's Oldest Tree:
Ancient Maize from Mexico:
Abandoned Mansions in China:
Pigeon mesmerized: You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of sight and
sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of
imagination...
Bizarre ad for FanDuel casino featuring "Calling all Thrillionaires":
So, you may ask, what's with the arch that these people are so inspired to go through together like a bunch of gambling addicted lemmings? Is this the evangelical rapture? Nirvana?
Naw, nothing so mystical. The portal represents membership in the FanDuel rewards club (eye roll).
FUBARland:
Time to invoke the 25th amendment. We deserve better than this mess.
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Check out the latest South Park episode featuring the Roach cheating on the impregnated Satan with his Vice President. Yikes!
I was driving East on 496 to pick C up from work when this guy flew over me. At first as he approached me, I thought, hmm...too big for hawk, wrong wing shape for goose or seagull and then I saw the white head. I've only seen bald eagles twice—the other time was years ago when traveling on Old Lansing Road near Millet Hwy. It was perched in a dead tree next to a swamp.
In the neighborhood:
Full Beaver Moon-closest orbit to Earth since 2019
Diner kerfuffle under the Beaver moon:
Last night as we were shutting down things in a darkened Great Room, I peered out at the Diner and saw a Stampy who had its back to me. It looked like BigMama because of her plumy tail. Suddenly, a big Blossom comes darting up close to her and snatches off the ground a slice of stale bread I had tossed out earlier. Blossom dropped the slice long enough to bare her teeth along with a few choice words as the Stampy swung around and feigned a charge with a couple of quick steps. Blossom then picked up the bread, pivoted and ran back to the apartments. Stampy followed for about 10 steps then stopped and returned to forage for a snack. Not sure if both live in the apartments or one lives in the brush pile. I have reason to believe this isn't the first match—last weekend, there was the definite aroma in the Back 40 of the nuclear option having been deployed.
11/9: First snow!
Mr. Red-Bellied Woodpecker on the feeder, Senor Junco atop the squirrel baffle awaiting his turn:
Johnny's burning bushes:
Our Gang of 5 turkey bros. across the street at John's Diner:
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Good news: Third week anniversary of her right shoulder injury and C is beginning to write again!
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C
related a tale from one of her students: a Vietnamese boy was telling
her about an accident while riding his bike at twilight: he got hit by a
deer! Whodathunk?
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Memorable quote from Simpson's where Mr. Burns' long-lost brother appears as an animated version voiced by Rodney Dangerfield:Lazy, you're not kidding. Why, I'm like a rug on Valium. I'm talking lazy.
Funny coffee mug:
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Louisiana Tabasco sauce-made on a Louisiana island since 1868:
How it is made:
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The Humongous Fungus of Michigan
The "91 acre mushroom" in Crystal Falls, MI is a giant Honey Mushroom (Armillaria gallica) that is one of the largest organisms in the world by area. It is a vast underground network of fungal mycelium discovered in the 1980's and is estimated to be between 1,500 and 2,500 years old. While its name refers to a 91-acre estimate, later research indicates it may be even larger, occupying almost 200 acres. The city of Crystal Falls embraces its unique status with an annual Fungus Fest. The city is due east of Iron River near the Wisconsin border.
This dwarfed by the estimated world's largest and oldest colony of Armillaira ostoyae, located in the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon. It covers approximately 2,200 to 2,385 acres (about 3.7 square miles and is estimated to be anywhere from 1,900 to 8,650 years old.
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Curious ads from Norway-the strangest is the one with the young man and a huge hand-perhaps a visual extension of the old male joke about being married to your right hand:
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Highly recommended: On Netflix: "Call the Midwife", a British series beginning that began in 2012. Set in the East End Docklands of London starting in the late 1950's, the show follows the lives of nurse midwives attached to a nursing convent, part of an Anglican religious order. This section of London was quite poor, in fact, rubble from the Blitz 17 years earlier, has not been completely cleared in some areas. The series covers a wide range of social/economic/class/racial/gender/religious issues that the young nurses face. There's a strong whiff of proto-feminism in many of the episodes with a whole lotta men behaving poorly. Childbirth is messy and its depiction is done tastefully yet direct.
What has us hooked is the writing—they pack a lot into an episode and be warned, the drama can swing from awful, Dickensian grimness to Little House on the Prairie level of treacle. Add a dash of ER, where drama hikes up when a baby arrives prematurely and the gruff veteran nun barks "boil some water, STAT!". Fans of ER or St. Elsewhere will recognize this method of employing a sudden jolt of action into an episode.
The creators are a clever lot, using period music and lyrics (we have our cc on) to highlight a scene without dialogue. There are times where you are reminded of late '50s romantic film comedies with spot-on music, fashion and art direction. An American version would star Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee.
Overall, there is a hopeful, positive vibe which perhaps attracts us, considering the awfulness we are witnessing/experiencing these days. And, it's about life: the good and the bad, and perhaps most of all, love.
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FUBARland: Ever-suffering toadies and their narcissist masters:
ICE Snowflakes get their comuppance:
The Banksy 2003 piece "Flower Thrower", reimagined in viral memes.
Sean Dunn, a former U.S. Justice Department staffer, was found not guilty of assaulting or impeding a federal officer after a three-day trial in Washington federal court. Mr. Dunn threw a subway sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent during a confrontation. Evidently, the onion and mustard toppings were considered a real and present threat to the agent and the United States of America.
The Roach held a Great Gatsby themed Halloween party at Mar a Lago:
Samuel Corum via Getty Images
Not only astonishingly tone-deaf to the appearance of this during a government shutdown where millions are facing food insecurity as SNAP payments are withheld; but also, as C pointed out, oblivious to the ending of the book:
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they
smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money
or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together,
and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
Meanwhile, on October 29, JD Vance had a close encounter with Charlie Kirk's widow onstage at a Turning Point event:
At the same time, he has repeatedly said in public, that he wants his Hindu wife to become a Christian. Add this to his comments pointing towards his beliefs in ethnonationalism—from the NYT:
Vice President JD Vance laid it out explicitly in a speech this summer: a national identity based not on ideals, but on privileged heritage and bloodlines.
“America
is not just an idea,” Mr. Vance said. “We’re a particular place, with a
particular people, and a particular set of beliefs and way of life.” He added: “The people whose ancestors fought in the Civil War have a hell of a
lot more claim over America than the people who say they don’t belong.”
Hmm, smells like White Christian Nationalism with a strong dash of The Lost Cause.
I put forth here an idea:
Vance wants to dump his inconvenient wife of color and non-Christian for Erika Kirk—widow of the MAGA martyr. I'm sure I am not the first to wonder about this and its potential as he takes the reins after the Roach is out of the way. A match made in heaven, some would say.
11/1: on my way home, I came up the street directly N of the house and spotted a pair of Sandhill Cranes grazing in a mowed field. I drove home, grabbed my camera and walked over the berm to see them. Dark storms were off to the NW but here, the sun was out:
They truly are snowbirds, migrating from their breeding grounds in Canada in October - November to the southern U.S. and Mexico.
Walking home, I ducked under branches of a tree that had odd fruit:
Chester didn't know what to make of it:
This is an American sweet gum tree seed pod. The resin sap historically was used for chewing gum and medicinal applications as a salve for wounds and a tea for tummy issues.
Stalwart Mr. Cosmos, despite numerous frosts, is still producing blooms:
FUBARland:
Oblivious to the optics, Roach has his Marie Antoinette moment during the shutdown as millions (+/- 42M) are facing food insecurity due to SNAP benefits expiring while their ACA premiums skyrocketing as those subsidies also expiring, he sponsored a Great Gatsby themed Halloween party at Mar a Lago at the taxpayers expense (millions).
Fine. More ammo for the Dems if they wise up and take a page from Reagan's campaign tagline "are you better off today than 4 years ago." You'd think this would be a no-brainer. I would add that their emphasis should be on "kitchen table issues": cost of living, food, health care, rent. Of course, this will sell but the hard part is implementing policy, as Biden's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan observed. A good example was the new push to widen decent internet access to rural areas which got bogged down in the weeds of local/state/federal regs. Roach's team has drastically changed the initiative and currently it is dead in the water.
Curious behavior from Mr. Jay: he often sits on the big bare limb that's above his other favorite perch, the shepherd's crook which holds the feeder. Here he waits for me to toss peanuts for him and his wife and often I see him peering in at me while I'm on the couch. Recently, as I responded to his request and walked over to the peanut bowl which sits on top of the piano next to the slider, I saw a blur of motion as he swooped very close to the glass. Yesterday, this occurred again and as I grabbed the slider latch, I saw him fly by and whip up to an adjacent eavestrough. Our eyes met for a moment, then he flew back to the branch as I opened the slider. I tossed the peanuts and he gave his usual reply: one call "thanks" followed by two calls to the missus: "Honey! Peanuts!"
