In the Neighborhood: 4/15-16-lots of storms came through with at least 6 tornadoes in Southern Lower Michigan, none in the Greater Lansing area. My gauge measured 3" bringing the total at my house to 7" so far for the month of April! One useful thing about this blog is that it serves as a chronicle. I checked back to see when was the last time we had ponds in the Back 40-2023 when we received 5.5" of rain. It's a double-edged issue-very happy to have relief from the drought which began in 8/24. I'm especially pleased Grandfather Birch is getting a nice deep drink as he begins his leafing program. On the other hand, there's always issues with a few wet areas in the basement that have to be dealt with AND the damn lawn, which is growing like mad. Usually, we begin mowing at the end of April. Lucky us-it's gonna be early this year.
I happened to check out the government drought monitor after hearing about wildfires out in the plains. I was shocked about how dry the South has been:
4/17-we had dense fog in the morning with visibility down to a quarter mile.
The back 40-at least during a couple of nice days prior, I was able to get out and deal with the leaves.
He seems to have recovered from his virus, is eating well and back to enjoying scritches. Daily, he goes over to Benny's for a twofer: see if he can catch a quick meal and counter the presence of The Black Kitty. One day, I caught an interaction between them. Bud was next to the shed when TBK came up on his flank. As I frequently witnessed in the epic battles between Bin and Snowball, TBK was moonwalking. "Oh don't mind me, I'm just gonna go over to Benny's Diner" which is located on the other side of the shed. Bud kept an eye on him/her but did not get up.
Nutkin on the bird bath:
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When I was out working in the yard, I came across the butterfly I had mentioned in an earlier post. I was wrong about its ID:
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) is often the first butterfly seen in spring. They overwinter as adult butterflies amongst leaf litter or in other sheltered spots, so as soon as it’s warm enough they can become active. These butterflies have a lifespan of 11 to 12 months, one of the longest lifespan for any butterfly.
On this same day, the wind had come up late and in the sky were a couple of sky janitors, swirling at different altitudes, doing spirals like Sufi dancers. They were really moving and one would think there was some element of joy for them: the wind in your face and feathers, pushing your body to the limit with high speed severe turns as you challenge your buddy.
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| A nice Chatgpt rendering |
Lovely time of year with so much in bloom. Those small ornamental trees with white flowers that one sees especially around malls are in full bloom. I saw Mayapples in the woods next to the Post Office on MI Ave off Creyts Rd. I remember we had them in our woods where I grew up.
Nipped in the bud: none of our forsythia bloomed this year-an unusual occurrence. In fact, in this part of Delta Twp, I saw nothing in bloom. Even those planted along 496 only showed sparse flowers. They were blooming on Campus so I reckoned those had been sheltered. The culprit, I suspect was a severe cold snap at a crucial period when the shrub was in bud production. I wrote MSU Extension and they concurred. This is the first time in the 15 seasons we've been here that we've experienced such an event.
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Life with cats:
It's a cold, wet mid-April afternoon in Michigan. So, I set up fixings for a fireplace fire and hung out with a very handsome cat. He is, however, a couch hog who is easily miffed (eye roll, c'mon now, your Lordship) and will stomp off. This happens today and he goes over to the slider, a signal that he would like to go out. I open the slider and screen and he got a whiskerful of cold air and turns away. I know his routine: he wants to fuel up before going out. Fine. Tis a fresh can evening featuring Chef Jeff's special garnish of Temptations Treats. I'm on the couch writing while he has his meal and he returns to the slider and patiently waits for me to finish this sentence. I do so, rise and murmur regrets for the wait. He is in his Bastet pose, licking his whiskers and cleaning his mouth with his paw. Proper etiquette amongst predators is if you just ate some prey food (in this case, fishy flesh), you must clean up before going on patrol. Don't attempt to hunt with killer's breath still on you.
No worries, mate is his expression as I walk up. A mixture of a warm greeting and thanks for the meal, kind sir. I open the slider and off he goes.
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Cool stuff:
Earthset shot by the NASA crew from the dark side of the moon during the recent Artemis mission:
A male beautiful demoiselle damselfly found in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. As with many other species, the female's coloration is muted, in this case, she is brown.
Red snapper hot dogs:
Red snapper hot dogs are a bright red, natural-casing pork and beef sausage that is a beloved, iconic staple in Maine. Known for their distinct, audible "snap" when bitten, these sausages are dyed with Red #40 and are often sold by W.A. Bean & Sons in Bangor, Maine, and found in local stores like Hannaford.
One of the origins of Boston Baked Beans:
60's nostalgia:
1% of modern Scots have Berber blood in their DNA. This is linked to the Moorish era where they not only had a hold on the Iberian Peninsula but also explored both Ireland and Scotland.
My family name of Macpherson translates from Gaelic as Mac a' Phearsain or Mac a' Phearsoin, which translates directly to "son of the parson".
Donny Osmond has a rare condition called Situs inversus, a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions. It is found in about 0.01% of the population (1 in 10,000 people).
There's a lot of speculation these days about the coming of a strong El Nino this year. For many, this is a good thing as this event means increased wind shear on the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Wind shear decapitates the tops of storms, preventing them from expanding up and out into hurricanes. Small mercies for all the souls living in these regions as FEMA no longer exists.
Mad Ads:
From a series of Walmart ads-this one from this year features Sabrina who has a long career in the pharmacy. Curious promo ad. So is Walmart trying to say "yep, we may be a bunch of Arkansas rednecks but we don't hate Hispanic folk. We didn't sell them out to ICE?"
Tagline: Who knew?
Fun vids:
From Kelly Boesch AI: Golden in the Sun:
A long view but a lot of fun. It concerns the settlement of Gobekli Tepe, located in the Upper Mesopotamia region in Southern Turkey, estimated to have been settled in 9500 BCE. Of particular interest are huge slabs of stone with carvings whose meanings are the subject of controversy in the history/archeology world.
I love the Why Files. For one thing, they are very X-Fileish in subject matter. The host A.J. is a great storyteller and his presentations are very persuasive. Ahhh, do stay until the end because the other shoe will drop: is this all true?
A long one about using beavers to rewild areas. On one hand, they are viewed by scientists and environmentalists as a keystone species and are amazing ecological engineers. Their work brings a multitude of species back to a dead area. On the other, whenever they are introduced, controversy follows and it becomes a inter-species conflict especially with farmers:
Another tale concerning rewilding. In Scotland, there was an environmental catastrophe due to an unchecked deer population. Yep, the Pruners again, who ate practically everything in sight with few predators to keep their numbers under control. A radical, inexpensive experiment produced astonishing results:
Fascinating tale about the Basque language and their history. A unique example of a people who were cut off from the rest of the world due to their hidden location in the mountains. What is wild is there are only 2 parts in their DNA: original group who were hunter/gatherer survivors of the last Ice Age and a group of nomadic herders expanded Westward from their origin in Anatolia Turkey all the way to Spain!
FUBARland:
Mike Rogers is running for US Senate again, after being defeated in 2024 by Elissa Slotkin. This time, he's going for the seat vacated by Gary Peters. In his recent ad, as the presumed Republican candidate, he freely shows that he has fully drunk the kool-aid and proclaims fealty to the Roach stating that "President Trump needs more allies in Washington". Really Mike? Roach is a dead duck and a albatross around the neck of any Republican hoping to survive the fallout from his reign. Does Mike really think MAGA will vote for him because he was a staunch supporter? Naw, Roach is becoming radioactive to the party and when the end comes, anyone with connections to him will not fare well in the mid-terms. Hopefully.
From the NYT-insane MAHA influencers try to sell their bullshit idea that tobacco is good for you and (sniff, kleenex please) it has been unfairly maligned. Yeah, from the people who think raw milk is good for you. Of course, they are in denial about reports earlier this year concerning the DEATH of an infant in NM from listeria and several people including 2 children in ID who were hospitalized with e coli as a result of intaking raw milk. Of course such reports are dismissed as fake news or part of an organized disinformation conspiracy sponsored by the American Dairy Association.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/well/nicotine-health-maha.html
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Once we manage to rid ourselves of this destructive administration, we have two huge challenges ahead:
1. Getting all these agencies that were gutted put back together and functioning.
2. Address the conditions that brought us to this point to begin with.
Frankly, I really don't think we have enough talent, courage, smarts in any leadership position to take this on.
Certainly, not in my lifetime.
