FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood: 

Hey ladies! It's egg-making time. Here's a gallery of Avian sharp dressed men! 

And what better music than some ZZ Top and their 1983 classic:

5/11 Mr Grosbeak still visiting-busy day as avians were flocking to the Diner😸  

5/15-Seen while out and about: 

First sighting of Canadian geese parents and their goslings. These were early hatchlings, already past their fluffy chartreuse tennis ball colors.

5/17-gorgeous day:

I was on the couch when I spotted a trio of sky janitors circling very low, in fact dropping down to investigate something of interest on the other side of the berm by the Sparrow building. Twice they took off and circled and I could see their shadows dancing on the leaves of GF Birch.

Another snowbird has arrived-meet Mr. Catbird. They winter along the Gulf of Mexico. C heard him while doing deck yoga:

Earlier, a group of White-crowned sparrows were having a communal bath at the Diner:
 

5/18: it's been in the 80's for the past couple of days and today has grown muggy and overcast. A huge front swung through our part of MI with major storms firing up preceding it. I was watching MI Storm Chasers Live as it headed towards us. It arrived with a solid minute of intense waves of wind with a bit of rain. It downed only a few minor branches and the rain measured only .4". I had to get Buddy in off the deck before it hit and as in the past, he was bothered by debris hitting the skylights. Afterwords:

After the 8" drenching we received in April, we now are in the middle of the driest May on record with this rain all that we have had since the last week of April. Sheesh.

It was curious to observe that during the storm, no bird calls could be heard. As the rain let up, three different species began singing. Prominent among them was a robin which makes sense as they are worm gourmets. He acted as the town crier: ladies and gentlemen, it's worm time! 

Meanwhile, the Diner got busy:

M/M Jay and Lil' Woody:

Buddy decided to lounge on the table and keep an eye on things:

RW!

MamaC:

She's been coming and going a lot. When she is here, she is hoovering as much food as possible. Here, she is taking advantage of the Diner's dandelion special-all you can eat, limited time only, while supplies last. I wonder if she has a bunch of newborns tucked away somewhere? According to Google, they should be joining her in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

We're in that part of the season where one experiences the Dandelion Bounce. Its peak season for this plant and when mowing, the yard looks good...for one day. Then, they're back in various stages: new growth, bright blooms and puffball ending. This drives some folks nutz but it is what it is unless you want to invest in herbicide treatments. Otherwise, grin and bear it-this is a short-lived situation which, after a couple more mowing cycles, you'll begin to see them wane. 

Young squirrely splooting on GF Birch, wishing that somehow, he could drop down onto the feeder:

Rocky by the apartments-he/she sports an attractive tail with dark brown and russet rings:

One of our resident young buns, doing what his Dad or Gramps used to do in years past:

After the storm, cold weather has settled in again-nights in the lo-40's with some days barely into the 60's. But, we've had some sun: 

#cutebuddypix

Cold Spring

Iris are blooming and I brought some in:

On our way to visit friends in the Greenville area, we stopped off to see one of several covered bridges in MI. North of Lowell, is the Fallasburg Bridge spanning the Flat River.

 

As we were leaving our friends who live in a heavily wooded area, I came across this:

This is a  "oak apple" leaf gall, a spherical, spongy growth caused by tiny cynipid gall wasps (primarily the genus Amphibolips) laying eggs on red oak leaves. These galls act as specialized nurseries, providing both food and shelter for the developing wasp larvae. I have never heard or come across this before. 

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A poem by C relating one recent afternoon on campus post-term:

Spontaneously today I sat under the hospitable arms

of a campus oak. I leaned against a wide root, like a familiar

lover’s thigh. I felt the sun’s warmth on my front,

and on my back, the shared warmth of the tree. 

I leafed my book. A squirrel returned rhythmically

over a neighboring root, sharing my cereal bar

by bits. Leaves dropped on me, and big black ants.

One bit me and I brushed it away. When I got up,

I brushed away the plant debris from my pants.

This was when the bell tower had struck off 45 minutes;

the ritual seemed somehow to be complete. We were intimates now,

after fifty years of passing admiration. I will never pass again,

without a shared greeting and memory. 

 

~ 

Hodgepodge for $800: 

On December 12, 1972, the Rothschild family held a Surrealist Ball at their home Château de Ferrières east of Paris. It was a formal affair and guests were asked to wear Surreal masks as Salvador Dalí served as artistic director. 

That night, the chateau was lit to look like it was on fire:

Guests:

Audrey Hepburn was there, wearing a recreation of Magritte's "The Therapist" painting:

It was later dubbed as The Illuminari Ball and served as a source idea for Stanley Kubrick's party in his 1999 film "Eyes Wide Shut".

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The Blythe Intaglios or Blythe Geoglyphs: 

 This human figure is 171 feet long.

From Wiki: These are a group of gigantic figures incised on the ground near Blythe, CA, in the Colorado Desert. The ground drawings or geoglyphs were created by humans for an as-yet-unknown reason.

The intaglios are located east of the Big Maria Mountains,  bout 15 miles north of downtown Blythe, just west oUS Hwy 95 near the Colorado River. They are the best-known of the over 200 intaglios in the Colorado Desert, which contains the only known desert intaglios in North America. These intaglios are mostly located along the Colorado River. 

They were created roughly 200 BCE to 1200 CE. 

Geoglyphs are found throughout the world, the construction methods ranging from earthen mounds, piles of stone, or the removal of surface plants or soil. The most famous desert intaglios are the Nazca Lines in Peru.

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The Great Serpent Mound: 

From Wiki: The Great Serpent Mound is a 1,348-feet-long, four-feet-high prehistoric effigy mound  located near the village of Peebles in southern OH. It was built on what is known as the Serpent Mound meteorite crater plateau. The mound is the largest serpent effigy known in the world. It was created by the Adena people around 300 BCE. 

What I find fascinating about this place are its astronomical alignments. It is a calendar which still works:

Click to enlarge

 

In addition, Serpent Mound  tracks the 18.6-year lunar cycle through its intricate curves and coils. Researchers have found that the bends in the serpent's body align precisely with the minimum and maximum extremes of moonrise and moonset during the lunar standstill periods. The Moon's orbital plane wobbles over an 18.6-year period. This causes the northern and southern extremes of the Moon's rising and setting positions on the horizon to fluctuate. 

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Chester has a new friend-Raoul the owl:

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We were watching "Tender Mercies", a film from 1983 set in Texas. There was a scene where a giant cross appeared in the background as the characters traveled. It reminded me of something I saw when I drove through Texas years ago:

This giant 190 foot tall cross is located in Groom Texas, 40 miles East of Amarillo, off I-40. It was built in 1995.

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Extreme waves in the North Sea. Imagine being in a Viking ship heading Westward to the UK, Iceland, Greenland, Nova Scotia. Yikes!

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A crow's nest in Tokyo made up of wire clothes hangers snatched from people's balconies:

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The blanketed hills of Val d'Orcia, Tuscany:

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Famed Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev extraordinary grave: 

 

It was designed and built by set designer, Ezio Frigerio who often designed sets for Nureyev’s choreographies. This mosaic memorial resembles one of the oriental kilim rugs that Nureyev loved so much.

 Detail of the decoration in Venetian smalti mosaics and gold leaf

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Japanese aquarium cheers up 'lonely' sunfish with staff uniforms, portraits on tank:

 

Read more: https://cnn.it/40kWZi1

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Roman gambling dice from 3rd Century AD-design still in use today:

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Teacup designed in the 1870's to help keep a man's mustache dry:
 

 

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Antique light bulb filament in shape of a flower:

These were made by Aerolux, a NYC company from the 1930s-1970s. These gas discharge light bulbs contained low pressure gas, either neon or argon, or a mixture of the two. Also within the bulb were metal sculptures coated with phosphors. These phosphors fluoresced when excited by glow discharge. Because glow discharge occurs readily at 110-120 volts AC, one could use these bulbs in standard household lamps in the United States. While distinctive, they were quite fragile and care was needed when handling. 

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Tin foil hats for cats!

Introduced in March of 2018 by novelty retailer Archie McPhee. The spiel: https://mcphee.com/blogs/news/pictures-of-tin-foil-hat-for-cats-and-humans

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Building designed to look like fish:

Located in Hyderabad, India, this building houses, oddly enough, the National Fisheries Development Board. It opened in April, 2012. 

MADads:

Testosterone-charged ad for Ram Trucks with a Hegseth attitude: Nothing stops Ram. It means we do it big. We do it loud!  And we never give up. Let's go bomb something-drug dealing "fishermen" off Venezuela, school kids in Iran, "terrorists" and "illegal immigrants" everywhere!

Outback Steakhouse: 

Why is this guy so happy that he didn't get hired? Well, it's unemployment rules: to continue benefits, you have to prove that you have applied for a job (in your field, of course). He's gone through the motions and now, for a period of time, he is free to do whatever the hell he wants and still pull in some cash. No wonder he is dancing for joy, sitting down to a nice steak meal (no TV dinner for him!) and getting a nice buzz on with his pals. Life is good here at the Outback, mate!

 

Fun vids:

The glass octopus: 

 

From Wiki: A small creature, with adults reaching 4.3" x 18", Vitreledonella richardi is found in tropical and subtropical seas worldwide. It typically inhabits depths where sunlight penetration is minimal. Due to its deep-sea habitat, encounters with this species in the wild are rare.

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A Houston, Tx neighborhood turns lemons into lemonade concerning a determined, incorrigible, unrepentant  cat burglar:

 

Our little grey, Molls had this behavior especially when C lived in Paris. She also enjoyed, on one occasion, sampling her neighbor's pasta sauce out of the pan in their kitchen! 

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How Earth would look if all the ice melted:

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Ai alley cats-a wicked, oblique satire of the times:

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New theory concerning the Roman dodecahedron, which has some folks convinced, others-not so much:

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Interesting vid concerning 5000 year old Sumerian tablet VAT 9391 that depicts sky charts. Controversial interpretations: recording an incoming object from outside our solar system that resulted in an impact in Switzerland OR one that will arrive sometime in 2027:

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The Hittites, who reigned 1650-1200 BCE-the original Game of Thrones kingdom:

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Curious research into the DNA of the Mayflower passengers and crew with a startling revelation: 

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Scotland's complex DNA: 

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The Etruscans were an advanced, indigenous civilization of ancient Italy that thrived from roughly 900 BC to

27 BC. Centered in Etruria (modern-day Tuscany and surrounding areas), they established a powerful federation of twelve city-states. Though their civilization was ultimately absorbed by Rome, their cultural, technological, and architectural innovations laid the foundation for the Roman Empire. 

FUBARland

Great joke from Jimmy Kimmel-Church authorities decided it was too dangerous for Roach to enter the Vatican to meet the pope as it had been observed that whenever he entered a church, the holy water would begin to boil. 

A "crop circle" appeared next to Roach's Bedminster Golf Course, to be seen when he copters in to play while on the taxpayer's dime:

 

5/22: another one bites the dust-Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence has resigned, ostensibly because of her husband's cancer. But really, yet another female for the Roach to oust and one who was not 110% loyal as she objected to his Iranian war efforts. Buh bye!

Comedian John Mulaney's "There's a horse in the hospital" routine: