FIVE SECOND STORIES

In the Neighborhood: in these days of Harvest Feasts and Ox Roasts, here at the Diner we have for the first time: Acornfest!

Neighbor Johnnie is quite fastidious about his lawn but with his big oak, there's a problem: acorns. He spends a lot of time each year using a litter picker to gather them. We've seen this for years and this year C suggested a experiment: we'll take the acorns off his hands and see how our wild friends react. Johnnie was quite agreeable with the idea so, he gave us a big bag of them  and I put them on the Buffet. Within a couple of hours, MamaC waddled over to see the newest bill of fare. At first she seemed tentative. Gave them a try and wandered off. Hmmm, I thought-is this going to be an acquired taste, like learning to enjoy a beer? However, it seems to have grown on her as she visited another 3 times!

The following day, I put out another treat: the end corner of a calzone. Our girl certainly enjoys an exotic diet! 

It appears she is the only one who imbibes the acorns-seen no one else-the squirrelies seem to like the sunflower seeds better. Here she is snacking amidst a Raucous Caucus of sparrows: 

MamaC basking in some late afternoon sunlight. 

She is Rubenesque these days. You gotta wonder about her account on Groundhog Tinder: I might be older, boys but I am very experienced and acorn-fed. Hubba hubba!
 
Harvest Moon Day-We got the pool covered-yay! After supper, we gathered around the Tube afterward. Tis a change of season: space heater time and Buddy is very happy to have one blasting into his face. He is such a funny guy.

 

Curious patterns-we had as background while we ate, an hour's worth of sea turtles swimming.

Outside:

Harvest moon rising:
 

Neil Young's Harvest Moon from 1992:

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Sedum in the West Garden:

Afternoon light in my bedroom:

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Welcome back Mr. Tufted Titmouse! Having a bite with a Mr. Redbird, who is still recovering from molt.

What they do during Summer: 

During the late spring and summer months, Tufted Titmice primarily feed on insects and caterpillars high up in the dense forest canopy. Because they are busy nesting, raising their young, and finding plenty of natural food, they rarely need to visit backyard bird feeders, making them seem completely absent.

Why They "Return" in September

As summer winds down and insect populations drop, titmice transition to a diet of seeds and nuts. They are famous for "caching"—aggressively gathering seeds from feeders and hiding them individually under tree bark or in crevices to save for the winter

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 I spotted a Nutkin on the bath and realized that it was a Mom.

A couple of days later, she and her 4 kids are checking out Grandfather Birch's lofts-awwww, so cute:

A couple of Mamas:

Our street was repaved this week, something that has not been done since we moved in 16 years ago. Nice job!

With the pool covered, our billowing monster has returned: 

Little Guy seems to be ailing-there's a segment in his tail that seems to have shedded fur-what's up bro?

Tail looking kinky

 

You can see a notch before the first dark band

I haven't seen RW recently. According to research, the females and juveniles have headed out to Southern US/Mexico. The males linger until October/November fueling up for the journey.

A couple of things from my childhood-giant flocks of blackbirds that gathered in our swamp in the back corner of our 15 acres in the evening who were quite loud; ground fog I encountered as I walked 1/4 mile to the main road to catch the bus.

Grandfather Birch's leaves are beginning to turn. It seems early to me and according to past posts, he did the same thing last year-both summers were droughty and he had the leaf skeletonizers to contend with. 2023-he turned in mid-October.

Fun Facts

2026 currently is the first time in 112 years that there have been zero hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin.

What European city has the largest population?  Moscow over 13 million within the city limits; 21 million in the metropolitan area. 

MADads: William Shatner's insatiable need for attention is well-known and documented. Futurama's character Calculon is a parody of Shatner. For this year's SuperDuper Bowl, he starred in a Kellogg's Raisin Bran Ad: 

 

Tagline: Will Shat here and you can too!

 

New term for me: lifestyle visit. Saw an ad for this where folks sign up for guided visits to see places for potential retirement. Looked rather posh in a White Lotus kind of way. 

Algorithm irony: the other day while I was surfing YT, I came across an ad featuring a young black woman exercising wearing one of those diabetic glucose monitoring patches on her arm-beats poking your finger every hour-with a tagline of Helps You Succeed! 

This was followed by an AI rendering of The Colonel hawking his $10 Bucket specials for tenders, wings and nuggets. 

Bad algorithms! 

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Whoa! Ad turned up for Halloween shirts-this was rather gruesome I thought, thanks to the past decades of slasher/bloody horror flicks: 

Geez-who would wear such a thing? The wife and kids just wouldn't shut up. At least there were shirts for women as well-yeah, the asshole's been banging his secretary again. I taught both of them a lesson. Creepier still would be people who wear the shirt outside of the Halloween festivities. Just who you want in line with you at a Meijer checkout lane.

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There's a long-standing joke about out transmissions going out into Space and how other entities might view them. Recently, a number of broadcasts have been received and it's a head-scratcher-have these creatures evolved? New species? What's with those white things sticking out of their heads?

 

Fun Fact: radiocarbon dating has a test ceiling reaching a maximum of 50,000 years back in time. 

Fun vids 

From the actor who brought us Philomena Cunk, a new series Ann Droid: 

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Researchers investigating the marks in European caves discover a form of proto-writing. The caves were a library, left by earlier inhabitants for the next group to come along: how to stay alive.

One of the marks is a "Y" and is quite common. Turns out to be an elegant idea: it symbolizes birth. A new branch.

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The curious tale of Gobekli Tepe site:

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I've seen this during my time living and visiting AZ where the drive from Phoenix to Tucson was visually extraordinary after a wet spring.

FUBARland

Both Will Lawrence and Abdul El Sayed are being beaten bloody by attack ads using their past very vocal, very public stances on defunding the police. Oy.

It's an old problem: one sends signals to indicate where you are on the political spectrum. People understand and recognize that you also have other progressive ideas. But later on, this comes back and bites them in the ass. Some never recover, others survive the test which adds to their reps.

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The basic insanity of Data Centers: with so much of the country having drought issues, they want to build these things. A large hyperscale facility can use 1 million to 5 million gallons of water per day—comparable to the daily use of a small town. I like the protest signs:

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Fabulous joke concerning the utter failure of Trump TV: viewership for its premiere was surpassed by tape loops of someone watching their feet.

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Friends-it feels to me that 3 major crises in the world will come to a head this winter:

1) here in the US, the mid-term elections. If the Dems can pull off a Blue Wave, take both houses of Congress, Roach becomes a giant demented Lame Duck. We can get some sense back into the government and get it working again.

2) the Russo-Ukraine war comes to its final stages. Zelenskyy publicly told Putin-we're gonna hurt your people this winter. Puty is running out of cash, his oligarch pals are starting to flee and the citizenry are fed up. He's increasingly being backed into a corner. Even money on whether China will give him sanctuary or that a car bomb will take him out.

3) Major elections this fall in Israel-will Bibi and his awful far-right pals limp through and continue their blood-letting against their neighbors or will the people finally put their foot down and say enough is enough? Whodathunk, that a nation who survived a holocaust 80 years ago, perpetuate their own against the Palestinans? They are a pariah nation now, much like South Africa during the apartheid years.

Better buckle up-it's gonna be a turbulent few months. Good luck to us all.