Watching

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watchin' the puddles gather rain

This pandemic still has many still working at home. I’m not working at home but retired at home instead.

I did some watching. Watching the heavens (I’m not convinced about this religious heaven concept but calling the dark sky the heavens still sounds good to me) fuels my wonder.

Why bother to watch the heavens? Jupiter and Saturn are mostly huge balls of gas. Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids, in fact it's cold as hell.

I believe knowledge of the night sky objects creates more wonder as you watch these objects move through the heavens.

Back to the original thought for this post, this past month (sorry this is not a site for what’s in the sky tonight) the northern hemisphere had the opportunity to view a comet zipping by. It was given the name comet NEOWISE. The strange name was assigned for a reason. The NEO part stands for Near Earth Orbit and WISE stands for Wide-field Infrared Space Explorer. The NEOWISE project is the asteroid-hunting project that discovered this comet, hence the name.

I saw the comet with binoculars on two different evenings. Sadly the suburban area around Chicago is not the best for a good dark sky. I managed to see this fuzzy stretched out dirty ice ball but I’m sure it would have look better in a darker sky. I recall seeing the comet Hale-Bopp in 1997. That one was easier to see.

 
On nice afternoons I’ll find myself enjoying a beer and watching clouds pass overhead. Clouds have pros and cons. Clouds on the ground (fog) are bad unless you’re a psycho murderer stalking their next victim (how did I go off on that tangent?). Clouds blocking the sun are good on a hot day but bad at night when I’m trying to see a comet. Of the many things I really don’t know, clouds are probably low on the list.

 

Please enjoy a few thoughts that popped up in my brain long enough to be written down: 

 

• “Stand By Your Man” - While I’m not an expert, I don’t think it applies well to grizzly bear families.
• It occurred to me that receiving long sentences doesn’t help you write long sentences. However, it does give you time to work on it.
• I’ve noticed that Tik Tok is a popular app for the younger generation. If anyone is developing an app for the older generation they should call in Ticky Tacky.
• I heard this good advice the other day: “But I’m going to take a step back and make sure that we learn the facts before we start talking about it.” - Dr. Fauci 
  

 

Even if you don’t watch the weather it will change your day. Don’t most people enjoy a good storm if they are in a safe place? No matter, the weather will find you.

If you read my last post, you should be expecting these two musical videos.

Meanwhile

Have I told you of my squirrel days?
Mixed nuts are the best.
Once upon a time, ...
Oh yeah some background. (just curious do you often start explaining something or telling a story and interrupt yourself to provide background?)

Not again!

This picture was emailed to me from comedywildlifephoto.

If you haven’t seen their photo collection, check them out. Funny stuff.

Like most I put ideas of human feelings inside that squirrel’s head. Did the squirrel just realize he did something stupid?

Then my mind wandered to thinking about being a squirrel. I know I would still find many things to complain about. The picture has me wondering if squirrels complain.

I grew up with a big weeping willow in our backyard. Maybe the climbing of that tree left me with a connection to those great climbers called squirrels.

Idyllic memories

enough climbing for today

next time I want the apple crisp

fungi is tree related

fungus group includes yeast - yeast is used to make beer

fox tails are better than squirrel tails

a wood giant

Natural color

man-made color - what do squirrels think of this

tree art

more tree art

old tree art

The best tree is one you can lean on.

lean-on-me tree

class insecta

It started last summer, I had never noticed it before then. Now again this summer.

smart butterfly works crosswords

I have a new friend. We are not in the same class. Actually after I looked it up, I found that I'm in a different phylum. My summer friend is of the arthropod phylum. A very unlikely friend. Also, it's been a long long time since I was in biology class.

butterfly earrings

He's a Red Admiral. I was in US Air Force but I know an admiral is equivalent to a general. I've been looking up Red Admiral traits on the internet.

Here's a few of his traits:

• The males are territorial and many times can be found in the same location day to day. This why I believe the gender is male. (of course who knows what he identifies as)
• migrating range from Canada to Mexico (well traveled)
• considered to be people-friendly butterflies that will approach and perch on human beings.

I'm a butterfly perch

Last summer we noticed this butterfly visiting our deck on multiple days. One day it landed on my shoulder and our daughter snapped a picture. It has returned again this summer. Of course knowing that butterfly's lives are measured in weeks not years, this must be a descendant.

This summer one of his visits happened while the grandkids were here. They had fun with him. He landed on two of them. He's a good entertainer.

his relative from last year

Interactions like this start me wondering about the animal, asking myself, what's it thinking, does it even think. What would be like to be one?

Adolescence and getting through puberty is a difficult emotional time. But imagine the trauma of metamorphosis? You're an overeating vegetarian caterpillar, then enclosed in this shell like thing and then come out with fancy wings. That's a lot of change to handle.

Butterfly - buttercup - close enough - here's a song from a favorite movie, "There's Something About Mary".


 

How are your insect relationships going? Please comment below.

streaming the old way

Natural streaming

Just finished a bit of road tripping. (funny how "tripping" had that other meaning during my youth) We visited family and got out into nature. The streaming we enjoyed was not the technological type.  Good streaming can be found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
 

my thumb - no actually my NP pass

On an earlier trip a nice park ranger at the entrance of a national park in Florida told me about the lifetime pass I was eligible for.  I bought it.  Ten dollars!!  For a lifetime pass to any national park.

Now my youngest adult daughter pointed out that lifetime for me was not the same length as it is for many others.  Remarks like that could shorten her lifetime but I took it as a funny joke.  You need to be 62 or more to be eligible for this great offer.

Of course the entrance fee at most national parks is very reasonable so this senior pass is comparable to a senior discount.  You can bring four people in with you too.

Having only used my pass the day I got it months ago, I was slightly excited (doesn't take much does it?) to use it again.

As I studied the route from my sister's place to the park I noticed the Blue Ridge Parkway connected to our planned route.  (oh this GPS Google mapping thing is the best app for a smartphone)  We had been on the Blue Ridge Parkway once in Virginia.  We hopped on it for a few very scenic miles (oh no trucks allowed on it too).

The parkway dropped us off on the road into the park.  We passed a visitor center after which I expected an entrance gate.  Mile after mile of following a beautiful mountain stream but no entrance.

Finally we reach the middle area of the park and turn on the side road for Clingmans Dome.  At this point I figure I just discovered a back way into the park.  Use the Blue Ridge Parkway and get in free.

We stopped in the visitor center/gift shop.  After picking out a t-shirt (my normal daily costume) I mentioned this lack of entrance gate to one of the staff.  I'm told that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free.  I never knew that even though I had been there as a kid and with my kids before.  (ok I guess I completely forgot)  I was very disappointed.  I really wanted to pull out my exclusive club pass senior pass.  (if interested here's the history behind this park being free)

I just wish there were more national parks around northern Illinois.   

 

a different dance

I have forgotten how I stumbled onto this youtube clip. I do follow a few science related youtube channels so it probably was suggested to me by the genius software of youtube. (oh this is about spiders but they are really adorable spiders and tiny)

awesome Aussie spider by Jurgen Otto

As the video shows, many species dance.  I can't dance well.  Maybe a costume would help.

Here's the clip.  Very interesting and worth watching.

the woods both beautiful and scary

Summer should be planned spontaneous. Well isn't that the argument at times? Is it better to plan or not plan.  How you balance that decision is really personal choice. My wife and I traveled to both Central America and Europe with only reservations for the start and end of each trip. The middle part was filled in as we went. Making plans on the fly allows flexibility but sometimes can eat up your time searching for a clean place to rest your head.

Summer - warm, hot, wet, long days, thunder storms, sandy beaches,

It's a time to get out into nature and enjoy.  Nature is often spontaneous.

Sharing is good but not with the insects.

don't worry it's only art

I'm sharing another travel story.  Nature has been known to surprise me with adventure even when I don’t travel far.

Back during our daughter's teen years (an exciting/scary time for parents with or without natural storms) I became familiar with a YMCA camp in nearby Wisconsin.

She started as a camper and liked it enough that the next year she sign-up as a camp counselor (started in-training then progressively advanced to more important roles).

This became her summer plan for a few years. She enjoys kids and now she has become a teacher (and mom).

Dad fishing on a wooded lake

One of my trips to the camp became very memorable, nearly in a very bad way.

As a counselor she would have sessions at the camp lasting many weeks straight. When she had a free weekend she would be eager to come back. (these were pre-smartphone days)

So one summer Friday afternoon, I hurried up to the camp. Driving to the camp was enjoyable after getting off the interstate. The two lane country road was hilly, tree lined, and offered views of numerous small lakes. A road through many woods.

Ready to go when I arrived, we quickly were off on the ride home. However, we quickly discovered a nasty surprise from nature was about join us for the trip.

The wind is very noticeable in the woods. Watching large trees sway and snap their branches is a scary sight. The bigger trees sound like old men climbing creaking stairs.

As I pulled out from the dirt (now mud) road through the camp area woods onto the two lane country road, this summer thunder storm was about to peak. I pulled over on the shoulder for a short while. We were amazed and maybe shocked to see the debris being whipped across our path.

After what seemed the worst of it, I cautiously started down that scenic-turned-scary road.

Then we both saw something shocking.

A car was racing uncontrollably towards us.

I think my daughter screamed but if so I might not of heard it because my whole focus was on avoiding a head-on collision.

The approaching car swerved, went off the road, through a ditch, through a front yard and was quickly stopped by a large tree.

Our eyes were wider than ever, trying to take in what just happened. Mind and heart racing, I finally realized we were untouched.

I pulled over again and decided I needed to go back and check. I didn't carry a cellphone back then. When I approached the car I was surprised not to see any passengers. They all had taken off.

I went up to a nearby house and got the attention of homeowner. We pieced the puzzle together - mostly likely underage drinkers who survived the crash but probably didn't want to stick around for the police report. We left.

When we finally reached the interstate and a restaurant we learned that storm carried a tornado along too.  Enough near misses for me.

Nature can be both beautiful and scary in the woods.

last Thursday Mother Nature called

water covering a highway and new water park I've been to with grandkids

I was sleeping. My wife woke me up and told me the downpour was really bad and kindly suggested (her version, my version was more of an order) that I adjust the drain hose on the downspout.

Bear with me while I take a brief tangent to explain some background. Our house is not very large nor expensive (I’m sure those are related) so my wife swaps the seasonal coats around in the limited 1st floor closet space. Second notable item, we are experiencing a delayed winter. Before I could dash outside I had to wake up and get my rain jacket from its basement storage area (also I’m not a morning person).

As I lumbered down to the basement I saw the message Mother Nature left (so nice to leave messages). Mother Nature called to tell me our sump pump was dead. She displayed the message all across the basement floor. 

extracted dead pump - could be from a sunken treasure find

When water starts flowing across a basement floor you notice all types of cardboard boxes that you didn’t realize were there. The morning was spent moving, clearing, dumping, wet vacuuming, and squeegee pushing. By mid afternoon I had extracted the dead pump.

Our problems were minor compared to others in our village and surrounding area. If you lived near a small stream, you discovered the now river strength water was asking to take you house along with it. A section of major highway through our village was completely under water (see pic below). A parking lot at a nearby grocery store had become a good size lake with cars forming islands.

According to regional weather forecasters more rain has fallen in this month of April (still more that a week left) than during ALL of last summer. Our village of Lisle made the top of one list of rainfall measurements on the local news. It was over 6 inches. Lisle was also mentioned by Brian Williams on the NBC national news.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Photos from Chicago Weather Center Blog and Huffington Post. You can find more photos by following the links back to those sites.

retirement home rescue

Every Sunday since my blog started getting visited by Unknown Mami there has been a photo sharing/linking post at her blog. Check it out.


 

something in the water

It would be exciting to witness a big dolphin party like those being reported off the coast of southern California. Scientist have long known that dolphins are very social animals. In the video clip below you’ll see a jumping party that has been estimated to total in the thousands. These dolphins know how to party.

Not I-pods but a mega pod of dolphins.  Except for perhaps the clown fish these dolphins find and create the fun of the ocean.

So why the big crowded party?

Lisleman’s theory - dolphins have either discovered Facebook or Twitter. Maybe both.
 



another circus 

creativity alert

I didn't plan on posting another youtube clip (just did one the other day) but some of them get me excited to share. This is one of those "oh-oh-you-gotta-see" ones.
 
This very creative commercial idea called for filming out in nature. As you know nature has wild animals who are curious too.

Any readers familiar with bears?




another circus 

hawk brought lunch

Today Hawk stopped by for lunch. The weather was so nice, he ate outside.

Good thing Hawk ate outside because the lunch was not cooked. Hawk likes raw fresh meat. I’m terrible with names, but I knew better, not to call him Chicken Hawk. After a little photo matching on the internet, I’ve determined he is a Cooper’s Hawk.

Today he enjoyed fresh chipmunk or maybe small squirrel. Not being the most sociable diner, I could not get close enough to ask the exact type of juicy meal he consumed in our neighbor’s tree.

We do hope he will return for another chipmunk. We have plenty living under our deck.

oh the earthy smell of whale turds

“Earthy Tones” for you marketing types.

a beach we visited once - now I wish I looked for whale turds

Have you had the experience of being a little grossed out when you learn the details of something that you didn't know was gross?  For example, harmless and beneficial bacteria far outnumber harmful varieties. However bacteria information can be repulsive.

I thought the Chinese had all the strange uses for animal parts (shark fins, scorpions, snakes) but now I’ve learned about sperm whale turds. The internet advances my mind once again.

If your beach combing ever turns up a sperm whale turd, consider it your lucky day. I have seldom, if ever, written “turd” in my blog postings. Today, actually having a reason to use this powerful compact word is a pleasure. I’ll switch to the fancier word (new to me) for this whale turd. Ambergris is a valuable whale turd (I just had to get one more rolled out on the table).

My ambergris (turd knowledge sounds very low class) knowledge came from a story of a boy beach combing. Charlie, an 8-year-old British boy found this odd waxy rock on his local beach. After some google searching and help from a local marine biologist (does everyone living near the sea know a marine biologist?) it was determine he had a good size piece of ambergris.

His ambergris find is estimated to be worth about $65,000. Not bad for beach combing. The value comes from it’s use to make expensive perfumes. Think Chanel No. 5 and better.

The older the ambergris the better. It ages like a fine wine.

Oh the olfactory ideas this story provides. Smell like the whales.

(from wikipedia) During the Middle Ages, Europeans used ambergris as a medication for headaches, colds, epilepsy, and other ailments. The sperm whales dine on squid who have sharp beaks. The whale’s intestines protects itself by coating the beaks with a fatty substance. After it’s expelled, floats a few years, washes up on a beach, sold to a perfumery, you buy a tiny bit inside that expensive scent.

It would be fun to ask at the perfumes counter which perfume is made with whale turds.

Oh honey, come closer you smell like a whale.

picture perfect place nearby

We are fortunate to live nearby a relaxing green outdoor museum of trees, Morton Arboretum.  I am fortunate to have a wife that enjoys it enough to keep renewing our membership.  It has always had beautiful drives and trails that stretch around hills and ponds.  In recent years they have added a maze and children's interactive section.  I've posted about some of our visits.  Last summer we enjoy a series of evening outdoor concerts.

you can find:
 unusual "tree art"

Kids sliding and superman visiting

pink colors reflected on ponds

us posing on the trail

strange roots seeking water

Enjoy more pictures at Unknown Mami's SIMC feature.

pics for Sunday

Two FF posts ago (click here if you are not familiar with FF posts) I wrote that my wife and I witnessed an amazing event just a few hours before we pulled into our home from a trip. It’s an event that rural folks are more likely to witness. It took place not too far over the border of Indiana.  

In that post I didn't say anything more but promised to post about it later.  Well the Princess of the Fragment, Mrs. 4444 somehow guessed almost the complete answer in her comment.

We witnessed the birth of a calf.  One of my wife's favorite places is Fair Oaks Farms.  They have quite an extensive operation and great diary products along with tasty sandwiches.

plastic ones don't smell or need food - but they don't moo either

One of their highlights is the birthing barn.  It runs 24hrs, 7 days a week.  The have a traffic light outside the barn and we happened to be eating outside that afternoon and noticed the light changed to green.  My wife (she has toured the whole place before) knew this meant a calf was about to be born.  'About' is relative because while things were in progress when we took our seats.  The progress was of the 2 pushes out and 1 slide back type.  I didn't take any pictures of the actual birth but this youtube clip shows it very well.




Like pictures on a Sunday?  Check out Unknown Mami's SIMC feature (click the button). 

folly of friday fragments

I may be a pepperoni short of a pizza, but don't let that influence your browsing over to Mrs. 4444's famous Friday Fish Fry for all Fragments hosting.  Really other than fragments I don't have a clue what she's serving this Friday.

We just returned from a fun week+ trip this last Monday night. My wife and I witnessed an amazing event just a few hours before we pulled into our home. It’s an event that rural folks are more likely to witness. It took place not too far over the border of Indiana. 

I’m not going to tell anymore about it in this post. I thought a teaser might be fun.

One stop on our trip was Shenandoah National Park.  A very beautiful escape into nature.

We crossed the AT (Appalachian Trail est. 2180 miles) on our hike to see a waterfall.  I recommend taking your spouse with you on Appalachian hiking because they might be suspect of you having a love affair with more than the outdoors.  We didn't come across any ex-governors or Argentinian women.

I tried hiding in the trees.

Our Canon Powershot camera has a setting to miniaturize things.  I tried it on my wife.  Can you see how small she became?  The effect does not last long.

Earlier in our trip, I tried hiding on my sister's boat.  It's a really nice boat (we don't own a boat) and I thought maybe I could just stay on it and no one would miss me.

A boat with toilet paper - how cool

Protests - I grew up in the sixties with sit-ins, marches and a few riots. If it’s not a riot and there is no damage then why not protest. We all have something to complain about right? 

Should clowns be allowed to protest? 

Alton Towers’ Carnival of Screams was a new attraction featuring a “freakish circus troupe” based in a travelling funhouse that has been taken over by evil clowns. This UK theme park’s added it to their Scarefest 2010. (yeah I know that’s last year’s news but keeping up on clown news takes time) 

I had my Thursday posting dilemma again today. You see I like to take some time to create my FF post and I want to have it up on Thursday night. I also think many readers don’t have time for two posts in one day. I know some readers will go back and read earlier posts but c’mon we often don’t have the time to do that. My dilemma is when I have a post idea on Thursday in addition to the FF post. I don’t really want to post two the same day. My solution today was to mention it here and leave you the link to the earlier post. 

Ok you can now return to that pizza I made you hungry for.

every picture tells a story

The simple story these three pictures tell is:

We have enjoyed the live music, wine tasting, cheese eating evenings at the Morton Arboretum this summer.   Also (the last one), I like odd humorous art.

The post title might be familiar to many my age. I didn't care much for that song but I really liked "Maggie May". It always reminds me of a girl named Margaret who went by Peggy but could have changed her nickname to Maggie. I dated her for a short while but I don't think it was in May.

Not related but I want to share this link to another story I read today.  Very to touching story with a lesson about the challenges of life.  Mary Schmich's Chicago Tribune column.

Enjoy more pictures at Unknown Mami's SIMC feature.

another circus