Gleanings of the Week Ending October 1, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

What is the right age to get a smartphone? – No set answer or surprises in this article. I was a little disappointed but maybe the answer will always start out with “it depends….”

Air pollution might spur irregular heart rhythms in healthy teens – Air quality is important for everyone…not new news, but this study has supporting data for a segment of the population we generally think are very healthy.

A rapid shift to clean energy would save the world $12 trillion – I wish I was more confident that the people of the world have the will to save the planet (and ourselves).

Seven healthy lifestyles may reduce dementia risk for people with diabetes – Getting all 7 might be hard….but the 5 or 6 out the 7 should be something everyone can do.

Cool and Overlooked Critters of the Sagebrush Sea – Someone commented that they had driven across Kansas once and it was such a long slog that they didn’t want to do it again. This article reminded me that learning to look at unfamiliar places is a challenge…one we should consciously accept!

Daily multivitamin may improve cognition and possibly protect against decline – Easy to do!

Why you need a 'wellbeing wardrobe' – Most of my clothes are over a decade old and some were bought from a thrift store. I wear them until they are worn out and then I turn them into other things, compost them (if they a compostable fiber) or donate them (hoping that they can be sold or recycled). My sister commented that she was saving jeans to make a quilt. There are some items that seem to last longer than they did in the 70s (I remember inexpensive underwear and panty hose that were rarely worn more than a few times). Since I don’t buy many new clothes, I wondered about the demographics of who is buying so much clothing…and then trashing it so quickly.

Older adults with regular activity routines are happier and do better on cognitive tests – Picked up a vocabulary word from this article: zeitgebers – time cues which help set the body’s internal clock and can also assist in creating a stable routine. Some examples of zeitgebers are sunlight, exercise and eating…pets that require certain kinds of attention at about the same time each day.

Why plastic doesn't dry in the dishwasher – A little physics. I’ve noticed that we are using less plastic these days…more ceramic, glass, and metal. The last change was the containers we use for leftovers; I’ve gradually been replacing plastic with glass containers. My popcorn bowl (that I use in the microwave) is still plastic…but that’s about it.

Meet the Bat Falcon, the ABA Area’s Newest Bird – About the bat falcon, the ABA checklist and its importance to birders chasing a Big Year.

120 interiors…from 1912

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I like books that reflect when they were written…provide illustrations that allow easy comparison with today. Casimir Hermann Baer edited 120 interiors in colours, designed by modern artists and it was published in 1912 in Cleveland OH. It’s interesting to pick out elements of the designs that look familiar. It’s one of my favorite ways to think more deeply about history – in this case, the best-that-money-could-buy shelter in 1912…in contrast to modern homes. Here’s are some samples from the book:

Open floor plans and natural light

Bedrooms with plenty of storage, rugs near the bed

Plenty of room for dining

Sometimes exotic wall treatments and high ceils for entries/stairs…chandeliers

These illustrations are clearly not from 2022!

There were no pictures of kitchens or bathrooms in the books. Those have changed a lot over the last century!

Ten Little Celebrations – September 2022

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The 10 celebrations I am featuring in the September 2022 of this monthly post are about foods and health and getting things done. There is also a lot to celebrate about the outdoors this time of year.

Frito pie. I have discovered Dickey’s Frito Pie with brisket, beans, and cheese. It is packed with the Fritos in their own bag for takeout….and I like it without the Fritos! It’s a good thing for me to get when my husband is hungry for a barbeque sandwich…celebrating that the barbeque places where we live now are much better than the ones convenient to us in Maryland.

A birthday. We celebrated by daughter’s birthday. I was chagrined that ice cream cakes are harder to find these days, but she said she wanted ice cream sandwiches…and those were easy to purchase!

Getting the flu and COVID vaccine. I celebrated that the shots were available in time for me to get the shots early enough for them to protect me during my upcoming travel.  

Legal updates completed. My sister and I collaborated to get my parents legal documents updated according to their wishes….and celebrated the completed milestone.

Rings of Power series. I don’t watch much television but I am enjoying the Rings of Power….celebrating the quality of the production and seeing more of Tolkien’s world.

Our large wind chimes. My office is situated where I can hear the wind chimes on breezy days…I celebrate their sound and the memory of when we bought them too.

Poke weeds. Yes – they are weeds…but they are native, and they do produce berries that birds eat. I celebrate that I have several plants that out of the way in my landscaping so I can leave them rather than battling them all through the season.

Springfield Botanical Garden. I find something to celebrate every time I go! This time there were lots of insects to photograph.

Spider Lilies. I don’t know how I missed the orange spider lilies in my parents’ garden in previous years…but I was there at the right time this year to see them!

Great weather for being outdoors. There were still some hot days but as the month progressed, I celebrated some cooler temperatures….the ease of getting outdoors without being concerned of high heat or poor air quality.

Favorite Shoes

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I will probably have to retire my favorite pair of shoes soon and I am savoring them to the end. I like their rounded toes and decorative stitching….their metal decoration over the Velcro closure…their arch support and very slight wedge.

I bought them used several years ago. The padding on the sole is very thin and there are small tears that have formed on the sides. The metal decoration is tarnished and dented. The bottom has almost worn smooth.

I wish I could find a new pair that is the same but that is (most likely) impossible. Shoes are produced in quantity and then production is stopped for that style. A new style is produced in quantity, and it happens again…endless change hoping to attract new buyers in a faster and faster swirl of newness that encourages early trashing of products before they’re worn out. My favorite pair of shoes will be thoroughly worn out…but I am putting off buying anything new to replace them for now.

Unique Aspects of Days – September 2022

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The unique aspects for September….

Queen Elizabeth II died. The event is something that will be memorable about 2022. Her coronation was in the year I was born...she was the only well-known person I can think of that was on the international stage for that long period. Closer to home – her death accompanies the older generation of my family ebbing away. I am fortunate that both my parents are still around.

Making a quick run to Walmart for coffee. My dad makes coffee every morning and had somehow forgotten to tell anyone that there was not enough left in the container to make another pot. If I had not been visiting…they just would not have had any morning coffee that day!

Murmuration of pigeons over the Walmart parking lot. Somehow lots of pigeons were on the Walmart parking lot…and they flew up in a big swirl when they were startled by something (maybe a car?) and they did the usual turning in unison….the undulating ebbs and flows in the air. It seemed like they stayed a loft longer than required to escape danger and I wondered if the birds enjoy the ‘dancing’ in the sky.  

Talking with a man hauling hay at the gas station. I stopped to buy gas at a very large gas station just off the highway and a man with a trailer full of the round bales of hay pulled up on the other side of the pump. We had a short conversation and l learned: he is getting $60/bale rather than $30 he got last year, his fields are Johnson grass and cows like that kind of hay, this haul was from the 3rd mowing.

A upside down truck on the highway. The only time I got on the highway once I was in Carrollton, there was an upside truck on the other side….traffic just beginning to back up. It wasn’t obvious how the accident occurred; the truck was against the dividing wall that kept it from crossing over to the other side of the highway. I came back an hour later and could see that the truck was still there (upside down), but a crane has been brought in….and it was rush hour. Fortunately, I was already at my exit and the backup only slowed me down for about 5 minutes.

Rats. My parents had their house treated for rats. Insulation in the attic was replaced and holes in the eaves were sealed. There is a 10-year warranty. Hopefully this is a truly unique experience.

Grilling when it was windy. We didn’t use our gas grill when it was windy at our Maryland house, but we discovered that the house does a reasonable job of blocking the wind at our Missouri house….another reason to like our new location/house.

Laundered/dried our pillows in our new appliances. We don’t launder pillows frequently…and this was the 1st with our new washer and drier. We discovered that the sensor in the drier thought they were dry when they were dry on the outside…but not on the inside. We had to manually run the drier again….but the process was still faster than with our older appliances.

Bakery bread. I have started looking at the list of ingredients for breads…and buying ones where the ingredients are about the same as for homemade bread. It seems like commercial breads have a long ingredient list. I’m finding that the bakery breads with the shorter list taste great and are easier for me to digest.

A third COVID booster. My husband and I got the 3rd COVID booster along with a flu shot (one in each arm). I had more side effects (sore arm, aches) with this 3rd shot than I did the second…but they only were bothersome for about 24 hours and were completely gone in 48.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 24, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Photographer Captures the Vast Beauty of Alaska Through Breathtaking Mountainscapes – Eventually I’d like to visit Alaska…but pictures are the next best way to experience the state.

Characteristics of older forests can buffer effects of climate change for some bird species – Results from an 8-year study (2011-18). Forests can provide refugia for some species….our stewardship is important.

Ruby was the first Black child to desegregate her school. This is what she learned – I’m glad she survived and thrived….don’t want any child going through this type of experience in the future. Education is challenging for child without accompanying trauma from the community or institution or bullies.

Should you feed garden birds? – Right now we have 2 bird feeders and baths…with a few plants in the yard that attract birds as well. Over the next few years, I will be planting for the birds – native plants that will support insects the birds need particularly during their breeding season…produce pollen and nectar and seeds to round out their diet.

Earth’s Iconic Waves, observed by Landsat – A 3.5 minute video about places on earth where the waves are significant enough to be visible from satellites…and a little about why those spots produce the types of waves observed.

The sands of Mars are green as well as red, rover Perseverance discovers – The discovery of volcanic rocks on Mars rich with large grains of olivine! I remember going to a green sand beach on the big island of Hawaii – olivine on earth.

Enhanced Geothermal Technology Cracks The 24/7 Energy Code – Maybe a technology that will be as important as wind and solar in our renewable energy portfolio.

What older adults do while they sit affects dementia risk – Passive behaviors like watching TV increased dementia risk-- on the plus side active behaviors while sitting like reading and using computers reduced dementia risk. The study had more than 145,000 participants aged 60 or over with nearly 12 years of follow-up.

Cataracts: we’re working on eye drops to treat them so people don’t need surgery – Glad the research is happening…probably not fast enough to be available when my cataracts will require treatment.

When Told About Flood Risk, Homebuyers Shun Vulnerable Homes, Study Finds – I shouldn’t be a surprise that people don’t want to buy properties that flood….and there are a lot of expensive coastal properties that have an increasing flood risk.

Advertising and British Art in the 1920s

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Walter Shaw Sparrow published Advertising and British Art in 1924. The illustrations in the book are historical as art…also for what they were ‘selling.’ Quite a few of them were about travel…places to go and how to get there!

The book got me thinking about art and advertising 100 years later. We do so much with photographs and digital media now….very different than the 1920s. Some of us have shifted somewhat to experience over additional possessions when it comes to discretionary spending – which would fit in with the ideas for travel in the book. But it seems like most of my ideas come from destination or topical searches rather than advertisements!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 17, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Federal flood maps are outdated because of climate change – The challenge of record rainfall events becoming more common and resulting in flooding of places not seen as vulnerable previously.

Hundreds of Monumental “Kites” Spotted in Arabian Desert – Low stone walls that could be enclosures used to guide game for capture/slaughter as early as 8000 BC.

The mystery of the human sacrifices buried in Europe's bogs – Sacrifices or maybe burial for anyone that died mysteriously or unnaturally. I remember being fascinated about the ‘bog bodies’ back in 1970s…buying the book about them by P.V. Glob.

Diet change may make biggest impact on reducing heart risk in people with hypertension – Too bad that the study also found “the availability and affordability of healthy food sources does not easily allow people to follow the DASH diet.” Diets are hard enough to sustain without those extra challenges.

Despite its innocently furry appearance, the puss caterpillar’s sting is brutal – The don’t look vicious….but the hairs have poisonous barbs! There are other caterpillars that also have ‘hairs’ and can deliver painful stings – like the saddleback caterpillars. In general…I avoid handling caterpillars with hairs or bristles!

Cancers in adults under 50 on the rise globally – Earlier detection could account for some of the increase…but it is unlikely to be the sole reason. 8 of the 14 cancers on the rise are related to the digestive system. With those types of cancers, the hypothesis is that the food we eat has changed dramatically and has changed our microbiome composition…and eventual these changes influence disease risk and outcomes. There is still a lot of work to be done but it appears that the drastic rise in early onset cancer began around 1990.

The biggest myths of the teenage brain – Hopefully some of these findings will be factors in decision making for things like high school hours and how to help teenagers better understand themselves.

NREL Study Identifies Opportunities & Challenges of Achieving the U.S. Transformational Goal of 100% Clean Electricity by 2035 – No single solution….having multiple pathways to the goal is probably a good thing.

Arctic lakes are vanishing a century earlier than predicted – Warmer temperatures and more abundant autumn rainfall have caused permafrost around/beneath Arctic lakes to melt…and the lakes shank between 2000 to 2021. The reduction in lakes impacts migratory birds and other wildlife…and human communities in the Arctic.

Fall Foliage Prediction Map – My road trips this fall will offer many opportunities to see fall foliage: 1st week in October in Michigan and Canada, the rest of October around Missouri, then Texas later in October into November.

Reflecting the world when my grandparents were born

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I recently browsed 12 books by Clifton Johnson in Internet Archive and realized that the years when they were published (1893 to 1915) were just prior and during the years my grandparents were born (1901-1912). My grandparents were born in Oklahoma and Texas; these places were not direct subjects of any of the books, but I thought my grandfather born in 1901 might have walked down a dusty road in Texas kicking up dust…dressed in overalls and a hat…just as pictured in The Farmer’s Boy. I couldn’t tell whether the boy in the picture had shoes or not; my grandfather talked about not wearing shoes when he was a child if it was warm enough because they always fit poorly and there was never enough money to buy new ones that fit. In the picture of “a schoolgirl at home” in Highways and Byways of the South – the bonnet reminds me of the type one of my grandmother’s wore when she was working outdoors for the duration of her long life.  

Johnson used both drawings and photographs to illustrate his books. The majority on this list are travel type books…but there are some fairy tale books too! According to the Wikipedia entry about him, he treated photographic prints as a “rough draft” – a challenging decision in pre-Photoshop days! He lived most of his life in the northeast of the US but travelled broadly…recording what he saw.

The Oak-Tree Fairy Book

The Farmer's Boy

New England and Its Neighbors

Highways and Byways of California

The New England Country

Highways and Byways of the Great Lakes

Highways and Byways of the Rocky Mountains

The Country School in New England

The book of country clouds and sunshine

Highways and Byways of the South

The Land of Heather

A book of fairy-tale bears; selections from favorite folk-lore stories

 

Enjoy the sample images (one from each book)!

Slime Mold

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One morning when I came back through our back gate after walking around the neighborhood ponds, I saw something unexpected in the grass. At first, I thought it was some escaped packing peanuts.

I took a closer look. Not packing peanuts. I took pictures….and later put them into iNaturalist. It identified it as a slime mold! I think I had expected slime molds to be shiny…and yellow…because that is how they were depicted in my biology textbook (many years ago when I was in college). But – it turns out that they dry out and are no longer slimy and they are other colors beside yellow too!

It’s thrilling to see something in my own yard that I’ve known about only from books previously….another thing to like about my move to Missouri!

Josey Ranch – August 2022

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What a change a month can make! It has been raining in Texas and the water level in the Josey Ranch Lake is back to near normal. The big surprise was the city renovating the boardwalks and dredging part of what used to be the cattail area. I didn’t stay very long although there were people still getting their exercise on the concrete path around the lake. I noticed some of the edges of the concrete path had broken and collapsed…maybe from cavities forming underneath during the hot/dry months. There was no indication that the city was doing maintenance on the walkway so far; maybe that will be the next project.

The birds don’t like the disruption. The two swans were on the opposite bank, and I wondered if the smaller area of cattails was still their ‘home’ or whether they would soon be seeking another place. There were a few ducks near the swans, maybe they are the ducklings I saw back in July.

Overall – it was my least scenic visit ever to Josey Ranch….I’m hoping the work the city is doing will be finished soon.

Rats!

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The guest room at my parents’ Carrollton TX house and is near the kitchen – and there were a couple of instances of odd noises during the night during my last visit. One morning when I went into the kitchen, the flour canister had pieces of brown plastics around it (remnants of the lid’s seal which was not entirely breached but was almost gnawed off). I trashed the canister and bits of plastic….scrubbed my hands with soap and water….wiped down the counter with disinfectant several times during the day…acknowledged that there were RATS in the house.

Later I saw one near the baseboard of the cabinet below where the canister was. It ran into my Dad’s office. We pulled a set of plastic drawers out from the wall…and there were rat droppings behind it.

Aargh! I coordinated with my sisters to get a specialist out to assess the situation further after I read through the CDC’s recommendations for how to clean up a rat infestation safely.

One of my sisters had worked with a ‘critter control’ company previously and they came out soon after she contacted them. It turns out that the rats are everywhere in the attic. The company has a process to treat and remove the insulation…replace it. Treat the rooms in the lower part of the house and put traps outside the house…seal places the rats were getting in. They dispose of the material they remove. They can do it in one day if the weather cooperates. And there is a 10-year warranty. We set the date for them to do the work.

We’ve cleared the papers and books from my dad’s office, bought the paint to match the external house trim that will have sealed places, and planned for my parents to be elsewhere for that day. It is happening this week.

I am relieved that it is happening quickly. It is traumatic for my parents to have the flurry of activity to clear out of my dad’s office and then to have a long day away from home….but the health and safety risk from rats in the house is so great that they and our whole family agrees it has to be done. I’ll be back in Carrollton for the aftermath and trying to get my parents routine re-established.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 10, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Circadian rhythm disruption found to be common among mental health disorders – A lot of research challenges…therapeutic potential.

Striking Winners of the 2022 Black and White Photo Awards – Perhaps I’ll try a B/W photography project…

Global Survey: Climate Change is the Top Threat – Finally….more people are beginning in realize the peril of doing nothing.

Industrial Revolution Reversed 7,000-Year Cooling Trend in Siberia, Bringing Temperatures to Unprecedented Highs – Another aspect of climate change…that threatens to unleash more greenhouse gases…spurring further warming.

Wooden canoe burial discovered in Northern Patagonia – From 850-1,000 years ago….a woman buried in a ceremonial canoe made from a Chilean cedar.

Photographer gets rare glimpse of British Columbia’s Spirit Bear – The black bears with a mutation that blocks the production of melanin…and makes them less visible to salmon (i.e. they catch the fish more effectively than the bears that are black!).

Feeling anxious or blue? Ultra-processed foods may be to blame – A study with over 10 thousand participants. Learn more about the NOVA food classification system used in the study here.

In the field with wolverines – Interesting animals that live in northern areas around the world…only about 300 of them in the lower 48 of the US (in Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming).

First sighting of massive Atlas moth confirmed (in Seattle) – The Atlas moth is from tropical Asia. The conservatory-based butterfly exhibit I volunteered with for several years (in Maryland) included them occasionally; they were contained in the facility following the permit requirements. Hopefully the one in Seattle didn’t find a mate. Their caterpillars would feast on leaves of apple and cherry trees.

These Early Entries From the 2022 Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards Are a Hoot – Ending the gleanings list with some fun images.

Town Planning in 1909

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Raymond Unwin’s 1909 Town planning in practice: an introduction to the art of designing cities and suburbs is available in Internet Archive…a snapshot of the ideas of period with illustrations of examples. The illustrations I found most interesting were town/city plans. The ones from Moscow and the excavated part of Pompeii are the two samples I picked from the book.

Of course – a lot has changed in all the places shown in the book in the years since it was published but there are anchors in the built environment that are still around….sometimes perturbing modernization efforts and making infrastructure improvement more challenging. And there are some concepts that are still very much in evidence in modern cities – like ring roads (interstates) that surround all our major cities!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 3, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Pregnant women are exposed to cancer-causing chemicals in dishware, hair coloring, plastics, and pesticides, study reveals – Something else for pregnant people to be anxious about. I wish these studies had a stronger component about how to reduce exposure, but it seems that the problematic chemicals are very pervasive.

The U.S. diet is deadly. Here are 7 ideas to get Americans eating healthier – These ideas a geared to making it easier for individuals to make healthier choices. Right now…it seems that the push is toward unhealthy food choices.

Cool planning for a hotter future – Actions we need to take to achieve the ‘late century rapid action’ maps.

Low physical function after age 65 associated with future cardiovascular disease – Individuals were assessed for walking speed, leg strength, and balance….and the scores were more predictive of cardiovascular disease risk than the traditional risk factors that work for middle-aged people (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking or diabetes).

On “Trash” Birds: Rethinking How We Label Common Species – There is no such thing as a ‘trash’ bird or any species. They are all just part of our world!

Can These Lights Make Crosswalks Safer for Pedestrians Distracted by Their Phones? – People shouldn’t be walking while looking at their cell phones more than where they are headed….but they do and maybe Hong Kong is ahead of us in developing a solution to reduce tragedies.

Is Breadfruit the Climate Change-Proof Food of the Future? – Not a food I know anything about…it’s not in our grocery stores yet. I looked at some recipes and it seems like it would be a versatile addition to our diet.

Archaeologists Call on UNESCO to Protect the Hagia Sophia – It’s sad when pieces of architectural history are not maintained. Hopefully this call will help organize what is needed to preserve Hagia Sophia.

Heat waves + air pollution can be a deadly combination: The health risk together is worse than either alone – There are ways to stay safe…but it is not possible for everyone all the time. We need to address the underlying issues for the health of everyone. Often – addressing air pollution also is step in a good direction of climate change as well.

See the Incredible Sunflower Superbloom in North Dakota – Wow! Maybe a trip to North Dakota some July/August should be added to our list of road trips we want to make.

eBotanical Prints – August 2022

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20 botanical print books in August. My favorite book this month is the one about tree silhouettes! I will continue to browse Flora Costaricensis series in September.  

The whole list of 2,452 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the August 2022 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

Click on any sample images in the mosaic below to get an enlarged version. Enjoy the August 2022 eBotanical Prints!

The Plant World Vol IX 1906 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1906

The Plant World Vol X 1907 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1907

The Plant World Vol XI 1908 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1908

The Plant World Vol XIII 1910 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1910

The Plant World Vol XIV 1911 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1911

How to draw & ink trees & shrubs in silhouette * Ehrlich, Frederic * sample image * 1931

The Plant World Vol XV 1912 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1912

The Plant World Vol XVII 1914 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1914

The Plant World Vol XVII 1915 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1915

The Plant World Vol XIX 1916 * The Wildflower Preservation Society * sample image * 1916

Flora Costaricensis No. 13 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1983

Flora Costaricensis No. 23 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1990

Flora Costaricensis No. 28 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1991

Flora Costaricensis No. 33 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1993

Flora Costaricensis No. 35 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1971

Flora Costaricensis No. 36 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1995

Flora Costaricensis No. 40 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1977

Flora Costaricensis No. 40 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 1999

Flora Costaricensis No. 41 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 2000

Flora Costaricensis No. 45 * Burger, William (editor) * sample image * 2005

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 27, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

We asked children how they experienced poverty. Here are 6 changed needed now – This was a study done in Australia. I wonder how applicable these findings are around the world.

The identical twins who discovered their secret sibling – An adoption agency that separated twins for adoption in the 1960s…and the researchers that were part of that process. Fast forward to 2022.

Heat wave reveals 17th-century English gardens – Longleat Gardens….a whisper of the past…from before the transition to natural parkland in the 18th century.

Is this the end of DC’s most-beloved hidden landmark? – I’ve never seen (or known about) the Capitol stones in Rock Creek Park but I’ve noticed the old columns dating from the same period that are in the National Arboretum. They are certainly a landmark!

Painted Bunting: The Fun of Local Bird Quests – I remember seeing some painted buntings at a Florida National Wildlife refuge and an indigo bunting under my bird feeder in Maryland. They are special birds!

Colorful solar panels could make the technology more attractive – Color is a lower priority than efficiency for me, but it could be very important in some applications.

A Beginner’s Guide to Butterfly Watching – I wish there were more butterflies to watch! It seems like every year there are fewer of them around.

Taming Tomorrow’s Wildfires – There is a wildfire burning somewhere in the US all the time recently. It’s important that we make changes to reduce their devastation.

New drug candidate fights off more than 300 drug-resistant bacteria – Antibiotics have been around for my whole life…but there is always the discomfort that more bacteria are becoming resistant…and there could come a time that the pre-antibiotic killers will beginning killing people again. I’m glad there are new drugs in development to take up the fight.

Olmec contortionist Reliefs Uncovered in Mexico – Artifacts from a civilization known for colossal head sculptures….hints of their culture.

Macdougall Illustrations

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William Brown Macdougall was a Scottish book illustrator. I’ve browsed 5 books on Internet Archive that he illustrated. The last three on the list were authored by his wife, Margaret Armour. These are easy books to browse….enjoy Macdougall’s illustrations…and the snapshot it represents of art history.  

Gleanings of the Week Ending August 20, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Photographer Creates Mesmerizing Flight Trails of Winged Creatures as a Meditation on Time – Action in the air (composite images).

The crab invading the Mediterranean Sea – The blue crab is native to the Indo-Pacific but reached the Mediterranean Sea in 1898…about a decade after the Suez Canal opened. With temperatures in the Mediterranean rising with climate change, more the crab larvae are reaching adulthood. Now the Tunisians are trapping and processing crabs for export. Other places in the Mediterranean are also harvesting and processing invasive species: Cyprus has local restaurants serving lionfish and jewelry/artwork is created from their soft colorful fins. Rabbitfish have also become a commercial fish. But will these measures be enough to rebalance the ecosystems and improve biodiversity?

Where did pigeons come from? – A bird that we see frequently….that humans have taken around the world…and it likes to stay near us!

Understanding the new Federal tax credit for electric cars – Why does it always have to be complicated?

Is dark chocolate really good for you? – Of course! I like my high % cocoa squares first thing in the morning…my perfect 1st breakfast.

The dangers of working in hot weather – Glad to see some attention on this…and a sharing of practices that can help while still getting work done. With the high level of employment (and often challenges hiring new people), businesses should have an elevated interest in keeping their workers healthy and productive.

 Home solar + storage will get a boost from the recent climate bill, claims Bloomberg – Hurray!

Banana peels make sugar cookies better for you – Ok – so maybe I should never put banana peels into the compost. I’d rather use them directly in recipes like Banana Peel Cake rather than making them into flour. I think I’ll start washing them and putting them in the freezer when I eat the fruit….process them as I need them for baking!

Meet the world’s largest land crab – And also learn a bit about Palmyra Atoll.

Is the river of grass really a river? – A little history…and discussion of what makes The Everglades a river (an unusual one!).

Rockwell Kent illustrations

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Earlier this summer I browsed two books written and illustrated by Rockwell Kent and available on Internet Archive. According to the Wikipedia entry, he spent an extended period in Alaska (1918-19) and Tierra del Fuego (1922-23) so the art in these books emerged from being immersed in a place rather than a quick visit.  He is quoted as saying ‘I want to paint the rhythm of eternity.’

I selected two images from each book but there are many more that are just as appealing in both books….worth the time to take a look. These are not the typical illustrations of adventure and travel; they skew toward a deep inner journey….the place being a backdrop.

Wilderness; a journal of quiet adventure in Alaska (1920)