21 Months in COVID-19 Pandemic

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And the pandemic continues …

Just as the Delta Variant seemed to be waning, the Omicron variant appeared…just starting its sweep of the country now; it’s too early to predict its impact over the next few months as the usual cold weather in much of the country and indoor holiday celebrations provide the ideal conditions for the spread of airborne infections (like COVID-19). It helps that more and more people are getting vaccinated but there are wide disparities in vaccination rates across the country.

Things are different than a year ago –

  • A year ago we were wondering when we would be able to be vaccinated…now we are have been vaccinated and boosted.

  • I wear KF94 masks now all the time rather than double masking with cloth masks like I was a year ago.

  • I am going to the grocery store every week rather than every 3 weeks.

  • My daughter came for a short visit at Thanksgiving (road trip from Missouri) – last year we settled for talking on the telephone.

  • My husband observed the Lunar Eclipse with the local amateur astronomy club…rather than just planning on going to some of their sessions. They are still doing virtual meetings.

  • We did some virtual birding events like we did last year but we also attended a Druid Hill Park (Baltimore) birding walk.

  • I traveled to Texas (road trip) to visit my family….something I would not have done last November.

Some things are the same:

  • We are still not eating in restaurants; we do get takeout occasionally…about the same frequency as we did last year.

  • My husband is attending the virtual AGU meeting.

  • We both enjoyed the Crane Fiesta from Bosque del Apache for the second year in a row.

From a mental health perspective, I am probably less anxious about COVID-19 than I was a year ago because I am vaccinated and my masks are KF94s…that protect me as well as others. I am frustrated that COVID-19 is still a pandemic. I acknowledge being uncomfortable in crowds….and realize that it could be years before I choose to go to a concert or fly on an airplane or go into a grocery store on a weekend. Maybe it is more than COVID-19 that has caused the feeling; there are so many events in the country that surprise me (not in a positive way) and avoidance, under the umbrella of being COVID-19 vigilant, is my way of coping.

From a physical health perspective, my cancer diagnosis and coming treatment are my priority…the health of my 90s-year-old parents is a close second. I’m anticipating trips to Texas – hoping that there won’t be an emergency trip to Texas before my surgery. My confidence in making road trips safely (from a COVID-19 perspective) is high based on my 3 road trips since being fully vaccinated in April: carrying all food with me, air purifier to run in hotel room, KF94 masking any time I am inside, making most stops at interstate rest stops.

I am anticipating a quiet holiday at home this month…and then a lot of action in the first half of 2022!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 11, 2021

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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.

Top 25 birds of the week: Shorebirds! – Always lots to see looking at birds!

Everglades' Wading Birds Had Mixed Success In 2020 – Overall wading bird nesting in South Florida has increased…but is still a fraction of the target. In 2020, an early arriving rainy season impacted the availably of food for chicks.

De-cluttering may not help people with dementia – People with moderate dementia perform better surrounded by their ‘usual’ clutter!

U.S. Is World’s Top Generator of Plastic Waste – Not surprising. And the US should take the lead in figuring out what to do about it: how to produce less and recycle more.

A Mosaic From Caligula’s ‘Pleasure Boat’ Spent 45 Years as a Coffee Table in NYC – Still a lot of mystery about how the mosaic got from its recovery when Lake Nemi was drained by Mussolini and then becoming the top of a coffee table for 45 years. It was seized in 2017 and returned to the Italian government.

Roadrunner: Meet the Real Bird Behind the Cartoon – I can remember seeing one a little north of where my parents live now (north of Dallas) in the 1980s…but they are probably long gone from that area now. I’ve seen them in west Texas more recently; one was at a rest stop between San Antonio and Laredo. They always seem to thrive in relatively harsh environments.

The bustling hidden world of hedgerows – The closest we come in North America to hedgerows are fencerows or windbreaks….and even those have been reduced over the years. Near where I live the advent of glyphosate/Roundup ready crops has eliminated the herbaceous growth along the edges of fields which in the past included milkweed and other plants that were attractive to butterflies and other small animals.

Master Artisans Fixed Mistakes Made by Apprentices at Ancient Egyptian Temple – I enjoyed the 6 minute video in this post…it’s quiet enough to hear the birds in the ruins.

Managing water resources in a low-to-no-snow future – We need to be thinking of adaptations to this manifestation of climate change now rather than waiting since the solutions will be challenging….take time to design and construct.

Old-fashioned rice custard – I have a container of rice from some Chinese takeout…..and plan to make this rice custard. I am anticipating that it will be yummy (and high protein too).

Country Life (magazine) Christmas

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Back in August and September, I was browsing through volumes of Country Life magazines on Internet Archive and collected Christmas/winter images from the first half of the 1900s. It occurred to me that none of the images fit into what my grandparents or parents would have experienced in those decades; they lived in rural or small town areas in Oklahoma and Texas….not where there were deep drifts of snow every winter…and their houses would have been much smaller and single story dwellings. It’s interesting how the images still evoke the idealized version of Christmas and winter. Enjoy!

Country Life V51 (1926 - 1927)

Trek to and in Druid Hill Park – Part II

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On out way to Druid Hill Park through Baltimore, there were some trees that still had most of their leaves! All the ones around our house in the suburbs to the south of the city and the airport have lost all their leaves.

I wondered if it was the heat island effect of the city or the disruption of wind by building and walls; there are some city microclimates that cause the trees to keep their leaves a bit longer…very noticeable right now. I also noticed tents periodically on medians and places along the road with a little more space (see tent on the right under the trees in the picture below); is this the way the homeless people in Baltimore are surviving this winter?

There is graffiti on buildings…but there are also bits of city art on otherwise mundane buildings. I wondered if the height and lights are have kept the art intact in some places.

On the way home – the GPS routed us through downtown and I took pictures of the Bromo-seltzer Tower as we stopped at lights. It’s used for artists studios now….next to a fire station.

Overall – the birding walk was a tiny step back to ‘normal’ for us although both by husband and I are beginning to realize that we’ll probably never be quite like we were pre-pandemic. It’s not just the pandemic that has changed us; more on that thought is few days when I write my month COVID-19 pandemic post.

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 4, 2021

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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.

How driverless cars will change our world – A little realism in the projections….rather than hype. Hopefully by the time I am old enough to no longer want to drive myself, driverless car options will be convenient and safe.

Ubiquitous food additive alters human microbiota and intestinal environment – The research was about carboxy methyl cellulose specifically. As I read the article, I wondered if this additive -that isn’t really about the nutritional value of the food at all – is one of the ways ultraprocessed foods are bad for us in unintended ways.

120 Volt Heat Pump Water Heaters Hit the Market and Make Gas Replacements Even Easier – This is good news. I’ll be watching as these come on the market…see how they are reviewed. I am assuming a line will quickly form with people wanting to replace their gas hot water heaters!

When Wildfire comes to Nature Conservancy Preserves – The preserves are managed with prescribed burns and forest thinning…and can provide examples of effective ways of managing wild areas against destruction by wildfire.

Children’s Teeth Reveal Breastfeeding Practices in Ancient Peru – A detailed study of the remains of 48 children from 2,500 years ago revealed that they were breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months of life and were weaned when they were about 2.6 years old. I wonder how many other ancient cultures have been studied this way.

Transparent Solar Windows: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – If solar windows could be produced at reasonable cost….a lot of people would be motivated to replace their windows/power their house. There is a pleasing aesthetic to this type of solar power too.

Why Putting Solar Canopies on Parking Lots is a Smart Green Move – A great idea…hopefully it becomes the norm. The first one I noticed was at the Patuxent Research Refuge.

Top 25 birds of the week: Nectar Feeding Birds – Always worth looking at some bird pictures!

The Colon Cancer Conundrum – Research is trying to determine why rates of colorectal cancer are climbing in younger adults….staying level for other age groups.

Our National Monuments, a Photographic Testimonial to Wild America – Some more places I want to visit (via an extended road trip perhaps).

eBotanical Prints – November 2021

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20 botanical print books browsed in November and added to the list. There were several topics that show up several times in the list this month: grasses and grasslands, language of flowers, rock gardens,  ferns, and plants in particular geographical areas if the US. The age range of the publications is from 1808 to 2007…just under 200 years.

The whole list of 2,269 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the November books is at the bottom of this post.

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

Rich Grasslands for Missouri Landowners * Missouri Department of Conservation * sample image * 2007

The Floral forget me not; A gift for all seasons * H.F.Anners (publisher) * sample image * 1854

The Language of flowers : an alphabet of floral emblems * T. Nelson and Sons (publisher) * sample image * 1858

The Language and poetry of flowers : with beautiful illustrations * Geo. A. Leavitt (publisher) * sample image * 1867

Collectio plantarum tam exoticarum, quam indigenarum, cum delineatione, descriptione culturaque earum V3 * Wendland, Johann Christoph * sample image * 1808

The Gentians of Canada, Alaska, & Greenland * Gillett, John M. * sample image * 1963

Plant studies for artists, designers, and art students * Haite, George Charles * sample image * 1886

Alpines and bog plants * Farrer, Reginald John * sample image * 1908

My Rock Garden * Farrer, Reginald John * sample image * 1907

The English Rock Garden * Farrer, Reginald John * sample image * 1919

Hortus gramineus Woburnensis or, an account of the results of experiments on the produce, and nutritive qualities of different grasses, and other plants, used as the food of the more valuable domestic animals - 1816 * Sinclair, George * sample image * 1816

Hortus gramineus Woburnensis or, an account of the results of experiments on the produce, and nutritive qualities of different grasses, and other plants, used as the food of the more valuable domestic animals - 1826 * Sinclair, George * sample image * 1826

Flora of West Virginia * Millspaugh, Charles Frederick * sample image * 1892

An illustrated guide to the flowering plants of the middle Atlantic and New England states * Stevens, George Thomas * sample image * 1910

Toadstools at Home * Hastings, Somerville * sample image * 1906

The vines of northeastern America : fully illustrated from original sketches * Newhall, Charles Stedman * sample image * 1897

The shrubs of northeastern America * Newhall, Charles Stedman * sample image * 1897

Our Native Ferns V1 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1865

Our Native Ferns V2 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1865

A Natural History of British Grasses * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1858

A few more notes from November…

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As November is ending - there are a few more items I want to post about….

My 90-year-old mother still enjoys making breakfast herself and my dad. I photographed one of her more elaborate breakfasts when I was visiting: microwaved sausage patty, sauteed peppers, mushrooms and onions + cheesy eggs from a skillet, and a freezer biscuit heated in a toaster oven. I’m glad that modern conveniences (microwave ovens, precooked sausage patties, frozen biscuits) make it easier for her to prepare meals.

A brown-headed cowbird visited out deck on a cold morning….alone, looking very round scrunched down in the cold. It stayed around for a bit. I wondered if it had become separated from a flock or was just enjoying the sunshine and relative safety of our deck.

The sun backlighting oak leaves gives their color more definition. This was a morning that the grass was frosty; by the time I took the picture the frost was beginning to melt but it still added a sparkle around the leaves.

My husband was out at a county park/astronomy site for the lunar eclipse in the early morning hours of the 19th. It was cold but he was prepared for that and stayed until the clouds obscured the moon about 5 AM. He took lots of photos!

Finally – I enjoy finding ways to reuse single use plastic. I’m not sure whether this was a bowl or a dome from a food purchase….but it makes an excellent stand for my laptop when I am using an external keyboard! It allows for plenty of air circulation around the laptop, raises it off the surface of the desk (in case I spill something), and the light shining through it is appealing too!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 4, 2021

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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.

Top 25 birds of the week: Predatory Birds – Starting out the gleanings list this week with birds…and photography.

The ingenious living bridges of India – Maybe other kinds of structures could be grown instead of built. The bridges look like Ewok structures from Star Wars movies!

Watch Over 150 Bison Weave Through Traffic in Yellowstone as Winter Migration Begins – I remember bison on the roadway during the early summer we went to South Dakota more than 20 years ago. It is an awesome experience to see them – using the car as a blind.

Chocolate: From Witchcraft to Miracle Worker in Early Modern Europe – A little history of chocolate as it was introduced to Spain.

More than ceremonial, ancient Chaco Canyon was home, new study says – I’ve only visited Chaco Canyon once…want to go again.

Richly Adorned Egyptian Tomb Could Rewrite the History of Mummification – Maybe….there is still testing to be done before the mummy in the tomb is confirmed to be old enough to be the man the tomb was built to hold.

Surprising Tales of Toxic Animals – I enjoyed the historical perspective in the information about several of the animals.

A diet of essential amino acids could keep dementia at bay – I wonder how long it will be before the patent for the supplement is awarded…..and it is released as a supplement. Hopefully there will be testing him humans beforehand.

This New Installation Pulled 20,000 Pounds of Plastic From the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – We need to stop producing messes….and clean up the ones we’ve already created. This is one attempt to start a massive cleanup of plastics that are in our oceans.

Bone-loss discovery points to new treatment for osteoporosis – I am glad there is ongoing research on this issue since the existing treatments don’t seem to work that well….often have side effects. Hopefully there will be more effective treatments by the time I might need them.

National Park Service Publications on Internet Archive

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Last September - I browsed 18 publications from the National Park Service that have been scanned and are freely available on Internet Archive. They are all decades old….reflect history of the places. The oldest one is from 1917 (The National Parks Portfolio) which is clearly a snapshot from the early years of National Parks. I was particularly interested in the “Astronomy and astrophysics national historic landmark theme study” published in 1989 – the year my daughter was born and she has grown up to be an astrophysicist! The only park I visited before the publication was Yosemite; the publication is from 1990 and I visited in 1984. I’ve provided a sample image for each volume. Enjoy some armchair traveling with some browsing via Internet Archive…find some correlations in the publications and your own life.

Wind Cave, 1979

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska, 1980

Astronomy and astrophysics national historic landmark theme study, 1989

Cancer Diary – Entry 5

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My surgery is still more than a month away. The surgeon’s schedule is the ‘long pole’ at this point. There have been a few appointments relative to the upcoming surgery – some additional imaging and adjustments to medication. I noticed some late blooming flowers when I went for some recent bloodwork to check the impact of the medication; it was a cheerful interlude in a cold and cloudy day…with a needle stick coming.

The surgery could have been done in a very short window if the surgeon had been available. Are all surgeon’s experiencing the pent-up demand from delayed checkups/surgeries during the height of the pandemic?

My strategy of keeping myself busy has helped me during the past month. I was away from home for over 2 weeks on a road trip to Texas and Missouri. Being outdoors in the fall foliage – hiking or mowing leaves – continued the annual rhythm of activities that I enjoy. My husband found out about the 3 days of Crane Fiesta webinars from Bosque del Apache only a week before they occurred; it was a treat to hear and see the sandhill cranes again even if it was on a screen rather than being at Bosque ourselves (see the November 20th postings on the Bosque del Apache website for a video fly out (in the AM) and a fly in (in the PM)) ; maybe we’ll be there in person next year.

And now I am anticipating my daughter making a whirlwind visit to Maryland for Thanksgiving! My husband and I are negotiating the decorating we are going to do for December. We’ll see some Christmas lights and make some day trips. My big challenge is to continue my careful weight reduction; I am hovering at the high end of ‘normal’ weight for my height…want to get to the mid-range but it is hard work! I am also on track to browse more books this year than ever before.

Emotionally – I have settled into the waiting time…more accepting of my situation….not becoming more anxious. I am consciously keeping my routine of daily activities that keep me feeling well physically and mentally (i.e. exercise, eating well, making Zentangle tiles, writing things down…and letting them go).

Previous Cancer Diary entries

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 27, 2021

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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.

Lots of wonderful photography posts to enjoy this week: Winners of the Weather Photographer of the Year Contest Celebrate the Beauty of Nature, West Coast Landscape Photographer Perfectly Captures the Region’s Magical Vistas, Awe-Inspiring Winners of the 2021 Natural Landscape Photography Awards, and Photographer Zooms in on the “Hidden Beauty” of Small Seeds and Fruits – Not sure why there seemed to be so many of these in my feeds this week….

What is Play-Doh made of? – Thinking of toys this time of year….play-doh is something that has been around a long time. We don’t have any young children in our immediate family and I’m missing the joy of watching a child at play.

How your house will go carbon free – Efficiency and renewable energy. At least some of the technologies already exist and many can be retrofitted into existing houses.

Armadillos advance northward as temperature rises – I remember seeing armadillos years ago in Texas when we were camping….maybe we’ll be seeing them closer to Missouri and Maryland in the near future – although hopefully not digging up my yard.

Catching up on Top 25 birds of the week: Breeding and November 2021 – I am ready to do some birding…my husband registered us for a birding hike in a Baltimore hike in December and I hope the pandemic will wane enough that the birding festivals will be back in 2022.

Red, White and Green: Winter Colors in Arches are Awaiting You – My husband and I visited some of the Utah parks in October several years ago…and there was already a dusting of snow on some of the mornings and in the mountains. Maybe we’ll go in November next time.

California Condors Surprise Scientists With Two ‘Virgin Births’ – Maybe this happens in other species too. There was no way to verify the phenomenon before genetic testing became available.  

Seeing Red: What the Color of House Finches Can Tell Us – House Finches are frequent visitors to our bird feeders. It was good to learn more about them from this blog post.

For women, greater exposure to estrogen in life may protect brain regions that are vulnerable to Alzheimer’s – This post left me wondering if estrogen mimics in our environment (i.e. pollution) might be protective as well…and, if so, will younger women be less likely to experience brain shrinkage after menopause than the older generations of women are experiencing.  

Why mandatory vaccination is nothing new – A little history of vaccine mandates. I didn’t know that George Washington required all troops to be inoculated against smallpox in 1777!

Country Life (magazine) in 1918

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The two volumes of Country Life Magazine from 1918 (V34 and V35) include articles about World War I as it was ending. The illustrations are in color and worth a look --- a window into the way people were thinking about the war just as it was ending…before the passing of time made it into history.

There are also photographs. The one of the US Capitol at night with a reflection of the dome is appealing; photography has always been a technology that can be art as well as utility.   

The other articles in the magazines depict life continuing in relatively ‘normal’ fashion for wealthy people of the time.

It was a very different time than we find ourselves a little over 100 years later although there are similarities too. The 1918 flu was continuing and would eventually kill more people than the war; there were few effective treatments and no vaccine as we have for COVID-19. The capitol in 1918 was not a place a crowd of people would attack although there was a frenzy in the country with social change (increasing industrialization and a migration of population to the cities, electricity becoming more widespread, etc.) that led to the roaring 20s and then the crash into the Great Depression of the 1930s.

My Blog’s 10th Anniversary

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I started my blog 10 years ago this month. It was part of my transition from being career focused for more than 40 years. And I’ve kept it going – it’s an enjoyable daily rhythm for me. I’m savoring my history of the past decade in this post.

The blog posts from 2011 included a trip to Longwood Gardens and a long road trip to Tucson, Arizona (with photos of rest stops along the way) where my daughter was in graduate school. I stated the gleanings of the week and enjoyed posting recipes and photographs of places I was visiting. The new technology was a Kindle Fire; I was making the transition from physical to digital books…it would take several more years to complete the transition and I’d graduated from the Kindle Fire to an iPad, Smartphone (and laptop) for reading. Some of my favorite posts form 2011 include: Recipe of the Week: Homemade Soup for a Cold Day, Water Lily Pictures, and 10 Cosmetics from the Kitchen.

In 2012, I started the monthly ‘10 days of little celebrations’ and experienced the trauma of my parents getting older…beginning to experience substantial health problems. We added a bird feeder on our deck – visible from my office window and I started enjoying birdwatching through the window. Some of my favorite posts include: Birds from my Office Window, Gray Day Reflections, Yucca Seed Pods, and Ten Days of Little Celebrations - November 2012.

The next year I started the zooming and free eBooks posts. Over the years my camera’s optical zoom capabilities have improved dramatically and I enjoy using it to get better images. By this time, I was almost completely transitioned to digital books too. We made a road trip to Florida for a satellite launch at Cape Canaveral and I got my first close view of Sandhill Cranes in the Orlando airport cell phone lot waiting for my daughter to arrive. Some of my favorite posts close to that anniversary include: 3 Free eBooks - December 2013, Sandhill Cranes in Florida - November 2013, Herons in Florida - November 2013, and Zooming - December 2013.

In 2014, I started my effort to reduce the ‘stuff’ we had accumulated from living for more than 25 years in our house. My volunteer work has gradually increased…and would be easily sustained until the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of my favorite posts from the end of 2014 include: The Grand Cleanout - December 2014, December Sunrise, and Fall Field Trips.

The big event at the end of 2015 was our travel to the big island of Hawaii…including a day trip to the top of Maunakea. It was an wonderful experience but I find myself wondering if I ever want to take a long flight like that again.

2016 was our first birding festival – the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache. We also discovered the Bald Eagles at Conowingo Dam, closer to home. I started my monthly Zentangle posts. Here are some sample posts: Highlights of 2016, Conowingo - December 2016, Zentangle® – November 2016, and First Day at Bosque del Apache.

I started the monthly eBotantical Prints posts in November 2017. I’d been browsing historical botanical books in the last decade of my career and was beginning to figure out a way to share my list. At the time I thought that I had about exhausted the supply, but I’ve continued to add 20 or so books every month until there are now over 2,200 books on the list!

In 2018 we attended our second Festival of the Cranes in New Mexico then enjoyed the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival early in 2019.

In the last few months of 2019, there was a last road trip with my parents at Thanksgiving. We enjoyed the Christmas lights near home and planned for a birding festival in Laredo, TX in the early part of 2020.

As we were coming back from the Laredo birding festival, COVID-19 was in the news and soon we were ‘staying at home as much as possible’. By November 2020, we were anticipating that a vaccine was going to become available and the pandemic would end. We were doing virtual birding festivals and otherwise keeping ourselves happy at or close to home.

And here I am in November 2021, still not like I was pre-pandemic. I enjoy many of the same things I have in the past 10 years, but I am not out venturing into crowds…not flying. I am facing a health challenge of my own (cancer). My parents are home bound in Texas, and I have made visiting them my rationale for 3 road trips since the spring when I became fully vaccinated. At this point, it is not the pandemic that causes most of my anxiety, but the changed behavior (sometimes abrasive and violent) of people under stress that has become so apparent over the past year.

The blog continues…it’s a way to document my present….and notice the subtle changes in the way I am ‘living well.’

Texas Macro

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I enjoyed two sessions of macro photography with my phone and clip on lens in the Carrollton, Texas. Getting very close to the vegetation with a magnifying lens provides a different perspective of the plants. Can you find the red yucca pod, the cosmos flowers, the rabbits ear leaf, the underside of a fern, hydrangea leaf, black seeds of the chives, cone flower seed pod and French flower? There is an occasional insect. Each image can be enlarged by clicking on it to pop up a larger version.

This is probably the last hurrah for summer type macro images. The subjects will shift to leaf color transitions and snowflakes …or indoors with store bought flowers for the holidays or holiday decorations.

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 13, 2021

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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.

The great experiment to put a price on nature – Whether it’s toting up ecosystem services or simply realizing that Mother Earth is our one and only…we should all realize that we need to start taking care of ‘nature’ a lot better than we have in the past.

Microplastics May Be Impacting the Climate, Study Finds – A starting point for combining climate science and microplastic science into a model….still a lot if refinement/additions. We already know that the microplastics in our atmosphere are increasing so whatever impact they have it will likely be increasing during the time the model is being refined.

Ancient Stone Ram Heads Unearthed on Egypt’s ‘Avenue of the Sphinxes’ – New finds…and part of an advertisement for some restored places reopening in early November. Are tourists ready to travel again to places like Egypt?

Spending time in nature promotes early childhood development – A study from metro Vancouver of 27,372 children from birth to age 5… that pushes us to get serious about making sure spaces for children include a lot green space…that includes day care and preschools and K within the age range for this study. And while we are doing that – let’s think about how important green space is to everyone else too.

Meet the muskrat: push-up champion of cattail marshes – This article made me wonder if muskrats eat phragmites – and a plant that is taking over marshes. I found an article that says they do…at least in some situations.

Changing ocean currents are driving extreme winter weather – Looking at the impact of the slowing Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and extreme cold weather (like in Texas last February) using a high-resolution global climate model. They’ve only done the simplest model (turning off the AMOC) so far…but plan to refine it to address the more complex reality.

Finding Fall Colors At Bandelier National Monument – I hope everyone found someplace to enjoy fall colors these past few weeks. My main opportunities were in my own backyard and as I was driving down the highway between Maryland and Texas!

Cheers! Wine’s red grape pulp offers nutritional bounty – Not compost or fodder...getting more than wine from vineyards!

Hit the sleep ‘sweet spot’ to keep brain sharp – Evidently 5.5-7.5 hours of self-reported sleep is about right.

2021 EPSON International Pano Awards Celebrate the Creativity of Panoramic Photography – Enjoy some eye candy as the last of this week’s gleanings!

Snapshots of Indigenous Decorative Art in the early 1900s

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This week the two books-of-the-week are about decorative art published in the early 1900s about native cultures on opposites sides of the world: The Huichol in Mexico and the Amur tribes in Russia/China (along the Amur River). Both have a relationship to clothing ornamentation.

The sample image from Decorative art of the Huichol Indians by Carl Lumholtz (1904) has a pattern called ‘double water-gourd’ in a ribbon and girdle.

The Decorative Art of the Amur Tribes  by Berthold Laufer(1902) also included designs in metal and ceramics. The designs are common in the broader Chinese decorative arts showing the long-term exchange and cultural linkage with these tribes to the rest of China…at least in the early 1900s. The sample image I chose includes a boot – showing how clothing items incorporated decoration.

I like browsing the books and letting the designs prompt Zentangle tiles. I am reminded that art is not static. It is a representation of the moment it was created – a communication through material culture into the future – different but as potent as the written word.

Road Trip: Maryland to Texas

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I made the drive from where I live in Maryland to Texas in two days (best case about 21 hours of driving)…confirming that I really don’t want to do drive it in 2 days again. There were no accidents either day and I made only quick rest stops that only prolonged the original time my nav system calculated for the day by about 30 minutes each day. I was exhausted (mentally and physically) at the end of each day and beginning to ache every time I got out of the car. I had a painful back my first day in Texas! My solution is to do the trek over 3 days instead of two from now on…and take more time at rest stops to move/stretch. The pandemic strategy of having all the food I need in the car saves time and makes it easier to eat my normal diet…I will probably keep that as part of my road trip strategy.

The first day was from Maryland…through Virginia just west of Shenandoah National Park…and halfway through Tennessee. The first hour was in darkness and through the heaviest construction zone of the entire trek; it’s good to get the challenging part of the drive over with as early as possible! I only saw one sign about masks and very few people were wearing them at the rest stops; I did put a mask on when I was in buildings even though I have gotten the booster vaccine already; the whole purpose of my trip was to visit 90 year old relatives and our family is taking precautions to reduce the risk of them getting a breakthrough infection….and I don’t want to get even a mild case of COVID-19! It was a very cloudy day with a lot of mist and light rain…a few patches of heavier rain. It was weekend and there seemed to be less traffic. The fall foliage was wonderful during the short periods where the weather did not obscure it! There were several rest stops along the way that had roses blooming. I was surprised by the strong exhaust smell as several rest stops; it was a cool day, and perhaps more vehicles were keeping running than usual – or maybe the weather was holding the fumes closer to the ground; I didn’t linger. My car has a range of about 400 miles, so I don’t have to stop for gas very often; usually that is where I anticipate some vehicle smell rather than at the rest stops. The hotel was just west of Nashville. I was glad I had brought my air purifier along since the hotel room smelled of disinfectant when I first went in.

The second day route completed the trek across Tennessee, crossing the Mississippi River on the bridge that was shut down with the discovery of structural issues a few days after I crossed it last spring (evidently repairs were completed), and then across Arkansas. I’m about 200 miles to my destination when I cross into Texas. The weather started out foggy in Tennessee…then sunny in Arkansas and Texas. The temperature started out at 50 and climbed to 80. The drivers seemed to get more aggressive as the day progressed – and the speed limits were higher with more traffic! Fortunately, there were no accidents along the route to slow me down (as there had been in the spring). I learned more about the solar panels around one of the rest stops in Tennessee since there was a person at the desk (they feed the grid and the university that installed them gets the credit!). I appreciated a rest stop in Arkansas that is closed but has port-o-potties; it was perfectly placed for when I needed a stop and, of course, I had hand sanitizer in the car. The trees were still green on the second day….fewer trees along the route. The welcome center in Texarkana had its usual neatly trimmed landscaping. There some roses blooming at my last rest stop.

I acquired a TxTag for the toll roads in Texas and Oklahoma to make it a little less expensive and avoid having to stop for tolls in Oklahoma when I head back on a more northern route though Springfield.

Overall – a good trek. I did it in 2 days and made it to my destination when I wanted…but I don’t want to do it that quickly again!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 6, 2021

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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.

Why do we hate trash birds? – A little about the way we dismiss birds we see frequently (maybe too frequently) and the difference in the birds viewed that way in the US and Australia. The Australian white ibis is nicknamed ‘bin chicken’! Here in the US, some people think of pigeons and Canada geese and mallards as ‘trash birds.’

Flu and heart disease: The surprising connection that should convince you to schedule your shot – Flu vaccines save lives…particularly lives of people with heart disease. An improvement the article suggests: make sure cardiologists stress the need to get the flu vaccine to their patients – not just assuming the primary care doctor will do it.

AAA: Vehicle auto safety systems often fail when driving in heavy rain – I’ve observed this several times but is the first time I’ve seen the recommendation to ‘avoid using cruise control in wet and slippery conditions.’ The cars should probably provide warning messages more overtly to not rely on certain driver aids in bad weather.

By 2500 Earth could be alien to humans – The projections of models used now are out to 2100…that is not far enough into the future. We can’t assume that we’ll succeed in reversing climate change by that time…or maybe we are collectively so pessimistic right now that we think the world will end by 2100.

How to make sustainable choices for a long life and a healthy planet – A summary of some recent studies on health/diet choices and the relationship to climate change. It turns out that it’s pretty easy to eliminate some of the most unhealthy items like soft drinks and foods with lots of sugar. It’s a learning experience to shift to meals to plant based protein…for me – it’s still a work in progress.

The plastic recycling system is broken – here’s how to fix it – I agree that it is broken…but I’m not sure that what is suggested in the article would be enough. We need packaging solutions that are not plastic at all! I have tried to eliminate as much single use plastic as I can since even with perfect recycling, I’m not sure I want things like food to be in plastic packaging (how can we know that the plastic is safe for food). There are so many items that you can’t buy without plastic packaging. The consumer is forced to be part of the problem even if they want to be part of the solution.

How a simple tummy-rub can change babies' lives – Maybe baby massage techniques should be incorporated in all baby care courses, videos, and books!

7 underrated creepy creatures – A little hold-over on the Halloween theme.

From Homes to Cars, It’s Now Time to Electrify Everything – My existing house has a gas hot water heater and furnace; the other appliances are already electric and I drive a plug-in hybrid which means that most of my around town driving is in an EV. But I don’t have solar panels. My plan is to move in the next year or so and quickly arrange for solar panel installation and transition the house to be all-electric. Next step would be the addition of battery storage. I’m also intrigued by the idea of a wind wall (see next item on the gleanings list).

This ingenious wall would harness enough wind power to cover your electric bill – This could be something that would work for more homes and businesses than solar...particularly if they were relatively inexpensive to produce. There is an aesthetic appeal too.

eBotanical Prints – November 2021

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20 botanical print books browsed in October and added to the list. The browsing seemed to clump by topic and some series. There were 2 volumes about plant fossils, 2 about flower/plant art, 2 books about apples, 5 about the flora of Austria (from the 1770s) 5 about flora around London from the same time period, and 2 about the grasses of Iowa.  Both the apple and grasses volumes were from the early 1900s; I wondered how many of the varieties in these publications still exist. Overall – a lot of variety in the October 2021 books.  

The whole list of 2,249 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the October books is at the end of this post.

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

Atlas to the coal flora of Pennsylvania, and of the carboniferous formation throughout the United States * Lesquereaux, Leo * sample image * 1879

The Palæontological report : as prepared for the Geological report of Kentucky * Lesquereaux, Leo * sample image * 1857

Lessons in Flower Painting * Andrews, James * sample image * 1836

Sketchbook on pines and cactus * Roetter, Paulus * sample image * 1848

Art forms in nature : examples from the plant world photographed direct from nature * Blossfeldt, Karl * sample image * 1929

The bamboo garden * Freemon-Mitford, Algernon Bertram * sample image * 1896

The Apples of New York V1 * Beach, Spencer Ambrose; Booth, Nathaniel Ogden; Taylor, Orrin Morehouse * sample image * 1905

The Apples of New York V2 * Beach, Spencer Ambrose; Booth, Nathaniel Ogden; Taylor, Orrin Morehouse * sample image * 1905

Florae Austriacae V1 * Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph; Scheidl, Franz Anton von (illustrator) * sample image * 1773

Florae Austriacae V4 * Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph; Scheidl, Franz Anton von (illustrator) * sample image * 1776

Florae Austriacae V2 * Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph; Scheidl, Franz Anton von (illustrator) * sample image * 1774

Florae Austriacae V3 * Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph; Scheidl, Franz Anton von (illustrator) * sample image * 1775

Florae Austriacae V5 * Jacquin, Nikolaus Joseph; Scheidl, Franz Anton von (illustrator) * sample image * 1778

Flora Londinensis - V1 * Curtis, William et al * sample image * 1777

Flora Londinensis - V2 * Curtis, William et al * sample image * 1777

Flora Londinensis - V3 * Curtis, William et al * sample image * 1777

Flora Londinensis - V4 * Curtis, William et al * sample image * 1777

Flora Londinensis - V5 * Curtis, William et al * sample image * 1777

The grasses of Iowa V1 * Pammel, Louis Hermann; Weems, Julius Buel; Lamson-Schribner, F. * sample image * 1901

The grasses of Iowa V2 * Pammel, Louis Hermann; Ball, Carleton R.; Lamson-Schribner, F. * sample image * 1904

Longwood Gardens – Macro Photography

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I took more macro pictures at Longwood Gardens than I ever have before. I was using my phone with a clip-on macro lens and a clicker that was hanging around my neck. I seemed so easy to move the phone into position with one hand and click the image with the other. It all started while we were standing in line to enter the gardens. There were plants around even there. The couple in front of me was interested in the images I was getting.

The conservatory was full of plants that often look like abstract art when viewed with a macro lens. My favorite is the leaf with the larger veins almost glowing…white dots making an aura alongside.

In the meadow – there were lots of asters and plants going to seed.

There were a few bugs on the plants too – milkweed bug and some bees.

Several ‘lessons learned’ from the day –

  • Wear a big hat and use the body and had to shade the areas I am photographing. It’s easier to see the screen (to make sure the right part is in focus) and reduces shadows.

  • Review everything in the pockets of the photovest and reduce as much weight as possible. In places with plenty of places to refill my water bottle – a smaller one would be better. I should have left my small point and shoot camera at home (every bit of weight counts!). I was glad I decided not to carry my monopod.

It worked well to

  • Pace ourselves by sitting down occasionally on available benches (sometimes taking pictures while sitting!)

  • Wear a bandana to keep the sun off my neck and the V in front. It worked better than sunscreen! It also offers a bit of padding where the photovest sometimes rubs the back of my neck.