February 18, 2018

Icy Crystals on Grass

February 18, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Last week when I took my walk at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm, there were ice crystals all over the grass on the paths. It was early enough in the day that the sun had not been out long enough for the ice to melt completely. The ice was in feathery crystals along the stems.

When I got to the bridge over the little stream near Hodge Podge Lodge, the moving water looked on the verge of freezing; the places that were shallow and slow over rocks has crystallized overnight.

The largest crystals were on some straw near the skunk cabbage. They make the straw ‘fuzzy’ although there are some that look like nodules too.

2018 02 z IMG_8529.jpg — In one place the ice had melted but there were lots of tracks – deer and human! It must have been wetter when they came through since I did not leave any tracks at all!

February 17, 2018

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 17, 2018

February 17, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

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.

Who’s still smoking: Report highlights populations still at risk -- ScienceDaily – I rarely see people smoking these days. The overall smoking rates in the US has dropped from 42% in 1965 to 15% in 2015. The analysis of the types of individuals in that 15% reveals that there are populations vulnerable…and that novel interventions will be needed to further reduce smoking in the US.

Top 25 Wild Birds Against Spectacular Landscapes – National Geographic Blog – I’m thinking about birds even more than usual this weekend – participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Being A Homebody Has A Surprising Environmental Upside | CleanTechnica – I know that I used less gasoline and don’t spend as much on clothes as I used to when I went into the office every day….evidently there are enough people that are working at home or retired that the energy savings is significant. Now to just make the energy we use at home skew further toward the renewable variety!

Magnesium makes chromosomes: A new chemical tool, MARIO, shows how free Mg2+ ions regulate chromosome shape -- ScienceDaily – Some work by Japanese researchers. They note at the end of this blurb that this new understanding about magnesium may be a piece to the puzzle of how cancer happens…and maybe treatment.

LASER SCANS REVEAL MAYA “MEGALOPOLIS” BELOW GUATEMALAN JUNGLE | National Geographic - National Geographic – more than 60,000 houses, palaces, elevated highways, and other human-made features….under the jungles of northern Guatemala. The civilization peaked some 1,200 years ago and was comparable to ancient Greece or China. There were probably 10-15 million people in the area too – far more than previously estimated. The LiDAR also revealed pits from looters.

Woodpeckers show signs of possible brain damage, but that might not be a bad thing -- ScienceDaily – Analysis of woodpecker brains from collections of the Field Museum and Harvard Museum of Natural History. The picture with the article is of a downy woodpecker…one kind of woodpecker we see in our area.

Mushrooms Are Good for You, But Are They Medicine? – The question is still open…but they taste good so why not enjoy them even if they aren’t medicine!

Another Kind of Migration: A Visit to Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve – National Geographic Blog – I just found out recently that they’ve planted milkweed at all the schools in our county…and will be monitoring to make sure it thrives…a little action to help the Monarch butterflies as they come through our part of Maryland on their way to Canada.

Surreal Images of Frozen Niagara Falls at Night by Adam Klekotka – Winter eye candy.

Black Lung Study Finds Biggest Cluster Ever of Fatal Coal Miners’ Disease: NPR – So sad. It’s happening to younger miners than it used to; ‘improvements’ in mining equipment? This is probably another reason we should move to renewable energy as quickly as we can.

February 16, 2018

The Great Backyard Bird Count

February 16, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Are you participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count? It starts today and continues through Monday (i.e. February 16-19). I am doing it from the comfort of my home office window that looks out to our deck with a birdbath and feeder…and then forest. The forecast for my area is rain and snow…with only Sunday being sunny. It will be interesting to see which birds are out and about. I’m ready with the binoculars on the window ledge.

Recording the birds I observe in my backyard in eBird is about as easy as it can get: through a window, most of them already familiar, and not during a busy time of the year for me. Earlier this week I observed two different kinds of woodpeckers in our yard within about 10 minutes: Two pileated woodpeckers and

A downy woodpecker at the feeder.

I hope they come back during the event so I can include them in my sightings during the event!

February 15, 2018

Spring Cleaning (in February)

February 15, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

During my winter lull in volunteer activity, I always try to do some major cleaning out of the house. It never works out to be as major as I want it to be, but I try again every year. I’ve already had a charity pick up one front porch full of ‘stuff’ late last year and now I’ve accumulated another pile that is big enough. It was a real mess at first because I didn’t have boxes to put things in….then I had a box of ‘stuff’ that ended up being trash and decided to donate some luggage/backpacks – hurray! Containers to hold giveaway stuff.

Two questions that I ask myself about each item that help me decide:

Have I used it in the last year?
Do I want to take it with me when I move from this house?

If the answer to both those questions in ‘no’ then the logic becomes:

Does my husband agree (if it is an item that has anything at all to do with him)?
- If so – Is it something that could be used by someone else?
  - If so – Do I know someone that I wants it?
    - If so – Deliver the items as soon as possible to that someone.
    - If not – Put it in the giveaway pile
- If not – it goes in the trash or recycle for the week (or spread out over a few weeks if it is a lot of stuff or some items must be taken to the landfill directly in our area)

Of course – when we do eventually move from this house, there will be a lot of effort to clean out stuff to avoid moving ‘stuff’ that we don’t need (or want).

February 14, 2018

Skunk Cabbage – Take 2

February 14, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Yesterday I was at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt. Pleasant Farm and hiked down to take another look at the skunk cabbage. It had progressed a little since I saw it three weeks ago (post with pictures here) but it wasn’t a far along as it was on February 11th last year (post here). There were spathes (hood structure, wine with vertical lighter speckles) but I didn’t see any with visible spadix (looks like a golf ball inside the spathe).

When I first got to the location where I always see the skunk cabbage, I had a hard time spotting it at first. They like to grow near the water and this time a year, they can be some of the more colorful things around although one ‘color’ I spotted turned out to be a wet rock and oak leaf with the sun shining through – glowing. Then I started seeing them everywhere!

Sunk cabbage is one of the earliest ‘wild flowers’ and in some cases will pull itself deeper in the muck if the weather becomes really cold. With the amount of muck around some of them – I think our weather recently might have been slowing down their development – they had to deal with cold rather than bloom!

Earlier this week, it rained a lot and there were plenty of deer tracks on part of trail where it had been very muddy. Unfortunately, there were some deep ruts made by a vehicle that closed one of the trails…very sad that someone was so thoughtless, and it is not the first time it has happened. Hope the person is caught and prevented from doing it again.

February 13, 2018

Foldscope Adventure - 1

February 13, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

2017 11 IMG_6825.jpg — I participated in the Foldscope Kickstarter and got foldscopes in the thick of volunteering and traveling activities last fall. The instructions on how to put the pieces together were a little daunting; it took me a month to discover that there were videos that made the process a lot easier to understand.

I managed to put one together and

Took a few pictures with my phone of one of the sample slides that came in the kit using the attachment for smartphones included in the kit (I had to take the case off my phone which means I will collect several samples and then do photography all at once – and not in the field).

Now I am carrying around a small vial and will collect some stream water at the next opportunity…and will look at other ‘micro’ stuff as I go along…stay tuned.

February 12, 2018

HoLLIE – week 2

February 12, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

The second HoLLIE (Howard County Legacy Leadership for the Environment) class day was last week and it was held at NASA Goddard. I was worried about hitting rush hour traffic so left very early since we were to meet in the Goddard Visitor Center parking lot to catch the bus into the facility. The day was sunny and clear…but very cold and breezy. I managed to take this picture of the visitor center (not yet open) without getting out of my car!

The theme for the day was “what informed citizens need to know about earth systems science.” It was the first of two days that our classes will be at Goddard; last week we started with lectures on “understanding the tools and the state of the art in earth science” from the Project Scientist for the AQUA satellite and then got a tour of mission control for several earth science satellites from the Aqua Mission Director. They did a good job of demonstrating the types of data that can be collected, the methods used to collect it, and the ways it has been analyzed. I was surprised to see the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) mission control in the same building. That brought back the memory of my daughter being on the team to do image calibration shortly after it launched during her undergraduate days!

On the way back to our classroom, we stopped by the replica of the big rock found at Goddard that has mammal and dinosaur and mammal tracks. This was not on our agenda originally but was a wonderful serendipity aspect to the day even if it took part of our lunch time. I’d read about it in one of my news feeds and followed the link to the paper…but it was such a thrill to see the exhibit and hear the short lecture. I managed to take a few pictures.

We started the lectures on ‘understanding the science of earth’s cycles’ that will continue in this week’s class. We talked about the oceans and the carbon system in this second class. One of the interesting videos in the lectures is available online: twenty years of global biosphere data mapped on a slowly spinning globe; it easy to see the annual cycles. With the massive amounts of data, visualization becomes an important component.

When I got home an article in one of my newsfeeds talked about climate models that are developing that explain why there might be a linkage between melting of Arctic sea ice (one of the topics for the HoLLIE lectures this week) and droughts in California (How nuclear weapons research revealed new climate threats). It was easier to understand since I had the background of the lectures!

Previous HoLLIE posts: Week 1

February 11, 2018

Becoming a Volunteer

February 11, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

It’s been 6 years since I retired and started volunteering more regularly. I got off to a slow start during the first year – taking 18 months to settle on what I wanted to do as a volunteer and the organization. Being outdoors in nature and working with a variety of age groups turned out to be ‘calling;’ it helped that the Howard Country Conservancy provided focused training to give me the know how to do it – first with elementary school field trips and then to preschool through high school. The interactions with hiking groups is something I don’t think I will ever want to give up!

Over the years, I’ve ramped up the amount of time volunteering and increased my knowledge over the last 4 years to be more effective as a volunteer by

becoming a Maryland Master Naturalist,
taking a 2-day course on benthic macroinvertebrates,
attending an annual Maryland water monitoring conference, and
(currently) enjoying HoLLIE (Howard County Legacy Leadership Institute for the Environment).

20 17 06 IMG_0288.jpg — Last summer I added volunteering at Brookside Gardens (Wings of Fancy butterflies and model trains) in addition to the volunteering for Howard Country Conservancy programs. That filled in the volunteering lull in summer and December in prior years.

At this point, the only season of the year that I don’t have a lot of volunteer activity is the depths of winter! Right now – that seems like a good thing since the lull is allowing time to savor the HoLLIE days.

February 10, 2018

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 10, 2018

February 10, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

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.

BBC - Future - The world’s most nutritious foods – A short video and a list. I found that I ate quite a few from the list!

Bumper-Crop Birds: Pop-Up Wetlands Are a Success in California – Cool Green Science – Creating habitat for birds where and when they migrate…through the California Central Valley.

Interview with Photomicrographer Justin Zoll About His Microscopy Series – I was surprised to get ideas from Zentangle from crystals!

A search for insomnia genes involving 1.3 million people is the largest genetic study ever - MIT Technology Review – Lots of people in the study…956 different genes linked to insomnia but genes explain less that 10% of the overall chance that a person has insomnia.

Amazon, JPMorgan, Berkshire creating new health care company – Hopefully these big companies will be able to find ways to make health care better and more affordable for their employees…and then be the model for everyone else.

Frogs Through Time, Modern Portraits of Species Discovered Two Centuries Ago – National Geographic Blog – Looking at frog species documented by the Spix and Martius expedition to Brazil…using their drawings and modern photographs.

This is your brain: This is your brain outdoors: Neuroscientists find differences in brain activity depending whether people are outdoors or in a lab -- ScienceDaily – Most studies have been done indoors … until this one. Until relatively recently in our history, we spent a lot more time outside so I wondered if the warping our brain activity by spending long stretches of time indoors is changing us in more ways that we realize.

Researchers create digital map, cultural history of Carlsbad Caverns and A day in the park: Carlsbad Caverns National Park – Using LiDAR to create a very detailed map of the cave. The article reminded me that tt’s been a lot of years since I visited the park…maybe it’s time to plan a repeat.

Magnesium makes chromosomes: A new chemical tool, MARIO, shows how free Mg2+ ions regulate chromosome shape -- ScienceDaily – It appears that a mineral we know we need … is key in ways we had not anticipated!

The Prairie Ecologist – Photo of the Week – Pictures of dragonfly larvae that frozen near the surface of a pond! We find dragonfly larvae frequently when we do stream surveys – when things are not frozen. Next time we get many days of very cold weather I’ll take a walk to a local stream (or pond) to see if I find any larvae on the surface.

February 09, 2018

Winter Flowers

February 09, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

My husband bought roses for our January wedding anniversary…and the baby’s breath and greenery that lasted longer than then the roses prompted me to buy a general bouquet of flowers last week at the grocery store. I’ll probably buy another two or three before some of the spring emergence begins with the trees and bulbs in our yard.

Adding color to the breakfast area table is something to savor in the winter when the dominate color outside is brown…and the days here are mostly cloudy. Color lightens my mood – whether it comes from flowers on the table or birds seen through the window!

We have so much growing around the outside of our house that I’ve never grown houseplants. They would fill the gap in color I am feeling right now….but I’d also have to care for them for the rest of the year. I’m sticking with the purchased cut flowers for January through mid-March!

February 08, 2018

Instant Pot

February 08, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

I have finally replaced my 45-year-old Crock-Pot even though it still functions. It was a very popular wedding present in the early 1970s! Over the years, it’s gotten quite a lot of use, but I’ve always complained that it was hard to clean (it couldn’t be immersed in water since it was all one piece). It also had no way to seer or brown meat so I rarely did anything with hamburger meat in it. The knob cracked on the inside; my husband glued it back together and onto the metal stem. My daughter is checking with the grad students in her department to see if anyone wants it; otherwise, I’ll put it in the donate pile I’m accumulating.

I replaced the Crock-Pot with a 6-quart size Instant Pot – a lot more function

And a stainless-steel pot that comes out for cleaning…can even go into the dishwasher.

The first thing I tried was the Sauté function – making taco filling. It occurred to me that I might not ever use my electric skillet again. The down side is that the height of the Instant Pot makes it awkward to stir the contents of the pot for very long. I’ll probably still do most of my sauté (and stir fry) cooking on the stove top or move my cooking area to the kitchen table (lower than the cabinet) if I use the Instant Pot.

The next experiment used the Pressure Cook function using a spicy beans recipe in the booklet that came with the Instant Pot. I cooked presoaked pinto beans…set the Pressure Cook feature for 10 minutes. It takes longer to build up the pressure and let the pressure out than to cook! The beans were very soft and I added some cut up arugula to make a dip for corn chips….a very good winter lunch right out of the pot; my husband and I are enjoying the leftovers.

Overall – I have decided I like slow cooking rather then Pressure Cooking. I ordered a glass lid, so I can see what is cooking and reduce the bulk of the lid required for pressure cooking. Because it is so easy to clean, I am anticipating I will use the Instant Pot frequently and replace some of my oven and stovetop cooking in addition to the foods I traditionally made in my old Crock Pot. Maybe eventually, I’ll build up a repertoire of Pressure Cook meals too.

February 07, 2018

Icy Day

February 07, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Earlier this week we had about 24 hours of icy coated trees (and streets were impacted enough that schools closed for the whole day). I was glad I had no reason I had to be out and about; I could enjoy the ice through the windows of the house – or open doors to get a clearer picture. I noticed how different the types of trees looked with the ice. The pines droop over very quickly from the added weight of ice coating their needles. The tulip poplars develop little icicles on their more horizontal branches, but the seed pods didn’t seem to accumulate any ice.

When I first looked at the maple, I thought it hadn’t accumulated ice as much as the other trees. When I zoomed in with my camera I saw that it did have ice accumulation and the buds were already dark red. I don’t think the buds will be damaged by the ice since they are still closed.

The sycamore had a thin coating of ice and longer icicles. I was surprised that the lone seed ball from last summer does not appear to have ice on it!

I worried the most about the plum tree in our front yard. It has a lot of small branches that are almost horizontal and tends to be coated with ice rather than icicles forming. It glistened in the morning sun (that didn’t cause very much melting because it was so cold). Fortunately, there was very little breeze so I don’t see any breakage.

February 06, 2018

eBotanicalPrints – January 2018

February 06, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

The eBotanicalPrints area of the site increased a lot in January. The books I found in 2013-2017 were added to the lists in January and since then I’ve added the books from 2012 and January 2018 to the list…so that they number of botanical ebooks (with links to the book and sample image) number over 800 at this point. Check out the Botanical Blog to see posts on highlighting books and updates to the area as they happen. There are also annual shows in the botanical blog. The lists are accessed either from the pulldown from eBotanicalPrints (from the top of this page) or via these links: by title, by author.

There were 24 botanical ebooks for January 2018! I am showing the gallery of sample images below and the 24 titles below!

A Fern Book for Everybody * Cooke, Mordecai Cubitt * sample image

British Trees V1 * Cole, Rex Vicat; Kempe, Dorothy * sample image

British Trees V2 * Cole, Rex Vicat; Kempe, Dorothy * sample image

Edible and poisonous mushrooms: what to eat and what to avoid * Cooke, Mordecai Cubitt * sample image

Ehon noyamagusa V1. * Tachibana, Yasukuni * sample image

Ehon noyamagusa V2. * Tachibana, Yasukuni * sample image

Ehon noyamagusa V3. * Tachibana, Yasukuni * sample image

Ehon noyamagusa V4. * Tachibana, Yasukuni * sample image

Ehon noyamagusa V5. * Tachibana, Yasukuni * sample image

Flowers of field, hill, and swamp * Creevey, Caroline Alathea Stickney * sample image

Nouvelle flore coloriée de poche des Alpes et des Pyrénées - Volume 2 * Flahault, Charles * sample image

Svensk Botanik volume 3 - 1804
* Palmstruch, Johan Wilhelm; Carl Wilhelm Venus; Conrad Quensel; Olof Swartz; Billberg, Gustav Johan; Wahlenberg, Göran * sample image

Svensk Botanik volume 4 - 1805
* Palmstruch, Johan Wilhelm; Carl Wilhelm Venus; Conrad Quensel; Olof Swartz; Billberg, Gustav Johan; Wahlenberg, Göran * sample image

Svensk Botanik volume 5 - 1807
* Palmstruch, Johan Wilhelm; Carl Wilhelm Venus; Conrad Quensel; Olof Swartz; Billberg, Gustav Johan; Wahlenberg, Göran * sample image

Svensk Botanik volume 6 - 1809
* Palmstruch, Johan Wilhelm; Carl Wilhelm Venus; Conrad Quensel; Olof Swartz; Billberg, Gustav Johan; Wahlenberg, Göran * sample image

Svensk Botanik volume 7 - 1812
* Palmstruch, Johan Wilhelm; Carl Wilhelm Venus; Conrad Quensel; Olof Swartz; Billberg, Gustav Johan; Wahlenberg, Göran * sample image

Svensk Botanik volume 8 - 1814
* Palmstruch, Johan Wilhelm; Carl Wilhelm Venus; Conrad Quensel; Olof Swartz; Billberg, Gustav Johan; Wahlenberg, Göran * sample image

Svensk Botanik volume 9 - 1825
* Palmstruch, Johan Wilhelm; Carl Wilhelm Venus; Conrad Quensel; Olof Swartz; Billberg, Gustav Johan; Wahlenberg, Göran * sample image

The Gardeners' Magazine of Botany, Horticulture, Floriculture, and Natural Science V1 1850 * Moore, Thomas; Ayers, William P. * sample image

The Gardeners' Magazine of Botany, Horticulture, Floriculture, and Natural Science V3 1851 * Moore, Thomas; Ayers, William P. * sample image

The octavo nature-printed British ferns : being figures and descriptions of the species and varieties of ferns found in the United Kingdom * Moore, Thomas * sample image

The orchid album, comprising coloured figures and descriptions of new, rare, and beautiful orchidaceous plants * Warner, Robert, ed; Williams, Benjamin Samuel, ed; Moore, Thomas; Fitch, John Nugent, illus * sample image

Wild flowers of America Volume 1 No. 1 * G.H. Buek & Co. * sample image

February 05, 2018

HoLLIE – week 1

February 05, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

2018 02 IMG_8303.jpg — The first HoLLIE (Howard County Legacy Leadership Institute for the Environment) class was last week. The first class was at Belmont Manor and Historic Park (in the Carriage House) – a place I am very familiar with and have been for a lecture and hike earlier in the week. I was excited about the course beforehand and it lived up to my expectations…a very full day – interesting – thought provoking. The day was cold and cloudy; there was no longing to get outdoors and hike!

2018 02 IMG_8307.jpg — I found myself comparing the class to the ones I’d experienced in the corporate world.

I found myself comparing the class to the ones I’d experienced in the corporate world.

The class was from 8:45 AM – 4 PM…about the same length as any day long course. There were fewer breaks than many classes I’ve attended (we were invited to get up whenever we needed to). By the end of the day I felt that maybe I should have gotten up more times to just move around. I am not used to sitting for long periods of time like I was during my career.
I took notes…which I have always done in classes. In some cases, the notes help me keep my attention focused. In this class, I easily stayed focused and the notes really were more to just help me remember the material.
At the end of the day, there was a discussion about class norms. That happened in classes during the later part of my career, but usually nearer the beginning of the first day.
The classes are 1 day a week for 8 weeks. The classes I took in the corporate world were back to back days because many people (speakers/teachers and students) were not local. I appreciate that this class is spread out over 8 weeks and already realize that I’ll get more out of it this way. The more thought provoking a class is – whether it is a lot of information, challenging concepts (either technical, logic, or political), or the interaction with people from very different backgrounds – the more time after class it takes to assimilate what was learned. I am transcribing my notes to enhance what I learn…integrate it into what I want to do immediately and in the longer term.

2018 02 IMG_8309.jpg — This class is the most substantial class since the Master Naturalist training I took back in February and March of 2015. Unlike the Master Naturalist course which focused almost exclusively on science topics, this course overlays non-positional leadership development on science topics. The topics for the first day included:

What legacy leadership means (intro to non-positional leadership)
The HoLLIE Volunteer Experience (hearing from previous students)
Environmental Initiatives of Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks

Stay tuned for the next 7 weeks!

February 04, 2018

Bluebirds Bathing

February 04, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Last week, we had extra drama at our birdbath. It started out with some bluebirds coming for a drink – not unusual. A finch and junco joined in but left after a sip. There were three bluebirds around the birdbath – with the female appearing to eye the water rather than getting a drink while the males watched. Then one of the male bluebirds jumped into the water…and splashed around. It was interesting to see how the bird seemed to put its head down and maybe used it beak as a third ‘leg’ while it bathed. The female bluebird flew away while this was happening. Just as the first bird seemed to finish up, the second male bluebird stepped in but waited until the first one flew away to get serious about his bath. Meanwhile the female bluebird came back and was waiting. She got into the water as the second male finished but waited until he flew away before starting. She took the most time with her bath – completely turning around in the ‘tub’ before she flew away. All this action happened in about 2 minutes!

February 03, 2018

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 3, 2018

February 03, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

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.

When 136 Bird Species Show Up at a Feeder, Which One Wins? | All About Birds – Interesting article. I’ve been thinking about the birds at my birdbath rather than my feeder (since my feeder only works for small birds that like the seeds). The blue jays are dominate bird at the bath…when they are around the others wait for their drink!

The lost art of looking at plants – Molecular tools and DNA sequencing overwhelming the detailed analyses of plants’ physical traits…but not there is a rebalancing; both are required to dive deeper into the many questions we still have about plant.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #124 – National Geographic – The first one in this series is a barn swallow…one of my favorite birds to watch. And there are three different kinds of kingfishers later in the post.

How Technology Is Creating a Generation of Adult Babies - The Ringer – Another way technology is either giving us what we want or convincing us that it is what we need.

The Dangers of Keeping Women Out of Tech | WIRED – An interview with Maria Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College. She has increased the number of women in the school’s computer science program from 10% to 40%.

Every study we could find on what automation will do to jobs, in one chart - MIT Technology Review – It seems like almost everyone thinks automation will reduce the number of jobs….but the studies are remarkably different. It would be useful if there was enough consensus for people to make decisions about education and careers – but there just isn’t.

Fingerprints of Ongoing Human Evolution Found | The Scientist Magazine® - A study using large data sets with genomic information looked a gene variants less common in older people than younger people….and there are probably more coming soon because the data is ripe for analysis. So far they’ve discovered gene variants in Alzheimer’s and smoking related genes appear to be under selection pressure…i.e. that there are fewer old people with the variants than young (i.e. they tend to die earlier).

Gold crown of Hecatomnus returned to Turkey: Culture minister – Sometimes stolen artifacts are found and returned….Kudos to the authorities in both Scotland and Turkey for this result.

Parts of U.S. Saw an Increase in Zika-Linked Birth Defects in 2016 | The Scientist Magazine – Data from 2017 is not available yet. The researchers found 3 of every 1,000 babies born in Puerto Rico, southern Florida, and a portion of south Texas had a birth defect that could have been linked to Zika infection of their mothers.

Entomologist discovers millipede that comes in more color combinations than any other -- ScienceDaily – Pretty and covered in cyanide that will kill any bird that eats it.

February 02, 2018

A lecture and walk around at Belmont

February 02, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

Earlier this week, I attended a lecture about the history of the Patapsco River Valley at Belmont Manor and Historic Park and then took a walk around the grounds. It was a sunny day – but cold and breezy. I put on all my layers. There are some changes since the last time I was there. Much of the meadow and field areas have been mowed and some new trees have been planted. The shorter grass somehow made it seem even more wintery – to seedpods or long grasses to add texture to the landscape.

The bald cypress down by the pond stands out because of its location and because it seems to be a slightly different color that the trees behind it. I’m glad the area around it is soggy enough that they didn’t mow around its base – scarring its knees. We didn’t make the trek down there to check. Hopefully I’ll hike down sometime before the bluebirds and swallows start moving into the boxes…and protecting their territory.

Up at the front of the manor house, many of the trees look like they’ve been pruned – either intentionally or by winter weather.

Along the road into Belmont, the ashes are being cut down. Some were already gone, others just had tape around them. It’s evidently a project this winter. They are being killed by the invasive emerald ash borer.

We hiked around the fence behind the manor house to a hemlock that had been invested with wooly adelgid (another invasive insect). The tree looks better; there were some new cones and growth from last summer; I’m glad the park is trying to save it. Underneath the tree – there was a scattering of feathers. Some relatively large bird met its end here.

2018 01 IMG_8212.jpg — We hiked on around to the Belmont cemetery. I noticed some holes within the hollow up high in a very large tulip poplar…a home for a woodpecker or maybe just a pantry that contained a lot of insects. The hemlocks at the cemetery looked healthier too. Some of the dead branches had been removed and they had new growth and cones.

February 01, 2018

Zentangle® – January 2018

February 01, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

I created 101 Zentangle tiles in January! The number surprised me so now I am thinking up reasons that I created so many. It was probably a combination of things:

I was at home more and creating tiles is something I enjoy doing when I have time.
There were new pens involved. I had bought a package of 24 Ultra Fine Point Sharpies and was trying to use up the last of the old set…which I did toward the end of the month. Then I was keen to use the new set. What a luxury to have pens full of ink…no skips!
The cleaning out of office supplies resulted in a lot of materials that could be made into tiles (via my paper cutter). I am overwhelmed with a variety of tiles at this point and a pile to of sheets still to make into 3.5 x 3.5 inch squares.

With the 101 to choose from – picking 31 was a challenge. 10 are from old business cards and 21 are from recycled materials (card stock, file folders, Seltzer water boxes).

The Zentangle® Method is an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. It was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. "Zentangle" is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc. Learn more at zentangle.com.

January 31, 2018

Ten Little Celebrations – January 2018

January 31, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

This month was mostly cold…mostly spent at home…but I easily found lot of little celebrations!

I celebrated the model trains at Brookside…on the very last day of the exhibit – January 1. I enjoyed volunteering to help the exhibit run smoothly…and experiencing the trains through the eyes of the children.

I made a lot of progress on the collection of botanical prints eBooks area of my website. I am adding to the list of links as I work back through the annual lists of books I read/browsed…picking out the ones that contained botanical prints. So far, the books I found from 2013-2017 are listed – each with a link to the free eBook and a sample image. I celebrated the beauty of the botanical prints the whole time I worked on the collection…and may have the ones from 2012 ready later today.

We had some very cold days early in January and I celebrated my well-stocked pantry, freezer and refrigerator – as I stayed warm at home!

The were three Winter Wellness sessions this January hosted by Howard County Conservancy for their volunteers. Each included a lecture and hike…worth celebrating.

Conowingo was not as scenic for birds as it has been at times in the past…but the ice on the rocks and railings was worth seeing. I enjoyed being out and about….maybe that was more what I was celebrating.

I had a cold earlier in the month – so of course I celebrated as soon as a started feeling better.

In November I got my box of Foldscopes and was so busy I didn’t put one together until recently. I was pleased to finally do it…celebrated my origami-type success with the pieces and my initial results.

My area of Maryland has been very dry. We’ve only had dustings of snow…but we had a day recently that is rained gently for most of the day. We needed the moisture….and I celebrated that it came in an easy-to-handle form.

I had a dental appointment as was pleased that I had no cavities! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a new one and I celebrate after each appointment.

I started out on my weekly grocery shopping drive and notice the sunrise over our CSA buildings. I pulled off the road to take a picture. It was a good way to celebrate the day’s beginning.

January 30, 2018

Zooming – January 2018

January 30, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

I’ve been at home observing birds a lot during January and my camera works as well as binoculars for me…so why not go ahead and take the picture too! My favorite is probably of the flicker – savoring the drink of water from our birdbath.