Our New Neighborhood – June 2022

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There are two ponds with a ~0.5 trail around them in our Missouri neighborhood…three bridges (one at both ends and between them). One of the tangential paths from the loop passes by our back gate. I took an early morning walk – taking photos in the great morning light. A squirrel posed for me on one of the bridges.

I was glad the mowed areas are not ‘golf course’ like…lots of clover mixed in with the grasses.

There is a mallard with a broken wing that I’ve seen several times. The first time was the day the movers arrived. It was wondering around our backyard and my husband opened the gate so that it could return to the ponds. It was swimming in the water or on a muddy island in one of ponds the other times I’ve seen it. It probably cannot fly well enough to move to another location.

The edges of the ponds are not mowed….so there are plenty of taller grasses, seedlings, wild onions and other plants that make it interesting.

I stopped just before I made the last turn to my house to photograph one of the larger trees….and its reflection.

We are experiencing lots of high temperatures this week so all my walks will be on mornings when the temperature is still pleasant. I am anticipating that the short walks are going to be ‘favorites’ for my post-move life.

Unpacking

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The morning after the movers got everything into the house, I was up with the dawn (before 6 AM) and ready to start with the unpacking. My sister helped and we made good progress for the next 4 days of her visit (with a few breaks for exploring the area around Springfield).

I kept my laptop set up on the kitchen counter to mark off the boxes on my inventory as we unpacked them.

The living room was one of the prime areas that boxes were piled. I had thought ahead to have the book boxes in the area near the window and the other (lighter boxes) destined primarily for the kitchen/China cabinet) in the center of the room. The kitchen counters became cluttered with items to put away – slowing down to allow time to refresh shelf paper…and occasionally rearranging once we better understood the way we would use the kitchen.

The basement also had a big pile of boxes…mostly in the John Deere room. My husband helped me put my office furniture together and I started carrying a few items down to the kitchenette that I would use there.

We had piles of bubble wrap which we stuffed in plastic bags to return to a store for recycling, Styrofoam went in the trash. There were piles of boxes and packing paper. I posted to the community Facebook page and the boxes that were still in good shape were given to people in the neighborhood that were preparing to moving. My sister and I took the damaged boxes/paper to the recycle center since the first curbside recycling day in our new house was cancelled (they didn’t have a crew!)…and the size/amount of cardboard would have overwhelmed our bin anyway.

Every day the house became more ‘normal’ but it will probably be weeks before I unpack everything…and there are items (pictures/breakables) to get from my daughter’s basement (and a lot of beanie baby bins that she is going to take back).

As I write this – I am one week into the unpacking process and the house is livable…but still looking messy with boxes in odd places!

Moving In

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Our driver confirmed via text that he would arrive as scheduled the next day shortly after we returned to our Missouri house. The truck and a car with three helpers arrived just after 8 AM – making an early start since the day was forecast to be very hot.

The steps to the front of the Missouri house are shallower than the ones in Maryland; the ramp they used looked better but was squishy when weight was on it.

I had my blue paper signs held up with painters’ tape to name rooms and designate where major furniture would go. More red and blue runners were needed to protect the floors because none of the flooring was going to be replaced in the Missouri house (like the carpeting was in Maryland).

The piano crate was moved into the dining room…and would stay there for 4 days until the specialist crew came to uncrate it and put the parts back together.

It was an exhausting day for me – on my feet directing movers to the main floor or the basement (separate entrances) for the loads of furniture and boxes. It took the 4 men 6 hours to unload…shorter duration than the loading of the truck but the temperature/humidity made it very hard work.

Not much got unpacked on the same day as the unloading occurred; my husband and I were too tired. Fortunately - we had enough linens to make beds for ourselves and my sister that arrived shortly after the movers left!

Overall – I was pleased with the way the movers handled the move itself…but the task of unpacking everything I had packed, now in piles in key places of the new house, seemed daunting in the quiet of that first evening after the unloading.

Utilities

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My husband made the arrangement to transition of utilities from the previous owner to us in our Missouri house. The water, sewer, electric, gas and trash/recycle were all with the city…easier than in locales where each one is separate.  

We thought that maybe the internet/cable connection would take longer, but we got an appointment for the day after closing! What a relief to have that taken care of before I made the whirlwind trip back to Maryland!

It seems like the process was easier than when we moved to our Maryland house 25+ years ago…a positive experience.

Now to wait a month and see how we do on electric usage with the air conditioner keeping the house comfortable during the summer heat. The gas usage during the summer is only for hot water so should be at the lowest for the year.

Whirlwind trip to Maryland and Back

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I left early after only one day in the Missouri house that was now ours…to go back to the Maryland house. It would be a 4-day trip with lots of driving each day. The weather was good for the whole trip although it had been very wet the days before. The early rest stops were soggy. I drove from Springfield MO to Huntington WV the first day…a bit long but I knew I would need time at my Maryland house to load the car on the second day. It rained heavily after I was at the hotel!

The Red Roof Inn in Huntington was a surprise. Perhaps it had been recently renovated because the lighting over the bed and the size/arrangement of the desk area were more functional than most hotel rooms.

I was up early the next morning and heading to my Maryland house. At one of the West Virginia stops, I noticed a dead tree…took a closer look at the fungus growing on the trunk.

The drive was uneventful…arriving early enough to have lunch with my husband on our Maryland house deck…and then start the daunting task of loading the cars. Our plan was to caravan back to Missouri with everything from the Maryland house….but we couldn’t quite fit everything so we’ll return to Maryland for the closing on that house; everything left will easily fit in one car. I took pictures of the house without furniture…with the new carpet…before we headed to a nearby hotel for the night.

We headed out early….saw morning sun on the Sidling Hill road cut.

After another night in a hotel, we got another early start…destination our house in Missouri. The drive took a dramatic turn at mid-morning: the front driver’s side tire blew out on my car just east of the Skeeter Mountain rest stop in Indiana. I was glad my husband was following me. It occurred on a bridge….part of the tire flying off…I managed to control the car well enough to pull onto the shoulder past the bridge. I sat in the car after I got it stopped. My husband came up and asked if I was OK…’not really’ was my response. Fortunately, the trauma was emotional rather than physical. We both stood further off on the shoulder, and he called for a tow (my car does not have a spare). I took pictures of the car…and the vegetation nearby. The tow truck came in about 20 minutes…about 10 AM; the tow to a tire place took about 30 minutes and a new tire was on the car by about noon. We continued toward our Missouri home.

Fortunately, the rest of the drive was uneventful…the blow out episode causing a 3-hour delay…not bad overall. Both of us went to bed early - emotionally exhausted once the drive was over.

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 18, 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.

Archaeologists Uncover Hundreds of Colorful Sarcophagi at Saqqara—and They’re Not Done Yet – The seeming endless interest in Egypt…sustained by continuing new finds.

8 cool wild cats you probably don’t know – So many wild cat variations!

Fjords emit as much methane as all the deep oceans globally – When storms churn up water in fjords….oxygenating the fjord floor…methane emissions spike. If the water mixed more frequently the methane emissions would drop because anoxic environments at the bottom of fjords would disappear.

Tree rings are evidence of megadrought – and our doom – Tree ring data indicates that the 22-year period from 2000 through 2021 was the driest and hottest in the last 1,2000 years for the North American Southwest. There was another 22-year drought from 1571-1592 that was nearly as dry but not as hot as the current drought. And the water distribution allocations were made based on a 22-year period between 1900 and 1921 that we now know was an anomalously wet period for area! Not good signs for the future.

A 3400-year-old city emerges from the Tigris River – Drought lowered the Mosul reservoir. There was a quick survey…discovery ceramic vessels with 100 cuneiform tablets…and the conservation measures to project the site as the water rose again. The site is now completely submerged.

Fifty years later, Kim Phuc Phan Thi is more than ‘Napalm Girl’ – One of the most iconic photos of the Vietnam war…still makes be as emotional now as the first time I saw it. She says – To confront violence head-on…’the first step is to look at it.’

Two articles about the flooding in Yellowstone: Repairing and reopening Yellowstone National Park won’t be easy and Extreme flooding devastates Yellowstone, forcing the closure of all park entrances – Very sad….also scary.

Wildlife bedtime: weird nesting habits of North American wildlife – Black bears, black-footed ferrets, jumping spiders, bald-faced hornets, and red-sided garter snakes.

How Vivian Maier, the Enigmatic Nanny Who Took 150,000 Photographs, Found Her Place in History – Street photographer…that only became known after a storage locker of her photographs/negatives was auctioned off when she couldn’t make the payments on it.

Zapping orange peel oil into new, pleasant aroma compounds – I’ve always liked the smell and taste of orange peel (I buy organic oranges and use the whole orange!) but evidently the compound that is in orange peel, limonene, can be the starting platform for other scents as well.

Clarence Brookfield Moore and Burial Mounds

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Clarence Brookfield Moore’s I. Mounds and cemeteries of the lower Arkansas River. Part II. Mounds of the lower Yazoo and lower Sunflower Rivers, Mississippi was published in 1908; it is available on Internet Archive. I enjoyed the illustrations of pottery from the book.

According to Wikipedia, Moore ran the company he inherited from his father for about a decade then turned its management over to others so he could pursue his archeological interests primarily in the southeastern United States. Many of his excavations were of burial mounds; his methods were to the standards of the time…and he did publish…but today the way he handled the mounds/graves would be problematic.

When will the movers arrive?

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The timing of the arrival of truck truck at our new house in Missouri was a range of more than a week at the beginning; on the day they loaded the truck, we were told it would arrive the last day of the range. On the day after closing, the driver called in the morning. If he could get a crew to help, he could deliver  later in the day and finish unloading the day after. I went into panic mode to get the house ready: putting everything I had brought in the car out of the way and making signs for the floor or walls to indicate where major furniture would go.

Later in the day, the driver called to indicate that he had not been able to arrange for a crew so the truck would arrive a day before the original delivery date…in 5 days. I was almost overwhelmed by the whiplash of changes but I quickly recovered and made plans to make a return trip to Maryland to get the last items our of our Maryland house and then drive back with my husband --- both of us with fully loaded cars.

What a flurry of activity the day after closing on our Missouri house!

Closing Day – our house in Missouri

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After the walk-through and a quick lunch, my daughter drove me to the title company. I had a large cashier’s check in my purse…was looking forward to the closing to hand it over. The seller completed their portion shortly after I arrived. My segment did not take as long as I remember from previous houses; it turns out that buying a house without a mortgage requires a lot less paperwork (and signatures)!

It occurred to me that this is the first time my husband and I own two houses (i.e., no mortgage on either one)!

After the closing, my daughter and I returned to her house then both drove to the new house (me in my heavily loaded car) to unload everything…in preparation for my first night in the house. It was going to be a lot like camping with an air up mattress on the floor for a few days. After my daughter left, I settled in – listening to the sounds of the neighborhood getting quieter as the light faded, the clouds dark. I was up early the next morning – heading out to buy groceries and a few other essentials to have before the movers arrived.

Little did I know that morning – it was the calm before an increasing a flurry of activity as the day progressed.

House Walk-through before Closing

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I stayed overnight with my daughter the night before we closed on our new home. It was calming to be in a familiar place, enjoy her yard between rain showers (roses, decorative water faucet, and magnolia with early blooms) and then have her drive me (rather than taking my very full car) to the walk-through of the house prior to closing.  

The form with space for notes about each room that I used when we had first looked at the house back in April worked well for this walkthrough. I wrote down anything I noticed: a ding in a wall that the movers probably made when they moved the previous owner (fortunately the paint was left in the basement so won’t be a hard repair), the blooms that I had just missed (a Japanese dogwood and a rhododendron), the two bathrooms that needed shower rods (the master has a glass enclosed shower), and loose weather stripping on the door to the garage. I also noticed that what I thought was just a microwave was a convection oven as well! Everything important about the house was as I expected.

I had purchased some furniture from the previous owner, and it was all in the house…plus a chimenea (a pleasant surprise sitting to one side of the patio.

It was too wet from the morning rains to walk around the yard, but I did go out on the patio. There were swallows nesting in the eves…with hungry young. Another pleasant surprise.

Overall – I felt good about the house…ready to go for quick lunch…and then close.

MD to MO with a very full car

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My car was loaded to the ceiling behind the driver’s seat after the movers left; I was relying on side mirrors and backup camera for the drive between Maryland and Missouri. The next morning, I loaded the passenger seat and floorboard (not to the ceiling), took a few pictures of the front of our Maryland house, and was away before 6:30 AM for the 1st day drive…projected to be 10 hours.

I made the usual rest stops in Maryland. The weather was excellent for driving…a comfortable temperature and dry. Once again – I appreciated adaptive cruise control…after I got acclimated driving at highway speeds again; it took me about an hour to feel comfortable going 70+ mph.

The highway through West Virginia is a pleasure – lots of great scenery and curves to make it interesting. I discovered that the extra weight of the car (fully loaded) made it more stable on the curves! On a sad note – along with deer roadkill, there seemed to be quite a few foxes; saddest of all…there were two very small fox carcasses not far apart. I noticed catalpas blooming along the highway…remembered the trees from my childhood; considered planting one in my new yard.

Kentucky is also scenic – and this time there was no traffic problems getting through Louisville into Indiana (bridge renovation closes a lane…but the traffic was light enough that everything flowed smoothly).

The hotel for the first night was in Indiana and I took a picture of at sunset from my hotel window. I parked my car where I could see it and kept checking to make sure it was OK; other people parked around me --- made the obviously stuffed car less obvious. The area is still in the eastern time (very close to the western edge of the zone) so it didn’t get dark until after 9; I closed the blackout curtains and went to bed early after the long drive.

I bought the most expensive gas of the trip in Illinois. I’ll remember when I make the next trip to fill the tank in Missouri or Indiana!

And then I was in Missouri – making very good time even though the traffic was heavier on I-44 than anywhere else along the route. The first rest stop is due to close for renovation soon so it will be a long stretch without a rest stop….we’ll have to make a stop at a fast food place instead. There was a marked difference in the type of roadkill once I got into Missouri – no deer or fox…there were a few racoons and (surprise) lots of armadillos! Evidently the animals were first seen in the state about 40 years ago and their numbers have been increasing in the southern part of the Missouri ever since; they are not seen in the northern part of the state (yet)! I learned that they often destroy yards very quickly (they root around searching for invertebrates in the soil) and are very active in the Springfield area!

On both days, I made such good time that I made up for the rest stops…arrived within minutes of what my car’s navigation system calculated first thing in the morning as I was starting the drive!

I stayed with my daughter overnight. Stay tuned for a post about the next day: walk through…closing…unloading the very full car…a first night in a new home.

Moving Out

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The moving out day started out with a flurry of activity (putting bedding into closets to be used on inflatable mattresses after the movers left) and walking around making sure there was blue tape on everything that was not going on the truck. The kitchen area was where we stored the boxes/padding we’d use for the few remaining items that would go in a car when we left the house for the last time (the space between the refrigerator and the cabinet…and then in kitchen cabinets that were otherwise empty). I set myself up a working area with my laptop and papers associated with the move day. The Regency bag was for plastic bags of small hardware as furniture was disassembled. I put each set in a Ziploc with a piece of paper indicating the furniture it would be reunited with in Missouri. Just before the mover was due to arrive, everything was as ready as I could make it. I walked down the driveway and the took a picture of our oak with Virginia Creeper – a Zen moment.

The mover and his 3 helpers arrived shortly thereafter and then the team to prepare the grand piano (and treadmill) for the move. They put mats down on the wood floor…would have put more if we were not going to replace the carpeting anyway. Ramps were improvised for the two steps down from our front door. They loaded into the side of the truck. Big boxes of moving blankets and a big hanger of huge rubber bands to hold them in place around furniture were brought it. A steady stream of boxes were taken to the truck on dollies. The rubber bands and shrink wrap were the two innovations most noticeable to me since my last long distance move in 1983 (Plano TX to Springfield VA…..now we’re doing Laurel MD to Springfield/Nixa MO). The piano was partially disassembled, padded and loaded onto the bottom part of the crate which had been built specifically for it in front of our house (the team’s van had a generator to power the tools!). The piano went to the truck on a 4-wheel dolly where the rest of the crate was assembled around it. Going down the ramp at our front door was a bit scary for me to watch but the team told me that it was relatively easy (there was a job they had that required taking a piano down a muddy hill which they categorized as awful/scary but even they the piano came through unscathed).

10 hours from when they started – everything to go on the truck was loaded and the big truck pulled away. The delivery date for our move in is a bit more than a week away…but a lot needs to happen in that week!

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 11, 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.

Dramatic Short Film Explores the Secret World of Microscopic Plankton – Video and photographs…the beauty of the very small.

“Legacy Pollution” to be cleaned up in seven national parks – I am pleased that it is being cleaned up…chagrined that taxpayers are paying for it rather than the oil companies.

Dandelion chemistry: diuretics and the tires of the future – Redeeming qualities of what we normally consider weeds that are menace! I’ve come to appreciate them more over the years because they are edible (my grocery story has the leaves in their organic section occasionally) and their roots are deep enough to hold soil better than turf on a slope.

Infant formula: the superfood you never think about – One of my grandmothers discovered she was unable to breastfeed her babies….and that was well before commercial formula was available. Whatever recipe she used to create ‘formula’ worked. I suspect that one of the ingredients was evaporated milk. Her 9 children thrived…some into their 90s. What happened in the US recently with infant formula reminds us how dependent we are on modern technology that has become increasingly complex…and sometimes without enough redundancy/alternatives when failures occur.

Ancient tree in Chile could be the world’s oldest – A cypress that could be more than 5,000 years old.

Hot-blooded T. rex and cold-blooded Stegosaurus: Chemical clues reveal dinosaur metabolisms – Honing the analysis of how quickly they could turn oxygen to energy.  

Ancient ochre mine uncovered in Wyoming – Around 13,000 years ago, Paleoindians mined hematite at the site…and used it to produce red ochre.

Photos of the week – May 27, 2002 – Spring prairie flowers/seeds from the Prairie Ecologist.

What can and can’t be recycled – Thinking about recycling….now that I am moving to Missouri, I need to figure out the rules for curbside recycling. I already know there are some differences from Maryland.

Type 2 diabetes accelerates brain aging and cognitive decline – A scary result since there are so many people with type 2 diabetes….and currently doctors don’t have brain based biomarkers for type 2 diabetes or treatment strategies that target neurocognitive declines.

Howard Carter’s The tomb of Tut'Ankh'Amen

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The 1923 book published by the Howard Carter after his discovery of the intact tomb in November 1922 focused on the search, discovery, and clearing of the antechamber…and is available from Internet Archive: The tomb of Tut'Ankh'Amen. I’ve selected several photos from the book. It is interesting to see the jumble of items packed into the tomb shortly after it was opened.

There are two other volumes published in 1927 (burial chamber and mummy) and 1933 (treasury and annex) according to the Wikipedia entry for Carter. Hopefully they will become available as the copyright expires.

Crane Fly

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A quick celebration of nature – a crane fly was resting on the garage door frame as I came back from an early morning trip to Home Depot for the last boxes I need. I took some quick pictures with my phone…pleased with the quality of the 8x magnification.

Another intrusion of nature into my laser focus on getting ready to move - the birdsong in the morning is at its peak this time of year and happens just as I am ready to get up. There is a phoebe that is almost always contributing to the symphony and sometimes I hear it in the evening as well.

Are we ready for the movers?

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We have another day before the movers arrive to load the truck. Are we ready? Other than the short list of things to do tomorrow – I think we are. We packed 3 boxes today with 2 of them still open to receive the small items (mostly light bulbs) still in use.

We’re in the mode now of cleaning up – getting extra packing materials carted away and vacuuming. I am beginning to put painters’ tape to indicate ‘do no move.’ Most items we are not moving are small and in closets out of the way so I can close the door and put the tape on the outside of the closet but there are some other items like metal shelves in the garage and basement that are larger….and the television which will be on the hearth….ready to go into my car shortly after the movers are done; I’ll be leaving for Missouri the following day.

My husband is going to make a video of the rooms to document the contents (just in case something arrives damaged)…and also as a keepsake.

The list for tomorrow includes putting our computers into a closet (since they will be going in our cars)…folding up tables. We already prepped the floor lamps – a day before I had that task on my schedule.

 I also have a list for the morning of the day the movers are due (mainly removing bedding)!

Goodbye to the Wheelbarrow

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We made the decision to not move our wheelbarrow to Missouri over a month ago. It was rusting and the tire had never managed the heavier loads very well. We took it to scrap metal collection at our county landfill after we finished using it for the yard work and moving other items headed for trash/recycling from the basement around to the front of the house.  

The wheelbarrow was a legacy from my mother-in-law…one of the items that continued to remind me of her through the over 30 years since her death. I don’t remember her buying it during the year or so she lived with us, so it must have been something she moved from Texas to Maryland. She did a lot of gardening that year, but it seems improbable that she could handle the wheelbarrow physically. We still have miniature daffodils and day lilies in our yard from the bulbs she bought/planted; I moved them with us from our previous house. I’ve decided not to dig up bulbs to take to Missouri…concerned about introducing some invasive insect or worm that is common in Maryland but not in Missouri. I’m going to buy some new bulbs next fall and when they bloom – I’ll still be reminded of her.

Plans and more plans

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As it gets closer to the time the movers will arrive at our Maryland house, I find myself making detailed plans for just about everything: food, clothing, how the cars will be loaded, internet service.

I’ve managed to use up things like protein powder and eggs. I have the milk planned to be gone before I leave for Missouri and the closing of our new house. I have one leftover that will go with me as my ‘meal in the hotel’ but otherwise the refrigerator will be mostly empty except for items my husband will need for the time he will be here monitoring the re-carpeting and the house being listed for sale. We may or may not come back for when this house closes so all the food in the house will be gone when he leaves.

The weather has gotten hot and is likely to stay that way. I have one light weight jacket…otherwise I am wearing summer clothes and flip flops (although just in case I am taking a few pairs of socks and a pair of regular shoes). I’ll do laundry a day or so after closing on our Missouri house. With the warm weather…the space needed for clothes is reduced; most will be on the truck.

Space in the car is at a premium because we are minimizing the driving between Maryland and Missouri. I will do it twice but my husband will only make the drive once…..unless be both decide to come back for a last goodbye to the house as it transitions to a new owner. My Prius Prime is small so I have mapped out where items will go in the car…how I will organize the loading. I’ve already made adjustments to my plan by delaying the loading of my car somewhat to avoid 90-degree temperatures!

My husband is handling the utilities; both of us are keen to minimize the time we are without internet service in both locations! Doing everything on our phones at a time when so much is happening makes us anxious.

Overall – the planning has reassured us that everything that needs to be done….is on track (so far).

I will miss…

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Nearing the end of our time in Maryland…I am acknowledging what I will be miss from this area of the county. It’s been our home turf for almost 40 years. From the very beginning, I’ve enjoyed:

Big trees. When we first moved from Texas, the big trees were one of the first things we noticed. We had several very large oaks in our Virginia house and maples that got much larger in the time we lived in our second. At the house we are moving from (our third in the area), there is a large oak, sycamore and maple in the yard…and a forest of trees dominated by tulip poplars behind the house. Our house in Missouri has younger trees…and varieties that won’t be as tall. It has the advantage of making the roof ideal for solar panels. I am glad that the area does have big trees though; I don’t think I would want to live in a part of the country that didn’t!

Historical sites/monuments. The Washington DC is full of historical sites and monuments. Our long-time favorites are Mount Vernon, the Washington Monument, The Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, and the Dupont museums around Wilmington (Hagley, Winterthur, Nemours). Will we miss them in our new home? Probably not…but we have always included historical sites and monuments in our travels; that will continue.

Gardens. Brookside Gardens, the National Arboretum, Kenilworth Aquatic Garden, US Botanical Garden, tidal basin/cherry blossoms and Longwood Gardens have all been some of our favorite places in the area. We already know that the Springfield Botanical Gardens are something we’ll enjoy close to our new home…and I’m already anticipating a long weekend to explore the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis.

Seasons. We thoroughly enjoyed the seasons in Virginia/Maryland: the colors of fall, the snow in winter, the trees and bulbs that bloom profusely in spring, and the summers that don’t get as hot as in Texas! In Missouri we are expecting somewhat similar although a little drier and, perhaps, more extreme.

I will miss aspects of the area that I’ve enjoyed post-career too:

Education and volunteering opportunities. I thoroughly enjoyed the volunteer opportunities in Maryland – particularly Howard Country Conservancy and the butterfly exhibit at Brookside Gardens. The educational opportunities associated with my volunteering (Maryland Master Naturalist and Howard County Legacy Leadership for the Environment, for example) were appreciated too. I’ll look for similar opportunities near my new home. I already know there is a Missouri Master Naturalist program and some potential volunteer opportunities that I can pursue in Springfield…..or maybe I’ll find some tangential interests that will lead to very different education/volunteering opportunities.

Forest behind my house and lots of birds. This spring the area around our house in Maryland seems to be particularly lush and our two bird feeders have been very busy. I will miss that in our new house because the vegetation is not as large. On the plus side, the new yard will work reasonably well for astronomy and there is room to add some plants that I’ve never had before (like an oak leave hydrangea…and a pollinator garden that needs full sun).

Birding tours. We’ve enjoyed the tours with Delmarva Birding and the festivals at Cape May. We’ll be exploring new ones closer to our home in Missouri. I anticipate seeing the migrating sandhill cranes along the Platte River some time!

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 4, 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.

Under Water and Under Pressure – 100 national parks are coastal…and are already taking action to mitigate sea level rise.

Where do ‘Hawaiian box jellies’ come from? – Evidently the box jellies appear close to shore like clockwork 8-10 days after full moon. This research reveal that the jellies are spawning during that time…and where they are when they not close to shore. This is important for providing better information to ocean swimmers and beach goers…trying to avoid stings. Another benefit…learning to keep the food web balanced to control box jelly numbers in Hawaii and other tropical localities.

Stirring up a mid-Atlantic bloom – Lots of nutrients flowing into the water from the coastal watersheds during spring rainstorms.

Vancouver requires gas stations & parking lots without EV chargers to pay $10,000 per year – Interesting idea…hope it increases the number of chargers and the trend to EVs!

Photography In The National Parks: More Favorite Places For Photography - We’re not going to be traveling to any of the western parks near term….so I enjoyed them through these photographs: Crater Lake, Redwood, Yosemite, Great Basin, and Lewis and Clark (Washington state portion).

Maya tooth treatments may have prevented infection – In the Mayan world - holes were drilled to attach stones to teeth; an analysis of the sealant used for 8 teeth from across the Maya empire (AD 200-900) revealed that most sealants included ingredients from pine trees that have been shown to fight the bacteria that cause tooth decay.

Top 25 birds of the week: Forest Birds – I always like bird pictures….

Scientists recreate Cleopatra’s favorite perfume – Recreating Mendesian perfume…the result so far has been a strong, spicy, faintly musty scent that tended to linger longer than modern fragrances…with ingredients like desert date oil, myrrh, cinnamon, and pine resin.

Grand Canyon of Texas – I remember (tent) camping in Palo Duro Canyon in the 1970s on the way to Colorado…being very hot and worried that our tent was too close to a red ant bed! At the time, I didn’t realize that it is the second largest canyon in the US (behind Arizona’s Grand Canyon).

Why humans get less sleep than other primates – A different type of sleep research…teasing out the differences in sleep of humans and other primates….and between non-industrial human populations and industrial human populations. It turns out that in the human populations…the hours of sleep are about the same but the perception of getting enough sleep is higher in the non-industrial populations than the industrial ones!