Sustaining Elder Care – February 2025

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I took three days for my monthly trip to Dallas rather than the usual two. A weather forecast for snow prompted the decision…since it would be impossible to leave early in the morning. There were two appointments I wanted to keep – one to signing tax forms for my dad and the other to complete the set up at his bank so I could sign for him if needed. It turned out that the drive down was not bad. The highways were clear; the first rest stop still has some snow/ice remnants but even that had melted way by the time I was mid-way through Oklahoma.

I got to Dallas early enough to see my dad on my that first day…and two more times before I left to come home. During my recent visits, I’ve noticed my father’s further decline each month – both physical and mental. He rarely can complete a sentence now and tends to look at his feet when he stands up and walks (hunched over) with the walker. The cold weather keeps him from taking walks outside most of the time and the impact on his physical fitness is noticeable. It felt right to see him for the extra day.

He had another round of Covid since my last visit; he appears to have come through OK although he had a few rough days when he was quarantined to his room, and he became concerned that the house was too quiet (thinking he was alone in the assisted living residence). One of my sisters arrived (masked and gloved) at the perfect time to reassure him. And now the house is back to normal with residents out in the shared big room more frequently…and a television on there.

We had a rough time starting a new puzzle on the second afternoon but then did very well the next morning – completing the frame and forging ahead. Dad seemed more adept at finding pieces that fit. Perhaps he is always more alert mentally in the morning. I’ll need to consider that going forward.

I drove home on the third day and it was unexpectedly harder than I thought….foggy and rainy the whole way. The temperature was high enough that I wasn’t worried about ice, but the sheets of water thrown up by the big trucks on the highway along with the wind made for a stressful drive. The 7 hours on the road was exhausting. I was relieved to be home again.

Josey Ranch – February 2025

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The weather was cold and mostly cloudy…but I headed to Josey Ranch for a nature fix – and to gain more experience with my new camera (Nikon Coolpix P950). The last time I visited was back in September, but I expected to see a lot of birds that are in Texas during for the winter. The pond between the library and the senior living complex was almost empty. I photographed a feather and a dandelion almost ready to bloom before I headed over to the other pond.

There were a lot of birds: American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Canada Geese, Greater Scaup, American Coot, and Ring-billed Gull (many immature).

There were pigeons and crows on the tall lights over the ball fields.

Surprisingly there were cormorants on the poles as well!

I headed back toward the larger pond and my car…noticing some mistletoe in a tree along the way.

There were a pair of Great Egrets that interacted and then flew away from each other. The breeding plumage is beginning to be obvious.

A group of mallards and domestic duck hybrids were on a small pond. One hybrid was mostly black but had a green head!

Back at the larger pond I saw sleeping Ruddy Ducks.

I got a better view of a cormorant on the pond. It seems to have some characteristics of a Double-Crested (bare skin in front of the eye) and the white line of the Neotropic. I read that there are instances of hybrids in the areas where the two species interact….and north Texas might be one of those places!

The cold and wind had me regretting wearing leggings rather than jeans….it was time to head back to the car.

Geology Course Experiences – February 2025

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I have completed 3 more chapters in my online course – reading the eTextbook, working through the study questions and taking the quizzes (all part of the online book). There was a short YouTube video. The professor sent an email about another video - Hidden Fury - the New Madrid Quake Zone – which was more  substantial (although not very polished); I wondered why she did not make it part of the online course as part of the section on earthquakes. So far, the online course content seems to be almost entirely the eTextbook – very little content/value added by the professor or the university. I will finish the course and get as much as I can from the online book that I can access until next summer but probably will not take another online course from this university.

The lab course is almost better than I expected. It started out in what seemed like the traditional entry level geology lab: trays of minerals and rocks; I took a few pictures. Diorite made of quartz, plagioclase, and hornblende.

Granite made quartz, feldspar, and plagioclase. 

But the next lab (volcanoes) involved use of VR headsets or scanning a QR code to look at something on our smartphone. The lab for the next week (volcanoes again) included some more video initiated by scanning a QR code followed by a simulation of a volcano emergency with role playing. It was interesting to have the Santorini earthquakes and associated response in the news at the same time we were doing the lab. Overall, the lab is exceeding my expectations; I appreciate that the faculty is incorporating new content and delivery mechanisms into the course.

I’ve met my daughter for lunch after two of the labs…before I head back home. I showed her the imprint of the shell in the limestone near the student union before the first one; the light was better for photography.

More Snow

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We had more snow last week…not as much as our previous snow day. The temperature hovered around freezing so it was slushy from start to finish. I took some pictures around the peak accumulation. There was no breeze so the pines and cedars and seed pods and patio furniture held the wet snow.

My favorite was my young eastern red cedar; I hope it survives transplanting in the spring.

The birds were very active at our feeders – as they were during the last snow. Unfortunately, a flock of about 15 starlings swarmed in and took turns at the feeders chasing the smaller birds away.

The street in front of our house is barely covered with snow and it appears to be melting. Hopefully it will simply melt and it won’t be a problem to get out and about tomorrow.

Owl Pellets!

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The topic of the session at the two libraries in a nearby county was owls. Since it was the third event for our 3-person team of Missouri Master Naturalists, we were beginning to get better at it…although it was still hectic. This time we had a mounted owl and wing,

handouts,

a display on the wall showing the wingspan of various owls (click on the right image to see the list of owls by wing span), and

the equipment (tweezers, picks, plates, gloves, identification sheets, containers for bones) to dissect owl pellets).

And then the first group of children arrived at the library. There were 28 students and 12 parents. We had a short lecture that included listening to the sounds of the 8 owls of Missouri (4 year-round and 4 more in winter). One student had a Great Horned Owl near where they live. Then the fun began as we handed out equipment and foil wrapped pellets. The students thoroughly enjoyed teasing apart the pellets and finding bones – mostly rodents.

We packed up everything and left the room as we found it…and went to the second library…to set up a second time. It was disappointing that only 3 students came for that session. But we made the best of it and dissected pellets ourselves sitting across from the students.

These are the bones from my pellet!

We have one more session in our series for the library. They’ve been a learning experience for me as a volunteer. I am realizing that the volunteering I did in Maryland was skewed toward the actual event (rather than prep) because others had done the preparation and the audience from multiple schools rotated through experiencing the same program. It was easy to get very polished at presenting the program and the number of students reached was quite large. I’d like to find volunteer opportunities like that here in Missouri, but I am not sure they exist.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 15, 2025

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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 Unearth Ancient Footprints of People Fleeing Vesuvius Eruption – From 2,000 years before the eruption of the same mountain destroyed Pompeii.

Oldest Known Evidence of Lead Pollution Found in Ancient Greece - Scientists identified traces of lead contamination that date back more than 5,000 years by analyzing sediment cores from Greece’s mainland and the Aegean Sea. The lead emissions followed the development of smelting technologies, which produced metals like silver. A sharp increase occurred about 2,150 years ago, which coincides with the Roman conquest of the Greek peninsula in around 146 B.C.E. and drove demand for silver higher for currency and lead for construction/tableware.

Half a degree further rise in global warming will triple area of Earth too hot for humans - The amount of landmass on our planet that would be too hot for even healthy young humans (18-60-year-olds) to keep a safe core body temperature will approximately triple (to six percent) -- an area almost the size of the US -- if global warming reaches 2°C above the preindustrial average. Last year was the first calendar year with a global mean temperature of more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average, and at current rates of warming, 2°C could be reached by mid to late century.

How Tearing Down Small Dams Is Helping Restore Northeast Rivers - Restoring natural flows, improving habitat for aquatic life, and reopening thousands of river miles to migratory fish, from shad to American eels. I was aware of several dams being removed on the Patapsco River in Maryland before we moved to Missouri.

Yellowstone National Park: Where Geology Is on Display Nearly Everywhere – Maybe we should plan a trip Yellowstone; it’s been 20 years since we were there before. It would be a great capstone to the geology course I am taking this semester.

Restoring Appalachian Forests After a Legacy of Mining – It isn’t about returning land to some “pristine” past. It’s about creating a resilient future, a forest where native plants and wildlife can thrive. When mining companies left, following state and federal guidelines, they often replanted their sites with plants that would mainly reduce erosion. That sounds good in theory, but many of those plants were invasives like autumn olive and sericea lespedeza. Trees that thrived on such sites tended to be adaptable species. These former mine lands offered little habitat to wildlife and little value to carbon storage. The first step is to control the invasives, through mechanical clearing. And then bulldozers rip up the soil. Next came the planting, accomplished by crews hand planting trees on the site, a diverse mix of trees, grasses and wildflowers. Some native plants, their dormant seeds “freed” from compacted soil, return on their own. Wildlife begins using restored areas almost as soon as they’re established. It benefits popular game species like white-tailed deer, turkey and elk.

Vertical Farms Grow in Office Buildings - Vertical farming can make use of vacant office space and grow food where agricultural land might be scarce. One drawback: energy use. Vertical farms need a lot of electricity to run lighting and ventilation systems, smart sensors and automated harvesting technologies….so maybe clad the office buildings in solar panels and put batteries in the basement?

Not so snowy Alaska - A spell of unseasonably warm weather in winter 2024–2025 has meant less snow for parts of the normally frozen state of Alaska.  Images from the Moderate Resolution Image Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites.

Colossal squid: The eerie ambassador from the abyss – The biggest invertebrate on Earth. One of the creatures was captured alive (briefly) off New Zealand 100 years ago. The first clues of their existence in the deep ocean was from occasional remains found in the bellies of whales that hunt them. It has swiveling hooks on its arms and a beak made out of protein similar to human hair and fingernails. The eyes are the largest eyes found in any animal yet discovered.

The Breathtaking Hermitage Museum, Filled with Treasures Like the Kolyvan Vase and the Peacock Clock, First Opened to the Public on This Day in 1852 – There are 6 main buildings and it has about 50 cats that keep it free of mice! It is the second largest museum in the world (the Louvre is the largest).

Ippolito Rosellini’s Ancient Egypt

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The New York Public Library Digital Collections includes the illustrations of Ippolito Rossillini’s I Monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia. It was published between 1832 and 1844 documenting the Franco-Tuscan expedition to Egypt (1828-1829) and after the death of Jean-Francois Champollion (leader of the expedition) in 1832.

There are over 400 plates to enjoy – some simple drawings and some with color. I picked 6 of the color images as samples.

I monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia disegnati dalla spedizione scientifico-letteraria toscana in Egitto

The images are best enjoyed using the ‘view as a book’ option for the document.

PT on my Own

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It’s been three weeks since my last physical therapy session. I’ve had some ups and downs. The therapy did succeed in dramatically reducing my back pain but now there are other aches that I wasn’t noticing previously. They could be simply a byproduct of me becoming more active and using some muscles that did not get worked very much previously. There were a couple of days I felt like I was coming down with a cold or flu…but then I bounced back feeling back to normal without getting sicker.

No matter how I feel…I do at least some PT every day and try to add repetitions or harder exercise as often as I can. The overall trend is good but not always a straight path. I am challenged to remember the warm-up required for some parts of the routine. One routine that is done on stairs is particularly hard on the knees if I don’t warm-up first!

There is more vigorous activity in some of my other activities now. I fast walk between by car and the geology class I am taking; the last bit is up three flights of stairs. After class I take the stairs down and go to another building to meet my daughter for lunch…with another 3 flights of stairs up to the dining room. We take the elevator down! On those days, I don’t do the PT routine that involves stairs.

I am still challenged to remember to stand correctly when I am out and about – particularly on uneven terrain after being in the car for an hour or more; the result is that my back starts hurting. My husband and I are going to be taking some field trips soon that will give me more opportunity to practice – learn how to get my muscles warmed-up enough after being in the car to enjoy the hiking.

Our Missouri Yard – February 2025

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It was a warm day in February when I took a walk around my backyard. I wasn’t in the mood to do any work…but I did mentally begin to make a list. The yew branches I scattered over some bare soil in my wildflower garden when I trimmed the bushes last fall are still green! I thought they would be rotten by now. The other green is Japanese Honeysuckle which I need to get to pull and dig so it won’t take over the area. There is a small eastern red cedar that has come up at the edge of the bed and I will dig it up to plant elsewhere in the yard to increase the privacy of our back patio and deck. Perhaps my aromatic sumac is large enough to make seeds this year.

There are iris coming up in the mulch from last year’s irises and violets. They look fresh and green. In years past they have weathered the late frosts of winter and gone on to bloom. Hopefully that will happen this year too.

There was a feather among the leaves near the small spicebush I planted last fall. There was only one feather so maybe it wasn’t the remnants of a predator’s meal. I have high hopes that the spicebush with thrive and grow a lot over the next summer. That side yard has pawpaw and persimmon and buckeye seeds planted…will be quite the patch of understory trees if they all come up. Right now the daffodils are beginning to come up…a first sign of spring.

In the other side yard, the Ozark witch-hazel is bare. Hopefully it will grow a lot this next summer…but it still might not bloom for a few more years; the normal bloom time is January/February. The irises I planted from my parents’ garden are up along the fence. I’m not sure if they will bloom this year or not.

My plan to gradually reduce the amount that will need to be mowed in the summer seems to be working!

Springfield Botanical Garden – February 2025

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It was not a great day to go to the Springfield Botanical Gardens – cloudy and chilly….but I wanted to try out my new Nikon Coolpix P950 camera. My husband did the driving to the garden and he brought along his camera too even though he didn’t use it.

It was not a day for landscapes but there was enough light to get some zoomed pictures of winter plants – dried flowers from last summers’ hydrangeas, some evergreens with enough color variation and texture to be interesting, berries that the birds are reluctant to eat, and dried grasses.

I saw one witch hazel and it was booming. This is its normal time to bloom so not exactly a sign of coming spring.

There were some bulbs peeping from the mulch….which seems more aligned with the notion that spring is coming.

There were some succulents and prickly pear cactus that seemed in better shape than I expected after the very low temperatures a few weeks ago.

It was a good first field trip with the camera…a learning experience without much pain. I somehow managed to not charge the battery completely so it was depleted very quickly…and I initially couldn’t see through the viewfinder with my glasses on….but my husband helped fix that problem with a slight adjustment on a knob that had no equivalent in my previous camera.

I am ready to try some bird photography later this week!

New Camera

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I have been using Canon cameras for a long time but they aren’t updating (creating new models) of their bridge camera (Canon Powershot SX70 HS) so I am transitioning to the Nikon bridge camera: Nikon Coolpix P950. My husband helped me along by ordering everything just as he did last April which I transitioned from Samsung phone and Dell computer to Apple products: iPhone and MacBook Air. This past year has been a tech pivot for me!

The box with the new camera came when I was busy with other things…but I opened it to take out the two small manuals about the camera to look at while I went off to get my car serviced. I realized that I needed to browse the full reference manual to become as proficient with the new camera as I am with the old – to avoid frustration when I am on field trips.

I unloaded the rest of the box: the camera, a camera strap, a lens hood, a battery, and a charger (to charge the battery when it is in the camera).

My husband had ordered some other things: a charger for batteries when they are outside the camera, 2 extra batteries, a better camera strap (Peak Design), and a strap for the lens cap (since I don’t always have a pocket for it). I attached both straps to the camera body.

The battery in the box with the camera was already charged and I had a new SD card---so it was easy to get to the point of turning on the camera. I set the time zone, date, and time then formatted the SD card. And took a few pictures. Two are yard art through my office window and the other is of a picture on the wall of my office.

Next step: browse the reference manual and plan a field trip!

Our Missouri Neighborhood – February 2025

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We had a day in the upper 60s in February!!! It was a great day to walk around the neighborhood. The beds planted with native wildflowers at the edge of the pond are new – a next-step in the project to put more natives in the shallow water and along the edge of the pond. The water plants were done first and surrounded my wire mesh to protect them until they are established. This second phase was cardboard covered my mulch and planted with native wildflowers…mostly coneflowers based on the labels I could see.

The turtles were enjoying the sunshine and warmth. There was a group on the small island – primarily facing the bank. All except one slid into the water as I got closer.

There was one on the opposite bank – a little higher out of the water….looking out over the pond. Perhaps it was a different kind of turtle?

I saw a pair of mallards in an area with some downed branches. The female was alert as I neared…but male stayed asleep. There have been ducklings on the pond for the last two years, but the turtles have gotten them. I wondered if the pair I saw was the same as in years past and if they will try again this year. Based on the number of turtles I saw (and their size), I think our pond is probably not be a good place for ducklings.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 8, 2025

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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.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Only Skyscraper to Be Sold for $1.4 Million After Legal Saga – Hopefully the power gets turned back on right away and the conservation of the building starts.

Under Colonial-Era Barracks Floorboards in Australia – Peanut shells, peach pits, citrus peel, hazelnuts….hiding the remains of treats from the authorities.

Experts Are Unraveling the Mysteries of This Breathtaking 2,000-Year-Old Mosaic Depicting Alexander the Great in Battle – The mosaic comes from the ruins of Pompeii and was discovered in 1831. It is housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Conservation work started in 2020. The mosaics tesserae rocks could have come from Italy, Greece, the Iberian Peninsula and Tunisia.

Mt. Washington Cog Railway Goes Electric! - Engineering students from the University of New Hampshire are working alongside the Mt. Washington rail staff to develop an all-electric locomotive, with help from robotic welding systems. It will be the world’s first entirely battery-powered mountain-climbing electric vehicle.

As Oceans Warm, Predators Are Falling Out of Sync with Their Prey - Warning signs are beginning to be observed in marine ecosystems planetwide, from herring and zooplankton in the North Sea, to sardines and bottlenosed dolphins in the Southern Ocean, to — along with striped bass — baleen whales and menhaden in the northwest Atlantic.

Meet the Channel-billed Cuckoo, the World’s Largest Brood Parasite - They’re the size of a raptor, with broad wings, a long, trailing tail, and a honking great bill reminiscent of hornbills or toucanets. Their plumage is a light grey, with thick black and white banding on the tail feathers. And their eyes: large, beady, blood-red, surrounded by a strawberry-colored ring of bare skin.   

Noise as a Public Health Hazard - Cities in Europe and the United States are starting to map noise levels to understand where dangerous sound levels exist and how to better protect people living and working nearby.

Atop the Oregon Cascades, team finds a huge, buried aquifer - Scientists have mapped the amount of water stored beneath volcanic rocks at the crest of the central Oregon Cascades and found an aquifer many times larger than previously estimated -- at least 81 cubic kilometers. The finding has implications for the way scientists and policymakers think about water in the region -- an increasingly urgent issue across the Western United States as climate change reduces snowpack, intensifies drought and strains limited resources.

Carbon Dioxide Levels Rose by a Record Amount Last Year - Last year saw the biggest one-year jump on record for the past 60 years, with carbon dioxide levels rising by 3.58 parts per million. Increasingly severe heat and drought mean that trees and grasses are drawing down less carbon dioxide than in the past, while desiccated soils are also releasing more carbon back into the atmosphere. Conditions were particularly poor last year owing to a very warm El Niño which fueled hotter, drier weather across much of the tropics. The forecast is for a smaller jump in carbon dioxide levels in the coming year because the Pacific is now in the La Niña phase.

Floods linked to rise in US deaths from several major causes - Over the last 20 years, large floods were associated with up to 24.9 percent higher death rates from major mortality causes in the U.S. compared to normal conditions. A new study demonstrates the sweeping and hidden effects of floods --including floods unrelated to hurricanes, such as those due to heavy rain, snowmelt, or ice jams.

eBotanical Prints – January 2025

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Twenty more books were added to my botanical print eBook collection in January - available for browsing on Internet Archive. The are mostly in English but there is some Japanese, German, French, and Spanish. They cover a range of botanical topics: medical plants, British flowering, herbs, plants of Brazil/Paraguay, and fungi.  Overall - the 20 books were published over 150 years (1794-1944).

My list of eBotanical Prints books now totals 3,043 eBooks I’ve browsed over the years. The whole list can be accessed here. Click on any sample image below to get an enlarged version…and the title hyperlink in the list below the image mosaic to view the entire volume where there are a lot more botanical illustrations to browse.

Enjoy the January 2025 eBotanical Prints!

Anleitung zu Anbau, Ernte und Verwendung der Arzneipflanzen * Fries, Martin * sample image * 1876

Nanpōken yūyō shokubutsu zusetsu * Watanabe Kiyohiko * sample image * 1944

Plantes usuelles des Brasiliens * Saint-Hilaire, Auguste de * sample image * 1824

British phaenogamous botany, or, Figures and descriptions of the genera of British flowering plants V1 * Baxter, William * sample image * 1834

British phaenogamous botany, or, Figures and descriptions of the genera of British flowering plants V2 * Baxter, William * sample image * 1835

British phaenogamous botany, or, Figures and descriptions of the genera of British flowering plants V3 * Baxter, William * sample image * 1837

British phaenogamous botany, or, Figures and descriptions of the genera of British flowering plants V4 * Baxter, William * sample image * 1839

British phaenogamous botany, or, Figures and descriptions of the genera of British flowering plants V5 * Baxter, William * sample image * 1840

British phaenogamous botany, or, Figures and descriptions of the genera of British flowering plants V6 * Baxter, William * sample image * 1843

Plantarum in Horto Medico Bonnensi nutritarum icones selectae * Nees von Esenbeck, Christian Gottfried * sample image * 1824

Das system der pilze und schwämme * Nees von Esenbeck, Christian Gottfried * sample image * 1817

Histoire de plantes les plus remarquables du Brésil et du Paraguay * Saint-Hilaire, Auguste de * sample image * 1824

The British flora medica, or, ahistory of the medicinal plants of Great Britain c1v1 * Barton, Benjamin Herbert; Castle, Thomas * sample image * 1845

A supplement to Medical botany, or, part the second : containing plates with descriptions of most of the principal medicinal plants not included in the Materia Medica of the collegiate pharmacopoeias of London and Edinburgh * Woodville, William * sample image * 1794

Illustrations of medical botany consisting of coloured figures of the plants affording the important articles of the materia medica V1 * Carson, Joseph; Colen, J.H, * sample image * 1847

Illustrations of medical botany consisting of coloured figures of the plants affording the important articles of the materia medica V2 * Carson, Joseph; Colen, J.H, * sample image * 1847

Album de la flora médico-farmacéutica é industrial, indígena y exótica T1 * Argenta, Vincente Martin de * sample image * 1862

Album de la flora médico-farmacéutica é industrial, indígena y exótica T2 * Argenta, Vincente Martin de * sample image * 1863

Album de la flora médico-farmacéutica é industrial, indígena y exótica T3 * Argenta, Vincente Martin de * sample image * 1863

The complete herbal * Culpeper, Nicholas * sample image * 1842

Field Trip to Prairies around Lockwood MO

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My husband got the announcement about field trips from the local Audubon chapter and suggested the day trip to the Lockwood area to (hopefully) see Northern Harriers and Short-eared Owls. The group met in a parking lot before setting out as a caravan of cars; walkie-talkies were handed out to enable communication along the way.

We were surprised that most of the field trip was spent in the car – driving around on country roads with small farms (lots of cattle) with occasional prairies managed by the Missouri Prairie Foundation or the Missouri Department of Conservation. We did see lots of Northern Harriers and Red-tailed Hawks and Kestrels and Shrikes and a flock of red-winged blackbirds (maybe with some other kinds of blackbirds mixed in) large enough to fly up into a murmuration. No short-eared owls though. We did see a Prairie Falcon!

I didn’t take any pictures as we drove around although in retrospect maybe I should have leaned out the window with my camera.

We stopped for lunch at Cooky’s Café in Golden City, MO for lunch – the leaders of the trip having called ahead to let them know the number of people and the approximate time we’d arrive. It worked out well. The food was good and there was a great selection of pies for dessert.

We stopped late in the afternoon at Niawathe Prairie Conservation Area and walked to the top of a low hill to look for owls. They had been spotted there recently. I took some pictures of the winter prairie from the top.

There were occasional holes (armadillo probably) big enough to be dangerous to anyone walking the prairie in the dark so we went back to the cars to try one more place as the sky became colorful.

We drove past another prairie where short-eared owls had been seen recently. No luck.

I contented myself with two sunset pictures as we headed back to Lockwood…and then home.

The area has a fair number of wind turbines. We noted them early in the field trip and as we drove around….and then we got to see the red lights that flash in unison at night!

This was our first field trip with the local Audubon chapter and we’ll be doing more. I need to think about how to do more photography. There were several people that were using a better bridge camera than my current Canon Powershot SX70 HS…and my husband opted to order one for me. Good birds and good tip on a new camera…a well spent Saturday.

Dallas in Late January

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The drive down to Dallas was harder than usual – rainy and foggy from Missouri and through Oklahoma. The sun was coming out just as I got to Texas and I stopped at the Texas Welcome Center on US 65. The pavement was wet so it had rained recently. The beautyberries in the native plant garden there are evidently not attractive to the birds; even the berries that were not burnt from last summer’s sun were still mostly on the bush.

I noticed a small nest on one of the trees

And a wall near the entrance that was clad in granite…probably coming from somewhere in Texas.

The day warmed up enough by the time I got to Dallas for me to take my dad outside for a walk. It is becoming more difficult for him --- partially because he cannot walk outdoors as frequently in the winter and probably also because his muscles are getting weaker with age. We still made it around the block.

We worked on the puzzle a bit but that is harder now for him too; he can’t see some of the clues on the pieces anymore and is very frustrated.

The next morning I visited him again – working on the puzzle a bit before the assisted living home served breakfast. I left as he was enjoying the food since I had some business I needed to handle before I left Dallas to drive home.

The weather was windy on the way home and I must have been more tired…it was a tough drive and I was exhausted by the time I got home…getting cramps in my hands. Driving seemed more stressful than usual.

But I will do it again soon. I’ll be seeing my dad again on Valentine’s!

Winter Seed Sowing

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I assisted one of my fellow Missouri Master Naturalists with a program for her county’s libraries – planting seeds in plastic jugs for planting in gardens next spring. There were about 50 participants (plus parents) that participated across the two sessions. The set up included lots of plastic jugs (saved from distilled water purchased for humidifiers), soil, gloves, tarps to protect the carpet of the library meeting rooms, scissors, and seeds. I took pictures of the brief calm between set up and the chaos of everyone getting dirt and planting their seeds.  

The battery powered drill was used to make holes in the bottom of the jugs and marker holes to cut the top part almost off…leaving a 1-2 inch hinge. Most of the children were young enough that we recruited parents to make holes in the jugs.

Several of the older children mixed the soil with water in big buckets for everything else to use. We had native wildflower seeds but almost half the children chose to plant vegetables. An older lady chose to plant common milkweed in her jug…and she is going to plant the seedlings near some buckeyes in her yard in the spring.

Each hour-long session was a whirlwind of activity. We managed to contain the mess with the tarps on the floor, so cleanup was not bad. I was grateful that we had some extra help from some local Master Gardeners and the parents of the children jumped in to help too.

Frozen Cranberries

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The cranberries I froze back in November and December are enhancing my winter meals. I like the flavor and color they add! Here are a few of my recent cranberry additions…

I processed frozen cranberries into bits to fold into oatmeal cookies; I liked the tang of the cranberries as a change from raisins. My husband surprised me by liking them as well since he usually says he wants plain oatmeal cookies – no raisins or nuts.

I processed frozen cranberries into bits to fold into oatmeal cookies; I liked the tang of the cranberries as a change from raisins. My husband surprised me by liking them as well since he usually says he wants plain oatmeal cookies – no raisins or nuts.

Cranberries also are great in spicy soups. The one I have enjoyed most recently was one I made with left over taco meat. I cooked arugula and cranberries before adding the left-over meat. The cranberries split as they cook…and can we squished…no need to process them beforehand.

Cranberries are always good with any chicken or turkey dish…probably because of the priming from Thanksgiving meals over the years.

…. I am savoring the supply I still have in the freezer.

Zentangle® – January 2025

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31 tiles for the 31 days in January. They were all square, mostly done in black ink (a few white splashes), and lots of colors. I did quite a few while I was watching football games!

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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.

Gleanings of the Week Ending February 1, 2025

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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.

Warmer, Greener Arctic Becoming a Source of Heat-Trapping Gas - Roughly half of the region is growing greener, but only 12% of those greener areas are actually taking up more carbon.

More Than 100 Died When the S.S. Valencia Wrecked in the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific’ - Not long before midnight on a night with poor visibility in 1906, the Valencia struck a rocky reef off the west coast of Vancouver Island. The captain ordered the ship run aground, but it caught on rocks less than 400 feet from shore….and sank over the next 40 hours. The rough seas made it difficult of lifeboats and many capsized. 136 people died, 37 survived. Weather, waves, swift currents and a shifting sandbar made the area particularly hazardous, even for experienced captains. Lessons learned from the wreck of the Valencia are its most lasting legacy.

Menopause research is globally underfunded. It’s time to change that - The overwhelming majority of studies in the field of ageing do not consider menopause…and yet half the population will experience it. The disruptive nature of menopause and its health impacts have been known perhaps for millennia and should have been a topic for health funders for a long time. It is never too late to start.

How To: Go Snow Day Birding (with Merlin) – A good idea for a snowy day (maybe not if the temp is in the teens or single digits though).

Fighting Forest Pests With AI: A Hemlock Success Story – Fighting the hemlock woolly adelgid…increasing the odds of saving some trees. It’s too late for the ones behind where I used to live in Maryland. They succumbed to the pest years ago.

Incredible Winners of the 2024 Ocean Art Underwater Photography Contest – I like the ones that are good documentation of a species…and art at the same time.

In the Northeast, 50% of adult ticks carry Lyme disease carrying bacteria – Not good for public health

Inca Tunnel System Identified Under Cuzco – More than a mile of tunnels that reflect the streets and walkways in the Inca capital.

Archaeologists in Pompeii Discover Private Spa Where Dozens of Guests Bathed in Luxury 2,000 Years Ago – Found in a lavish home…big enough to host 30 people. Three rooms: calidarium (hot water), tepidarium (rub oil on skin and immerse in warm water), and apodyteriaum (changing room with mosaic floor). The spa was connected to a banquet room decorated with elaborate frescoes depicting characters from the Trojan war.

New study identifies how blood vessel dysfunction can worsen chronic disease - Specialized cells surrounding small blood vessels, known as perivascular cells, contribute to blood vessel dysfunction in aging, chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and fibrosis.