Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/8/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Hearing the phoebe first thing in the morning. I am hearing a phoebe outside my office window every morning as I begin my day. Maybe it’s in the sycamore. Maybe its nest is nearby. I know from the time that the sun has just come up this morning but the clouds are hiding it; it’s too dark too look for the bird and try to get a picture.

Cleaning off the covered deck furniture. With the temperature forecast to get into the 70s in the afternoon, I cleaned off the table and chairs on the covered deck in the morning so I could spend time there in the afternoon. Everything was very dusty since it hadn’t been used over the winter. The furniture is over 20 years old and had been on the covered deck since we got it. It is undercover but ‘outdoors’ and I noticed there are some bubbles in the paint on the metal parts. It probably needs to be sanded down, primed, and repainted…which I am not enthusiastic about attempting.

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Walking the neighborhood. The forecast here is for cooler/wetter/windier after today so I wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine…look around the neighborhood. Things change fast in the spring. Our cherry tree lost most of its petals overnight when thunderstorms rolled through. Most of the petals were on the ground. At another house the driveway was polka dotted with petals.

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The azalea still just has buds (and the deer have browsed the bush so there are not very many buds left).

A neighbor has a deciduous magnolia in bloom and it held its flowers in the storm.

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There is another tree blooming nearby. A fruit tree?

I recognized the redbud. ‘Cauliflory’ is a recent vocabulary word I learned from a tree tutorial; it means that the flowers are on branches and trunk…not where the leaf buds are…and that is how redbuds bloom!

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There were several kinds of maples in various stages of producing seeds.

When I got to the pond, I noticed several flowers nearby (dandelions being everywhere but not always so thick as near the pond).

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And then I looked more closely at the water retention pond itself. There were turtles! There were two large ones and one small. They were all Eastern Painted Turtles. The two big ones slipped into the water and then came back. The smaller one didn’t move except for the head and I noticed the scutes looked like they were peeling. Maybe they do that more when the turtle is growing up?

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And there were robins just about everywhere.

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Enjoying some outdoors-with-the-laptop-time. I tried standing at the table on the deck…that lasted for about 10 minutes…then I spent about an hour in one of the chairs. It was a great way to savor the spring day…listening to the birds (they came to the nearby bird feeder while I was there) and windchimes and breeze through the forest.

Catching up with the Cincinnati Zoo’s Home Safaris:

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.







Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/7/2020 – Macro Cecropia

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Taking pity on the red-bellied woodpecker’s contortions…..refilling the bird feeder. I noticed the woodpecker late in the day on Monday…waited for it to dry out a little yesterday morning before I refilled the feeder. The pictures are clips from our birdfeeder cam videos.

Putting away groceries. The non-perishable groceries had been sitting in the back of my car since Saturday evening. We had put them there after they were delivered….to give any coronavirus time to dry up and die before we put them away.

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Washing the plastic table covering – making a Zentangle mosaic. I’ve had the covering for over 20 years and have generally just wiped it down thoroughly. It was time it seemed grubbier than usual, so I put it in the washer with a few towels. I hung it over some deck chairs to let it dry thoroughly afterward. Then I made a mosaic of Zentangle tiles under it when I put it back on the table. Now we have new art to look at while we’re eating…during the pauses in conversation.

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Creating some face mask variations. My husband discovered that his favorite pizza place does not deliver to our area….so he will pick it up as he has done in the past. He’ll wear a face mask as recommended by the CDC. I got some hair ties (covered rubber bands) in our last grocery delivery and I have coffee filters on hand. He had some old handkerchiefs to make his. If I must go out, I’ll make mine from a bandana or washable silk scarf. We are not going out very often so it will be easy enough to launder the cloth part of the mask after each use.

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Catching up on Charles Cockell’s Life in the Universe Pandemic Series:

Noticing a Northern Flicker in the yard – next to a robin. I saw the robin first through my office window then noticed the other bird when it moved. I had on my computer glasses, so my distance vision was not great. Then I used the zoom on my camera to id the bird…and take the picture in the next second.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

And now for the first installment of macro photography with our mail-order bugs. Today I am featuring the Cecropia Moth. It’s the one pictured in the lower part of this picture – our order from The Butterfly Co.

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I used my smartphone with a clip-on macro lens for this session. The Cecropia is the largest moth in Maryland. This one is a male based on the antennae. They are somewhat feather-like in that they have a central rib…but the stems off the rib are different. The Cecropia stems seems to be in pairs and there might be tiny fibers connecting each pair. I’ll have to get more magnification with a loupe next time (and be very careful not to break the antennae off).  

A few years ago, we had the caterpillars at the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens, so I am more familiar with the caterpillar than the adult moth. I didn’t unpin the specimen for this round of photographs but I know that it doesn’t have mouth parts….all the calories for the life of these moths are eaten when they are caterpillars. The adult form is only mating and laying eggs!

The wings have scales – sometimes looking like scales on butterfly wings…other times looking fur or hair-like. Another opportunity for my next round (using the loupe rather than the clip-on lens).

The downside of the loupe is that it works best sitting on the specimen…and inevitably some of the scales will come off. I am giving my husband the opportunity to photograph the bugs before I do anything that might damage them. Tomorrow’s post will be about the Luna Moth.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/5/2020 – Our Yard

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

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Wearing Sherman TX earrings. I hadn’t worn them recently. I bought them in a boutique on the square after lunch at Fulbelli’s. Savoring the memory!

Seeing a Carolina Wren with nest material. The bird (probably a male) appeared to be looking around to see if a female was noticing his find. I didn’t see exactly where he went but it was in the general direction of our gas grill. We had a Carolina wren nest built in the grill a few years ago. I hope it isn’t happening again!

Loosening sense of the day of the week. It’s harder to remember which day of the week it is because the days are so much the same. I try to include some variety every day, but the activities are not pinned to a day of the week (except for laundry which, for some unknown reason, we still do on Saturdays). If the pandemic was not raging, I’d be volunteering 3-5 days a week with Howard County Conservancy’s outdoor field trips for school groups, guiding Robinson Nature Center visitors at the salt water Touch Tank, and (by mid-Month) morning shifts at the Brookside Gardens Wings of Fancy (butterfly) exhibit. None of those organizations are open now. The calendar for April is a big blank.

Mowing the grass…doing some yard work. It’s the first mowing of the year…not really grass, mostly weeds. My husband did the mowing after I picked up twigs and small branches under trees to make the mowing easier. I also started a new compost pile with kitchen scraps and paper shreds.

Photographing the best of our yard. The trees are pretty this time of year. The red maple samaras are ripening. Soon the squirrels and birds will enjoy them, and they’ll helicopter off the tree. From afar the tree looks golden brown…looking more closely the colors are more appealing.

The tulip poplar is full of new spring-green leaves. Soon the buds will open. Right now, the buds are surrounded by small leaves. The trees themselves are far from the ‘wall of green’ they will become.

There are a lot of violets blooming in the thin grass under the trees.

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The cherry tree is still full of blooms, but the petals are beginning to fly.

The plum has lost its flower petals, but the rest of the flower is still visible among the new leaves that are a red-purple color.

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I heard a cardinal high the oak tree. The buds are larger than they were a week ago…but there are no blooms or leaves yet.

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Trimming hair. My hair was short enough going into the ‘stay at home as much as possible’ mode but my husband needed to have the hair on the back of his neck trimmed. Fortunately, we have clippers and it was easy for me to do; it bothers him when he wears a shirt with a collar so wanted it gone. Otherwise, he’s letting his hair grow too.

Looking at the COVID-19 cases per 10K population map from the Center for Spatial Data Science at the University of Chicago. It goes down to the county level. There is also a social distancing activity map down to county. Interesting….and scary at the same time. I try not to spend too much time looking at them.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.







Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/4/2020 – March 2020 Contemplation

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Arriving bugs. We ordered them back on 3/18 and are letting it sit on the living room floor for a few days – let any viruses die. Then we’ll start our photography project!

Savoring favorite recipes of the past week. I’ve enjoyed experimenting with food a bit this week.  

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Kale‘n’eggs. I got a bag of kale pieces in my grocery order over a week ago. I’d been using them in smoothies but thought to do something different – maybe as a spinach substitute in scrambled eggs. I chopped the pieces in to small bits using my small food processor, sautéed them a bit before I added the beaten eggs. As little Mrs. Dash for seasoning. Tastey!

Sweet potato soup. I had baked a larger sweet potato than I could eat with the rest of a meal, so I had it left over in the refrigerator along with some chicken. I made a light broth with chicken bouillon and dried onion then added the mashed sweet potato and cut up chicken. Fried onions (the store brand like French’s Fried Onions) made a great topping…or I could have used black bean chips.

Whole wheat biscuits. I don’t eat breads very often. When I do – a batch of drop biscuits is probably my favorite thing to make. It’s a highly modified version of the recipe in my 1960s cookbook (the one I got about the time I became a teenager): Set the oven to 450 degrees. Combine in a bowl (2 cups whole wheat flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 scant teaspoon salt). Combine in a measuring cup (1 cup milk (I used non-dairy), 6 tablespoons olive oil). Pour the milk and oil into the dry ingredients then blend with a fork to form the dough. Drop onto an oiled cookie sheet; I tend to like a heaping teaspoon size drop biscuit. Eat them hot with butter or orange marmalade or ginger preserves. I usually eat about 1/3 of the biscuits on the 1st day and freeze 2 packages for other days.

Getting a grocery delivery. The only time slot available when I first tried to do the order was for delivery between 8 and 9 on Saturday night! I took it. The order was left on the front porch and we brought it into the house…to the floor of the foyer. We put the refrigerator items away then put the non-perishables in the back of my car in the garage – with the intent of simply waiting 48 hours for any coronavirus contamination to dry up and die before the items were put away in the panty.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

And now a little contemplation of what happened to us in March 2020….

On the national level, there were 75 cases of COVID-19 at the beginning of March and 188,000+ at the end; 1 death to 4,000+ deaths in the same time period. Things have changed on a personal level too…and that is what I am thinking about today. Here is the timeline for me:

  • 3/1         Touch Tank and Discovery Cart at Robinson Nature Center

  • 3/5         Grocery store early. No crowd. Used hand sanitizer when I got in the car. Washed my hands with soap and water before and after putting the groceries away.

  • 3/7         Cancelled trip to Texas originally planned for later in the month; decided not to go to training or volunteer gigs after 3/8

  • 3/8         Touch Tank at Robinson Nature Center

  • 3/9         Carload of ‘stuff’ to landfill

  • 3/10       Following “stay at home as much as possible” guidance from CDC

  • 3/11       Grocery store early buying to keep 2 weeks of food in the house always in case we got sick. Store not crowded.

  • 3/15       Starting the daily “Filling a Day of Social Distance” series of blog posts

  • 3/16       Last trip to the dentist for me (finishing some prior work)

  • 3/17       Last trip to the doctor’s office for my husband

  • 3/18       Grocery store early…but they had changed their hours to open an hour later. More crowded. Carts outside. Wipes and hand sanitizer at the door to use before shopping.

  • 3/19       Another grocery store early to find things we couldn’t at the previous store. Not crowded…found a few things

  • 3/20       Another grocery store during senior hours still looking for a few items. More crowded than I expected (all older people too).

  • 3/25       Scheduled 1st grocery delivery…deciding to make do with what we could get delivered

  • 3/27       Telemedicine appointment for my husband

  • 3/31       Gutter clearing – all arrangements made online

During March, we started changing in ways that are fast becoming habitual: more frequent hand washing, using a lot less toilet paper (water spray bottle and toweling), eating at home all the time, appreciating home and family more consciously. We are also paying attention to keeping ourselves mentally healthy…engaging in activities we enjoy and exercising rather than watching the news all the time. Yes – we are worried about family and friends near and far. But we’re all taking precautions to stay healthy. I try to accept that and move on to whatever activity is next in or around our home.  

What’s planned for April? The calendar is empty. We have arrangements to spend even more time at home than we did in March…keeping healthy.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/3/2020 - Gleanings

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

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Photographing the sunrise. I seem to get busy and miss the sunrise most mornings…but not yesterday!

Catching up on Charles Cockell’s Life in the Universe Pandemic Series:

Noticing more sycamore leaves emerging. There are now three buds that have popped…lots of tiny leaves.

Making experimental face masks from materials I have at home….for when/if we need to go out. I made a mask with a paper napkin, small binder clips, the cut off top of a small gift bag (for the loops). The napkin would be replaced after each use…the rest sprayed with Lysol. It would probably fit better over the nose if I made some pleats. Even better using a scarf (or paper towels) and two hair ties/covered bands. (How to videos I watched). This is all about protecting others; I don’t want anyone to get sick if I happen to be an asymptomatic carrier.

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Started Fashion as Design course on Coursera. The week 1 optional 2-hour video of 4 speakers and then Q&A (Under Review and then Reading) on the topic was well worth it.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

And now for the normal weekly gleanings post….

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. 

25 Photos of Madeira's Dreamy Fanal Forest by Albert Dros – Calming nature. It is a quite different forest than the one I see from my office window. Both views are much appreciated.

Tips for how to stay happy in troubling times - BBC Future – Hopefully, some of these work for you. I find that limiting the time I spend catching up on ‘news’ is the one I need to keep reminding myself about; it’s so easy to get absorbed in all the pandemic news (none of it good). I want to be informed but not 24/7.

Monarchs Covered 53 Percent Less Area in Mexico this Winter | The Scientist Magazine® - The last paragraph of the article was the worst news: “The butterflies have already begun their journey north but there is not enough milkweed in Texas to support the butterflies’ reproductive cycle this spring.”

How your personality changes as you age - BBC Future – It seems like there are a lot of positive general trends in personality as we age: more altruistic and trusting individuals, willpower increases, a better sense of humor, more control over emotions. They’re calling it ‘personality maturation’ and it continues until at least the 8th decade of life! And its observed across all human cultures.

Top 25 birds of the week: Eagles - Wild Bird Revolution – Never can resist the birds….

On This Scorching-Hot Exoplanet, a Forecast of Molten Iron Rain | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine – 640 light-years outside our solar system

Tour A National Park from The Comfort of Your Couch -  Hmmm….I’m going to start working my way through the virtual tours….Maybe one a day?

Unprecedented preservation of fossil feces from the La Brea Tar Pits: A 50,000-year-old Snapshot of Los Angeles trapped in asphalt -- ScienceDaily – The La Brea Tar Pits have been studied for more than a century….but apparently there are still things to learn from them. Fossilized rodent pellets found in context (so definitely not modern, they also were radiocarbon dated to ~50,000 years ago). They are preserved along with twigs, leaves and seeds….an intact woodrat nest!

Massive Mammoth-Bone Structure Found in Kostenki, Russia - Archaeology Magazine – A circular structure about 41 feet in diameter…made with bones from at least 60 mammoths.

Tree Tapping Isn’t Just for Maples – The 2020 season is over for getting sap from trees – this is still an interesting article about how it is done…and other trees that also have sweet sap. I was surprised to see sycamore on the list.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/2/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Finishing the Coursera course: In the Studio: Postwar Abstract Painting from MoMA. The last module was about Yayoi Kusama – the only artist featured in the course that is still alive and the second woman.

Making a Yayoi Kusama inspired Zentangle tile. Kusama’s Accumulation 18a from 1962 is made with paper savers (circular adhesives to reinforce holes punched into paper) and charcoal on paper. My tile is smaller, lightweight cardboard instead of paper…and it was brown instead of white. I used some very old paper savers that were a woven material (I had saved them in the office supply cabinet even though I didn’t think I would ever have a use for them); I wondered if the adhesive would still work…was pleasantly surprised when it did. And I used a graphite pencil instead of charcoal. Once I had done the paper savers and pencil…..I diverged by coloring the holes green….and added a black circle on each paper saver (feeling the nubs of the weave). I took a series of pictures of the progression.

Tracking the changes in the COVID-19 Projections. The model gets a daily tweak as new data is available. I made some notes the night before so it could detect some of the changes between the 4/1 and 4/2 version of the model.

  • The peak for the US overall moved from 4/16 to 4/15…one less day to prepare.

  • For Maryland the peak moved from 4/28 to 4/29, the peak death day rose from 51 to 53 deaths, and the peak number of ventilators moved from 638 to 659.

Hearing about my daughter’s transition from in-classroom to virtual teaching (university level). My daughter has been calling when she takes her (almost) daily walk around her neighborhood in Missouri. A positive bit of news: her gen-ed class has transitioned to virtual mode. She thought the first class might have been a fluke because about the same number of people attended as were in her classroom before the pandemic; she thought that maybe the students were curious enough to make the effort to attend; but then they joined again for the second virtual lecture…so now she is realizing she and her students have made a successful transition.

Photographing a minute at our birdfeeder. A lot can happen. The gold finches were there at the beginning of the minute – 3-4 of them. Then the female red-bellied woodpecker showed up and scattered the other birds. She ate some seeds at the feeder then got a peanut and flew away. I noticed a female cardinal below the feeder about that time. A second later, a chickadee arrived…quickly got some seed and flew back o the safety of the trees.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 4/1/2020 – eBotanical prints

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

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Weighing in at a new low for the year. 0.6 pounds lower than my last ‘new low.’ I am celebrated with 2 squares of dark chocolate for breakfast!

Hearing the recycle truck at 6:25 AM. That’s their usual time. It’s reassuring to know that they are still on the job making their rounds…that some things continue at a normal pace. I am thankful to the crews to hoping they stay well.

Catching up on Cincinnati Zoo’s Home Safaris:

Making two Ad Rinehardt Black Painting inspired Zentangle® tiles. I didn’t make the whole tile black but I did make a black square. The technique was not the same either since I used Sharpies and layers rather than making the special matte low-oil paint that Rinehardt is known for. I finished the Rinehardt module in the Coursera course: In the Studio: Postwar Abstract Painting yesterday.

Taking breaks with nature cams. There are a lot of them out there! A post from the Nature Conservancy here (the spoonbills and alligators swamp cam can be very noisy in the morning – a great way to start the day – they are in the EDT zone). A list I collected from the Maryland Master Naturalist emails:

Clearing my calendar for April. I had left some volunteer gigs on my calendar in April – being overly optimistic. I took them off this morning. The organizations are closed. Everyone is preparing for the coronavirus peak in Maryland; as of today, the model is saying it will be around April 28th. Maryland has a stay at home order (since 3/30), all educational facilities are closed (since 3/16), and non-essential services were closed (since 3/23…and the definition of non-essential is not ‘loose’). It looks like the social distancing measures are flattening our curve but there have been some outbreaks that are troubling (nursing home and mental hospital) and sad.

Links to my previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

And now for the normal monthly post about botanical prints from eBooks.

There are 16 new books added to the list in March. There is quite a variety this month --- mostly from the 1800s although one book from the late 1700s and another from the early 1900s, some color others drawings, exotic places (Ceylon, India, Madagascar, and Australia), some traditional botanical prints and some textbooks of botanical traits.

The volumes are all freely available on the Internet by clicking on the hyperlinked title. The whole list of 1,864 books can be accessed here. Sample images and links for the 16 new ones are provided below. (click on the sample image to see a larger view). Enjoy!

A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon Plates I-XXV * Trimen, Henry * sample image * 1893

A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon Plates XXVI-L * Trimen, Henry * sample image * 1893

A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon Plates LI-LXXV * Trimen, Henry * sample image * 1893

A hand-book to the flora of Ceylon Plates LXXVI-C * Trimen, Henry * sample image * 1893

The British flora, or, Genera and species of British plants V1 * Thornton, Robert John * sample image * 1812

The British flora, or, Genera and species of British plants V3 * Thornton, Robert John * sample image * 1812

Indian medicinal plants : plates * Kirtikara, Kanhoba Ranachodadasa; Basu, Saman Das * sample image * 1918

Histoire naturelle des plantes (Madagascar) Atlas V3  * Baillon, H; Drake del Castillo, E. * sample image * 1903

Histoire naturelle des plantes (Madagascar) Atlas V4 * Baillon, H; Drake del Castillo, E. * sample image * 1890

Histoire naturelle des plantes (Madagascar) Atlas V1 * Baillon, H; Drake del Castillo, E. * sample image * 1902

Histoire naturelle des plantes (Madagascar) Atlas V2 * Baillon, H; Drake del Castillo, E. * sample image * 1904

Giftpflanzen-Buch, oder, Allgemeine und besondere Naturgeschichte sämmtlicher inländischen sowie der wichtigsten ausländischen phanerogamischen und cryptogamischen Giftgewächse - Atlas * Berge, Friedrich * sample image * 1845

Traité de botanique générale V1 * Herincq, Francois * sample image * 1860

Traité de botanique générale V2 * Herincq, Francois * sample image * 1860

A specimen of the Botany of New Holland Vol 1 * Smith, James Edward * sample image * 1793

A course in botany and pharmacognosy * Kraemer, Henry * sample image * 1902

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/31/2020 – Zentangle®

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Having the gutters on our house cleared. Our gutters were full of tulip poplar seeds – blown there all through the winter from the large trees in the forest behind our house. Fortunately, the company that clears them for us every spring is an ‘essential business’ and did the job yesterday. There normal mode of operation works for social distancing; everything is set up over the phone and they come at the appointed time (weather permitting) and do the job without any interaction with us. Now if we get some downpours of rain – which has happened more often in recent years – our gutters won’t overflow!

Confusing the red-bellied woodpecker. Prior to the gutters being cleared, I took our bird feeder into our covered deck so it wouldn’t be in the way for the workers. I noticed that the female red-bellied woodpecker came and looked thoroughly for it before flying away. The bird found it again later in the day after I filled it and put it back in the usual place.

Succeeding in getting a grocery delivery scheduled. I was dismayed when I couldn’t find any openings for grocery delivery. I’d been so pleased with what happened last Friday that I had planned to continue getting a delivery every week or so. But then there was an opening for delivery on Saturday evening. I’ll be tweaking the list until then…hoping that the stock in the store will begin to recover. At this point it seems like people should be stabilized with the groceries on hand…not still be stocking up.

Unfurling sycamore bud. The sycamore that I brought inside about 10 days ago is changing rapidly now. Day before yesterday I noticed that the buds were turning green. Yesterday morning, the largest one had begun to unfurl. By the evening a tiny leaf had sprung clear of the bud.

Catching up on Charles Cockell’s Life in the Universe Pandemic Series:

Links to previous “filling a day of social distance” posts  here.

And now for the normal monthly post featuring 31 Zentangle® tiles for the month of March. One theme for many of the tiles this month – borderless, stringless, and shadowless (i.e. no pencil required). For some reason, I am keen to only have the tile and a pen.

I did a few rectangular tiles this month. They are made with the lightweight cardboard between small cans of cat food so 5 inches side…cut every 3.5 inches.

Then there are a variety of square tiles cut from various types of boxes and folders. I am making tiles from recycled materials most of the time.

8 of the 31 were made on the iPad. I always prefer a black background when I create a tile on the iPad.

--

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.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/30/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Hearing traffic noise in the early morning. I woke up about an hour before my time to get up and heard traffic noise. We’re close enough to I95 that sometimes in the winter when the trees don’t baffle the sound and the weather conditions are right…we hear the trucks. I hadn’t heard it as much recently and thought it was the effect of the pandemic. Today it seemed more like a pre-coronavirus Monday. I dosed until my Fitbit vibrated at the usual time.

Discovered HiJinx podcasts from my local library. I listened to the most recent one - ‘A most notorious woman’ about a Grace O’Malley – Ireland’s Pirate Queen. (Anne Chambers’ book on O’Malley available at Internet Archive here.)

Seeing deer just after 8 in the morning….going back to the forest. I wonder where they spent the night. The forest behind our house is part of the green space along the river. Did the deer spend their night elsewhere or did they leave the forest for a morning browse on tender plants in the neighborhood (like my daylilies) for ‘breakfast’ and were returning to the forest because a car or two had come down our street.  

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Later in the day – when it was warmer – I walked around the yard and noted that the daylilies were recovering from the deer browsing several weeks ago. They were not eating them this morning. Also, the daffodils are on their last legs. I took some macro shots of them.

More violets were blooming.

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Dandelions are becoming more numerous too. I’m being lazy and leaving them alone. After the heavy rains a few years ago caused some of our lawn to turn to dirt with patches of grass I have come to appreciate the deeper roots of dandelions that hold the soil.

The leaves on the tulip poplar are a little bigger but the flower buds are not open yet.

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The cherry tree was attracting bees!

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It was a wonderful sunny day and warm enough to have the windows open again. Hearing birdsong in the forest never gets old.

Remembering something I forgot to include in the post for last Friday – my husband had a telemedicine session. It was a first for us. It was a follow up after some tests and lab work from back in February….not coronavirus related. It was a lot less stressful than going into a doctor’s office during this time.

Receiving a communication from our Community Supported Agriculture farmer about what they have been doing to social distance while they work and the modified share pickup process planned when the season starts for us in June. I am reassured that they are thinking ahead…that I can still enjoy the bounty of fresh veggies this summer.

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Photographing the sunset. The sunset is not in my line of sight from my desk, but I can see it if I stand in front of the window and look to the left. I timed it right last night. The clouds reflected the orange light in an arc over the tall trees.

Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20, 3/21, 3/22, 3/23, 3/24, 3/25, 3/26, 3/27, 3/28, 3/29





Zooming – March 2020

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17 pictures taken in March…full of spring blossoms and bird activity. All but four are from around my house and neighborhood…after the ‘stay at home as much as possible’ guidance was issued. The four are from Brookside Gardens…very early in the month before we cut back on doing anything other than groceries away from the house. Included in the slideshow:

  • Moon

  • Maple samaras

  • Reeds in water

  • Blue jay

  • Bird-of-paradise (flowers)

  • Azaleas

  • Miniature iris

  • Squirrel

  • Red-bellied woodpeckers

  • Cowbird

  • House sparrow

  • Plum blossoms

  • House finch

  • Goldfinch

  • Carolina wren

  • Deer

Enjoy the slideshow!

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/29/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Catching up on the Cincinnati Zoo’s Home Safaris:

Savoring a dark chocolate reward for a weight loss goal achievement! I’m still slightly ‘overweight’ for my height so I’ll be celebrating each ‘new low’ from now on until I get into the ‘normal’ range. I have a supply of dark chocolate to reward myself to make 9 more step reductions since I only eat 2 squares (the serving size on the packaging is 3…but that makes the servings come out uneven). It should be easier to watch portion size and stick to nutritious and lower calories food now that I am eating at home. My downfall is usually eating in restaurants (particularly when I am traveling) and events where food is provided (it always looks and tastes so good).

Replacing cabinet/drawer bumpers all over our house. My husband had ordered them from Amazon when he noticed that a lot of the ones on the cabinets were gone or degraded after 25 years. They came in the mail early this week. After letting the package sit for a few days (to let any coronavirus die), he went around the house to apply them yesterday….a little home maintenance while we have time for it!

Completing proxy voting prior to stockholder meetings. Most companies with near term stockholder meetings will probably shift to virtual meetings…or some other way to insure social distancing. I never go to the meetings…but I do vote!

Using up the last of the garlic from the 2019 Community Supported Agriculture share. I used the last cloves of garlic…and that’s all I had left from the CSA…everything in the freezer or dried has been used. I hope the weather cooperates and the pandemic is stabilized enough that the CSA starts at its normal time in June.

Hearing children at play. I had my office window open in the afternoon when the temperature was in the 60s…lots of birdsong…then I heard the voices of young children playing. Their dad was running with them through the long ‘playground’ of unfenced back yards. What a joyous way to send off the day!

Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20, 3/21, 3/22, 3/23, 3/24, 3/25, 3/26, 3/27, 3/28

Ten Little Celebrations – March 2020

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Every month I write about 10 little celebrations. There is a big celebration as I write this –

Everyone in my family (in Maryland, Missouri and Texas) is well…and taking all the recommended precautions to stay that way.

Now for 9 other celebrations….

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Brookside Conservatories. Early in March, before the state and counties started closing facilities, I went over to Brookside Gardens…already taking the social distancing and handwashing/no face touching precautions. The conservatories were warm and lush as usual – always a cause for celebration. I’m glad I got to see them before they were closed.

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Sunrise on grocery day. For the first 3 weeks of March I was still going to the grocery store but even earlier than usual so there would not be many people in the store. The sunrise on a couple of those trips was glorious and started the day off wonderfully!

Virtual birthdays. There are family birthday’s in March…celebrated with alternatives to gathering in one place!

Dutch chocolate protein powder. It’s always worth celebrating finding something that tastes good (in smoothies) and adds a nutritional punch!

Grocery delivery. As the month progressed there were more people in the store even at the early time…even during senior shopping hours. I was skeptical that I would like grocery delivery, but my first experience late in the month was positive. It’s something to celebrate since we’ll be doing it for at least the next month or more. I am feeling more confident that we are doing everything we can to stay well.

Spice cake muffins with applesauce. The muffins made a chicken dinner into a celebration.

Crocus in the yard near the oak tree and daffodils 4 feet out of the flower bed. Replanted by squirrels? It’s always a celebration to find flowers growing in an unexpected place.

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Thundercloud plum in bloom. The week that the plum blooms is always a celebration. It’s usually the first tree blooming in our neighborhood.

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Achieving a 1st weight loss goal. Finally – getting the weight I gained over Thanksgiving and Christmas off! I celebrated with dark chocolate and will push forward to get lower…down into the ‘normal’ range for my height.  

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/28/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Watching Winchester Mystery House Virtual Tour. I saw the blurb about the tour in one of my news feeds…and followed the link to view it (a little over 40 minutes). I remembered having an afternoon free during a business trip to San Jose – probably over 10 years ago - and touring the house. It was memorable and this virtual tour showed it very well…a good reinforcement to the memory.

Turning electronics off during thunderstorms. There was a line of thunderstorms that came through while I was watching the Winchester House Tour….I switched to watching on my laptop screen (on battery) rather than my big monitor. The lightning and rumblings passed quickly; the rest of the day was just rainy.

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Stir-frying with ground turkey. Using a seasoning packet I found in the pantry – a few months past the ‘use by date.’ This was my first experience using ground turkey; I’d put it on the list since it would be easy for the shopper to get what I wanted. We liked it – but I think I’ll go back to chicken breasts for next time. Maybe I’ll used ground turkey for chili though.

Taking end of day photos. It was a raining most of the day – not a good day for pictures…so I opted to experiment with the ‘night scene’ setting on my camera for the ‘through the window’ picture in the early evening.

Reviewing the birdfeeder camera videos. Saturday evening might become my regular time to review the videos from the birdfeeder cam for the week. It worked well for this past week. Here are the highlights:

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On Sunday – a Carolina Wren was in the first video of the day at 7:38 AM…a female Cardinal was in the last. A frustrated squirrel was first at the feeder on Monday about 8 AM.

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On Tuesday, a female Red-Bellied Woodpecker was first at 7:47 AM. On Wednesday, a pair of House Finches were at the feeder at 8:27 AM and there was a grand finale with a pair of House Finches and a female Cardinal at 5:40 PM.

On Thursday, the Carolina Wren came while it was very foggy at 7:06 AM. There were a lot of birds at 5:49 PM: female Red-Bellied Woodpecker with a Titmouse and a Carolina Wren. Then a chickadee just after the woodpecker flew away with a peanut.

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On Friday, a Titmouse was the first visitor at 6:55 AM. And the Cowbirds arrived – males first…then females…then male again. The last bird of the day was at 6:45 PM…a male Cowbird.

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On Saturday, the Carolina Wren was the early bird at 7:31 AM. There was a grand finale at 6:48 PM with House Finches and Chipping Sparrow. Most of the time the house finches come as a male/female pair.

Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20, 3/21, 3/22, 3/23, 3/24, 3/25, 3/26, 3/27

6 Free eBooks – March 2020

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With so much time at home this month – I have browsed through many more online books and ramped up my monthly post about eBooks from 3 to 6. I’ve chosen 2 novels for their illustrations, 2 Ernst Haeckel collections, and 2 volumes from the 1840s with drawings of Yucatan ruins. Enjoy!

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Poe, Edgar Allan; Clarke, Harry (illustrator). Tales of Mystery and Imagination. London: George G. Harrap & Company Limited. 1923. Available from Internet Archive here. The illustrator, Harry Clarke, was also a stained-glass artist.

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Basswitz, Gerdt von. Peterchens Mondfahrt : ein Marchen. Berlin-Grunewald: Verlagsanstadlt Hermann Klemm AG. 1920. Available from Internet Archive here. The story started out as a stage play in 1912 in Leipzig; it became one of the best-loved German children’s books.

I found two collections of Ernst Haeckel’s works that I hadn’t found previously:

Radularia. Berlin: G. Reimer. 1862. Available from Internet Archive here.

Art Forms of Nature. Leipzig and Wien: Bibliographisches Institut. 1904. Available from Internet Archive here.

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Stephens, John Lloyd. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1843. Available from Internet Archive: here. Frederick Catherwood made the drawings for both volumes. Stephens and Catherwood were important figures in the rediscovery of Mayan civilization.

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Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/27/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Blooming violets. As I was getting ready to do some yard work, I noticed that the violets were beginning to bloom in our yard. I couldn’t resist taking some pictures. I appreciate their deep color…and that they grow in the area of the yard that doesn’t get enough sun for the grass to grow well. They help to fill in some of the holes…keep those parts of the yard from becoming bare soil.

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Spreading out compost from bin. The bin was getting a little full and most of the kitchen scraps and dried leaves were decomposed…time to put it someplace else and start again. I decided to put in in an area of the front flower bed where I will plant some flower seeds. I got the wheelbarrow and loaded it up.

Aargh! The tire was a little flat on the wheelbarrow. I could feel my back not responding well as I pushed it up the slight hill to the front yard. I dumped out the load, spread it out a bit and decided my back was complaining enough to just stop; I managed to put my tools away. I’ll mix the compost with soil another day.

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Popping buds on the Ninebark shrub. Next to the area spread with compost, I noticed the Ninebark leaves were emerging. They are still so tiny it’s hard to see them when looking at the whole bush; looking more closely, they have a lot of sunrise/sunset colors…and texture. The picture also shows another outdoor task for another day…weeding the area around the shrub.

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Hearing more sounds from outdoors – an open window. The temperature was in the 60s with very little breeze so I opened the window in my office and enjoyed hearing more birds nearby…and back in the forest. There was a lot of activity. The smells of spring came in too. It was supposedly a high tree pollen day; I didn’t seem to have any allergy problems. The fresh air felt and smelled good.

Receiving a grocery delivery. This was our first experience with a grocery delivery; it was a good one. The shopper was interacting with me while she was in the store filling my order which allowed me to participate in selecting substitutions. And then it all arrived at my front porch about 15 minutes after she finished. The only downside is getting a lot of plastic bags; I will return them to be recycled at the store at some point.

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Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20, 3/21, 3/22, 3/23, 3/24, 3/25, 3/26

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 28, 2020

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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.  

Tree Rings, Wildfires, and Climate | The Scientist Magazine® - Evidently the linkage between winter precipitation and fires in the spring in California – long documented in tree ring studies – has disappeared. Wildfires now are as likely to happen after a wet winter as they are after a dry one.

New Research Shows Healthy Agriculture Means Healthier Birds – Honing our understanding of healthy agricultural schemes that promote healthy farmland birds.

How cutting your food waste can help the climate - BBC Future – Over the past few years, I have started composting and reduced my food waste by eating food – never forgetting what I have in the refrigerator. Keeping a mental inventory of fresh fruits and veggies…freezing anything that I might not use before it goes bad….has been key. I enjoy frozen bananas in smoothies more than the unfrozen! This time at home (social distancing) gives me an opportunity for another round of reducing food waste….although it’s harder now since I’ve done all the easy actions.

'Grand Challenge' review stresses global impact of microplastics -- ScienceDaily  - Where major research and discovery are needed re microplastics impact on the environment and health. Recognizing that all plastic is not the same and new tools will be needed.

20+ Photos of a Snow-Covered Winter Wonderland in the Forest and 15 Incredible Finalists of the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest – So many beautiful pictures. I needed the boost of natural images this week.

Dragonflies are efficient predators: They consume hundreds of thousands of insects in a small area -- ScienceDaily – Exploring predation in the insect world…its impact on prey species and the community.

A Naturalist’s Guide to the South African Cape – Some unique species.

Top 25 birds of the week: Migratory birds - Wild Bird Revolution – I always enjoy the 25 bird pictures each week.

Sinking ships to stop erosion - The Landslide Blog - AGU Blogosphere – The example shows ships sunk after World War I to stop erosion…and now more than 100 years later – it’s obvious that it worked!

Staying in? Keep learning with science activities that kids and families can do at home | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Some resources from NOAA….ocean and atmosphere topics to explore without leaving the house!

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/26/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday – a beautiful sunny spring day:

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Noticing the first dandelion flowers while I took a walk in the neighborhood. I want to take advantage of every good spring day to either work in the yard or take a walk in the neighborhood. As it gets warmer – I’ll do it early…get a picture of the sunrise from a better vantage point that my front porch.

Celebrating a family birthday virtually. Sharing pictures and video…talking on the phone…there are ways to share the celebration other than being in the same place!

Assisting my daughter’s test of her virtual class delivery. My husband (on his iPad) and I (on my laptop) were the ‘students’ in my daughter’s test of the technology (Zoom) she will be using for her two classes beginning next week. The university is closed…all classes virtual. The professors are doing it from their homes. My daughter and son-in-law have the additional challenge of teaching classes in the same time slot. The bandwidth at their house might be an issue and so might the sound of them both lecturing at the same time!

Surprise – just as we were finishing the Zoom test with my daughter, an American Goldfinch (male) flew to our birdfeeder and I got a picture. It’s getting its summer plumage – the first I’d seen that was yellowing this season. It was the grand finale of the meeting for me.

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Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20, 3/21, 3/22, 3/23, 3/24, 3/25

Through my Office Window – March 2020 – Part II

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Continuing the “Through the Window” photos for this month….

The red maple has bloomed and is now full of maturing seeds; from afar it’s gone from red to rust. The birds and squirrels will enjoy the bounty soon…and we’ll have small maple trees to mow this summer.

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The tulip poplar is leafing out. Both trees are visible from my office window and will be a big part of the green wall during the summer.

I started emptying the last of the seed from the bird feeder before I refill it….not wanting the seed to get very old before it is eaten. A squirrel is usually the first to find the small pile on the deck bench.

House finches are frequent birds at the feeder, in the trees, and on every part of the house visible from my window.

The Northern Cardinal is almost too heavy for the feeder. The female may be a little lighter because I see her there more than the male. The male likes to clean up the seeds under the feeder.

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The Mourning Doves are also frequent visitors under the feeder. They enjoy the bird bath as well.

A Brown-Headed Cowbird and House Sparrow were at the feeder at the same time. I’m glad we don’t have cowbirds around frequently since they would eat up the contents of the feeder very quickly.

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I hear the Carolina Wren more frequently than I see it. But I enjoy the way they contort their bodies at the feeder…keep their tail up!

Sightings of American Robins increase in the spring. They are never at the feeder…only occasionally at the bath. They like the trees and the yard.

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I finally saw and photographed an Eastern Phoebe this month. They probably are around but stay further into the forest. This one was sitting in our sycamore…almost out of the range of my camera from my office window.

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/25/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

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Relaxing with an at-home facial. I found a pomegranate mask packet that I’d had for months…enjoyed it while I listened to a video that was about 15 minutes long…the time in the directions for the mask.

Catching up on the Life in the Universe Pandemic Series from Charles Cockell:

Scheduling a grocery delivery. I placed an order for delivery with my grocery store on 3/25 (morning) and it going to be delivered on 3/27 (afternoon) to my front porch. This is a first for me and I have all the usual concerns – will the bananas be bruised and produce wilted? Will they have everything on my list? Will they make good substitutions if what I requested is not in stock? I guess I’ll find out on Friday afternoon.

Noticing that the tulip poplar is leaving out. The little leaves have the tulip poplar shape almost immediately. The flower buds are still just enlarging.  

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Receiving most of our orders. We wash ours hands with soap and water after we bring boxes or envelopes into the house then let them sit around unopened for a few days to give any coronavirus on them plenty of time to die. The most critical outstanding one came on 3/25 – the last of our over-the-counter medications supply that would help us with symptoms should we get sick. The only package we are still waiting for is the bugs we ordered back on 3/19; it’s good to have a project ‘on the way.’

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Catching up on shredding. I collect items to shred around the shredder….doing the job when I need ‘browns’ for my compost pile. Toilet paper rolls are my favorite because they are an easy size for my shredder, and they are unbleached cardboard; they deteriorate very rapidly in the compost pile with my kitchen scraps and other ‘greens.’ I plan to empty out finished compost on the next nice day and restart the pile….so the shreds will be outdoors and fodder for decomposers within the next few days.

Trying some macro shots of spicebush leaves. The leaf buds on the small spicebush plant that I brought inside have popped. The leaves have not quite unfurled yet. The flowers are done for the year….but maybe some of them will make seeds if they were fertilized before the branch was brought inside.

Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20, 3/21, 3/22, 3/23, 3/24

Through my Office Window – March 2020 – Part I

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Being at home most of the time in March – I have a larger than usual collection of pictures through my office window. Probably my favorite bird to photograph from my office window is the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. We have a pair in the woods behind our house. Both the male and female come to the feeder. Once the female sat on the deck railing waiting for the male to finish at the feeder. Woodpeckers are made for the vertical perch! When the are on a horizontal surface they look like there legs are too short!

The Blue Jays are too large for the feeder but they enjoy the bird bath. They generally make a lot of noise so I know when they are about.

The Downy Woodpeckers come to the feeder too. We had a pair last summer, but I’d only be seeing the female at the feeder recently.

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Then I looked at the birdfeeder camera…and there was a male at the feeder! I never saw it through the window.

The “Through the Window” photos will be continued in tomorrow’s post….