Macro Photograph (Brookside Gardens) – Part I

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Kase Smartphone Macro Lens clipped to my phone and a Bluetooth remote shutter. Speed was not essential because it was too cold for insects, but I got a lot more images that he did!

While he was getting his equipment together, I looked at water droplets on nearby trees reflecting the forest.

The wood hydrangea had lots of surfaces of interest: dried flowers, leave scars, and buds for next season. Someday I want a wood hydrangea in my yard!

There was a vine growing on the wall of the visitor center with tiny tendrils ending in ‘suction cup’ like structures keeping the larger stem attached to the vertical surface.

Another stem with leaf scars and noticeable lenticles….and some bristles. I’m not sure what plant it was.

Finally – there were the camellias that are blooming this time of year: flowers and buds…lots of water droplets.

More Macro from Brookside tomorrow….

Cancer Diary – Entry 7

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A flurry of pre-op activity….the discipline of getting to appointments on time and filling the waiting time between.

The uptick in activity pre-surgery increased two weeks before the surgery date with an appointment with my primary care physician for bloodwork, EKG, and chest x-ray. Everything came back good for the surgery; however, there was a ‘nodule’ that showed up on the chest x-ray. There was a follow-up CT Chest that indicated that the issue seen in the x-ray was not there (i.e. the ‘nodule’ seen in the x-ray was a shadow or other artifact rather than something real). I was very discombobulated by the x-ray and was glad I could get an appointment for the follow-up the next day. The data from the tests done by my primary care physician were posted on the surgeon’s portal 9 days afterward….I was glad to know they had gotten to their destination.

Three days before surgery, I had a PCR test for COVID-19 at a drive through testing site for surgery patients (i.e. not a site for the general public/symptomatic people). It was my first experience with a PCR test and was easier than I expected:

  • We had gotten 3 inches of snow overnight and my appointment was at 9 AM, but the streets were relatively clear, and I drove up to the parking lot testing location a few minutes early; there was no line; the guard checked me in, and I drove into the tent where a nurse with full head gear respirator checked my ID and did the test.

  • The nurse did not need to swab deep in my nose!

  • Supposedly the results will be available and posted to the portal within 48 hours…the day before the surgery.

A person from the outpatient surgery center called with some final instructions:

  • No food after midnight, no liquid after 6:30 AM….and stopping certain supplements. I already knew those things from previous instructions, but it was good to be reminded.

  • I need to shower with antibacterial soap (like Dial) and not apply anything post shower; I made a special early morning trip to the grocery store to get the appropriate soap.

  • They are on heightened COVID protocols now and have closed waiting rooms - recommended that my husband drop me off and return at the time the nurse specifies during a call to him when my surgery is complete; he will never go into the building. I will be at the surgery center for at least 5 hours.

  • When the nurse calls my husband after my surgery concludes, she will also provide details for at-home/follow-up care and then I will get the same thing in writing before I leave the facility. One question we’ll ask is whether we should proactively assume I might have been exposed to COVID and should implement our strategy of masking/separation-when-unmasked at home.

  • The time I need to arrive for surgery was 15 minutes earlier than I was told previously.

  • I needed to provide insurance and billing information to the pharmacy at the facility so the nurse could pick up any prescription I needed to send home with me.  

  • The exact location in the building where I need to go when I arrive was also indicated; all I had before was the address of the building.

  • The list of things I should bring with me is short enough to fit in my coat pocket: insurance card, glasses case, phone, photo id. They already have my medication list in their files.

I am set to stay near the bedroom on the second floor of our house for at least the 1st 24 hours after surgery. Snacks and flowers and supplements are on top of my dresser. There is a small folding table and chair set up in case I want to eat a meal or two up there.

I am relieved that the surgery is going to happen as scheduled (not cancelled or delayed because of increased hospitalization due to COVID-19) and reassured after the conversation with the person from the surgery center; it was good to talk to a real person!

Next Cancer Diary post will be about my perception of the surgery day…

Previous cancer diary posts:

Neighborhood Walk in the Snow

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I bundled up in snow pants, hiking boots, scarf, coat and gloves for a walk in our neighborhood after the snow had stopped; it was afternoon, but the temperature was still below freezing. My phone was on a lanyard and the Bluetooth clicker was in my hand….all set to take pictures along my route. Our driveway was still pristine when I walked through; we had opted not to shovel since we didn’t need to get out for a few days and it would melt before then. Our street had not been plowed yet, but cars had made tracks.

The evergreens were flocked with snow. I liked the way the long needles looked from underneath…more green showing. The cedars were heavy with snow, but I didn’t see any broken branches. There was a little breeze that would cause small amounts of snow to fall; the temperature and the wetness of the snow kept most of it in place.

There was a large tree that had many large branches starting a couple of feet above my height; the snow seemed to highlight their juncture. I wondered if the primary stem had been damaged when it was young.

The pond was surrounded by cattails holding snow. It appeared that erosion has reduced the size of the pond since it was dredged a few years ago.

I photographed a branch from a small tree from underneath. The branches were close enough together to hold a lot of snow….the cohesion of the crystals in this particular snow were impressive. A little breeze came through, but the snow stayed in place.

The fire hydrants in the neighborhood sported snow on every surface that was even a little horizontal. The roughness of tree bark also held snow.

When I got to the main road – I saw that the clouds were beginning to clear…great blue – yellow – orange color for the late afternoon.

I took one last picture before I turned back toward home. Someone had been out with a snowblower to clear sidewalks…preparing for the neighborhoods school children catching the bus the next day….or the day after.

There were some crepe myrtle pods from last fall holding mounds of snow. Two boys were making a small snowman nearby.

As I walked by the pond again, I noted that there were no sled tracks down the hill that my daughter thoroughly enjoyed 20 years ago. Have the neighborhood children not discovered it, or do they stick closer to their own yard and siblings because of the pandemic?  

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 8, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

2021 Year In Review: Top Stories From The National Parks – Lots of perspectives in these ‘top stories’ – lots of challenges but some room for hope in 2022.

Earth in 2021 – A 3-minute video summary from NASA….lots of before and after catastrophic events. The text in the post has a short description of the events in the video.

Top 25 birds of the week: Birding! – Bird photographs…always a great look.

Stopping dementia at the nose with combination of rifampicin and resveratrol – The research was done in mice…they started preparation for human clinical trials in November. If it is effective in humans and can be produced/distributed economically, it could be a boon for aging populations around the world.

Saguaro National Park – A place I visited frequently while by daughter was in Tucson for graduate school. It’s interesting how they are monitoring the keystone species in the park…concern is that fewer young saguaros are surviving these days.

Climate-driven weather disasters inflicted billions in damage in 2021, study says – The cost of climate change already is impacting economies around the world….doing something to reduce/mitigate climate change is quickly becoming the option that makes the most economic sense for everyone.

Poison Ivy – You don’t want to touch it…but it’s best left alone when it’s growing in a place where people are unlikely to contact it. Its berries provide food for birds in the winter, it does not hurt the trees it climbs, and its leaves turn red in the fall.

Chalk steams: why ‘England’s rainforests’ are so rare and precious – This article brought back memories of wading in chalk bottomed creeks in the Dallas, TX area when I was teenager. I don’t remember much about the plants and animals…more about the fossils weathering out of the chalk.

2021 Year In Review - Another Year of Photography During The Pandemic – Beautiful places…and some little photography lessons too.

The year in chemistry: 2021’s biggest chemistry stories – 2021 was quite a year for big chemistry stories! Several of them are likely to have high impact for years to come.

eBotanical Prints – December 2021

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20 botanical print books browsed in December and added to the list. The month started with 8 volumes of Edward Joseph Lowe’s Ferns: British and Exotic from the mid-1800s. Later in the month there were 7 books on New York fruits and vegetables (cherries, peaches, pears, plums, small fruits, vegetables, and grapes) from the early 1900s with U.P. Hedrick as the primary author. The range of publication dates was from 1788-1938…150 years.

The whole list of 2,289 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the December 2021 books with links to the volumes and sample images is at the bottom of this post.

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

Ferns: British and Exotic - V1 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1856

Ferns: British and Exotic - V2 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1858

Ferns: British and Exotic - V3 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1858

Ferns: British and Exotic - V4 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1858

Ferns: British and Exotic - V5 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1858

Ferns: British and Exotic - V6 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1857

Ferns: British and Exotic - V7 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1859

Ferns: British and Exotic - V8 * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1860

A natural history of new and rare ferns * Lowe, Edward Joseph * sample image * 1871

Sertum Anglicum, seu, Plantae rariores quae in hortis juxta Londinum  * Brugiere, J.G.; Didot, Petri Francisci et al * sample image * 1788

Supplement to The ferns of southern India and British India * Beddome, R. H. * sample image * 1876

Burgess flower book for children * Burgess, Thornton Waldo * sample image * 1938

The Cherries of New York * Hedrick, U.P. et al * sample image * 1915

The peaches of New York * Hedrick, U.P. et al * sample image * 1917

The pears of New York * Hedrick, U.P. et al * sample image * 1922

The Plums of New York * Hedrick, U.P. et al * sample image * 1911

The Small Fruits of New York * Hedrick, U.P. et al * sample image * 1925

The Vegetables of New York * Hedrick, U.P.; Tapley, William Thorpe * sample image * 1928

The Grapes of New York * Hedrick, U.P.; Tapley, William Thorpe * sample image * 1908

Chrysanthemums * Stevenson, Thomas * sample image * 1912

My Office

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My office is my favorite room in the house. The view from the large window is the forest from 3 stories off the ground – a wall of green in the summer, a tangle of bare branches in the winter. From my Swopper chair, no other houses are visible; if I get up and move closer to the window  there is a house to the back left visible and if I turn more to the left there are more houses in the distance. This time of year, the beginning and end of the day are in darkness and the view from the window is inky dark unless the moon is shining; it’s a special morning when I see moon-made shadows on the floor before I turn on the light.

At the being and end of the day, I like to create an island of light rather than having a bright light (picture below). The vaporizer (far left) has a color feature that has it glowing sequence of muted light: red – yellow - green – blue – purple. There is a light bar across the top of the right monitor. If I need more light, I turn on the lamp behind the laptop with a button on the Power Controller that is under the laptop.

I have honed my set up over the past year. The right monitor is always used for my browser and for picture editing. The laptop (in the middle) is used for Word…usually one document although sometimes I am working on more than one. The left monitor is mostly for spreadsheets although it has File Explorer, email, and the Your Phone windows running as well. The keyboard and mouse are wireless…intentionally not the largest of their kind.

There is a stand that charges my phone and three pairs of glasses around the bases of my monitors along with an adapter to read my camera’s SD card from my laptop. All the other connections (external drives and scanner) are partially hidden by the monitors….a chaotic mess of cables!

I’m feeling good about my home office at the beginning of 2022!

Macro Photography (indoor)

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I got a new macro lens for my phone over the holidays – a Kase Smartphone Macro Lens. It comes with wih a U-shaped clip which didn’t fit over the phone + case so I am using the clip that also came in the package. I leave the lens attached to the clip and store it in the small bag that was also included.  The advantage of this lens is the increased distance from the subject (i.e. I don’t have to get as close…a very good thing if the insect has a stinger!). It is a little heavier but, so far, it seems to be easier to hold the phone and lens steady…no tripod required.

My first experiments were indoors around the house. I started with flowers I’d bought recently. My favorite of this group is the yellow rose.

The acrylic yarn of my 40+ year old crocheted chair blanket shows how long lasting the fibers are! A macrame hanging my sister made is the same vintage. The material is twine-like and I wonder if she had to wear gloves while she was making it.

Some images printed on paper are pixelated when magnified…others are not.

Peacock feathers are like abstract art in macro view.

I looked at the way different surfaces with patterns appear in macro: pulp paper (Zentangle with Sharpie ink), plastic, an ivy ceramic coaster (I never noticed the yellow mark in the pattern before), a bamboo back scratcher handle…a joint of the stem, and a clear plastic ribbon with a gold pattern.

Two objects with inlay: a box and an earring. On the earring, the black piece that looks like the arms on a clock…is (unmagnified) a bird flying over a landscape.

And continuing with some other earring…small objects made large with magnification.

1st Morning of 2022

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Every year – I am looking out at sunrise on New Year’s Day…capturing the view. This year the scene was foggy with heavy clouds. It was so dim I used my camera ‘night view’ setting to take my pictures. The oak in front of our house (normally part of my sunrise pictures), was my main subject – standing in my open garage door because it had started to rain.

The sensor in the light near our front walkway still sensed that it was dark!

The forest behind our house (to the west) was even darker….no reflected dawn light. The fog was more visible in the forest.

So – not a beautiful start to 2022 but I am rationalizing that we need the rain; it has been relatively dry recently and every growing thing needs water. The weather will turn much colder tomorrow…more what we expect this time of year. We are still waiting for our first snow and the colder weather in the forecast is dry for the next week or so at least. Hopefully, the change tomorrow will improve our air quality….clear out the small particulates.

Gleanings of the Week Ending January 1, 2022

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Spruce Tree House – extreme rockfall management – It’s been decades since I visited Mesa Verde, but I’m still drawn to any articles about it. This one was a reminder of the fragility of the place from a geologic perspective.

4 of the biggest archeological advancements of 2021 – including one ‘game changer’ – I always browse these end-of-year summaries…catch up on any big things that I somehow missed when they were originally in my news feeds.

No more annual flu shot? New target for universal influenza vaccine – Wouldn’t it be nice if this could happen? Even if they did develop a vaccine effective against all strains of influenza…would we still have to get boosters (i.e. would our immunity fade over time)?

With omicron, you need a mask that means business – I’ve been wearing KF-94 masks since February. My Christmas present from daughter was some patterned ones…although I still have a good supply of the black (the Ninja look) ones. I wear one anytime I am indoors (and not at home) and if I am outdoors with a lot of people around. Now that it’s cold, I wear them for warmth too; it’s surprising how much the mask keeps the nose and face comfortably warm….and the mask seals well enough that my glasses don’t fog!

Climate Clues from the Past Prompt a New Look at History – Some examples of the outsized role of climate in human affairs….and the interdisciplinary contributions to papers on the topic.

As Wetland Habitats Disappear, Dragonflies and Damselflies Are Threatened with Extinction – Maybe we need to start thinking about having wetland/ponds in our gardens as well as pollinator gardens…reduce the ‘lawn’ part of the area around our houses.

Forest Keepers: The National Park System is an essential laboratory—and also a battleground—in the management of invasive pests – The invasive pest pictured at the top of this article is woolly adelgid…something a learned to recognize in our area of Maryland…that has killed most of the hemlocks. Some of the trees growing in parks were saved with aggressive treatment, but the ones in the forest behind our house are gone.

New smart-roof coating enables year-round energy savings – A technology that changed the reflection/absorption properties of the roof based on temperature would be another step toward increasing the energy efficiency of buildings….reducing the heat island that plagues cities.

Study shows critical need to reduce use of road salt in winter – This has been a topic in several water quality sessions I’ve attended overthe past few years in Maryland. I have noticed the spraying of brine prior to storm events in our area so maybe some jurisdictions are already following the suggestions in this article.

Inside Idaho’s Campaign to Include Indigenous History in Its Highway Markers – Good idea; history of the US is more than European colonization. This article also prompted me to wonder if there are web sites that document the location and text of highway markers. I did some web searches and found several at the state level…and a general one: https://www.hmdb.org/

Philip Henry Gosse Books

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Back in October, I enjoyed browsing 8 volumes published in the mid-1800s by Philip Henry Gosse available on Internet Archive. He was an active naturalist and popularizer of natural science with his ability to create appealing/accurate scientific illustrations for his books. I found out from Wikipedia’s biography of him that he was the inventor of the saltwater aquarium in early Victorian England too. Enjoy browsing a Gosse book or two or three…

A Year at the Shore (1865)

The Rotifera (or, wheel-animalcules) volume 1 and 2 (1889 assisting Charles Thomas Hudson)

What will I do different in 2022?

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At the end of 2021, I am thinking about changes over the next year. There will be changes that I don’t anticipate…events requiring me change in some way; those changes I am not going to worry about; I’ll deal with them as they occur. What I’m thinking about for this post are changes that are intentional…that require my action to bring to fruition. Here are some possibilities I’m contemplating:

Releasing myself from some of my daily ‘metrics’ that have accumulated over the years. The one that has certainly gone ‘over the top’ during the pandemic has been book browsing; in 2021, I browsed over 2,000 books! The metric started back in 1985 with the goal of reading a book a week. Maybe some of the others that could be reduced or the metric allowed to float rather than always being a stretch goal for every day.

Look for the unique. Now that my blog has been going for over 10 years, I’m realizing things I repeat again an again…and need to force myself out of the rut more frequently. Sometimes it would be as simple as taking a totally different kind of photograph than I normally do…it would take more effort to go to places I have never been before…or to become more patient in locations where I go frequently to observe them in a new way.

Reverting to a cleaner/neater house. I’ve been gradually getting messier as I’ve gotten older: leaving things out on surfaces rather than putting them away…not vacuuming and dusting as frequently. I want to move back to my younger-self version of housekeeping in 2022.

Moving to live closer to my daughter…within a 30-minute drive seems about right. It would be much better than the current 2-day drive. The situation we’ve be in during the pandemic has made it more important to me. It will be a huge change to move from the house we have lived in for over 25 years and our first long distance move in almost 40 years. There would be a cascade of changes from this one: quickly locating service providers and shopping in the new location, picking new volunteer gigs, etc. There could be tweaks to a new house that would keep us busy for months. And selling our existing house would be a project that would enable the move. The time commitment for this change is higher than anything else we have done in recent years.

Of course – intentions are not sure things. It takes focus and sustained action; there could be events that preclude some of these. Time will tell - I’ve already made a note to follow-up on how these intentions are progressing in July 2022.

Zooming – December 2021

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The usual birds and plants in the collection for December – plus some from the light display at Brookside Gardens. My camera’s zoom feature is one I use almost all the time to control what I want in the image….usually opting to make the subject fill most of the frame. Sometimes I want even more magnification and am forced to be content with the max my camera can do. All of the images this month were handheld except for the bald eagle; my camera was on a monopod for that one. Enjoy the show!

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 25, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

New copper surface eliminates bacteria in just two minutes – One of the emerging technologies to fight bacteria (and viruses) without antibiotics. Copper is already being used in some applications, but this materials research developed a new structure of copper that is more effective and faster. The article didn’t comment about durability…but still very promising finding.

Home Battery Storage: The (Solar) Rich Get Richer – There is beginning to be more equity in solar panel installation….but storage is still a challenge at lower incomes. Some states have programs that may be the wave of the future and there are incentives in pending legislation. Hopefully a positive momentum will build over the next few years.

California Readies Launch of Largest Food Waste Recycling Program in the U.S. – Part of the county where I live in Maryland has curbside pickup of food waste for composting…but not the part where I live. I have a backyard compost bin…but many people do not so there is still considerable food waste going to the landfill.

10 Winter Birds to Spot During the Christmas Bird Count – Seen any of these in your area?

Why is snow white? – 3 videos…the last one with more ‘bonus’ explanations (such as why polar bears are white).

Top 25 birds of the week: Bird Pigment – This post was a bit confusing since it wasn’t explicit about which colors were from pigments ( as in the red of cardinals) and which were from light scattering caused by the physical structure of the feathers (for example, in blue jays). Read more about this non-pigment phenomenon particular for blue feathers here.

Winter is coming: Researchers uncover the surprising cause of the little ice age – New research shows that the little ice age in the early 1400s occurred when the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) collapsed after a warming period which flushed Arctic ice into the north Atlantic, cooling it and reducing its saltiness. Could the AMOC collapse again with ice melting because of climate change? Existing climate models do not model the impacts of ice melt (making the north Atlantic cooler and less salty)!

From blood clots to infected neurons, how COVID threatens the brain – An overview of the research into how COVID-19 impacts the brain; there is still a lot more to be learned about this - probably one of the most devastating aspects of ‘long Covid’. It appears that the cognitive impact experienced by some COVID-19 survivors improves over time, but half the patients in one study were not back to normal after a year. It is a very sad prospect for individuals and for or society.

Watch This Giant Phantom Jellyfish With 33-Foot-Long Arms Float Through the Deep Ocean – The video is less than a minute…worth watching.

AAA Electric Vehicle Infographic — The Good & The Bad – My current car is a plug-in hybrid….the next one will most likely be an EV.

Old Faithful at Yellowstone (1880s-1909)

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Internet Archive has 4 volumes of images of Yellowstone National Park produced by F. Jay Haynes from the 1880s to 1909. It is interesting to think about what it must have been like to visit the park during those early years. It would have taken a lot more effort to get there than it does today! At the same time – the facilities would have been minimal/primitive….there would not be crowds of people or problems with vandalism either.

I selected pictures of Old Faithful as sample images – a wonderful variety of depictions: 2 in color, 1 at sunrise. Each volume is well worth browsing for the other images as well.

Yellowstone National Park: in water colors (188?....the volume does not have a title or copyright page but presumably it was sometime after fall 1881 when he spent 2 months in the park and took over 200 photographs; he had a lease for a small photography studio in the park by 1884).

Yellowstone National Park: the world's wonderland (1889 with Truman Ward Ingersoll and Charles Frey)

Haynes souvenir album : Yellowstone Park (1909)

I’ve only been to Yellowstone once…and it was before I photography became a hobby…thinking about what time of year I want to go next time and hone my plans for the type of photography I want to attempt there.

My Favorite Photographs of 2021

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It was a challenge to pick one picture from each month of 2021 to feature in this post….but a worthwhile exercise. I did not use consistent criteria for my choices, so these images are special for a variety of reasons.

January for witnessing interesting bird behavior – A bluebird on our deck railing looking up at our bird feeder full of other members of the flock…waiting a turn!

February for learning to make high key images – A high key image of a lily….the flower purchased at the grocery store. I had just watched a video about high key photography and was thrilled to have some easy successes.

March for beauty old and new – The crocus were out at Brookside Gardens but I found the remnants of last seasons flowers more interesting.

April for a bird trusting that I wasn’t a threat– A bird looking rather assertive. I had paused its search for food in the leaves to make sure I wasn’t a threat; evidently I wasn’t because it went back to its search a few seconds later.

May for memorializing a bird – A juvenile little blue heron in the cattail leaves at Josey Ranch in Carrollton TX. It had a broken wing so I think of this image as a monument to its short life.

June for something that only happens every 17 years – The periodic cicadas seemed to be thick everywhere – even our yard. This one was under our red maple.

July for interconnection in nature– Back in Texas…am insect on a cosmos flower on a cool morning.

August for the fragile beauty of a new butterfly – A monarch butterfly seconds after it emerged from its chrysalis is our front flower bed.

September for capturing a small thing, seeing it better than I could with my eyes – Some birds nest fungus in the mulch at Howard County Conservancy. I was thrilled that I had my gear (phone, clip on macro, clicker) even though I hadn’t planned to do any macro photography!

October for being in a river – More macro photography – this time the wing of an insect on a rock just above the water line….photographed on a volunteer gig before the students arrive.

November for the colors of the flower – Another view of a cosmos flower. I like it when the light is such that a black background is possible.

December the new orb sculpture at Brookside – A surprise (for me) at Brookside – I hadn’t seen this sculpture before…and I also enjoyed the holiday lights (missed them last year).

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 18, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Monkeying Around with Venom – Hadn’t heard about ‘Snake Detection Theory’ before; it is the idea that snakes have exerted a selection pressure on the origin of primates’ visual systems, a trait that sets primates apart from other mammals. This paper is some recent research that supports the theory.  A condensed description of the research paper is found here.

Why climate lawsuits are surging - Lawsuits are becoming tool to force change…in conjunction with activism, policy and science. There have been some successful lawsuits…and more in the pipeline. Sometimes the suit is about better enforcement of environmental laws…and sometimes it is about climate protection for future generations becoming a constitutional issue.

Florida to Feed Starving Manatees, as Pollution Shrinks Food Supplies – Florida farm runoff caused alga blooms that cut the penetration of sunlight into the water so much that it killed the seagrass that manatees eat…and there have already been more than 1,000 that have starved. It is estimated that there are about 8,000 manatees remaining in Florida waters. It is unclear that the seagrass can be restored.

Top 25 birds of the week: December 2021 – Enjoying bird photographs!

How volcanic eruptions helped the ancestral Puebloan culture flourish – Response of people to the stresses of abrupt climate change evidently resulted in larger population centers…universal pottery making and turkey cultivation…more sedentary living…increasing social inequity.

Major Contract Awarded To Rehabilitate Section Of George Washington Memorial Parkway – The parkway is along the Potomac River between Great Falls and Mount Vernon. It was one of the first beautiful and history things we discovered when we moved to the area in 1983…and long overdo for renovation. Parts of it carry a lot of daily commuter traffic in Northern Virginia.

The impact of drugs on gut microbes is greater than we thought – Most people are aware of the impact of antibiotics, but other drugs impact the gut microbes too…and some of those drugs are treating chronic conditions so are taken for years. It appears this study was mostly about methodology to tease out the impact of drugs vs the underlying disease….much more work still to be done before concrete recommendations can be made.

The race to make vaccines for a dangerous respiratory virus – RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). There are currently 4 candidate vaccines and one monoclonal antibody treatment that are in last-stage trials. It appears we are at the cusp of much faster vaccine development times because of what happened to develop the COVID-19 vaccines.

The tomatoes at the forefront of a food revolution – The idea is to use Crispr modification to sustain the productivity of the tomato crop as the climate changes.

Chronic exposure to air pollution may increase risks for ICU admission or death among COVID-19 patients, study finds – Sometimes it is hard to separate the role of the environment on health disparities. This study analyzed 6,500 COVID-19 patients admitted to 7 New York City hospitals.

Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration

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There are 45 volumes of Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration (German Art and Decoration) magazine available on Internet Archive published from 1897 to 1929. They were edited/published by Alexander Koch in Darmstadt, Germany. Below I provide links and sample images (click on the image to see a large version) for the 45 volumes grouped by decade.

Some observations:

  • There seemed to be more color in the earlier volumes….more photography as time progressed.

  • World War I did not seem to impact the publication very much.

  • Lots of ideas for Zentangle patterns.

  • In the early 1900s, there were many of examples of making a room into an entire living space…hiding the bed behind curtains, screens, or boxing it in.

  • Sometimes lampshades seemed to be made of light weight fabric. This migh be more practical than ever with LED bulbs.

  • The art and decoration in the magazines were not limited to German-made. There were examples from around the world: Japan and China, Africa, North America, and the rest of Europe.

  • Enjoy a bit of history…and maybe some ideas worth reusing in 2022!

Deutsche kunst und dekoration V1 (10/1897-3/1898)

Deutsche kunst und dekoration V2 (4-9/1898)

Deutsche kunst und dekoration V4 (4-9/1899)

Deutsche kunst und dekoration V5 (10/1899-3/1900)

Christmas Lights at Brookside Gardens

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Brookside Gardens ‘Garden of Lights’ is a Christmas tradition that we restarted this year after a year away because of the pandemic; now that we are fully vaccinated and boosted, we are venturing out -- slowly. Tickets are required this year to control the crowd size and there is no model train exhibit in the conservatory. Our time slot was immediately after dark which worked well for us. It was in the mid-30s when we got there; we bundled up and headed into the gardens; I wore my mask even though we were outdoors the whole time since it was in the mid-30s and the mask keeps my nose warm!

The sky was slightly overcast. I noticed the crescent moon several times…never sharp because of the clouds but always there.

The caterpillar is looking good. We entered through the mouth and came back from the other end after we’d made the loop around the lights.

The rainbow was static this year….no ‘lightning’ flashes from the cloud. I took pictures of it from several perspectives. The night scene mode on my Canon bridge camera (Powershot SX70 HS) which takes several images then stacks them into one did reasonably well with all the displays.

In some cases, it provided a very intense ‘plant’ image. This bush had blue lights which appear as brilliant ‘flowers’…the green is the bush’s natural leaves!

The dragon with baby was in its usual garden room…no smoke or sound effects as it has had in some previous years.

There was a new orb sculpture in one of the rose garden fountains – perhaps part of the renovation. It will be interesting to see how it looks in the warmer months of the year with water.

Giant dragonflies were high in the trees.

There were also the usual animals: giraffe, dolphins, snail, and lion….among others.

The whole landscape of the gardens was full of lights…all with a garden theme. The spider web was very well done this year.

During our walk, the happy noise of children responding to the lights surrounded us. They were bundled up in snow suits or riding in strollers wrapped in blankets. There was one young child carried facing outward by its mother that made an awesome happy sound and waved his arms…everyone around laughed with him and his parents.

This year might have been the all-time best experience I’ve ever had at Brookside’s Garden of Lights.

21 Months in COVID-19 Pandemic

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And the pandemic continues …

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

Things are different than a year ago –

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some things are the same:

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

  • My husband is attending the virtual AGU meeting.

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

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

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

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

Gleanings of the Week Ending December 11, 2021

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The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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