Eureka Springs & Northern Arkansas Railway

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My husband, daughter, and I took a two-day trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas just before Memorial Day. It’s less than a 2-hour drive from our home in Missouri. The nav system took us on a scenic route…curvy 2 lane highway all the way, with frequent road cuts that were generally well back from the shoulder (I wondered if students on geology field trips use them to see the underlying rock of the area), and over a narrow part of Table Rock Lake.

We arrived a little early and drove through the town. I remembered the main street from more than 50 years ago; the streets that turn off are very steep and narrow up the side of the valley. The place is a driving adventure! We parked in the Eureka Springs & Northern Arkansas Railway just after the terminal opened; we had reservations for the morning excursion train. It was a cloudy morning and had rained recently; the first photographic opportunity of the morning turned out to be butterflies in the gravel parking lot! The mourning cloak on the curb was not moving but all the others took some patience to photograph.

There was collection of old rail cars and engines. I was interested in a tractor that must have been quite a change on farms where horses or oxen had previously done the heavy pulling.

The car and engine that took us on our excursion was waiting for us. They had a ramp mechanism that enabled wheelchair access to the car, but we could also get into the car using stairs.

The train follows a stream, and I managed a few pictures while we were in motion. I saw a pawpaw tree with fruit beginning to grow (but didn’t get a picture); pawpaw is the food plant of the zebra swallowtail butterfly (like I photographed in the parking lot for the train).

The route is only 4.5 miles up and back (and takes about an hour). At the halfway point, we got out and I took some track and vegetation pictures.

The conductor gave us a tutorial about putting pennies on the track as an optional activity for this excursion. My daughter had told us ahead of time (she had done the excursion last fall) so we came prepared. I gave a penny to a man that didn’t have any change with him. We all stood away from the tracks and the train rolled over our pennies – waiting to retrieve our pennies from the track until the conductor got the word from the engineer that it was safe to do so.

Below is a picture of a penny and a train-flattened penny. I am thinking about putting some earring posts on two of the flattened pennies….wearing them as earrings!

It sprinkled a little while we were on the train but had cleared by the time we returned to the station. The train was an excellent start to our Eureka Springs adventure.

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 1, 2024

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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.

How Storm King Art Center Became One of World’s Top Sculpture Parks – Adding to my list to consider seeing if I travel to New York (state).

Dirt Cheap Batteries Enable Megawatt-Scale Charging Without Big Grid Upgrades Right Away – Hope the technology trend continues…that this idea helps us transition to more electric trucks and other vehicles.

Extreme Birding: Shorebirds at the Sewage Lagoon – Maybe a great place for birding….if you can stand the smell. The same thing happens at landfills.

The human brain has been shrinking – and no-one quite knows why - The brains of modern humans are around 13% smaller than those of Homo sapiens who lived 100,000 years ago. Exactly why is still puzzling researchers. I was a little surprised that the authors did NOT consider the challenge of birthing babies with larger heads (i.e. until C-sections allowed mother and baby to survive if the baby’s head was too large, both mother and baby died) which would result in natural selection of genes for smaller heads.

Climate change is most prominent threat to pollinators - Pollinator populations are declining worldwide and 85% of flowering plant species and 87 of the leading global crops rely on pollinators for seed production. The decline of pollinators seriously impacts biodiversity conservation, reduces crop yield, and threatens food security. Changes in water and temperature associated with climate change can lower the quantity and quality of resources available to pollinators, decrease the survival of larvae or adults, and modify suitable habitats.

The deep ocean photographer that captured a 'living fossil' – In 2010, Laurent Ballesta was the first diver to photograph a living coelacanth. In 2013, Ballesta and his team returned and encountered multiple coelacanths, spending up to half an hour in their presence. Thanks to Ballesta's work, we now know the coelacanth is among the longest-living fish species, with a lifespan of around 100 years, and has one of the slowest life histories of all marine fish – so, like deep-sea sharks with a reduced metabolism, the coelacanth grows slowly, taking as long as 69 years to reach sexual maturity, and with a gestation period of around five years.

Under stress, an observer is more likely to help the victim than to punish the perpetrator - It takes more cognitive effort to punish others than it does to help them. Studies show that when witnessing an act of injustice while stressed, people tend to behave selflessly, preferring to help the victim than to punish the offender.

Stunning Aerial Photos Capture the Abstract Beauty of Iceland’s Glacier Rivers – Iceland….blue.

These tricks make wind farms more bird-friendly – Migratory birds can crash into wind turbines…but there are ways to reduce the carnage: adding high visibility reflectors and spirals to cables, not building wind farms in flight paths, painting one blade on each turbine black (or stripes of black on each blade), and sound.

Swarms of miniature robots clean up microplastics and microbes, simultaneously – Interesting idea. While the bots were decontaminated and reused…they were not as effective…so more work is needed.

Zooming – May 2024

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After collecting the images I wanted to feature this month, there seemed to be more distinct reasons for why the amount of zoom was used.

One image – from the Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens – was composed to capture the pattern of glass in the ceiling.

5 images were composed to get a near macro view of flowers and water droplets without being very close to the subjects.

The zoom was used to fill the frame in 8 of the images. It works in almost every situation! Flowers and landscapes with structures outdoors as well as museums and nature center exhibits are seen below.

Probably the rationale for zooming I enjoy the most is when the camera allows me to ‘see’ better than I would with just my eyes. There are 7 images in this category this month: a close up of a peacock and some flamingo feathers at Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri; tiling on a bathhouse dome and a magnolia flower in a large tree overhanging the street in Hot Springs, Arkansas; an ebony jewelwing on a fern, a fairy house and a Ouachita Map Turtle at Garvan Woodland Gardens.

Sometimes I remember the rules and zoom to position the subject along one of the lines…to the left or right of center in lieu of switching to a portrait orientation and filling the frame.

I am savoring my favorite zoomed images of May 2024.

Ten Little Celebrations – May 2024

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May 2024 was full of little celebrations…with near perfect temperatures and some big events.

3 pink irises - Most of the irises were fading by May but there were three still in good condition in a flower bed at the side of our house which can’t be seen (by us or our neighbors) except by walking around our house. I saw them when I was mowing and cut them to bring indoors.

Bleu Monkey - The first thing we did in Hot Springs was to have lunch. We picked a great place – tasty food and a huge drink (that my daughter did not finish)…but what made it celebratory was the interaction with the other patrons!

Garvan Woodland Gardens – My daughter and I both celebrated our experience at Garvan Woodland Gardens (via golf cart and on foot). I’m sure we’ll go again…maybe experience it in every season over the next few years.

Whirlpool bath at Buckstaff Bathhouse in Hot Springs – The Buckstaff Bathhouse is a way to celebrate history and the great feel hot springs.

Large birdbath – I moved a large glass birdbath from Maryland but didn’t set it up last year because I didn’t think the old stand was stable enough in our environment. I bought a new stand at Branson’s Butterfly Palace last fall and celebrated how great it looks set up near our bird feeders…and that I’ve seen birds coming to get a drink.

Mowing the whole yard in one day – Usually I mow my yard over 2 days…so I celebrate when I can do it one. It helped that May was cool…I probably won’t attempt it when the temperatures are higher.

A new family member - One of my nieces had a baby girl….always a celebratory event.

New glasses - I celebrated new plastic frames (rather than wire rims with pads as the bridge) that feel better on my narrow nose bridge.

Salmon salad – Salad made with canned salmon and celery (and other veggies) with chipotle mayonnaise (or other spicy dressing) has become one of my favorite lunches. I celebrated rediscovering a staple (canned salmon) that my mother always had in her pantry.

Aurora from our deck – My husband and I both celebrated that we managed to see and photograph the aurora from the deck of our house! It was very special.

Garvan Woodland Gardens (1)

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I’d heard about Garvan Woodland Gardens from one of my neighbors – decided that it was a place to see along with Hot Springs National Park. Out membership in Friends of the Springfield Botanical Gardens provided us with free admission so we visited on both days we were in Hot Springs.

On the first day, we arrived after lunch and noticed the carillon as we walked from the parking lot to the welcome center.

It had rained earlier in the day and the humidity was very high. We opted to take the Golf Cart Tour (which cost us $20 each) – which turned out to be a great way to orient ourselves to the place. Our driver/guide was very informative about the history, maintenance, and highlights of the gardens. Our visit between spring and summer flowers so there were not a lot of blooms…but the trees and the ambiance of the place made the visit worthwhile. I took a few pictures along the tour: pools of water on rocks, a stone bridge, a few flowers, the slope down to the lake, butterfly weed, ferns with horsetails, fairy houses, and the shape of an eye in stone.

Tomorrow’s post will be about our second visit to Garvan Gardens when we revisited our favorite places.

Hike to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower

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The morning was cool – a good time to start an uphill hike. My daughter and I had a hearty breakfast at the hotel and headed toward the visitor center at Hot Springs National Park, following the signs to the parking garage near the visitor center (the Fordyce Bathhouse). We walked uphill to the back of the bathhouses and along the Grand Promenade seeing steam coming from some open hot springs.

I had loaded the NPS app on my phone and was looking for the Peak Trail what would take us to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower. We missed the trail’s connection to the Grand Promenade (signage was not good) but headed uphill and eventually connected with it.

There were quite a few burned trees along the way. Some looked like they had burned from within…others simply scorched on the outside. I read that the park service does controlled burns on the mountain to reduce the risk of wildfire. Were the ones that looked like they were burned from the inside caused my lightning?

The tower is at the top of the mountain. We took the elevator up (they don’t use the stairs except for emergencies) and walked around the two levels seeing how parts of the town emerge from trees, while much of the area continues to be forest (or at least appears to be forest). There was smoke from two fires in the distance….hopefully controlled burns.

On the way down I took time to notice more than the burned trees – lichen and moss decorated with pine needles and a branch ripped from a tree during a storm.  The lichen and moss reflect the aspect of the forest that develops over time…the branch an example of a change that can happen very quickly.

I appreciated the downhill hike back to Bathhouse Row…and was glad our next activity would be lunch! The hike resulted in my Garmin detecting about 100 intensity minutes.

Hot Springs National Park – Bathhouse Row

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My daughter and I headed to Hot Springs, Arkansas after visiting my dad in Dallas. It was a 2-day vacation in celebration of Mother’s Day. There are lots of things to do in the area; we chose to focus on two: the national park and Garvan Woodland Gardens. This is the first blog post about our trip.

There are eight bathhouses that are the historic core of Hot Springs National Park. Only one (the Buckstaff) still functions as a traditional bathhouse. The Fordyce functions as the park’s visitor center. It has many restored features – stained glass skylights, tile floors, a gym, elaborate baths. The changing cubicles seemed very small; there must have been fewer obese people when they were designed!

The Quapaw has been renovated as a modern spa.

We had lunch at the Superior – which is now a brewery. I enjoyed their root beer that is made with water from the springs and sweetened with honey.

My daughter and I spent the most time at the Buckstaff – enjoyed the Traditional Bathing Package: whirlpool tub, sitz bath, vapor cabinet, hot packs, and full body massage. The bathtubs and equipment are original to when the bathhouse opened in 1912! It’s a great way to experience history. One of the learning experiences: how to wear a sheet to be securely and completely covered.

Across the street there is a row of shops – appealing to tourists. I noticed the top of one of them looked like it might be painted tin (I learned to look for it in old buildings when I was in London, Ontario in 2022). There are also murals painted on the sides of buildings.

There are magnolias that line the street in front of the bathhouses. They were beginning to bloom.

There were mushrooms coming up near one of them and I couldn’t resist some macro pictures of the magnolia bark and the view into the top of one of the trees.

Tomorrow’s post will be about our hike from bathhouse row to the Hot Springs Mountain Tower.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 18, 2024

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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.

25 Years, 25 Images – Celebrating twenty-five years since the launch of NASA Earth Observatory (EO) on April 29, 1999 and the EO website with a slideshow!

Insurance Companies: Consider Climate Risk Events As “Constant Threats” - Up until recently, most people weren’t concerned with how their ability to be insured would change — until catastrophic climate disasters began to wreak havoc on communities around the country. I am very glad I don’t own property in Florida or south Texas or California!

New Constitution Gardens (in Washington DC) Will Be a Biodiversity Mecca – Glad there are plans to improve the area. I always enjoyed it even though it was beginning to show its age in the 1990s and early 2000s when we lived in Maryland and visited with our young daughter.

Stunningly Preserved Ancient Roman Glassware Turns Up in a French Burial Site – Found during construction of a new housing development. I am always amazed at how durable a material we normally thing of as ‘breakable’ can be!

Cicada dual emergence brings chaos to the food chain - Cicada emergences can completely rewire a food web. For predators, these emergences are a huge boom in resources. It's basically like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the hungry predator. A study, published in 2023, found the emergence of periodical cicadas changes the diets of entire bird communities. Scientists have found that wild turkeys, for example, will capitalize on the bounty, leading to a wild turkey boom. However, caterpillars, usually preyed on by birds, were left off the dinner menu and their numbers more than doubled. This in turn led to damage to trees caused by out-of-check caterpillar populations. Rising temperatures will lead to periodical cicada emergences starting earlier in the year, experts believe, as well as an increase in unexpected, "oddly-timed" emergences.

Earlier Springs Cause Problems for Birds - As climate change warms our planet, causing spring to arrive weeks earlier than it has historically, birds are struggling to keep up. It’s not just the green vegetation they miss, but the pulse of protein-rich insects many bird species consume on both their breeding grounds and their migratory stop-over points. Birds will still breed but not quite as successfully because food will be more limited. Instead of chicks hatching as insect populations boom, those chicks may catch the end of the insect pulse.

Why you should let insects eat your plants – I skew the additions to my yard toward native plants….and let whatever insects show up enjoy. My community sprays for mosquitos so there probably is some reduction of other insects because of that. But there are enough left to support a barn swallow (and other insect eating birds) flock in our community.

Quantifying U.S. health impacts from gas stoves - Even in bedrooms far from kitchens, concentrations of nitrogen oxide frequently exceed health limits while stoves are on and for hours after burners and ovens are turned off. All the houses I’ve purchased as an adult, have had electric stoves/ovens except one and I only lived there for 3 years. But – in the 1950s and 1960s, my parents had gas stoves/ovens. Back then the houses were not as airtight as they are now so that might have reduced our exposure; my sisters and I never had asthma or other breathing problems, fortunately.

Inside the exquisite Tibetan monasteries salvaged from climate change – Built in the 1300s, the monasteries are impacted by a significant increase in the intensity of storms and rainfall across the region. Increased rainfall saturates the rammed-earth buildings, as moisture in the soil is drawn upward into the walls, leading to issues such as leaking roofs and rising damp. Local people have gained diverse skills, from reinforcing walls to crafting metal statues and restoring paintings. Over the past 20 years, a team of local Lobas trained by Western art conservationists have replaced the old, leaky roofs of the temples with round timbers, river stones, and local clay for waterproofing, and have restored the wall paintings, statues, sculpted pillars and the ceiling decorations, giving these centuries-old monuments a new life.

Possible Conch Shell Communication in Chaco Canyon Explored - The settlements of Chaco Canyon that spread around each sandstone great house fit into the sphere of sound produced by conch shell trumpet blasts; perhaps the settlements were designed to ensure that every resident could hear the notifications.

Sustaining Elder Care – May 2024

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Since my last ‘sustaining elder care’ post, I have been to Dallas twice and am acknowledging that maybe my plan to drive down once a month is not going to work. Two times a month is becoming my more realistic plan.

Now that the days are longer, I can visit in the afternoon on the day I drive down and again in the morning before I drive back to Missouri. My dad is the only morning person in his assisted living group home so visiting him in the morning is prime one-on-one time. He frequently has a ‘first breakfast’ before anyone else is awake (about the time I arrive) and then eats again with everyone else. Between the two light meals we can take a walk around the block or maybe further if his stamina increases; in the summer, the morning walk might be his only walk of the day.

One of the challenges right now is that my dad tends to lose track of his reading glasses (he needs them to work on puzzles). My sister has brought a supply but hopefully some of them will show up again. While we were working on the puzzle during my morning visit, he did it without glasses! He seemed to enjoy the challenge of working from the shape of the piece entirely – and he was successful plenty of times.

I bought 10 more puzzles at the $3/bag day at my Missouri library’s used books (and puzzles) sale. What a bargain! One of them was a duplicate but it still was a good deal! We started the beach and lighthouse puzzle in the upper left corner of the picture below during my first visit in May.

There has been some upheaval at the assisted living home – the lead staff member being reassigned to another home and some leadership being rotated in from other homes – the company searching for a permanent replacement. There is also a new resident in a room near my dad’s. So far, he seems to be unperturbed by the changes, but my sisters and I are thinking more about what our plan would be if something went very wrong at the home where he is.

Previous Elder Care posts

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 11, 2024

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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.

A new way to quantify climate change impacts: 'Outdoor days' - Noting the number of days per year that outdoor temperatures are comfortable enough for normal outdoor activities. In the North, in a place like Russia or Canada, you gain a significant number of outdoor days. And when you go south to places like Bangladesh or Sudan, it's bad news. You get significantly fewer outdoor days.

Is filtered water healthier than tap water? - Water filters, it seems, are having a heyday – particularly in North America, Europe, and China. I was a little surprised that the article did not mention microplastics in water – even in countries that have relatively high standards for their water supplies.

Baltimore’s Toxic Legacies Have Reached a Breaking Point – “Normal” southwest of the collapsed Frances Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore…one of the most polluted places in the U.S. – a different perspective on the bridge collapse.

European ruling linking climate change to human rights could be a game changer — here’s how - On 9 April, the European Court of Human Rights delivered a groundbreaking ruling: states are obliged to protect their citizens from the threats and harms of climate change. And in that regard, judges said, Switzerland’s climate action has been inadequate. Without prescribing specific years or percentage reductions, the ruling set out how a nation can show it is compliant. It must set out a timetable and targets for achieving carbon neutrality, and pathways and interim targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Measures must be implemented in a timely, appropriate, and consistent manner. Governments must also provide evidence that they have complied with targets, and update targets regularly.

Positive perceptions of solar projects - A new survey has found that for U.S. residents living within three miles of a large-scale solar development, positive attitudes outnumbered negative attitudes by almost a 3-to-1 margin.

18th-Century Foundation Uncovered at Colonial Williamsburg – Even in much studied areas, there are still new things to discover!

Metabolic health before vaccination determines effectiveness of anti-flu response - Metabolic health (normal blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, among other factors) influences the effectiveness of influenza vaccinations….even in people with obesity which the vaccine had previously been documented as being less effective.

The environmental cost of China's addiction to cement - Today, China still accounts for just over half of the world's total annual 4.1bn tons of cement production (52%) – followed by India (6.2%), the EU (5.3%) and the US (1.9%). Little of that cement produced in China is exported. In 2020 the country used an estimated 2.4 billion tons of cement, 23 times the amount used in the US in the same year.

Teotihuacan's Pyramids Damaged by Ancient Earthquakes – Damage from megathrust earthquakes at the site between about AD 100 and 600: fracturing and dislodging of large masonry blocks used to construct the buildings, as well as chipping of blocks that comprised the pyramids' outer stairs.

Mini-colons revolutionize colorectal cancer research - Scientists have combined microfabrication and tissue engineering techniques to develop miniature colon tissues that can simulate the complex process of tumorigenesis outside the body with high fidelity, giving rise to tumors that closely resemble those found in vivo….offering a new path to research colon cancers and their treatment.

First Road Trip to Texas in May 2024

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I’ll be making 2 road trips to Texas to visit my dad this month; my sisters have more than the usual commitments elsewhere, so I am filling in. The first trip was in early May. It was still dark when I left about 6 AM but the streetlight and the photographic smarts of my iPhone 15 Pro Max did as reasonable job of capturing the Kousa Dogwood in bloom near our driveway just before I left.

Rain was in the forecast…but it only impacted about an hour of the seven the road trip through Oklahoma. It was hard enough to slow traffic dramatically. I noticed that Lake Eufala was colored by silt – the result of run off after so much rain there recently.

Fortunately, the rain was over by the time I got to Texas and stopped at the Texas Welcome Center on US 75 as I entered Texas from Oklahoma. I had enjoyed the wildflowers there on a previous drive down and there seemed to be even more this time.

The bluebonnets were waning. At some point I realized that there were seed pods forming! I read up more about growing bluebonnets when I got home; unfortunately, it is hard to grow them in Missouri (it gets too cold in the winter, so they do not reseed themselves once established like they do in Texas).

I ate a picnic lunch near my car before continuing on to Dallas to visit with my dad. I opted to visit my dad the next morning before heading home; we had a good walk…finished a puzzle and started another before I left. This time as I passed Lake Eufala, I noticed a dock that was under water…another indication that the area had experienced a lot of rain and the lake’s water level had gone up!

On the way home, the drive was easy until the last hour…and then it was rain and fog. I decided my adaptive cruise control was not reliable enough in the sloppy conditions so was driving without it…increasing the stress of that last hour of driving. Fortunately, I managed to get home in good shape and didn’t see any accidents; it seemed like everyone decided to drive a bit slower!

Out and About with Company

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When my sister and brother-in-law were visiting – stopping for a few days at a RV park near us before they continued on their month long travels – we enjoyed the botanical gardens and the zoo, then decided on a less active day starting with brunch at my house (I made a ‘full oven’ of food: egg casserole, chunks of seasoned new potatoes, and pumpkin bread) followed by a walk around the Springfield Art Museum and then the Springfield Conservation Nature Center.

The art museum was opening their Art in Bloom event – with the fashion component being the main part available for viewing. My favorite was the creation that was inspired by the hallway long tilted sky – probably my favorite piece in the museum!

Of course, there were plenty of other things to enjoy in the museum – other fashion and art works. I’ve picked some of my favorite views from the pictures it took.

Then we were off to the nature center…not for a hike (one of my guests was having back problems) but for the center itself. The turtle tank was being renovated so there were two large snapping turtles in a tank that was too small for them long term but offered views from two sides. It was a great photographic opportunity.

And then they headed off to prepare for the next leg of their trip.

Then and Now – Family

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In the 1960s, I was growing up in a large extended family. My mother had 8 siblings and my father, an only child, was close to his cousins. Most of our traveling was to visit family. By the time I was in elementary school, my parents had a second car, and my mother took us to her parents’ home for a week or so during the summer to see the aunt and uncles…continuously growing number of cousins. I remember my grandfather’s construction projects that included a covered patio/carport with a very long table and bench overlooking a large elm where he’d fashioned a table and benches to fit neatly around its large trunk. We ate every meal aside from breakfast outdoors! There was also a large barbeque pit with a huge grill and an oven built into the chimney. He built a fountain of natural stone near the garden…the swimming pool was a little further away. Prior to the swimming pool being built, he often found a river suitable for swimming for all the aunts and cousins….and he would do some fishing. I enjoyed one-on-one time with my maternal grandmother at her work (she owned/ran the mill); I remember her writing letters to one of her daughters that lived far away over a few days before deciding it was long enough and sending it off.

 My paternal grandparents moved to live near us in the late 50s, so I saw them very frequently – lots of good food, gardening, crocheting, sewing, dominoes and checkers. We saw my dad’s extended family at gatherings held at his paternal aunt’s house. I remember my great aunt had hollyhocks beside her porch. We visited his maternal aunts (and grandmother) that lived in the same town. I associate my great-grandmother with chocolate covered graham crackers and her daughters with plants (my grandmother had a number of plants that she received originally from her sisters).

The food was always plentiful and included veggies from the garden. The paternal side of the family also cooked Czech desserts (kolaches!).

Now the family is significantly smaller. I have 3 sisters and am the only one that lives further away; only 1 of my sisters has children so the number of cousins is small. My husband had 2 sisters, but they are already gone as is his extended family. My sisters and I are transitioning from a relationship that has be very focused on caring for our parents over the past few years – not yet settled into a new normal without our mother. I am not close to my cousins although I have been seeing 3 of them more frequently at funerals recently…realizing that we have in common our adjustment to life after long-lived parents die.

I drive from my home in Missouri to visit my dad near Dallas once or twice a month in his assisted living home. My daughter goes with me sometimes. One sister visits him almost daily. The other two visit once or twice a week when they are town. I try to see at least one of them when I visit Dad. Two of them have visited us in Missouri. We text each other frequently – mostly keeping each other informed about what is happening with Dad. There are infrequent emails, phone calls, or zoom meeting. I enjoy my access to a frequently updated cloud folder of great nephew pictures. The way we keep in touch when we are not together has changed significantly since the 1960s!

Food had changed as well. We seem to all have foods we are avoiding now (and the problematic foods are not the same!)…and desserts are not something we want as frequently. We tend to go to a restaurant for special occasions more often then eating at home.

Previous Then and Now posts

Dickerson Park Zoo – April 2024

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My first trip of the season to the Dickerson Park Zoo was back at the end of March (post 1, post 2); my second was near the end of April when my sister and brother-in-law visited. Like the first visit, there were lots of peacocks wandering through the zoo; this time there were peahens too and there were some instances where it looked like the birds were either already incubating eggs…or getting a ‘nest’ ready. There was a male just past the entrance that was actively displaying for a peahen…moving both the upright tail feathers and the supporting structures behind the big tail. The birds were also vocalizing the whole time we were at the zoo.

Daffodils were replaced with irises blooming in clumps along the walkways and the sides of the stream.

I enjoyed the enclosure for flamingos, roseate spoonbills, and scarlet ibis.

There was one flamingo that was sitting and kept its head in the dirt…perhaps not feeling so well. All the other birds seemed to be active (particularly the spoonbills) and enjoying the afternoon.

I zoomed in on some feathers that had been shed in the enclosure. It is interesting that the feathers are white toward the base….very colorful in the part furthest from the body of the bird (when attached).

The trumpeter swans were on the pond as they were last time – perhaps a little perturbed by the tree trimming that was happening nearby.

Both the cheetahs and lions were out – and one of the cheetahs was moving around a lot. It could have been responding to the extra noise.

One bongo was relaxing while the other nibbled at leaves.

I zoomed in on the elephant’s eye – realized that they are amber in color. A keeper came to give hay to the elephant and asked if we had questions. I asked if all elephants have amber eyes and evidently that is the eye color for Asian elephants. The elephant is named Patience and she is a geriatric elephant; she likes to be alone rather than with the other female (they don’t get along).

I took another picture of the little elephant sculpture…probably my favorite sculpture at the zoo. I think the shiny top of its head is where people touch it the most!

It was starting to sprinkle but we wanted to see the giraffes. One of the young ones was intent on getting some grass near the fence.

My brother-in-law became mesmerized watching a little girl held by her mother feed the giraffes romaine lettuce; she was an expert…must do it frequently.

We headed back to the zoo store where my sister bought one of almost every item shaped like a turtle! It was a good finale for our visit to the zoo.

Springfield Botanical Gardens – April 2024

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I made my second visit to the Springfield Botanical Gardens in late April when one of my sisters was visiting; my husband and I had gone to the Kite and Pinata Festival earlier in the month. The tulips had been in full bloom during the first visit. There were a few left in late April, but the irises and columbines were the big show. I noticed some native honeysuckle and clematis blooming as well. I made it a goal to make a walk around the gardens at least once a month until cold weather comes again next fall. There will always be something new to see.

My sister and I walked through the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden after viewing the gardens close to the Botanical Center building. I used my Friends of the Garden membership in lieu of the admission fee. I made a small cairn on one of the posts near the rock garden…this time choosing the same type of stone for all three rocks.

The Japanese lanterns are always some of my favorite photographic subjects in the garden. I like the greenery around many of them. The pines are there all year round, but the grasses and yellow iris are only around during the warm months.

The yellow iris grow around the ponds – along with the bald cypress knees that always make the water’s edge look more interesting.

It was a good way to spend a couple of hours….enjoy the beautiful gardens and get in some steps for the day!

Zooming – April 2024

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Flowers (Nixa and Springfield MO, Sherman TX),  – birds (Nixa and Springfield MO) – solar eclipse (Poplar Bluff MO)….a lot of zoomed images this month. Enjoy the 2024 slide show!

Ten Little Celebrations – April 2024

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April 2024 has been even more full of little celebrations than usual; it was challenging to choose the top 10!

Traveling with my daughter. Taking a road trip to Dallas (a familiar trek) is quite different when my daughter to with me. We start the driving a bit later and, this time, we stopped in Joplin on the way home for lunch. I celebrated the time in the car…the great conversation.

The life of a cousin. It was bittersweet to go to the funeral of a cousin that was younger than me…but it was clearly a celebration of her life.

20 puzzles for $2 each. The Friends of the Library book sale in my county included puzzles and I celebrated getting 20 of them for my dad and the other residents at his assisted living group home. I also celebrated a return to volunteering - helping with the book sale.

iPhone 15 Pro Max. Getting a new phone is always cause to celebrate….even though I started out a little anxious that it would a little challenging to go from my old Android phone to an iPhone; it was a pleasant surprise to realize it was pretty easy. The only downside was the reduced functionality of the Windows phone link app for text messages; that issue was resolved as soon as I transitioned to a Mac later in the month.

MacBook Air 15”. More new technology I am celebrating; it only took about 24 hours for me to become a fan of the Mac after using Intel-based machines since the 1980s.

Irises. The plants bloomed all at once. In one bed the stalks were too tall for them to remain standing to I cut them to enjoy indoors – celebrated the buds opening all along the stems.

14 ducklings. Seeing Mom Mallard with her ducklings is a great celebration of spring.

Solar Eclipse. So glad we made the effort to position ourselves to see a 2nd solar eclipse (the 1st for me was in 2017). It’s a phenomenon rare enough to be a celebration.

Belted Kingfisher. Celebrating a bird I didn’t expect to see around our neighborhood pond.

Kite and Pinata Festival. The botanical garden is a great place for outdoor celebrations like this.

Road Trip to Dallas – April 2024

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Last week I made a 2-day road trip down to Dallas to visit with my dad. It’s about 7 hours of driving in each direction. When I left my house in Missouri on the first day it was dark. Just as the horizon was beginning to brighten behind me, I saw a large bird fly over the interstate – higher than my car but not that far in front of me. I wondered if it was a barn owl although I didn’t get a good enoug look other than to realize the bird had a lot of white.

After my first rest stop the sun was up and more birds were moving about. I saw a large one fly across the highway…a little lower than was safe and then just above my car there was another of the same kind. It was a turkey! I was close enough to see the eye glinting.

I saw a great blue heron flying along or over the road twice…and a murmuration of smaller birds that spilt in two over the highway.

The highlight of the drive down was the rest stop on US 75 just after crossing from Oklahoma to Texas. The berm between the highway and the rest stop parking was full of wildflowers!

Closer to the building there were beds of wildflowers…including the Texas state flower: bluebonnets.

I enjoyed trying my new iPhone 15 Pro Max phone to take some macro pictures of some of the flowers.

Heading home the next day, I left the hotel about 6 AM and got to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge about 20 minutes after sunrise. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy and sprinkling so there was not a lot of bird activity, and the light was not great for photography.

The surprise of the morning came when I saw something on the road in my left peripheral vision as I moved slowly along Hagerman’s wildlife road…..as I turned to see it better I realized it was a hub cap. I got out of the car to see if it belonged to my car…and it did! It was the first time anything like that has happened to me in 55 years of driving! I put the hub cap in the car opting to not try to put it back on until I got home.

I saw two flocks of cattle egrets as I was driving back toward the highway from Hagerman.

As I drove through Oklahoma, I was driving thorough moving cloud shadows. They were moving in the same direction as I was, and I was moving faster than they were!

The drive was very routine until my route direction shifted from north to east. The wind buffeted the car and the big trucks on the interstate were even more impacted. The last 3 hours were exhausting – requiring both hands on the steering wheel and hyper awareness of the vehicles (particularly trucks) around me.

I made it home in a reasonable time but was very tired.

Gleanings of the Week Ending April 20, 2024

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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.

Tax Burden by State – A comparison done by WalletHub that compared the 50 states on 3 types of taxes - property taxes, individual income taxes, and sales and excise taxes - as a share of total personal income in the state.

See a Restored Ancient Roman Helmet—and Two Shiny New Replicas – 2,000-year-old helmet made of silver-gilded iron.

Solar Savings in the US – Looking at the numbers….

Feral Hogs to Be Removed from Congaree National Park – My husband and I visited Congaree in 2008 and I vividly remember the feral hogs. Evidently action is being taken to remove them. They have become a pervasive problem to both the park and surrounding landowners, routinely causing widespread damage to land and water resources both within and outside of the park. Recent observations have shown that they have begun to cause more extensive damage to areas near the Harry Hampton Visitor Center, including areas where synchronous fireflies are active and where restoration of longleaf pine is ongoing.

What four decades of canned salmon reveal about marine food webs - The cans contained fillets from four salmon species, all caught over a 42-year period in the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay. Researchers dissected the preserved fillets from 178 cans and counted the number of anisakid roundworms -- a common, tiny marine parasite -- within the flesh. The parasites were killed by the canning process but still visible… counting them is one way to gauge how well a marine ecosystem is doing.

Texas Solar Power Growth Changing the Shape of Daily Electricity Supply in ERCOT – Looking at the changes between 2022 and 2023…easy to see graphically.

Functional capacity in old age is like an ecosystem that may collapse when disrupted - In old age, a tighter interlinkage between different domains of functional capacity may indicate a loss of system resilience. When functional capacity domains are tightly interconnected, a disruption in one domain can affect others and lead to a collapse in functioning.

Ming Dynasty Tomb Found in China's Xinfu District – Part of excavations before nearby highway construction begins.

I spy with my speedy eye: Scientists discover speed of visual perception ranges widely in humans - The rate with which we perceive the world is known as our "temporal resolution." Though our visual temporal resolution is quite stable from day to day in general, a post-hoc analysis did suggest that there may be slightly more variation over time within females than within males.

Study Reveals Vast Networks of ‘Ghost Roads’ in Asian Rainforests - An extensive analysis of satellite imagery has uncovered thousands of miles of unmapped roads slicing through Asia’s tropical rainforests - “ghost roads” may be laid down by miners, loggers, poachers, drug traffickers, and land grabbers, often illegally.

Sustaining Elder Care – April 2024

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2-day trips to Dallas have become the norm for me. I leave early from home, visit my dad immediately after I get to Dallas in the early afternoon and take care of any other business thereafter…then stay in a hotel overnight and drive home the next day. Now that the days are getting longer, perhaps I might visit him a second time in the morning before I head home although the assisted living group home is not ‘early.’ I probably would not want to arrive for a visit before 10 AM.

Dad still enjoys going out to eat and we are exploring more places nearby.

The warmer weather is great for walks. We have discovered that he does better with a four-wheeled walker than the two-wheeled one. The rough pavement makes it very hard to use the two-wheeled one. His balance is much improved holding onto the four-wheeled walker and he walks at a pace that is more like the way he walked prior to using a walker.

He has decided that 500 pieces puzzles are usually too hard…and he wants bigger pieces. I got 10 puzzles for $20 at the library’s used books (and puzzles) sale; knowing what they have is one of the benefits of volunteering for setup. Most of the puzzles I got have 300 pieces and I am hopefull my dad and others at the group home will enjoy putting them together. I picked ones with bright colors too – although that wasn’t a requirement from my dad.

One of my sisters and her husband took my dad to her home to see the eclipse on the 8th. Unfortunately, he didn’t understand what was happening and kept asking where he was. It was a learning experience for our family – we will continue to enjoy taking him out to lunch occasionally but be very careful not to overwhelm him with more complex events away from his assisted living home.

I had thought I would be able to get down to one visit per month…but so far that hasn’t happened.

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