Kittens! – Month 3

Month 3 included a big milestone for our 3 kittens: they handled minor surgery well; Sooty (the male) was neutered and Puma and Pooky (the females) were spayed. They were a little less active for a few days after the surgery but resumed their more boisterous activities within a few days. We had our big cat tree turned on its side and put away the wand toys that encourage jumping until the females got their stitches out a week after the surgery. All three had their claws trimmed before their surgery; that might have discombobulated them more than then surgery…they couldn’t grab onto carpet as they raced around the house or their scratching posts (or things they are not supposed to grab onto!).

My husband is still enticing them into their suite for the night with a late evening snack. Restricting their access to 2 rooms has helped keep the odd thumps in the night to a minimum. They adjusted to the time change without incident although my husband updated a lamp in their suite that was on a timer to not change to new time which might have helped.

Sooty (the male) is still the largest of the three. He is the only one that likes the cat bed that my daughter gave us since her cat didn’t use it.

They all like to sit (sometimes nap) in upholstered chairs – usually one at a time rather than sleeping in a cuddled group as they did when they were younger. Pooky is shown in an old rocker recliner. She is the only one with different colored digital pads.

Pooky and Puma weigh the same…but Puma looks bigger because her fur stands out more.

Puma might have the loudest purr; I hear her more often than I do the others.

I am trying to train all three kittens to not jump onto the kitchen counters. I have a magazine that I used a few times to gently nudge them off….and usually now I simply pick up the magazine and they exit the counter. They still seem to enjoy watching the action in the kitchen from the back of the couch!

Josey Ranch – October 2022

The work to replace the decking on the boardwalks around the cattails end of the lake at Josey Ranch has been completed.

The damage to the concrete walkways from the drought and the maintenance trucks is still there and is evidently not going to be repaired anytime soon.

My visit toward the end of October was later in the morning, and I didn’t see as many birds as usual. There was one female grackle…not the larger crowd that used to be at there all during the year with raucous calls.

The Great Egret that I see almost every time was still there.

The Snowy Egret was new this time. It was on the other side of the lake in the grass at first then moved to the new decking on one of the boardwalks. The wind ruffled its feathers.

The swans were asleep on the bank.

There were a lot of white feathers in the water and in the grass. I took a series of pictures. Many of the feathers looked relatively fresh, and I wondered if they were from normal preening or a disaster that befell some white bird.

I saw some small birds on the water and walked closer to see them. The Ruddy Ducks were either passing through on migration or maybe they will stay for the winter!

These are diving ducks so it takes some effort to photograph them if they are feeding!

As I walked back toward my car, a turtle was poking its nose out of the water. The lake has been cleared of snags that the turtles could use for sitting on cool days, unfortunately.

Overall – the winter birds had not shown up yet at Josey Ranch by late October. I expect to see more in November.

Carrollton Yard…before a first frost

It was fun to see so many flowers in the Carrollton yard – blooming into late October since there had been no frost. I enjoyed the colors and blooms realizing a lot will change soon.

Things could look very different by the time I am there in November.

I always enjoy photographing the red yuccas. My favorite picture from my time in Carrollton in late October is the flowers and seedpod together. The flowers might not get enough time to complete the cycle into seed pods, but the plants have already had a good year producing seeds.

Spoils of Halloween

My son-in-law always hosts a pumpkin carving party for his research team before Halloween. This year, 10 pumpkins were purchased for the event; it took two carts to get the pumpkins from the store to the car.

My daughter missed getting a group picture of the results…sent pictures of the three they had on their steps for Halloween (with and without the lights inside).

Like last year – the squirrels are enjoying the spoils of Halloween pumpkins! They start with the carved parts…enlarging the eyes and mouth…small bites until there is almost nothing left to go into the compost! They apparently started with the pumpkin on the top step.

Cosmos and chives

At my home in Missouri, we had some overnight frosts. That was not the case in Carrollton, Texas where I spent the last week of October. The cosmos flowers were still blooming!

There were still buds and insects too!

Before I left to come home, I decided to collect seeds from the chives to plant around the edges of some flower beds in my Missouri home next spring.

The plants had formed, and the capsules had popped open. The rain had knocked the seed heads over and into the still-green leaves and steppingstones.

The plants had formed, and the capsules had popped open. The rain had knocked the seed heads over and into the still-green leaves and steppingstones.

I picked up the heads carefully and used scissors to cut the stem…collected a bin full of them. They were still wet from the rain, so I opted to cut more of the stem part of the head away and spread the seeds/capsules on a paper towel to dry. I brought them home in a recycled envelope. They are now emptied into a box in my office – keeping dry – ready for planted after the last frost next spring!

Gleanings of the Week Ending November 5, 2022

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 Tucson, Arizona is facing up to a 1,200-year drought – Harvesting rain!

The demented gift American politicians handed to China – About electric buses….and more. The suggested acronym by the author: GAGA (Give American Greatness Away).

New clues into a serious neurodegenerative disease – So many sources of cognitive decline….and we are just beginning to understand some of the mechanisms (and thus effective treatment). The research described in this post is about frontotemporal dementia.

World headed in wrong direction one 5 key mechanisms of climate progress – And the 5 are: share of unabated fossil gas in electricity generation, carbon intensity of global steel production, share of kilometers traveled in passenger cars, mangrove loss, agricultural production of GHG emissions.

Researchers reveal why shingles can lead to stroke - The risk of stroke is elevated for a year after having shingles. This study found that prothrombotic exosomes which can cause blood clots are found in those with shingles…and persist after the outward symptoms of shingles are gone. Using antiviral agents longer with the addition of antiplatelet and anti-inflammatory agents could help reduce the risk of stroke.

Will we ever…. live in city sized buildings? – Maybe. But would it be pleasant? Maybe an apocalyptic event would force us to do it to survive.

Vitamin D deficiency linked to premature death – The study evaluated 307,601 records from the UK Biobank. Take away message from the results: ensure that vulnerable and elderly maintain sufficient vitamin D levels throughout the year.

Omicron keeps finding new evolutionary tricks to outsmart our immunity – Variants within a variant!

Powerful Aerial Photos Show the Consequences of Drought on the Colorado River – The dry situation in the western US.

Cats react to ‘baby talk’ from their owners, but not strangers – And does this mean we are more than just a food provider in their world?

eBotanical Prints – October 2022

20 botanical books in October. I continued to enjoy books about gladioli – finding them in September but saving them to browse in October; they are catalogs from a nursery that specialized in the bulbs that was in Indiana. I will probably plant some gladioli bulbs next spring…bring back some memories of my grandparents growing them for cut flowers during my childhood summers.   

There was a botanical atlas and textbook this month. And - I found quite a few publications by German botanists in October; 13 of the 20 books are in German!

The whole list of 2,492 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. The list for the October 2022 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 October 2022 eBotanical Prints!

Kunderd gladioli : 1925 / A.E. Kunderd * Kunderd, A.E. * sample image * 1925

Fourteen weeks in botany : being an illustrated flora  * Wood, Alphoso; Steele, Joel Dorman * sample image * 1879

Kunderd gladioli : 1922 * Kunderd, A.E. * sample image * 1922

The Botanical Atlas: A Guide to the Practical Study of Plants, containing Representatives of the Leading Forms of Plant Life, Vol. II * M'Alpine, Daniel * sample image * 1883

Kunderd gladioli for 1923 * Kunderd, A.E. * sample image * 1923

Kunderd gladioli for 1929 * Kunderd, A.E. * sample image * 1929

Lehrbuch der praktischen Pflanzenkunde in Wort und Bild * Hoffmann, Carl  * sample image * 1880

Die Coniferen und die Gnetaceen V2 * Strasburger, Eduard * sample image * 1872

A text-book of botany * Strasburger, Eduard; Schenck, Heinrich; Noll, Fritz; Karsten, George; Lang, William Henry * sample image * 1908

Vegetationsbilder ser 1  * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1904

Vegetationsbilder ser 2 * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1905

Vegetationsbilder ser 3 * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1906

Vegetationsbilder ser 4 * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1906

Vegetationsbilder ser 6 * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1909

Vegetationsbilder ser 7 * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1910

Vegetationsbilder ser 8 * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1911

Vegetationsbilder ser 9 * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1912

Vegetationsbilder ser 11 * Karsten, George; Schenck, Heinrich * sample image * 1914

Vegetationsbilder aus Südbrasilien * Wettstein, Richard * sample image * 1904

Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Vegetation der Canarischen Inseln Bd 2 T 1 Lief 2 * Schenck, Heinrich; Schimper, Andreas Franz Wilhelm * sample image * 1907

Springfield Conservation Nature Center

A few days after the first hard frosts of the year in Springfield MO, we took a short hike on the Springfield Conservation Nature Center trails. The morning was cool and sunny – a near perfect fall day to be outdoors. The forest was full of color. One surprise: there seemed to be more green leaves on the ground than usual; perhaps the trees were caught by the frost before they could change color.

We spotted a young turtle sunning on a log…warming up.

A larger turtle climbed up on the same log. It went back in the water rather than joining the smaller one.

There were ducks preening/snoozing on a log in the water. Their legs and webbed feet looked very bright in the morning sun.

I couldn’t resist some macro images of late flowers…a few insects…even at caterpillar!

Our last ‘find’ of the morning was in the parking lot as we were getting ready to leave: a praying mantis making its way across the asphalt!

A morning well spent….

Red Cabbage

My rule of thumb is to always buy the more colorful version of veggies when they are available – so I always buy the red cabbage rather than green (unless the red is not available)! The extra nutrients in the red cabbage make it worth the little bit of extra cost. However - red cabbage always looks more purple than red to me.

The outer leaves come off easily enough – to roll and then cut into thin slivers for slaw, but the leaves quickly are so tightly wrapped together that they cannot be separated; I cut cross sections through the head and then cut the pile on the board until the pieces are small enough for slaw. I am always fascinated by the patterns of the white and red/purple in the cross sections.

Of course, I never use the whole head at once…and I’ve saved pieces for a few days to see how the patterns change as they age. They shrink a little as they dry…and the purple color may deepen! The white part gets bumpy and begins to look spongy!

Zentangle® – October 2022

31 days in October….31 Zentangle tiles. A lot of the tiles this month have a seasonal palette: orange, muted red, pale green. I had a purple gel pin that I was using up too. Most of the tiles in the mosaic were made in London, Ontario during the hotel room part of my ‘retreat’ from my normal routine. One of the ways I filled the time I gained from not doing online activities or interacting with people was making the tiles. I had taken plenty of supplies.

I also drew 31 tiles that I didn’t color. I’ll probably finish them next month…maybe post the before and after images.  

--

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.

Ten Little Celebrations – October 2022

Ten little celebrations for October 2022 – selected from the ones I logged throughout the month. About half the little celebrations are from my trip to London, Ontario!

Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory. Our only sight-seeing stop on our road trip to London, Ontario was at a conservatory. It was just right – interesting for botanical photography and history….close to our route…and the weather was perfect. I celebrated that the stop was a great as I expected it to be!

French cheesecake. I celebrated that it tasted as good as it looked (and the Lactaid tablet enabled me to avoid a tummy ache).

Harvest festival (outdoor and indoor music at Covent Garden Market). A crisp fall day…an outdoor picnic court decorated with winter squashes…country music ---- then indoor for a salad at a bistro table on a balony above the market shops and music from a strings duo. Celebrating fall with my daughter!

The fall color in the first 2 hours of our drive (the Canadian part). The very first hours of our drive toward home from London, Ontario were the best fall foliage of the trip: maples and sumac were at their peak redness in the morning sunshine. Another celebration of the season!

Being home again. Returning from more than a week away….always brings a celebration of home….appreciating where I live.

A sunny day at home. We had two very cold days – but they were sunny. I celebrated the sun streaming in the windows…realized there were certain times of the morning that the sun shines onto my hands on my computer keyboard if the blinds are raised --- vowed to enjoy that as many mornings as possible this coming winter (and celebrate how great my Missouri house is!)

Finding a large bag of daffodil bulbs. The first place I looked for bulbs only had small bags….so I celebrated when I found one with 40 (and many of them were doubles). I am planting them in flowerbeds and around trees in our Missouri yard.

Haircut (short and neat). Celebrating my first haircut in Missouri…I should have done it earlier.

My new floaters are evidently not anything serious….probably just some normal aging. I had a scary experience --- noticing a flurry of new floaters in one eye and some of them seemem to be very bright. They were already reduced by the time I got to an eye doctor a day later…and he confirmed (after some testing) that they were probably normal and would continue to decline. I celebrated that they were not caused by some serious eye problem.

So many good books. I appreciate the online sources of books – particularly Internet Archive. This October it seems like every time I finish a book – or a series of books – there is another one that is just as interesting. I celebrate the ‘stacks’ in virtual libraries that are so huge they would not ever fit on a night stand or even in my house (much less be affordable to purchase). There is always something on hand to read these days!

Zooming – October 2022

17 images in the zoom slideshow for October 2022. They are from Carrollton TX, Detroit MI, London ON, and Nixa, MO…maybe more locations than any month since before the COVID-19 pandemic!

October is a transition month with leaves beginning to turn colors and fall…more to come of that into November.  For now – enjoy some late blooming flowers and animals active on warmer days.

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 29, 2022

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 an asteroid impact would transform the food we eat – Thought provoking…and scary. Right now, I am beginning to wonder how the level of drought in the US is going to change the food we eat…or will we eat the same way but pay much higher prices.

A Field Guide to Unexpected, Out-of-Place Wildlife – Why wildlife shows up in the ‘wrong’ place… I had read about the shifting range of armadillos last spring (was reminded of it by the reference to the Virginia opossum in this post).

State Of the Birds Report: More Than Half of U.S. Bird Species Are Declining – Sad….another indicator that the Earth is changing.

Economic losses from hurricanes become too big to be offset by the US if warming continues – I’ve been wondering about this since Hurricane Harvey and finally there is some analysis of the data…but, so far, it does not seem to be changing the way we deal with the aftermath of these catastrophic storms. The dominate idea still seems to be ‘rebuild.’

Life expectancy improves in some countries after big drops in 2020 – but US and others see further falls  - The life expectancy at birth in the US was 79.8 in 2019 and was down to 77.4 in 2021. It might take a few years until the impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy is fully understood. It seems to me that there are other cultural changes that happened concurrent with the COVID-19 pandemic that could impact life expectancy in the US into the future: reduced vaccination rates, reduced trust in medical professionals, increased belief in whatever is said on social media and conspiracy theories, increased stress/mental health challenges, etc.

The Clean Water Act at 50: Big Successes, More to Be Done – The Act was passed the year I graduated from high school. I had done a project about algae as pollution indicator in the streams around Dallas, Texas in the fall before so I was aware of water pollution issues of the time. It is frustrating that there is still so much to be done….

New model of Alzheimer’s as an autoimmune disease – A new perspective….maybe leading to new therapies in the future.

Ancient Maya Cities Were Polluted with High Levels of Mercury – The Maya coated surfaces (walls and floors and bodies) with cinnabar…and the mercury from that leached into the water supply and soils. Chronic mercury poisoning causes tremors, weakened vision and hearing, and paralysis! The contamination at some sites is high enough that archaeologists need to use mitigation techniques and protective gear.

Young kids avoid one learning trap that often snares adults – Young kids are not as good at focused attention as adults which means they notice new things happening away from a ‘focus area’ more quickly…..but focused attention can also mean learned inattention in adults which might not be the best strategy in all situations.

After Three Summers, Man Finally Gets Photos of Hummingbird with Rainbow Wings – Beautiful pictures. They prompted me to look up why hummingbird feathers can show the colors of the rainbow. I found a Science Daily post from back in 2020 that offers an explanation.

2 more Sir Arthur Evans eBooks on Internet Archive

 Enjoy!

Unique Aspects of Days – October 2022

Unique aspects of October….

Border crossing (US to Canada). This was not the only time I crossed the boarder from the US to Canada…but the first time in more than  decade…so rare enough to be unique for me. It was the first day of their new policy to no longer require documentation of COVID-19 vaccination….probabay made it a little faster than it would have been the day before.

Buying a baby present in Canada. Two aspects of uniqueness of this one: deciding that having a baby in my exended family is unique enough to buy an ad hoc present and enjoying shopping during vacation …wanting to buy something (and not always something for me).

Discovering that the fireplace vent was leaking cold air into my office and the hearth room upstairs. There was cold air from the bottom of our gas fireplace doors (the vent area) during our first cold weather of the season. The magnetic strip I ordered from Amazon has fixed the problem…and I am glad I noticed the problem so quickly.

Dry Cleaners. I hadn’t been to a dry cleaners in years. I probably could have taken the jackets I had been wearing for a couple of years several years ago…but then the pandemic stopped our being out and about. I aired the jackets and continued to wear them occasionally. When I went to a dry cleaners near our new house, I was the only customer…and the racks didn’t look very full either.

Exploding broccoli. I was pleased to find a cup of carrots, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli in one of the places we stopped on our way back from Canada. I had not anticated that the lid would be so hard to get off. As my daughter was pulling us out of the parking lot, I was working on the packaging…finding it a bit of a challenge…when the lid suddenly came off and broccoli flew out into my lap and onto the center console! I ate it anyway…and the other veggies too!

Hail. We had quarter sized hail at our house for a brief time. I’m glad our cars were in the garage. In Maryland we never got hail above pea sized (and it was slushy). This hail bouced and stayed around on the ground longer!

Peppermint honey. I bought some peppermine infused honey in Canada…and it is yummy!

Sitting in a sunny window like a cat. A very nice place on a cold morning while I was in Canada.

Tator tots. I hadn’t had tater tots in a lot time….and they were a big disappointment…so the event will probably be unique.

Went to the doctor’s office but the doctor had called in sick. I was signing in for a doctor’s appointment when the nurse came from the back and informed the front desk that the doctor had called in sick! I ended up making an appointment with another doctor since she was so fully booked it would be more than a month before I could be worked into her schedule!

Our Missouri Yard – October 2022

We had two mornings with temperatures in the 20s last week after I took some pictures of the yard. The frost didn’t seem to impact the oak or river birch in our neighbor’s yard very much.

The rose petals are all limp now, but the leaves are unchanged. Some of the buds might still open now that we are going to have at least 10 days of temperatures well above freezing.

The pokeweed flowers and berries survived very well but the leaves or limp. The berries that are already ripened will probably be eaten by birds, but the immature fruits are probably not going to develop further.

The oxalis triangularis that is growing on the east side of our house survived the frost unscathed! Maybe it benefited from being close to the brick wall of the house and getting sun first thing in the morning when the temperature was the coldest.

Now that is it warmed up again – I am planting bulbs: daffodils, hyacinths, allium, and crocus. The previous owner put landscaping fabric then rocks in the flower beds, so the task is very difficult. I removed a small cedar that had died and planted bulbs in the space – filling in the bigger hole I made in the black fabric with cedar mulch and rocks. Over time, there might be more and more of that…until there is not as much of the black fabric in the beds.  I am probably going to plant the rest of the crocus in the lawn since they will come up and bloom before the grass would need to be mowed!

Our New Neighborhood – October 2022

It’s our first fall in Nixa, Missouri. The trees around the ponds in our neighborhood are full of fall color although they may be more muted than some years because of the dry summer we had. Still – there are plenty of reds and yellows that have been added to the greens still left from summer.

I am glad that there are maples around that are as brilliant as the ones we left behind in Maryland. My favorite time is when the tree has a lot of different colors!

At the edges of the ponds, I noticed some honey suckle blooming…and seed pods.

In the water there were two different turtles. Ones was a red-eared slider.

But I’m not sure what the other one was. It was larger than the red-eared slider…had very different markings and shell. Too bad I didn’t get better pictures. It’s good to know that there are at least 2 kinds of turtles in our neighborhood!

Looking back at London, Ontario

The week in London, Ontario was a different sort of week away from home. I had anticipated several aspects and intentionally took steps on others.

More alone time. My daughter was busy with her conference, and we had separate hotel rooms…so I was alone more – and I anticipated that that it would be that way. I brought activities with me for the time the hotel room and planned at least one activity away from the hotel room for each day. Because it was cold in the morning – I usually waited to leave the hotel until mid-day. I saw the sunrise from the hotel window almost every morning and

a few sunsets with the moon visible too.

There was even some fall foliage visible from the window.

I made a lot of Zentangle tiles, wrote more than 3,000 words per day, and read novels. My favorite morning time was sitting with my feet in the sun coming through the window…feeling warm and cozy….reading novels. It was good to have a week to simply spoil myself.

Walking everywhere. I originally thought I would take the car and visit some parks in the area, but I opted instead to just walk everywhere. I went to Covent Market frequently but also down to the Thames River path, to Banting House, to Museum London, to the RBC Center. And my daughter and I walked to buy at least one meal a day…mostly take out but we ate twice at Crabby Joe’s Bar and Grill. The COVID-19 infection rate was lower in London, Ontario that most places in the US, but we were still being careful – masking when we were in indoor public places.

The slower pace of walking allowed me to see more things – the street sculpture and murals I posted about earlier…and the changing color of leaves.

From my hotel window, I noticed the street sweeper machines in the early morning…and the streets did seem cleaner than in the US. I appreciated being around people after the aloneness of the hotel room….people watching as I walked:

  • The city’s homeless were evident in this downtown area; some had strollers or battered trailers to pull behind a bicycle to carry their things. One slept in a sunny doorway of a building before the store opened.

  • There were waves students that came for snacks or lunch from the local high school…some in uniform and others not.

  • One evening there must have been an event that required costumes since there several people walking along in exaggerated outfits and makeup.

  • Part of the street was closed to vehicular traffic and there was a mini-concert one evening there.

  • The picnic area at Covent Garden had an Autumn Festival at mid-day on our last day in London, Ontario. They had decorated with squash and gourds…country music filled the air. People were enjoying the sunshine, music, and food.

  • The street was modified for handicapped access and there were people in wheelchairs maneuvering easily through the area.  I also noticed a few sight-impaired people. The crossing lights made sounds as well as visual countdowns.

  • The hotel next to ours had a fire alarm and people streamed from the building…multiple fire trucks arrived. A person in our hotel lobby commented that he was getting his passport just in case the fire spread. But it was all over quickly. We never saw any smoke or fire.

Less online time. I intentionally spent less time online. I didn’t take a complete break, but I wasn’t checking news or email frequently…and I didn’t turn on the television at all. The strategy made for a calmer…less stressful week.

Canada. I found myself looking for differences between where I live in the US and London, Ontario. It seemed that the small city was cleaner than similar places in the US and that the downtown area was more vital…that infrastructure was in better shape…basically that the government was more effective. In general, people seemed less stressed. Yes – there were people looking at their phones, but they didn’t seem as distracted by the device – the high school students were generally spending more time talking to each other than looking at their phones!

One of my themes going into the week was thinking about what I want to change. I thought about it…but didn’t come up with definitive answers. I’m changing the idea to ‘what I want to change in 2023’ to give myself a little more time to decide.

London, Ontario Purchases

My first purchases in London, Ontario were at the Covent Garden Market and were food I that would enjoy while I was there: bread from the bakery, mint dark chocolate Smoothies and dark chocolate covered ginger from The Chocolate Factory, and two kinds if tea and peppermint honey. I enjoyed the honey on the bread and to sweeten the tea.

I splurged on bone China mugs for myself…feeling the chill in the air and realizing I would be drinking hot tea in the coming months. The poppy mug was purchased from The Tea Haus in Covent Garden Market and the other I purchased from the Museum London shop; its design is from a Frank Johnston (Canadian artist) painting: Sunset in the Bush. I also purchased some other gift items at the museum shop but am not posting about them yet…want them to be a surprise to their recipients over the next few months.

I did purchase some gifts for people that are not online…more dark chocolate and an outfit for my grandnephew from Happy Wear in Covent Garden Market. Hopefully the outfit will fit him this winter!

The last day I was there I tried to find some toys for the kittens. There was no place in Convent Garden…so I opted to go to a nearby Dollarama store as I walked back to the hotel for the last time and found what I needed; the kittens are enjoying the small toys!

I am very pleased with my purchases…good food and items that are useful (not stuff to simply display in a shelf!).

Gleanings of the Week Ending October 22, 2022

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.

US National Integrated Drought Information System – 68.4% of the US is abnormally dry…46% is in moderate drought…27% in severe drought. Use the location tab of this page to select state or county level maps color coded for their drought status. Where I live, we are in moderate drought.

Autumn in the Adirondacks – Leaf color has not been impacted by the drought in the Adirondacks. The pictures are from the Landsat 9 satellite. I’m enjoying the color from the ground – even with the drought here in Missouri making it not as colorful as it probably was in prior years.

Why cork is making a comeback – The main product mentioned in the article was cork stoppers….but I thought of the calm I felt when I walked into the University of Michigan’s Law Library with a tour group and realized how much the cork floor muffled our footsteps. It was the highpoint of the trip with my daughter when she was considering the school for her undergraduate studies.

Blue fibers found in dental calculus of Maya sacrifice victims – Analysis of more than 100 sacrifice victims found blue fibers in the mouths of 2 of them. Are the fibers from blue gags left in the mouths of victims over and extended time? Similar pigment called Maya blue has been found in other sites where it may have been used to paint the bodies of sacrificial victims. Another archeological mystery…

See the buzzworthy winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition – Eye candy for the week.

Millions of Americans are losing access to maternal care. Here’s what can be done – 36% of the counties nationwide – largely in the Midwest and South – constitute “maternity care deserts,” meaning they have no obstetric hospitals or birth centers and no obstetric providers. That does not bode well for the health of mothers and the next generation.

These stunning satellite images look like abstract art – and they reveal much about our planet – 8 images selected from US Geological Survey satellite images of the Earth’s surface.

Engineers weave advanced fabric that can cool a wearer down and warm them up – Maybe the ‘cool down’ of this technology (if it can be developed) will help us deal with climate change more effectively. There are already beginning to be more heat related deaths and there will be some occupations that will become impossible without technology to cool the body in outdoor environments.

Rainfall is becoming more intense in most of the US – East of the Rockies…there is increasing precipitation intensity. Water resource management is more challenging. Flooding risk is going up too.

USGS Public Lecture Series – A wide range of topics including volcanoes in Alaska, earthquake early warning for all, migratory big game, droughts and groundwater quality, modernizing the national water information system….and many more. I am beginning to work my way down this YouTube playlist.