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.

Aurora Experience

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We didn’t do anything special to see the aurora on May 10th – simply walked out of our house and onto our deck about 9 PM. There was still light on the western horizon and the moon was out….a few stars visible.

The first few pictures I took with the iPhone 15 Pro Max toward the north were the most vivid. My husband was surprised that the phone did such a good job of capturing the aurora…better than what we could see with our eyes. We continued to look at the sky for the next 30 minutes or so.

I got up just before 4 AM to look again. The color was not as bright but seemed more like a curtain that the earlier pictures.

It was very worthwhile to make the effort to see this usual event in the night sky! 2024 has been a big year for sky events already with the solar eclipse on 4/8 and then this aurora being visible for most the US on 5/10. I wonder if there will be more this year.

Then and Now – Heating

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During the 1960s, the heating where I lived in Texas transitioned from electric wall heating to gas powered central heating. Both had to work harder because the windows of the houses were single paned and had little insulation. I remember that my grandparents’ houses were often colder in the winter than mine was. My paternal grandparents’ farmhouse had gas burning (probably propane) stoves in each room and my maternal grandparents’ house had gas burning (probably natural gas) floor furnaces; in those houses, the kitchen during meal prep time, was the warmest! Prior to the advent of thermostats, the controls on the heaters were tweaked manually.

My house now has two central heating furnaces (2 zones) – one natural gas and one electric. Within the next 5 years, we will be transition to electric powered heat pumps. The house has well-sealed doors and double pained windows….and was well insulated when it was built in 1999. It has two gas fireplaces which we haven’t used; the gas is turned off and we have sealed the vents with magnetic strips to stop the drafts in the winter. We have a ‘smart’ thermostat that we can program to change the temperature at different times during the day; since we are retired, that is usually letting it cool down a bit at night while we are sleeping.

In general, modern heating systems and houses, make it easier to feel warm in the winter. I wonder sometimes if that changes the early years of children’s lives. For example – a baby born in December would be learning to walk a year later. Prior to central heating, that would mean more clothes to get in the way during that process than a child born in July would have as they learned to walk. Did mothers of winter babies keep them close to their own bodies to make sure they were warm (i.e. did winter babies get held more in their very early lives)? Central heating might have made early childhood development more consistent because it took away much of the seasonal variation experience for babies!

Previous Then and Now posts

Cat and Bird

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There was a commotion in our hearth room…Sooty, our male cat, was at the window working with rapt attention at the glass. When I took a closer look, I realized there was a bird on the brick ledge on the other side of the window.

There was a commotion in our hearth room…Sooty, our male cat, was at the window working with rapt attention at the glass. When I took a closer look, I realized there was a bird on the brick ledge on the other side of the window.

It apparently was not intimidated by the actions of the cat since it stayed where it was for a few minutes to taunt the cat with its back. The bird had an excellent view of our bird feeders below. It might have been finishing up some seed it had retrieved previously.

We have three indoor cats – we don’t inflict non-native predators on our neighborhood. In our previous house, we had a screened in area of the deck that our cats enjoyed (outdoors but separated from the birds and other wildlife) but the windows seem to provide sufficient stimulation to our cats in this house.

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.

James W. VanStone – anthropologist

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There are 16 eBooks in this week’s feature – authored by James. W. VanStone from 1979-1998 while he was Curator of North American Archeology and Ethnology for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. These books have many illustrations – drawings and photographs – and are well worth browsing to glimpse of the cultures of the northern part of North America. VanStone’s research in the area started in the 1950s and he was a prolific scholar throughout his career. Enjoy the sample images (click on the image to see a larger version)…but there are so many more in the books themselves – all freely available on Internet Archive.

Material culture of the Davis Inlet and Barren Ground Naskapi: the William Duncan Strong collection -1985

The Bruce collection of Eskimo material culture from Kotzebue Sound, Alaska -1980

An ethnographic collection from northern Sakhalin Island -1985

Ingalik contact ecology : an ethnohistory of the lower-middle Yukon, 1790-1935  -1979

Our Missouri Yard – May 2024

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May is when our yard becomes lush with new growth --- with the warmer temperatures and plentiful rain. The plants love it.

The wildflower garden that I started last year has returned either from reseeding or coming up from last year’s roots. I cleared some more rocks/landscaping cloth around the edges and planted more seeds there but they haven’t emerged yet.

The seeds I planted on the sunny side under the pine tree are coming up! I am going to cut down the pokeweed growing around the perimeter to make sure the area doesn’t become too shady.

The fragrant sumac I planted last year is back with lots of new leaves – like the bush beside it (which I haven’t identified but I like the leaves).

The alliums are blooming in the area outside the flower bed near my office window. I am converting the area from grass/moss to other things. Right now, it is thick with alliums, daffodil leaves, violets, and some weeds/grass. The spikenard I bought last fall has returned but is still relatively small. The stainless-steel iris I bought for my mother (Mother’s day 2023) is now in that area too.

The glass birdbath I carefully packed and moved from Maryland is now out and visible from one of my office windows (where I sit to make Zentangle tiles). I haven’t noticed any birds finding it yet. The stainless-steel spider mum is under a nearby pine…also an area I am converting from grass.

There are some holes in the turf of our yard where plants have come up. Sometimes I let them grow. The most successful area is lambs ear to the side of our house by the gate to our backyard. I hope that it eventually joins with some lambs ear that is growing in the corner made by the fence and the house (it has a small pokeweed growing with it). It has many bloom stalks. I’ll let them make seeds then cut them – hope the plant continues to expand via roots too.

On the other side of the fence is some more lamb ear and showy golden rod that I bought last fall. Hopefully the goldenrod will get enough sun to bloom well in that spot.

The hens and chicks are multiplying in the front rock garden.

And the kousa dogwood is full of blooms.

We have been mulching leaves and grass into the yard…and frequently see small mushrooms. They’re decomposing all that plant debris into nutrients the roots of the plants can absorb! I love to see evidence that the yard is vibrant with life other than just grass; we are succeeding in making it less a monoculture with shallow roots (i.e. turf grass).

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

Photographic Experiments

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I was in the mood for some photographic experiments….from my office.

The rhododendron flower cluster and some fragile pink irises were in vases in the room….and became the main subjects for my experiments.

I took some ‘normal’ lighting pictures of the rhododendron –

Then some brighter pictures using exposure compensation (+). In the extreme case, the background becomes white and the flowers take on a very different look….often very artsy.

I also tried 2 special effects settings on my camera: like oil paintings and like watercolor paintings.

I started out the pink iris with some ‘normal’ lighting shots rotating the vase. Which one is your favorite? I like the middle (diagonal) one the best.

I did some macro shots; at this magnification the images feel more like an abstract than a flower.

Just as with the rhododendron, I brightened the iris images to different degrees via exposure compensation when the flower was backlit with the sun shining through the window.

The iris looked quite different with the special effect setting (like oil paintings).

I took a picture of a pokeweed growing outside one of my windows used exposure compensation…with the screen showing.

A few setting changes (closer to ‘normal’….and I photographed a leaf a little lower on the plant through the window with water droplets glistening in the sunlight. The autofocus did an excellent job.

I generally learn as I do these experiments in my office…and probably am more likely to successfully use the same techniques at other times! My goal is to maximize the use of my camera’s automation to capture the image I want.

Then and Now – Books

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Books – and other reading material – have changed a lot between the 1960s and now.

In the 1960s they were all physical – printed on paper. There were already paperbacks, but I remember hard backs more – textbooks and reference books along with fiction. Now those physical formats still exist, but there are digital forms available too. I have shifted almost entirely to digital forms (Kindle and Internet Archive mostly) for my reading. Most of what I read is something I will only read once so there is no reason to have the book permanently. Another reason I like digital books: the weight of the device I use for reading is less than one book; I can access a lot of books with no additional weight!

In the 1960s, we had sets of general references like encyclopedias at home; now we either use a search of the internet or sites like Wikipedia to get that type of information – i.e. digital vs a physical book. And the wed sites are usually free rather than purchased. There is also the added advantage that the information is refreshed frequently (although we do have to become more adept at accessing the quality of the information provided). In addition, many references I use now come in the form of apps (for example, Cronometer for calorie/nutritional information about foods, Merlin for bird identification, iNaturalist for other organism identification, and NPS for details about national parks).

It seemed like books were expensive in the 1960s; there were some we bought but most of them we checked out from libraries (school or public) or they were provided during the school year. My mother bought children’s books for my sisters and me prior to us becoming proficient reader; some of those books still exist – distributed primarily to her grandchildren over the years. Kindle books are available from my library…but I buy one occasionally. And Internet Archive has older books that are freely available and newer ones that can sometimes be checked out for 14 days (or for 1 hour which is ideal if it is a needed reference). It still is probably true that physical books are popular with young children/new readers.

Finding a particular book in the 1960s was done with card catalogs or a ‘books in print’ reference. Today I search the Amazon site; books are easy to find and then purchase. I don’t remember going into book stores in the 1960s, perhaps because we lived in a small town rather than a city….or my parents deciding that libraries should fulfill our need for books as we became good readers.

As I was growing up it always seemed like there were never enough books near at hand to read. That set the stage for me to start buying books – new and used – as an adult (past the 1960s) so that I would always have a substantial pile of books at home, ready to read. When digital forms of books became able – it was like a dream come true. At first, I printed some of the eBooks so that I could read them offline. Gradually, I began reading more and more books entirely online. These days I never lack for reading material…and I donated most of my physical books. We have a lot of empty bookcases.

Previous Then and Now posts

Springfield’s Artsfest

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We almost cancelled our plans to go to Springfield’s Artsfest because thunderstorms were in the forecast….but they happened in the early morning rather than during the prime time for Artsfest. We got there about 11 and appreciated the Missouri State University parking garage…much easier than street parking in the area. We enjoyed the long row of artsy vendors along with food trucks, local government/non-profits information tables, and musicians on small stages just far enough away from each other to not clash. It was warm enough that we got a cup of Pineapple Whip almost immediately!

Last year I bought earrings for me and a stainless-steel iris for my mother (for Mother’s Day). I’m not wearing earrings as frequently these days, so I was determined to not buy any new ones (and opted to not even look because they are just so tempting both from habit and my enjoyment of wearable art). I couldn’t resist buying a stainless-steel spider mum from the same vendor that made the iris.

I stopped to talk to one of the artists whose botanical paintings are so textured that they are almost a sculpture coming out of the canvas. I was surprised at the various materials she used in her work; it depended on how far the texture projected from the canvas!

After a little over an hour – we were ready for lunch and opted to stop by my daughter’s house before we headed to a BBQ place. There is always something to notice in her yard:

A small insect on a miniature rose.

A vine that had died last year after an overzealous yard person sprayed too much weed killer nearby coming back and full of unfurling blooms.

The tree that was also impacted by the same killing event is also recovering although some limbs appear to have died and need to be pruned away. I always like the thick lichen on the trunk.

The spider mum was another way of celebrating my mother’s life; when we got home, I put the pink iris from last year in front of one of my office windows (I brought it home when my parents’ house was sold) and the spider mum under the pine tree where I can see it through another window. Good memories for May 2024 and 2023!

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.

The Natural History of British Birds

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This week’s eBooks are the 10 volume The Natural History of British Birds by Edward Donovan. They were first published in the late 1700s and are available on Internet Archive. The author did not travel but described and illustrated species based on collections of other naturalists.  It is obvious in some of the illustrations that he never saw the living bird! Still – the illustrations were my motivation to browse the books – thinking about how the numbers of these birds are reduced from when he worked…and how this author’s books are a natural history snapshot of birds (and insects) that were collected/available to him.   

The natural history of British birds V1

The natural history of British birds V2

The natural history of British birds V3

The natural history of British birds V4

The natural history of British birds V5

The natural history of British birds V6

The natural history of British birds V7

The natural history of British birds V8

The natural history of British birds V9

The natural history of British birds V10

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!

Rhododendron

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Our rhododendron bloomed profusely this year – no frost damaged buds like last year. The whole bush was covered with blooms. It started in mid-April and all the buds had opened by the first few days of May.

I couldn’t resist a round of macro shots. It was good experience with my new iPhone 15 Pro Max. I like the individual flowers, the flower clusters, the new growth – it is full of photographic opportunities. The bush seems to be growing a lot better this year too; maybe it has recovered from the big drought the summer we moved to Missouri.

Do rhododendrons make good cut flowers? I did a search and discovered that yes…to cut a cluster with some unopened buds and slit the end of the stalk to allow easier water uptake. I put the cluster in a wine glass my parents got for their 50th wedding anniversary from a couple they had met in college and remained friends through the years….savored the flowers in my office.  All the buds eventually opened just as they would have outdoors.

I also learned that sometimes rhododendron need to be pruned but it won’t be this year…and maybe for years to come. My bush is in a place where it can expand in almost every direction. I will probably cut more flower clusters next spring now that I know how well they last indoors and, I guess, that will be the extent of the ‘pruning’ done!

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.

Gleanings of the Week Ending May 4, 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.

Do societies grow more fragile and vulnerable to collapse? - The world is hardly immune to increasing inequality, environmental degradation, and elite competition – all factors which have been proposed as precursors to collapse earlier in human history. Industrialized production, enormous technological abilities, as well as professional bureaucracies and police forces will all likely create more stable, resilient states. However, our technology also brings new threats and sources of vulnerability, such as nuclear weapons and the faster spread of pathogens. We also need to be wary of celebrating or encouraging the entrenchment of authoritarian or malevolent regimes. Resilience and longevity are not de-facto positive.

Solving the riddle of the sphingolipids in coronary artery disease - Boosting levels of a sphingolipid called S1P in artery-lining endothelial cells slows the development and progression of coronary artery disease in an animal model.

“Porcelain Gallbladder” Identified in Mississippi - Identified among a woman's 100-year-old bones exhumed from the cemetery at the site of the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum. A porcelain gallbladder forms through calcium build-up in the wall of the organ, which causes it to harden.

World's chocolate supply threatened by devastating virus – Oh no! About 50% of the world's chocolate originates from cacao trees in the West Africa countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana. The damaging virus is attacking cacao trees in Ghana, resulting in harvest losses of between 15 and 50%. Farmers can combat the mealybugs the spread the virus by giving vaccines to the trees to inoculate them from the virus. But the vaccines are expensive, especially for low-wage farmers, and vaccinated trees produce a smaller harvest of cacao.

WHO redefines airborne transmission: what does that mean for future pandemics? - Virologists now acknowledge that SARS-CoV-2 spreads mostly by airborne transmission of small particles that are inhaled and that can remain in the air for hours — a method that was previously called ‘aerosol’ transmission. It also spreads by larger ‘droplets’ of virus-containing particles on surfaces, including hands, or ejected over short distances. The WHO document sets an important benchmark for how the world responds to the next pandemic. “The next pandemic will most likely be a respiratory virus again because that’s normally the pathogen that mutates the fastest.” The report’s clarity around transmission will help public health providers to respond appropriately. “They will then consider masking early, they’ll consider ventilation early, they’ll consider all these precautions early because a precedent has been set already.”

Human muscle map reveals how we try to fight effects of aging - As we age, our muscles progressively weaken. This can affect our ability to perform everyday activities like standing up and walking. However, this study also discovered for the first time several compensatory mechanisms from the muscles appearing to make up for the loss.

USDA announces new school meal standards that call for less sugar, salt in students' food - Schools also have the option to require locally grown, raised or caught agricultural products that are unprocessed, while the new standards limit the percentages of non-domestic grown and produced foods that schools can serve to students.

Plastic-choked rivers in Ecuador are being cleared with conveyor belts - Azure system's simple design has the capacity to stop and collect around 80 tons of plastic per day. At this particular point in the San Pedro River, the most it's collected in a day has been 1.5 tons of plastic and synthetic fabrics – that's roughly the same weight as a female hippopotamus. The Azure system is a boom device that stretches across the river to stop objects floating on the surface. It extends down 60cm (2ft) into the water, allowing fish and other organisms to move freely below, and is placed at an angle allowing the natural water flow to direct all debris into one corner of the riverbank.

First glowing animals lit up the oceans half a billion years ago - Some 540 million years ago, an ancient group of corals developed the ability to make its own light. Bioluminescence has evolved independently at least 100 times in animals and other organisms. Some glowing species, such as fireflies, use their light to communicate in the darkness. Other animals, including anglerfish, use it as a lure to attract prey, or to scare away predators. However, it’s not always clear why bioluminescence evolved. Take octocorals. These soft-bodied organisms are found in both shallow water and the deep ocean, and produce an enzyme called luciferase to break down a chemical to make light. But whether glowing octocorals use their light to attract zooplankton as prey or for some other purpose is unclear.

Peatlands Are One of Earth’s Most Underrated Ecosystems - Peatlands are spongy, waterlogged soils composed in part of decaying plant matter. They’re found all around the world, and despite covering only 3% of Earth’s surface, store around 30% of all the carbon on land.

eBontanical Prints – April 2024

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Twenty more books were added to the botanical print collection in April - available for browsing on Internet Archive. The whole list of 2,862 botanical eBooks can be accessed here. Click on any sample images to get an enlarged version…and the title hyperlink to view the entire volume on Internet Archive. Enjoy the April 2024 eBotanical Prints!

There are two books from the 1500s written by Otto Brunfels – one of the ‘fathers of botany.’ He relied more on his own observations than ancient authors and the woodcuts in his books (done by Hans Weiditz) were also done from life.

Contrafayt Kreèuterbuch * Brunfels, Otto * sample image * 1532

Herbarum vivae eicones * Brunfels, Otto * sample image * 1532

Rembert Dodoens’s Historia frumentorum, leguminum, palustrium et aquatilium herbarum acceorum, quae eo pertinent is also from the 1500s…and he is another ‘father of botany.’

Historia frumentorum, leguminum, palustrium et aquatilium herbarum acceorum, quae eo pertinent * Dodoens, Rembert * sample image * 1566

This month continues the Hortus Malabaricus volumes published in the 1600s that document the varieties and medicinal properties of the flora of the Malabar coast. Note the different scripts/languages that label the plants; they are Latin, Malayalam, Konkani, Arabic, and English.

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V2 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1679

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V3 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1683

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V4 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1683

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V5 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1685

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V6 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1686

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V7 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1688

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V8 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1688

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V9 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1689

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V10 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1690

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V11 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1692

Hortus Indicus Malabaricus V12 * Reede tot Drakestein, Hendrik van * sample image * 1703

2 books were from the 1700s that documented plants from Peru and India respectively.

Hortus Peruvanius medicinalis * Petiver, James * sample image * 1715

Icones plantarum incognitarum quas in India Occidentali * Swartz, Olof * sample image * 1794

I found 4 more volumes of Gartenflora that I hadn’t seen before – from 1878 to 1915.

Gartenflora - 1909 (BD 58) * Regel, Eduard (editor) * sample image * 1909

Gartenflora - 1915 (BD 64) * Regel, Eduard (editor) * sample image * 1915

Gartenflora - 1912 (BD 61) * Regel, Eduard (editor) * sample image * 1912

Gartenflora - 1878 (BD 27) * Regel, Eduard (editor) * sample image * 1878