A low-productivity week, in many ways. A low-enjoyment week, too. The proximate cause? A shingles vaccine shot, part two. Continue reading
There were hundreds of them. Well, tens at least. And yes, I mean both the unspecies-fied gulls as well as my photos of them.
Visiting a North Myrtle Beach estuary with a friend back in February, we stumbled upon some folks throwing out stale bread to gulls. Now, feeding gulls seems to me to be unnecessary. And likely undesirable. Continue reading
cool
As we stop at the light, that’s the first meaning I extract from the capital-free and runtogetherword on the poster partially visible through the car window. Cool what? Cool treats, like the old Dairy Queen ads? I crane my neck to read a little more. Continue reading
I may never move. Not unless I can take the backyard with me.
The activity at the new feeder, delightful as it is, is only part of the show. Other birds — cardinals, juncos, chickadees, blue jays — seem attracted to the area by all the frolicking finches, and the finches themselves flit in and out of the flame bush and the Japanese lilac, both for the cover they provide, I suspect, and for the red berries (on the former) and the leaf buds (on the latter). No wonder that tree is having a tough time growing in a symmetrical fashion. Continue reading
The Parker Solar Probe launched on 12 Aug 2018, undertook its first solar encounter between 31 Oct and 11 Nov, achieved the closest-ever approach to the Sun’s surface (a mere 15 million miles out) on 06 Nov, and reported “okey-dokey so far, guys” on 16 Nov. Perhaps I paraphrase this last bit, but as a mission participant I have some rights.
You doubt that I’m on this mission? No, no — I have my ticket from NASA and everything. Continue reading
Even with a busy year for travel, this last 6-month period has seen me a little more diligent in my exercise program than I was last year. After having trouble keeping up the pace on one trip with a bunch of seniors (yikes), I decided to enlist some help from a personal trainer.
Herewith, my November update, 2 1/2 years into my 6-year project.
What could be more Canadian than one National Treasure (Stompin’ Tom) singing about another (the Grey Cup)?
Indeed, what could be more charming? Unless it’s my decades-old memory of a United Church Minister in St. Albert – a small city just north of this weekend’s Grey Cup Central – and his choice of the final hymn for Grey Cup Sunday: In Christ there is no East or West.
Here’s a YouTube version that uncannily replicates the shape of that St. Albert church, and even, maybe, the Sunday. It’s the closing hymn and you can see folks putting on their winter coats and gradually bailing as the choir sings.
Here’s an unusual YouTube version with a striking arrangement and a Celtic feel to it.
Checking in online for a flight, I uncharacteristically pause to look carefully at the safety screen. Well, to squint at it. There’s a lot going on in a small space.
What’s this all about?
Is your baggage safe for take off?
It’s that time of year again: when it’s clear why “global warming” has morphed into “climate change.” Yes, winter has arrived about a month early in Our Nation’s Capital.
This year, we decided to try a bird feeder. Armed with advice from the local professionals about what the local birds will eat and what the local squirrels won’t, I completed the complex installation process, pressing three suction cups to the window inset in our back door. All of 20 feet from the adjacent bush, it might not be the optimal location, but after a day of cautious scouting, the birds did show up. Each had their own story to tell. Continue reading
Posted: 2025 Jun 21
Thanks to John Whitman for this slightly dismayed face from downtown Ottawa.
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