As the holiday weekend draws to a close, a story about what America *can* be at times, now told as "an act of defiance" according to the author, and which I find strangely compelling in the face of the current moment in our politics.
He doesn't post a lot of late, but when he does, I've always found it worth paying attention to. And I'll admit this one has caused me to at least re-think a thing or two about what I've been feeling and thinking about our country the past few days and whether or not the hope I hold on to for its future is justified. (spoiler alert: yes, I continue to believe that it is, despite copious evidence to the contrary)
Munching on watermelon yesterday, I thought of a game Dave Barry failed to mention. Further munching generated realization that reduced availability of necessary projectiles might have something to do with the omission.
Cool cat, especially the black one, which is my favorite cat color.
Rick's mom is back at a local CC, in what they call a step-down. She is eating and doing much better. They have to get her strong enough to radiate the tumor, and make it smaller to get it off her kidney. She is being a bit difficult by refusing to do the things they say would help. Hopefully, as she feels better, she will stop being so stubborn...lol
Fireworks by other denizens of the neighborhood were going off well after midnight last night. They are pretty loud, but mostly out of my hearing range, so they don't bother me too much, and the cats are fine.
I had lunch today with my ex-husband, it was fun, we talked about fun things from the past, and caught up on the rest of our families' doings. We talked for two hours...his basement flooded, and there were some pictures and stuff from our time together, and he wanted to give them to me. There is a cool one of my maternal grandfather. I have to wait for them to dry out before I go through the others.
Yeah, I am wondering if she is just so stressed and probably depressed, she is resisting any positivity...she has made comments like oh well, if I die I die...sigh...but, she is better so here's hoping
Out and about this morning since before this went live. Got a few things done and had lunch. The insomnia seems to have peaked and is getting better. Seem to be getting better adapted to the keto/very-low-carb/all-meat diet finally.
Fireworks in the neighborhood till late, so in went the earplugs.
Sister’s family was in till yesterday morning. They’re heading off on their annual European vacation, this time including a week sailing down the Turkish coast on the Med. Fun times. Advised my sister and nieces to stay sharp: the combination of ropes and wind forces can be bone-crunching…
Ten or fifteen years ago, a weed appeared in my vegetable garden. It may have come in a plant from my mothers. It was pretty, like a tiny mimosa tree.
It spread. I spread a THICK layer of mulch to discourage all weeds. It sprouted IN the mulch, between the fibers of the shredded hardwood. Imagine dusting the surface of the bed with powdered sugar and having 99% of the crystals germinate into this weed. It is evil.
I took pictures to the local nursery experts. They did not know what it was.
It spread. I attacked them when they were tiny, before the little seed pods appeared under the leaves. The presence of older plants with odd branch shapes suggests they have a taproot that survives the frost, so I pulled them gently, to be sure to get all the roots.
They still spread.
This morning I identified it. Phyllanthus urinaria, common names chamber bitter, gripeweed and stonebreaker. It originated in Asia and has been used in traditional medicine for treating liver, urinary tract and diabetes issues. The common names suggest it has been around in the English speaking world for some time.
The NC Extension entry fails to convey the weed-ness and evil invasiveness of this plant to my satisfaction, no doubt due to the template format: "Insects, Diseases and Other Plant Problems: Both plant species are particularly difficult to manage. Do not let plants go to seed.....They are poorly managed by most preemergent herbicides labeled for use."
That's one invasive that hasn't made it to central PA yet. But give it time. Our never-ending battle is against stilt grass, oriental bittersweet, garlic mustard, various honeysuckles, multiflora rose, non-native barberry, deadly hemlock, and a bunch of other invasives that are only slightly less noxious.
Good luck with it. We would like to reduce chemical control as much as possible, but just not practical.
I don't know that PA has to worry about phyllanthus urinaria too much, as the soil has to get to 75 F for it to germinate. I thought it might have died off this year, as it was late is sprouting. No such luck.
We have honeysuckle and multiflora rose, but wisteria, virginia creeper, English ivy and Florida Bettany cover the most territory in our yard. I personally am responsible for over two acres of English ivy infestation, all from a half of a half-dead flat from the discount rack at the nursery. I had no idea.
Florida bettany is weird. I dumped an empty pot in had infested and it looked like someone had buried zombie fingers in it. The roots are long and starkly white, even in the soil. They are reported to be edible but I have not been inclined to try them.
The native wild muscadine grapes are also up there. But they do not bear fruit, perhaps because of the shade, perhaps because they can spread quite happily with it. No idea. I would love to have some muscadines - they make good jelly.
I have never been good at keeping on top of it and the chaos has spread over the years.
I found myself thinking that those people who criticize lawns as being environmentally unfriendly don't have a good handle on all the variables. There's a lot to be said for an easily mowable yard.
That stuff. It's evil. I managed to get rid of mine and I don't know how. My never ending nemesis is Purslane. It's the same way. If you leave a thread of a root in the dirt, it'll grow into a garden covering monster.
Congratulations! I will consider that as a sign of hope.
The purslane grows right with the phyllanthus. For some reason it doesn't get under my skin like the other. I think it was the sight of all those little seedlings sprouting out of brand new hardwood mulch that got to me. As it should have.
I would consider dandelions to be more one of the less noxious invasive weeds. Their flowers are attractive in the lawn (my opinion only) and we've used them for salad (picked at the right time) and for excellent wine, though it's difficult not to over-sample it before it's ready!
I think they are pretty, and also like them in the lawn ( along with the violet colored weed, and the yellow one...lol), and I have nice childhood memories of making daisy chains and putting the dandelion under our chins, and if it turned yellow ..something, something about butter...lol
The fireworks started as we were walking to town and discovered a great viewing area a block away on a dead end street. No people! That will be our spot from now on but we’re going to have to get mesh hoods. The mosquitos are thick up north. I think it’s safe to say I had a severe local reaction to the wasp sting. I was stung mid calf and my lower leg is swollen to my ankle. I may have to talk to my doctor about getting an EpiPen. I discovered yesterday while kayaking one of the loon chicks must’ve died. There is only one now where there were two a few weeks ago. I kept a respectful distance from them, from what I thought. Then one of the adults submerged and came up about 6 feet from my kayak and started to tremolo. OK, OK I’m too close I’ll go now!
Two nests of chicks in the shrubs. One a small song sparrow’s nest installed in a porch pot beneath some big blue hydrangeas. The second a robin’s nest in a big rhododendron bush near the spigot I use daily to water the flowers. We cleverly use the flowers to garnish the grazing habits of our local deer and groundhog clans…the bastards.
Mama sparrow has about five to feed. Mama robin serves at least three, maybe four—hard to tell, since I don’t want to get too close. Amazed they’ve not been discovered and eaten so far, knock on wood.
Yesterday in broad daylight a deer was standing in the backyard looking at me. I’m guessing a doe. I said, “What are you doing here?” and she just continued looking. I changed course and walked in her direction, till I was about 15 feet away. We just looked each other in the eye. I waved my arms to see if she’d spook. Nope. She was unimpressed.
I headed in the direction she’d come from, where my gladioluses were starting to bloom. She ambled up toward the apples ejected from the tree in the lot above. The glad blooms and buds were all munched off.
I’m thinking she might have been the deer who got parked on my back patio one day last summer. As the whitetails do, her mother had left a speckled fawn in a safe spot that happened to be just outside my back door.
I’d walked out that morning and seen some dark shape in the shade of a porch box and thought: “What jerk threw a dirty towel out the vehicle when he drove past?” A double-take revealed it was a speckled fawn.
The rest of the day I tried to walk by quickly and carefully so it wouldn’t freak out and run. It’s busy road in front of my house. At dusk momma deer came by and the baby joined her to cavort and sample other people’s gardens.
I’m thinking the tame doe in the backyard may have been last year’s speckled fawn, who’d experienced the place and me as safe enough.
So what the hell: She can munch on the glads if she wants. Besides, what else am I gonna do to stop her? It’s all too much trouble involving chicken wire cage contraptions and such. Repellent sprays don’t fool them anymore. Might as well accept defeat, declare it victory, and move along to other outdoor chores.
Wilmette fireworks on Thursday night, and Evanston last night....good shows. Late night loonies with illegal explosives were setting them off all night.
When there's a cat TSAF, is this when someone writes "Manul!"....(?)
I like a good professional fireworks show. It's about lighting up the sky with fancy patterns and colors, and the oohs and aahs of the spectators.
Can't say the same for the amateur loonies around the corner (or wherever the bleep their gratuitous noise is emanating from). They are only about going on and on with the loudness. Bang! Bang! Bang! After many years of this, I have concluded that what it is is an aggression thing, with the purpose of annoying and disturbing other people (and the poor dogs), who can't get away from it, just because they can. [Expletive] barbarians! They may not admit it to themselves, but that's what it is. Shame on them.
Good morning. About 72 now with a predicted high if the high 80s. but based on recent experience with the weather guessers, I’d say the 9s is a better bet.
We hung out at our favorite roadside viewing spot to see the local suburban fireworks which wrapped up about 10:15 PM. Then our neighbor down the street, the one with a large backyard, had his fireworks show until at least 11PM.
Good morning, everyone. Fireworks were pretty loud last night. The Carters on our east side were shooting them off until about 10:00 p.m.
Daughter D is supposed to go hiking with friends today, but she says the teenaged daughter texted her (through Vlad) last night about 11:00 to say they weren't going after all because she wasn't feeling well. Of course she wasn't: she should have been asleep a couple of hours earlier instead of on the phone.
I've asked for confirmation from the father, and, if I don't hear anything in the next 15 minutes, we'll be on their doorstep at 6:45 as previously arranged.
ETA: Turns out the trip is not happening. Oh, well.
It seems like the rain has gone to our east.
Yes, it has.
Very fortunate. It looks very drenchy.
Yep. Shower, no shower brighter sky, shower - typical tropical storm. Almost 0.6" of rain.
It's supposed to clear up and be very hot the next couple of days.
Good morning on Sunday. Already in the 80s here, and likely headed to the 90s, as yesterday.
As the holiday weekend draws to a close, a story about what America *can* be at times, now told as "an act of defiance" according to the author, and which I find strangely compelling in the face of the current moment in our politics.
He doesn't post a lot of late, but when he does, I've always found it worth paying attention to. And I'll admit this one has caused me to at least re-think a thing or two about what I've been feeling and thinking about our country the past few days and whether or not the hope I hold on to for its future is justified. (spoiler alert: yes, I continue to believe that it is, despite copious evidence to the contrary)
I hope you'll find this as worthwhile as I did...
https://www.popehat.com/p/the-fourth-of-july-rethought
Re old fashioned July 4th Picnic games:
Munching on watermelon yesterday, I thought of a game Dave Barry failed to mention. Further munching generated realization that reduced availability of necessary projectiles might have something to do with the omission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQObz0csfCs
Bobcat kittens. Not manul.
Placido Domingo, everyone. Today is July 6, according to my calendar. Temperature in the 70s, and rain is expected.
Still sub-70 here, but sunny. Looks like you’re in store for some warm rains from the tropical system.
I'd rather have some cold rains.
Cool cat, especially the black one, which is my favorite cat color.
Rick's mom is back at a local CC, in what they call a step-down. She is eating and doing much better. They have to get her strong enough to radiate the tumor, and make it smaller to get it off her kidney. She is being a bit difficult by refusing to do the things they say would help. Hopefully, as she feels better, she will stop being so stubborn...lol
Fireworks by other denizens of the neighborhood were going off well after midnight last night. They are pretty loud, but mostly out of my hearing range, so they don't bother me too much, and the cats are fine.
I had lunch today with my ex-husband, it was fun, we talked about fun things from the past, and caught up on the rest of our families' doings. We talked for two hours...his basement flooded, and there were some pictures and stuff from our time together, and he wanted to give them to me. There is a cool one of my maternal grandfather. I have to wait for them to dry out before I go through the others.
I'm glad Rick's mother is improving. It can be hard to get old people to follow medical orders.
Yeah, I am wondering if she is just so stressed and probably depressed, she is resisting any positivity...she has made comments like oh well, if I die I die...sigh...but, she is better so here's hoping
Out and about this morning since before this went live. Got a few things done and had lunch. The insomnia seems to have peaked and is getting better. Seem to be getting better adapted to the keto/very-low-carb/all-meat diet finally.
Fireworks in the neighborhood till late, so in went the earplugs.
Sister’s family was in till yesterday morning. They’re heading off on their annual European vacation, this time including a week sailing down the Turkish coast on the Med. Fun times. Advised my sister and nieces to stay sharp: the combination of ropes and wind forces can be bone-crunching…
That's a cat! A very cute cat.
Austrian Dude's Got a Cat, Too.
Or maybe a Cat Corpse.
Or maybe this better explains quantum theory and where it comes from...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5y0l3kJADo
On this date in 1937, SPAM was unveiled by Hormel Foods.
Here's the short video of the Monty Python Spam song--complete with lyrics, because they're so complicated ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcY3W5WgNU
And just over 4 decades later...
https://www.historytools.org/docs/the-first-internet-spam-message
I much prefer the 1937 version.
Ten or fifteen years ago, a weed appeared in my vegetable garden. It may have come in a plant from my mothers. It was pretty, like a tiny mimosa tree.
It spread. I spread a THICK layer of mulch to discourage all weeds. It sprouted IN the mulch, between the fibers of the shredded hardwood. Imagine dusting the surface of the bed with powdered sugar and having 99% of the crystals germinate into this weed. It is evil.
I took pictures to the local nursery experts. They did not know what it was.
It spread. I attacked them when they were tiny, before the little seed pods appeared under the leaves. The presence of older plants with odd branch shapes suggests they have a taproot that survives the frost, so I pulled them gently, to be sure to get all the roots.
They still spread.
This morning I identified it. Phyllanthus urinaria, common names chamber bitter, gripeweed and stonebreaker. It originated in Asia and has been used in traditional medicine for treating liver, urinary tract and diabetes issues. The common names suggest it has been around in the English speaking world for some time.
The NC Extension entry fails to convey the weed-ness and evil invasiveness of this plant to my satisfaction, no doubt due to the template format: "Insects, Diseases and Other Plant Problems: Both plant species are particularly difficult to manage. Do not let plants go to seed.....They are poorly managed by most preemergent herbicides labeled for use."
https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/phyllanthus-urinaria/
So now you know.
That's one invasive that hasn't made it to central PA yet. But give it time. Our never-ending battle is against stilt grass, oriental bittersweet, garlic mustard, various honeysuckles, multiflora rose, non-native barberry, deadly hemlock, and a bunch of other invasives that are only slightly less noxious.
Good luck with it. We would like to reduce chemical control as much as possible, but just not practical.
So sorry I missed this!
I don't know that PA has to worry about phyllanthus urinaria too much, as the soil has to get to 75 F for it to germinate. I thought it might have died off this year, as it was late is sprouting. No such luck.
We have honeysuckle and multiflora rose, but wisteria, virginia creeper, English ivy and Florida Bettany cover the most territory in our yard. I personally am responsible for over two acres of English ivy infestation, all from a half of a half-dead flat from the discount rack at the nursery. I had no idea.
Florida bettany is weird. I dumped an empty pot in had infested and it looked like someone had buried zombie fingers in it. The roots are long and starkly white, even in the soil. They are reported to be edible but I have not been inclined to try them.
The native wild muscadine grapes are also up there. But they do not bear fruit, perhaps because of the shade, perhaps because they can spread quite happily with it. No idea. I would love to have some muscadines - they make good jelly.
I have never been good at keeping on top of it and the chaos has spread over the years.
I found myself thinking that those people who criticize lawns as being environmentally unfriendly don't have a good handle on all the variables. There's a lot to be said for an easily mowable yard.
Hmmm... I'm thinkin' this probably isn't the first time someone's griped about gripeweed...
Very informative. I don't think I've seen that in our garden, I'll have to watch for it.
That stuff. It's evil. I managed to get rid of mine and I don't know how. My never ending nemesis is Purslane. It's the same way. If you leave a thread of a root in the dirt, it'll grow into a garden covering monster.
Congratulations! I will consider that as a sign of hope.
The purslane grows right with the phyllanthus. For some reason it doesn't get under my skin like the other. I think it was the sight of all those little seedlings sprouting out of brand new hardwood mulch that got to me. As it should have.
Some weeds are really determined.
Isn't that part of their personality?...lol
I actually like some plants that others consider weeds, like dandelions...
I would consider dandelions to be more one of the less noxious invasive weeds. Their flowers are attractive in the lawn (my opinion only) and we've used them for salad (picked at the right time) and for excellent wine, though it's difficult not to over-sample it before it's ready!
I think they are pretty, and also like them in the lawn ( along with the violet colored weed, and the yellow one...lol), and I have nice childhood memories of making daisy chains and putting the dandelion under our chins, and if it turned yellow ..something, something about butter...lol
Never ate them or drank them though...lol
The fireworks started as we were walking to town and discovered a great viewing area a block away on a dead end street. No people! That will be our spot from now on but we’re going to have to get mesh hoods. The mosquitos are thick up north. I think it’s safe to say I had a severe local reaction to the wasp sting. I was stung mid calf and my lower leg is swollen to my ankle. I may have to talk to my doctor about getting an EpiPen. I discovered yesterday while kayaking one of the loon chicks must’ve died. There is only one now where there were two a few weeks ago. I kept a respectful distance from them, from what I thought. Then one of the adults submerged and came up about 6 feet from my kayak and started to tremolo. OK, OK I’m too close I’ll go now!
Two nests of chicks in the shrubs. One a small song sparrow’s nest installed in a porch pot beneath some big blue hydrangeas. The second a robin’s nest in a big rhododendron bush near the spigot I use daily to water the flowers. We cleverly use the flowers to garnish the grazing habits of our local deer and groundhog clans…the bastards.
Mama sparrow has about five to feed. Mama robin serves at least three, maybe four—hard to tell, since I don’t want to get too close. Amazed they’ve not been discovered and eaten so far, knock on wood.
Yesterday in broad daylight a deer was standing in the backyard looking at me. I’m guessing a doe. I said, “What are you doing here?” and she just continued looking. I changed course and walked in her direction, till I was about 15 feet away. We just looked each other in the eye. I waved my arms to see if she’d spook. Nope. She was unimpressed.
I headed in the direction she’d come from, where my gladioluses were starting to bloom. She ambled up toward the apples ejected from the tree in the lot above. The glad blooms and buds were all munched off.
I’m thinking she might have been the deer who got parked on my back patio one day last summer. As the whitetails do, her mother had left a speckled fawn in a safe spot that happened to be just outside my back door.
I’d walked out that morning and seen some dark shape in the shade of a porch box and thought: “What jerk threw a dirty towel out the vehicle when he drove past?” A double-take revealed it was a speckled fawn.
The rest of the day I tried to walk by quickly and carefully so it wouldn’t freak out and run. It’s busy road in front of my house. At dusk momma deer came by and the baby joined her to cavort and sample other people’s gardens.
I’m thinking the tame doe in the backyard may have been last year’s speckled fawn, who’d experienced the place and me as safe enough.
So what the hell: She can munch on the glads if she wants. Besides, what else am I gonna do to stop her? It’s all too much trouble involving chicken wire cage contraptions and such. Repellent sprays don’t fool them anymore. Might as well accept defeat, declare it victory, and move along to other outdoor chores.
Sounds heavenly to me.
Wilmette fireworks on Thursday night, and Evanston last night....good shows. Late night loonies with illegal explosives were setting them off all night.
When there's a cat TSAF, is this when someone writes "Manul!"....(?)
I like a good professional fireworks show. It's about lighting up the sky with fancy patterns and colors, and the oohs and aahs of the spectators.
Can't say the same for the amateur loonies around the corner (or wherever the bleep their gratuitous noise is emanating from). They are only about going on and on with the loudness. Bang! Bang! Bang! After many years of this, I have concluded that what it is is an aggression thing, with the purpose of annoying and disturbing other people (and the poor dogs), who can't get away from it, just because they can. [Expletive] barbarians! They may not admit it to themselves, but that's what it is. Shame on them.
Only if it's a manul:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSgWl-kn6MM
Good morning. About 72 now with a predicted high if the high 80s. but based on recent experience with the weather guessers, I’d say the 9s is a better bet.
We hung out at our favorite roadside viewing spot to see the local suburban fireworks which wrapped up about 10:15 PM. Then our neighbor down the street, the one with a large backyard, had his fireworks show until at least 11PM.
We have choir practice this morning at our house. Otherwise, we might have gone hiking ourselves.
Good morning, everyone. Fireworks were pretty loud last night. The Carters on our east side were shooting them off until about 10:00 p.m.
Daughter D is supposed to go hiking with friends today, but she says the teenaged daughter texted her (through Vlad) last night about 11:00 to say they weren't going after all because she wasn't feeling well. Of course she wasn't: she should have been asleep a couple of hours earlier instead of on the phone.
I've asked for confirmation from the father, and, if I don't hear anything in the next 15 minutes, we'll be on their doorstep at 6:45 as previously arranged.
ETA: Turns out the trip is not happening. Oh, well.
Self-resolving dramas are some of the best dramas.