Flannel Shirt

Chicken on wet cement

The rain came down today. It was wet getting up, and after a stretch of sun, we got pounded by thunderstorms. Lots of actual wet rain. Izzy and I took our two walks between downpours. Iz is not a fan of rain. When we walked she assiduously avoided the puddles. Under the fig tree we walk past every day the figs that have fallen are becoming a slippery mess. Later, after we got home, she was trembling during the thunder on my bed, so I lay down beside her and put my arm around her and petted her, and that calmed her down. 

In a couple of weeks the lawn will look good again. At least green. 

Oh, there was flooding in the streets.

(night off)

Still a little weighed down by the congestion. The good news is that the painters should finish up tomorrow. Oh, the joy!

Not much happened at all, but Joan cooked us up a couple of great steaks and baked potatoes. Great meal. How about that volcano in Hawaii? 

This was one of my favorite pictures.

Russian bear hacking a power grid

It's been a pretty bad weather day here, although judging from the news not as bad as a lot of other places in the country these days. It was windy and rainy and dark most of the day, with a few sun breaks. 

Izzy doesn't like the rain. 

Oxpecker birds sleep in giraffe armpits

This is not a joke. Scientists put night light cameras in Serengeti National Park to see what the animals do at night. And apparently the "oxpecker" birds sleep in and on giraffes. You figure you're up high, probably the safest place in Africa for a bird. 

Here? Nothing much. Watched the Oscars. Big whup. 

Lonely gannet

New Zealand naturalists placed a concrete flock of gannets to Mana Island to attract real gannets back to the island. Unfortunately, only one gannet, Nigel, returned. He fell in love with one of the concrete gannets, and remained faithful to her until he finally passed a few weeks ago. 

Eagle in Eugene

Went out to the theater tonight. Saw a play called Kodachrome, which is about a photographer in a small town who goes around taking pictures. She introduces the audience to various people in various situations of love and longing. About a third of the way into the play we find out that she has actually died and hasn't quite let go. It was really good. Brought a tear to my eye. 

Gave a box of chocolates to Joan when we got home, since she'll be going out with her girlfriends early tomorrow. 

Mutant marbled crayfish

This is a mutant marbled crayfish. Unlike other crayfish and most everything else, it reproduces all by its lonesome. And like other female crayfish they produce eggs in the thousands. These mutants are a little bigger and have been pretty good invading other crayfishes' territories. The whole story is here:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/05/science/mutant-crayfish-clones-europe.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&referer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FMjGULmW8ll%3Famp%3D1

The loneliest polar bear

Nora was a lonely little cub when she came to the Portland Zoo as a rescue. Polar bear cubs are adorable, but as she got older the zoo determined that she needed to go to a zoo where she could adapt to other polar bears. She went to Denver, I think, and last I heard she's doing fine with her new friends. 

The loneliest polar bear

Nora was a lonely little cub when she came to the Portland Zoo as a rescue. Polar bear cubs are adorable, but as she got older the zoo determined that she needed to go to a zoo where she could adapt to other polar bears. She went to Denver, I think, and last I heard she's doing fine with her new friends. 

Squirrel monkeys, in Budapest zoo