Three Carnivals

Past, present, future;

"I and the Bird, #54" was posted 3 days ago, at The Egret's Nest. If you haven't seen it yet, do it now. A class assignment, on which we all earned an "A".

Yesterday, the Gypsy posted the second July "Good Planets". Wonderful photos, as usual. I had to save Divajood's Alaskan forest to my hard drive. Sheer joy!

And coming up, the 23rd edition of "Circus of the Spineless", at Words and Pictures. The deadline for submissions is tomorrow, the 30th; send yours to roger.butterfield (at) gmail.com .

Happy reading!

Weekly Five, Plus Two

A bunch of science photos for you this week. Good stuff I've found.

Notes from the Technology Underground: a water-bear, or tardigrade. One of my favourite beasties. And, as Bill says, they're "the world's toughest animal." (See my posts on it, on my old blog, here and here.)

Coturnix visited the Lawrence Hall of Science, and posted a long series of photos, mostly one per post for some reason. Check out the whole series. I especially liked the reptiles and the photo of Janet Stemwedel in a box.

A man alone, a grandfather, builds Stonehenge by himself, using only ancient technology. See the video. Absolutely amazing! From Measured Against Reality.

About colours: from Science Daily, Color is in the Eye of the Beholder. And from Cognitive Daily, Do women perceive color differently from men?

And two extras, non-science: I and the Bird # 53 is at 10,000 Birds. It's the second anniversary edition, and loaded with goodies.

And Good Planets is up at The Gypsy's Caravan. It includes a cute photo of a baby merlin being weighed in a rescue centre (and not looking too happy about it.) I followed the link back to Bird TLC; very interesting.

And this: a load of sand or gravel going by New Westminster Quay on a barge. A little fuzzy because I had to run to keep up with it.

Good Planets are Hard to Find, June Edition # 2

How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew! ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fragility and Durability; two sides of the same coin. The most transient, delicate butterfly emerges, flies and is gone, but she leaves behind a row of eggs; and conversely, the most solid, taken-for-granted, ancient ground under our feet will someday crumble.

Robin forwarded this photo, sent by Evan of Virginia; his newborn son. He writes:

"The doctors are still wiping the fluids off of him seconds after birth."

Congratulations, Evan! And long may he thrive!
A little girl comes to grips with impermanence.Bev, of Burning Silo, sends this tiny plume moth, possibly a Himmelman's PM.

And also from Bev, a pair of Delicate Cycnia moths, photographed at her farm this week.
Robin, at Dharma Bums, says,

"I saw this very sweet chickadee pulling fibers from our doormat again. She may be getting ready for her second brood. There is something about the black-capped chickadee that is the essence of cuteness. They are tiny, but have incredible presence."

And this one, from C. Corax, rouses all my protective instincts; a temporarily, I hope, blind garter snake.

She writes,

"When I saw this garter snake, I assumed she was getting ready to shed. But I wonder--perhaps someone knowledgeable about snakes can tell me for sure--whether the snake has actually shed already but is retaining the eye scales. She was very nervous at my approach. Certainly when a snake is blind, even temporarily, it is very vulnerable. If vulnerability is viewed as a sort of fragility, this photo fits the theme."

Yankee Transplant sends this New England reservoir, demonstrating "durability and variety from season to season."
Along the Kamloops - Merritt highway, this dead tree still serves as a handy roost for birds.
A glacier calving brings to mind the fragility of our planet and its climate. From Wrenaissance Woman.
Eggshell china, almost a century old: Japanese Kutani porcelain. So delicate you can see through it to the signature on the back, so sturdy it stands up to a lifetime of tea ceremonies. From Laurie's collection.

Detail of the saucer.

And the cup to go with it.

And also from Wrenaissance Woman,

"Denali, ... one of the sacred places of the earth. Its durability gives me hope that we, and our good planet, will survive the current mess we're making."

It's a Good Planet we have here, a splendid, breath-taking planet. Thanks to all for sending these amazing photos of it.

Next Good Planets will be hosted by SBGypsy, of The Gypsy's Caravan. You can e-mail your photos to sbgypsy AT hotmail DOT com, on or before the Friday after next.

See you over there!

I keep forgetting...

... to post a reminder about "Good Planets".

I will be hosting it here next Saturday. Don't forget to send your photos to me (susannah AT dccnet DOT com) before Friday afternoon, if at all possible.

The topic -- non-binding, of course -- for this edition is "fragility / durability". More on this in a moment.

First, though, let me mention the next installment, which Robin at Dharma Bums says will be hosted by SBGypsy, of The Gypsy's Caravan. Send photos for the second Saturday in July to sbgypsy AT hotmail DOT com.

We've got a tentative list of hosts covering up to October, maybe November. If you would like to host a month please let Robin know. She writes,

Hosting Good Planets means that for second and fourth Saturdays in the month, you will post photos that people send depicting the beauty of our good planet. It's a traveling gallery of appreciation.

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Ok. Back to the topic(s). "Fragility / durability."

I don't know what inspired me to choose these qualities; the words just fell out of my fingers onto the keyboard. I had nothing in mind that they represented for me, just the words.

However, thinking about it this week, Laurie and I have been struck with the sheer number of areas or categories that they apply to, and their relevance to the issues that confront us today; climate change, pollution, energy, population pressures, the safety and the future of our children, and more. And I've noticed the added dimension that thinking in these terms gives to my appreciation of the beauties of this solid/fragile, watery blue rock in space.

I am eagerly anticipating the photos you will be sending in this week.

Good Planets are Hard to Find

... Aren't we lucky we found this one?

“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”
Supposedly said by the Buddha.

Here are some morsels of that perfection that arrived in my mailbox this week:

From Yankee T., a glorious magnolia blossom from her local Botanic Garden.

I don't know what it is about magnolias; they are so ... blatant, I think would be the word. Strong, heavy, sturdy-looking, but so impermanent; like a loud shout of laughter. The buds look like individual flames, flaring joyously up from the bare branches.

C. Corax saw this catbird singing a Leonard Cohen song, one morning on the way to catch the bus to work. "It definitely made me smile!" she writes.

All I can say about life is, Oh God, enjoy it!
Bob Newhart

We attribute human-like attributes and ideas to our animal neighbours, sometimes correctly. I wonder what this alligator lizard (Elgaria coeruleus) is smiling about?
Contributed by Celeste, of Dzonoqua's Whistle. More details on her blog.

Here's the lizard, in all his slithery length. (Click on the photo to get the full benefit.)

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.
Aristotle

I asked Laurie what made him smile. He remembered this photo from some years back: a sassy little widgeon confronts a bigger mallard who tried to grab the crumb he wanted. She seems quite taken aback. The little white dots in front are bird food that I was tossing while Laurie snapped away. At Reifel Island bird sanctuary.

More disruptions in avian affairs; seagulls ignoring a "Danger -- Keep Off the Ice!" sign. Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver.
Good sex, ours or someone else's, always brings a smile. Robin of Dharma Bums caught these two in the act last week.

Laughing is the sensation of feeling good all over and showing it principally in one spot.
Josh Billings

Poles; totem poles, Maypoles, poles for the birdmen of Papantla, and more, feature in the celebration of the beauty of our earth. Kim Herdman sent a totem pole from K'san village, topped with a man in a decidedly western-looking hat and suit.

And a telephone pole from Strathcona, Vancouver, from my collection: I labelled it "Post No Bills".
Wrenaissance Woman says, "goldfinches hanging upside-down to feed always make me smile."

Cherish all your happy moments: they make a fine cushion for old age.
Christopher Morley

One final photo; a few years back, in the bright sunlight after a heavy snowfall, we went out for a walk by the river. This little dog had been enjoying every moment of his own walk.
And to quote another celebrity; "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!"

Next "Good Planets" will be up June 23, in two weeks. I'd like to suggest a couple of concepts to play with, two opposites; fragility and durability. Do you have photos that speak to either or both of these ideas? Send them along!

But do feel free to send other photos of our "good planet" that you would like to share. Send them to me, at susannah AT dccnet DOT com, by Friday the 22nd.

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Quotations from here and here.

P.S. C. Corax posted a wonderful and apposite poem in the comments.

Bits and Pieces

Assorted links and oddments.

1. I'm a bit late with this: I and the Bird #50 is up at A Blog Around the Clock. 39 separate entries, including mine. Enough reading there for the week.
2. One week until the next Good Planets, here. Send your photos to me at susannah AT dccnet DOT com hopefully before next Friday afternoon. Again, the topic is wide open, although I did ask a "priming" question; "What makes you smile/laugh?"
3. Laurie asks if anyone can identify this:
4. I did not vote for Harper. Just saying.
5. Circus of the Spineless #21 will be up next Monday at 10,000 Birds. The previous one, #20, has gotten lost somewhere in transit, and now the whole blog seems to be down. I will provide a link whenever it shows up. (And I have posts in both.)
6. I'm going to bed. 'bout time.
   

Two Carnivals

Good Planets are Hard to Find is up, at The Gypsy's Caravan. Fascinating photos, as always. Including two of mine, a Clark's Nutcracker and a fat chipmunk at Chase, BC. I am inspired by C. Corax's patience, sitting for an hour to watch a flicker build a nest. And quieted by Liza Lee Miller's cows, meadow and ocean. And ... oh, so many more ... Thanks, Gypsy!

The Creation Museum Carnival is at Pharyngula. My post, My father knew no science, is there. And some 73 others; go see.*

Next month, I will be hosting Good Planets; send your photos of this globe we share by Friday, the 8th of June, to susannah at dccnet dot com. Open thread, this time; no topic. Although, here is a thinking point: what about our planet makes you smile? What makes you laugh?

*And I think this will count for my Weekly Five science links. There are 73 links in that one carnival, mostly on science.

Weekly Five: the science links I promised.

I promised: to post a list of five science links, every week.

A problem has arisen. Checking over the posts that I found interesting this week, I filled my address bar with far more than 5. So here I am, at the Express Check-Out with a full cart. Be lenient with me, Mike.

#1. Daily Kos, Marine Life Series: Boring Sponges How something soft and mushy eats its way into something hard. Like a thick oyster shell.I've seen that! But I didn't know what I was seeing. Now I do.

And just last night, I was reading a small reference booklet, "Tidepool & Reef - Marinelife Guide to the Pacific Northwest Coast"; it says, about the Hermit Crab Sponge,

"Grows on shells inhabited by hermit crabs; eventually dissolves the shell. Instead of finding larger shells as the crab grows, it can make the sponge its permanent home." (My emphasis.)

An interesting symbiosis.

Link # 2: Asphalt-Eating Bacteria. "... new branches in the tree of life, ..."

# 3 - 6: Snake steals toxins from toads. The article mentions some frogs, birds and now snakes that are known to collect the toxins they use from their diet. I would add to that the nudibranches, (sea slugs -- what an awful name for such beautiful creatures!). They eat stinging cnidarians, such as sea anenomes and jellyfish, and transport the cnidarian stinging cells to their own cerata. (An example, here.)

# 7: Zombie Snails. Pulsating tentacles!
Staying in the shade. No neon lights. Not a zombie. (Under the chin of a totem pole animal.)

# 8: Something to think about. Metaphors, Science and Cardiology.

# 9. 10: And, since it's Mothers' Day, or was still a few minutes ago, Janet Stemwedel interviews her mother. Why Mom went back to school, and Mom goes to grad school. Having two daughters who did something similar (nursing, as opposed to astronomy, but also in their 30s, and as mothers of small children), I find this heart-warming.

# 11: A moving story by Dr. Charles, Mother's Day.

Oh, and one more: Good Planets is up, at The Gypsy's Caravan. "...abundance and glory...", the Gypsy saith.

Good Planets is Up! And it's great!

Oh, what a beautiful way to start the weekend! It's still Friday night here on the west coast, and look what shows up on my blogroll! Vicki, at A Mark on My Wall, put together a gorgeous "Good Planets". Yay!

(Well, if you want to be pedantic about it, it isn't Friday; it's past 1AM already. But I haven't gone to bed yet, so that makes it still Friday for me. So there!)

And, to add to the surfeit of beautiful things, here's a view across White Rock beach last week. Laurie took the photo facing directly into the sun, a breaking of the "rules" if there ever was one. It worked for him, but not for me on my digital. Whether that's because he's much more experienced than I, because film is more flexible, or because my camera isn't all that wonderful, I don't know.

Whichever it was, he caught the light glinting on the wet seaweed at his feet, the shallow beach puddles and on the deeper water beyond.

I spent a year in White Rock as a child; I whiled away many a summer afternoon on this beach, splashing through the puddles (warm as a bathtub) or wading half-way out to Blaine, across the border, before the water was up to my chin, then swimming back in. Hours of silence, except for the calling of the gulls; the beach is wide, and my brothers were mere distant specks against the sand. I never go back without rembering the feel of the sand ridges under my toes.

I know it's late, but...

... Good Planets is up at Burning Silo. Theme: A Memory. Great photos, wonderful memories. Go see.

Addendum to Good Planets, "Fire"

Over at Dzonoqua's Whistle, I read that she had planned to send a photo for last Saturday's "Good Planets" edition, but ran into problems.

It's probably better this way; on her blog, she has the full story, plus 2 photos. And very worth reading.

She explains:

"I planned to post this for Good Planets Carnival, but Blogger wouldn't load pix. The theme was Fire, so I thought of this place that was so completely and utterly devastated. But in a very short(in forest years) 75 years, nature, with a boost of replanting, has remade itself. The mosses, lichens, fern, shrubs, herbs, bugs, slugs, amphibians, fungus, were NOT seeded--go take a look for yourself what they've been able to accomplish."

Click on over there and read the rest.

See you later!

Good Planets are Hard to Find, February 24, 2007

Full many a glorious morning have I seen
Flatter the mountain-tops with sovereign eye,
Kissing with golden face the meadows green,
Gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy;
--Shakespeare, Sonnet 33

Welcome to "Good Planets"!

Today's theme: the last of the ancient elements, Fire.

It all started here, in flames. The astronomers tell us that this good planet was spun out of the gas/dust disk that became our sun. Hot? It reaches 22 million degrees F in the centre, they say. Any heating system here on earth produces an infinitesmal spark in comparison. So it is appropriate that the majority of our photos focus on that fiery chariot.

But not all. Just see what we have found!

First up, from Robin, at DharmaBums, a West Coast sunrise. She writes, "This was exactly what the sunrise looked like, October 25, 2005. There was a light fog that caught all of the morning light. A rather fiery sunrise."

She also sent sunlight captured in a drop of rainwater. "... a fine bit of fire," she says.

And now, for truly fiery colours, Blanket Flowers! They "seem to encapsulate summer," for the "Fat Lady (who) Sings". Don't they just!

From Bev, at Burning Silo, "the reflection of the sun on the elytra of a Dogbane Leaf Beetle (Chrysochus auratus). Found on leaves of a foot-tall poplar seedling in the meadow beside Roger's Pond at Cedar Grove Nature Trail in Marlborough Forest."

Something different; a bit of the heat left-over from our early days.

Ruth, at Body, Soul and Spirit, writes, "my brother and I are climbing towards the crater of the Ceboruco Volcano in Nayarit, Mexico. We passed many steam vents on our climb ... June 2006"

And a second photo from Mexico: Ruth writes, "My parents and brother live in Nayarit, Mexico. They are surrounded by sugar cane fields which are burned the night before harvest.The fire removes excess vegetation and the cane is easier to cut."

From Skylar, another volcano, no longer steaming. Mt. St. Helens, greening up again, "... after the fiery volcanic ash destroyed over 200 square miles of vegetation during the May, 18, 1980 eruption following a 5.1 earthquake. Although the complete eruption was roughly 9 hours long, the area surrounding Mt St Helens was completely changed within minutes and continues to bear witness to these changes in landscape almost 27 years later. It is reassuring to see green again upon these hillsides and mountains."

Creature comforts for after a hard day's work or hiking: coals and flame, cooking supper. From Liza Lee Miller (Egret's Nest), the campfire from her last camping trip.

Supper! "That's Yakitori - Japanese style BBQ chicken. The secret lies in building layers of the Saki based sauce. Delicious!" Looks like it! From the "Fat Lady".

Bev goes camping, too. This is from a trip through California. She writes, "The weather was unseasonably cold and we just had sleeping bags and no tent, so we very much enjoyed sitting around the fire until late in the evening."

And, with the last clear rays of sunlight, a robin sits on the topmost branch of a tree. A couple of minutes later, the sun had dropped and he was in shadow. Strathcona, BC., last summer.

"Day is Dying in the West". Gloriously. A January sunset, from Pam, at Tortoise Trail.

"This photo I took from my home on Monday. It is of the sun setting behind Mt. Iliamna* with an accidental raven in the frame." Trixie

*In Alaska. Mt. Iliamna, by the way, is another live volcano. It last erupted in 1953.

Beautiful shades of grey and orange. From SB Gypsy.

A summer sunset. "The temperature exceeded 100 degrees that day - and the humidity was so high it distorted the sun, making it look pulled like taffy." The Fat Lady Sings, again.

"This flaming sunset in San Luis Obispo, California on Christmas Eve demonstrates perfect gradation of color from yellow to red and was perhaps the most exquisite gift we received for Christmas!" Skylar

And finally, Yankee Transplant tells us, "Here is a fire in my hearth. It matches my passion for the planet. Stop by some chilly winter evening and sit with us as we admire the magic that is the flame."

Thanks for the invitation, Yankee! That fire does look good.

And thanks to all of you who contributed your vision this month. I have thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of hosting these February editions of "Good Planets", especially getting to know you better. And having a preview, as the e-mails came in. It felt almost like cheating.

Next month, March, Bev of Burning Silo will be our hostess. She will be continuing with a theme, and writes, "I think I'd like to make it be 'Home' (however people wish to interpret that)."

You can send your contributions to her: bev at magickcanoe dot com .

Thanks again, fellow travellers on this oh-so-amazing "Good Planet". See you over at Bev's next month!

P.S. Celeste, at Dzonoqua's Whistle, has a post that would have been included here if she had been able to send it. Go on over and check it out.

Good Planets are Hard To Find, Feb. 17, 2007

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter ... to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring--- these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

- John Burroughs

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Welcome to "Good Planets are Hard to Find", February 17th edition!

Today's theme; the third of our 4 ancient "elements", air, what Shakespeare called, "this most excellent canopy, ... this brave o'er hanging firmament..." (Hamlet) That most essential of all the amenities of this nurturing earth.

It has been hard to find photos of "air", hasn't it? Of course, since the stuff is invisible and we can't photograph its touch, its smell, its power. The way it fills our lungs and ruffles our hair. The rustling of the grasses, the rattle of dry leaves, the howl of a storm. The games it plays.

Oh, but we have an albumfull, in spite of that! Just look:

To start us off right, Bev Wigney, at Burning Silo, sends us a dawn photo of Tule Lake (N. California).

Skylar gives us a mistier view, a foggy afternoon south of Big Sur, CA along the Pacific Coast Highway.

From Bev, again, an old white house in central Oregon under a blue and white sky.

But it's not all quiet, empty skies; they're full of singing, screeching, honking life. Here is a flock of shorebirds (sandpipers?) racing over the water on a windy day. Off the Ladner Dikes, Delta, BC

Starlings. Some people call them a pest. TheFatLadySings says they're "Pretty cool".

Mary Ferracci, at Mary's View, "saw a Cooper’s Hawk overlooking my North Carolina back yard feeder."

And a photo C. Corax calls "impressionistic". A crow in full flight, wings a blur.

Liza Lee Miller, at Egret's Nest sent a photo of "Honkers" flying over New Melones Reservoir, California.

Sometimes they land: "This guy or gal (Red-breasted Sapsucker) has been hanging out everyday in the same spot, right where I can see him easily from my computer. Life is good!" says Dawn Bailey

Skylar sends an unusual photo; a seagull in flight, from above, looking for breadcrumbs. On the central Oregon shore.

A juvenile Peregrine Falcon, wings spread in the air, sent by Robin, at DharmaBums

And here's what we do with the air, especially when it's in motion:

Flags in Bermuda, near one of the old forts, sent by Donna Wenger, at KGMom Mumblings.

Kites fly over Oregon's Pacific coast on July 4th. Skylar, again.

On Boundary Bay, last summer, swimmers and waders. And kite flyers, always. This one was unusual.

Hard at work: aermotor windmill in front of a windfarm in central Oregon. Sent by Bev, at Burning Silo.

More windmills, from C. Corax, who tells us, "this is in upstate New York off Route 12. I forget what town they're in. This shows the tiniest fraction of the wind farm, and definitely gives no idea of how mind-blowingly HUGE these things are. Honestly, the things give me the creeps, they're so huge."

"Another view of life on the Navesink River in NJ. Not the greatest of pics, but I was so taken with this one particular iceboat - it was the largest on the river and if you've got a good imagination you might hear the WIND billowing through the sails. I think every kid in town had a ride on it that day, but I was too hesitant myself to step out on the ice or I would have liked a go!" Laura, Somewhere in NJ.

"Here's a windmill from Volendam, Netherlands, just outside Amsterdam. It is a fully operating windmill, that is 350 years old. When it is in full operation, it pumps 12,000 gallons a MINUTE. It pumps water from the lowlands out to the sea. The arms of the windmill have an amazing sweep, and you can feel the whoosh as they go by. Also, they are lethal, and visitors are cautioned not to get near them." Also from Donna Wegner.

There is no air on the moon. Not enough to count, anyhow. But the air around us modifies how we see it. Here are a couple of samples.

A yellow moon...

... and a pink one. The Fat Lady Sings says, "That pink color is unusual - especially for winter. I've seen pink moons during hot, summer weather; but this was quite different."

And with the photos, two separate contributors sent along this well-known poem.

WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND ?
by CHRISTINA ROSSETTI 

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing thro' 

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.

That's it for tonight, folks! And a Big Thank You! to all who took the time to sort through and send along these marvellous photos.

Next week, the theme is the fourth element of the ancients, "Fire". And people are already sending in amazing photos. I look forward to seeing what else my e-mail brings me; you can send them to me at susannah at dccnet dot com, or through the carnival widget on the sidebar.

P.S. One more quote; a short one.

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.- Ralph Waldo Emerson