That's Gneiss! # 115 ~ Snow or not? Only time will tell...
Also - will it snow enough to cancel work tomorrow?
Will it snow? Likely. Will it snow enough to cause a snow day tomorrow? Unknown.
I hope that if it does snow, it’s enough to make the decision to close the libraries an easy decision - no dithering. SNOW DAY PLEASE
For now it’s a waiting game, as the cold air moves into the area from the north, and the moisture comes from the south and west... of course I am now obsessively watching the radar map. The clouds this afternoon looked a bit foreboding.
The Challenger is tucked away in the garage, to keep it safe from cold temperatures and bad drivers sliding around on icy roads. I saw a car parked on a street near here that had been hit so hard on the back corner that it knocked it up onto the sidewalk. And it wasn’t even icy! Bad day for that car owner… I don’t want to be in a similar situation.
Tight fit in the garage! We had to leave space in the back to get to our freezer and Michael’s workbench. Challengers are big cars.
Life is not all about the weather, however. My new carving tools arrived on Friday!
Look at those sharp little beauties!
(it’s snowing)
I played around with some of the scrap rubber I’ve saved to test out those blades. I discovered that most of the scraps I’ve kept are way to small to do anything with, so I should just get rid of them.
(it stopped snowing)
After playing around, and only drawing blood once, I decided to give a go to a proper carved piece. But what? I was feeling a bit stymied. It’s not unusual for me to suffer a creative block when I want to try something new, especially for something on the larger side. I have a couple of linoleum blocks that sort of scare me, I guess because I don’t want to mess them up.
(it’s snowing - and sticking!)
Anyhow, I currently have a book from the library called The Best of Punk Magazine. I really like some of the type styles they used, and landed on the word “punk” from this cover:
It was also the perfect size to trace and transfer to a piece of rubber for carving. So I did. I think it turned out pretty well! These tools slide soooooo smoothly through the rubber. It will take some time to get used to them, but I am quite pleased with what they do.
Michael just called me to look out the front.
Somebody sprayed whipped cream all over our yard!
Tomorrow morning we may wake up to several inches, or to nothing. The suspense is killing me already!
There’s really nothing I can do but wait.
Sigh.
I’m just glad we’re not moving this year!
Tidbits
Hold the presses! Scientists have found the oldest fossilized slime mold in amber. 100 million years old! (yes, there’s a picture)
Over 2 million royalty-free icons from the Noun Project. I like this one:
25 years ago today the reintroduction of wolves began at Yellowstone National Park
In Washington? Know your noxious and invasive weeds!
Recently eaten: yes
Making: testing out those new carving tools! Also poking back into the nature journaling class.
Reading: I slowed down a bit this week, since it was back to work. I plowed through Face It, by Debbie Harry. I loved it, unlike some reviewers who seemed to think she should be writing the book for them.
I found it repetitive in parts, with a lot of name dropping, in many cases of people I have never heard of before, and stories that meandered and lacked any meaningful or interesting detail.
Dear reader - were you alive and living in New York in the late 70’s? No? Then of course you won’t recognize the names of all of the people Ms. Harry talks about in her memoir. It’s about HER life, not yours.
Reading (con’t.): I also read How to Survive in the North, which was kind of weird but interesting. I also read Fütchi Perf which was really weird and made no sense whatsoever. Fortunately it only took about 10 minutes, since there was no substance to it.
Videos of the Week
I’ve been on a Blondie kick this week - go figure. Here’s one of my favorites. Check out the fancy dancers and interesting outfits!
Algiers have released another video from their new album. This one really grows on you!
Question of the Week
If you feel like answering the question (or to just say hello), hit reply to this email. Answers will be shared next week - always anonymous. Don’t be shy!
After reading Why We Love How-to Videos I am wondering - do you have a favorite YouTube “how-to” video that helped you learn something new?
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Last week Nolan, our guest questioner asked - what’s your favorite organism?
That’s easy: Gaia.
Smaller scale? Crows.
Still smaller? Tardigrades.
My favorite organism is algae! It’s so important for our ecosystem and is one of the main reasons why we have an oxygenated atmosphere! So many people give trees credit but the real mvp is algae and our oceans.
My favorite organism changes from day to day but today it is snow algae! We'll call the species Chladymonas nivalis for now but recent genetic analysis is showing that those mysterious red streaks in the snow during summer are actually diverse communities of organisms of which virtually nothing is known! If you are interested in learning more or volunteering to collect snow samples check out Dr. Kodner's website here: https://wp.wwu.edu/livingsnowproject/
My favorite organism you ask?
As an ecologist and science educator, it would be wrong of me to select only one. I feel it would be wrong, in fact, if I didn’t say ALL of them. But if you insist I choose favorites - between you and me, and all your readers, I’ll state a few of my (secret) favs…
The organism that most piques my interest would be the tardigrade (tardigrada, or water bear if you like to think in the cartoon world). The tardigrade can survive the extremes - being able to be deprived of water and come back to life - its ability to withstand extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, and survive to tell about it. The tardigrade has the innate ability to put itself into a deep sleep and awaken when conditions are better suited to life. It is thought that the tardigrade may be an alien form riding to earth on shards of ice or rock, possibly seeding our early earth with the life forms we enjoy today. How cool is that. (notice, that wasn’t a question).
Otherwise, and just as notable, would be the slime mold or slime mould. Finding the fruiting bodied gems in the forest is one of my all time treats. The slime molds we see are actually many single celled organisms working together to make a better life for the whole. They keep our world clean by devouring the rotting corpses of sick trees and plants, bacteria, yeast, and fungi. They’re found to be intelligent. In fact, human organisms study them to improve their understanding of their own brains! so, how cool is that. (again, not a question).
As a stream ecologist, how can one not love the EPT group? Ephemeroptera, plecoptera and trichoptera (respectively, the mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly) - the bugs of the liquid world. The oft-hidden gems that serve as our "canary in the mine”. Each have different levels of tolerances to pollutants, temperature, and oxygen content of our water bodies. If we find them in a stream, we can -mostly- consider the stream ‘healthy’. If missing, something might be wrong that needs our attention. They are a most intriguing food source for fish and other aquatic life, in both their aquatic (larval) and terrestrial (flying insect) form.
On the more grand scale, of course, one of my all time favs would be the elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis)! An organism that earns this rite if not just for the rutting sound of the male's eerie squeal echoing through the mountain fog on a cold September morning. There is nothing that compares to the territorial conquest of this majestic beast as it slips through the forest, scraping its antlers wildly against saplings that dare cross its path, all in an effort to prove its strength and drive its gene pool for future generations.
Although you didn’t ask, there is an organism that is really beginning to annoy me, the human species in its current evolved form. These earthly creatures have evolved large brains over their 6M years on the planet, and yet they choose to use only a small portion of its capacity. They’re destroying the very environment that they depend. They choose to let elected officials tell them how to think. The human organism is simply evolving itself out of existence. But I digress...
I’m going with a family of organisms that I find visually appealing - Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts). I appreciate their resilience and ability to thrive in both natural and urban areas, and the myriad variations of form they take. The splashes of vivid green they provide between the sidewalk cracks in the dark soggy days of winter cheer me up while I wait for spring and summer to return.
Also hummingbirds, just because.
And moths.
And slugs.
I'm probably too late to answer Nolan's QoftheW, but I would have to say fungi! The rains have been popping up some good ones around here. [not too late!]
Current Temperature: 33.1 F (0.6 C)
Current Humidity: 99%
Wind (max gust): 15.9 mph
Precipitation: 0.13 in
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