The Lamb

Happy Winter Solstice!

Here we come a-wassailing!

It's a Wonderful Life or It's a Wonderful Trump

Last weekend's Saturday Night Live skits on Donald Trump and on Brexit:

The Traveling Wilburys - Handle with Care

Salvation Army

Chicago's own LaRoyce Hawkins from Chicago P.D. in a recent Salvation Army ad.

Blue Spruce

Our blue spruce blew down during a storm and 55 mph winds on November 26th.  Expect the unexpected; life is full of surprises.

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Climate change "our greatest threat"

Speaking at a UN climate change summit in Poland this week, David Attenborough warned of the collapse of civilization. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46398057

One-third of food (worldwide) is wasted

Waste and spoilage in harvesting, storage, transport and shops accounts for an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food a year and that's about 1/3 of food, worldwide.

Telegraph.co.uk

63rd Street Beach, Chicago

63rd Street Beach on an early November afternoon.

The internet will be the death of us (NYT)

Bruce Nauman’s “Double Poke in the Eye II" 1985

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/opinion/internet-violence-hate-prejudice.html

Eat Local

Fall colors on our street

Photo: Marge Ishmael

For What It's Worth (1967)

Buffalo Springfield were a Canadian-American band, including Neil Young and Stephen Stills. Stills wrote this one which is still relevant today.

Indiana Fall Colors

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Earthquakes and the Ring of Fire

PALU, Indonesia experienced a huge earthquake and tsunami last weekend, resulting in 1400 deaths so far.  This video explains the "ring of fire" around the Pacific. https://www.facebook.com/ezraklein/videos/1012018345652434/

Monarch butterfly on Michaelmas daisy

Photo: Marge Ishmael

http://www.monarch-butterfly.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aster_amellus

Let the mystery be

Iris DeMent and "Let the Mystery Be":

Monarch butterfly migration

The monarch butterflies are gathering in groups on our local trees as they prepare for migration: https://www.reference.com/pets-animals/monarch-butterflies-4ac6b87a04c21dba?aq=monarch%20butterfly%20migration

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Great Egret

We saw this Great Egret on this morning's nature walk in Jackson Park: https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-egret

Photo: Jane Masterson

Jackson Park nature walk

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Forest bathing craze

The Japanese export of Forest Bathing is changing the way we think about the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/22/forest-bathing-california-shinrin-yoku-nature-therapy

Aerial photos show stark divide between rich and poor

Striking drone images from South Africa, Mexico and India show shacks next to affluent suburbs.
https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-45257901

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/

Nepal's last known dancing bears rescued

The last dancing bears in Nepal are free at last, but the horrible conditions and practice continue in other countries:  https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/wildlife-watch-nepal-dancing-bears-rescued/

Burberry destroys its clothing

I'm speechless!  What a world we live in. Upscale fashion label Burberry has destroyed millions of dollars' worth of clothing to prevent it being discounted.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44885983

Ozone hole mystery

Disturbing news from China: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44738952
Earlier this year, scientists could not figure out why an illegal, ozone-killing chemical had suddenly reappeared. Now the culprit has been identified: China.  London-based Environmental Investigation Agency found that lots of Chinese manufacturers are adding the chemical CFC-11 to foam insulation that gets blown into houses - even though it was banned in 2010.

Summer nights

You can't beat being outside on warm summer nights.

Photo: Mark Oreglia

Farm Aid 2018

Farm Aid works year round to build a system of agriculture that values family farmers, good food, soil, water and strong communities. The annual Farm Aid 2018 festival will be on 22nd September in Hartford, Connecticut: http://www.farmaid.org

California Wildfires

Insurance claims from last fall's deadly California wildfires have reached $11.8 billion, making it the most expensive series of wildfires in state history.  See following link:
https://www.facebook.com/YearsOfLiving/videos/482858955494649/

Shepherdess

Photo: Telegraph

 
The Sheep Stell: a memoir of Janet White’s life as a shepherd, islander, smallholder and hill farmer.  She has always tended sheep – first as a girl in the Cheviots; then on an island off New Zealand.  After a brutal attack she was forced to leave the island and return to England, where she married and became a smallholder in Sussex and then a hill farmer in Somerset. She is attached to the land and committed to combining conservation and successful farming.   www.hachette.com.au/janet-white/the-sheep-stell

Young at heart

July 4th parade

Our local July 4^th on 53^rd Parade with the Broken Arrow riders. http://www.brokenarrowridingclub.org

Photo: Marge Ishmael

 

This is America - video

A commentary on gun violence in America in this powerful video. 
Twitter quote by E-Money: “People are so caught up in Gambino’s shoot that they don’t even realize what the hell is going on in the background. He’s literally talking about people who don’t care about what’s happening in society, but care about the latest dance fad. He’s talking about y’all.”

City bumblebees fare better than country cousins?

New York Times: London bumblebees may be faring better than their cousins in the English countryside. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/science/bumblebees-cities-urban.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Antarctic thaw quickens

Photo: Reuters

OSLO (Reuters) - "An accelerating thaw of Antarctica has pushed up world sea levels by almost a centimeter since the early 1990s in a risk for coasts from Pacific islands to Florida, an international team of scientists said on Thursday.

Antarctica has enough ice to raise seas by 58 meters (190 ft) if it ever all melted, dwarfing frozen stores in places from Greenland to the Himalayas and making its future the biggest uncertainty in understanding global warming and ocean levels."

 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-antarctica/antarctic-thaw-quickens-trillions-of-tonnes-of-ice-raise-sea-levels-idUSKBN1J92IE

Labour exploitation endemic in global tea and cocoa industries

A disappointing report from my alma mater: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/news/nr/labour-exploitation-global-tea-cocoa-industries-1.783519. 

“The study included tea plantations certified by Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Ethical Trade Partnership, and Trustea, and cocoa producers who are members of the Fairtrade and UTZ certified co-operative, Kuapa Kokoo.  In the tea industry little difference was found in labour standards, including wage levels, between certified and non-certified tea plantations, with certified plantations faring worse than non-certified plantations against some indicators of labour abuse and unfair treatment.”

Native American poster

Peony

The peony in my backyard is in bloom and I took some blooms into the house. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peony

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Strange failure of the educated elite

Another good piece by David Brooks, New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/opinion/failure-educated-elite.html

Photo: Reuters

Poppy

Poppy in my local Spruce park.

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Chicago's Columbian Exposition 1893

Saw this visual simulation model presented by Dr. Lisa Snyder from UCLA over the weekend.  This is a brief montage with music by Scott Joplin, who performed at the fair and helped make ragtime popular around the world.

Dogwood

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date." - William Shakespeare.   Dogwood at the edge of the wood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Grotesque spectacle in Jerusalem

Horrified at this week's images of Ivanka and Jared partying during the bloodshed in Gaza. The New York Times Opinion page sums it up: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/opinion/jerusalem-embassy-gaza-protests.html

Cherry blossom and Skylanding sculpture

Yoko Ono's sculpture and cherry blossom in our local Jackson Park.  http://www.skylanding.com/

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Baltimore Oriole

The first Baltimore Oriole appeared in my back yard today.  I took this photo through the kitchen window and so it's blurry. Hopefully I'll get a better shot soon.  https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/baltimore-oriole

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Flowering pear tree

My neighbor's flowering pear tree has hit its blossom peak: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callery_Pear

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Woodland trail ride

Titan and I on our way to a woodland trail ride in La Porte, N.W. Indiana.  Smoke the Appaloosa back at the stables with Olivia.

Garter snake

Photo: Mark Oreglia

Garter snake in a doorway.

Mouse in BBQ

A mouse family has set up home in our BBQ grill this winter and I haven't wanted to evict them.
This is the mother and her pups are hiding under all the chopped up leaves.  I'm thinking they will leave once the pups are fully grown - and I can have my BBQ grill back!

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Ground phlox

Lots of pink ground phlox in our front yard today.  April’s Moon is called the Full Pink Moon heralding the appearance of the wild ground phlox—one of the first spring flowers... and a bit late this year. 

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Pesticides linked to cancer are in many foods

Glyphosate has been used as an herbicide since the 1970s in everything from corn to honey, granola, wheat crackers and oatmeal. It is found in Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/30/fda-weedkiller-glyphosate-in-food-internal-emails

American Goldfinch

Several American goldfinches on my new feeder today - a Wild Delight finch sock feeder with Nyjer seed. It attracts American goldfinches, purple finches, house finches, chickadees, and more. www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/american-goldfinch

Photo: Marge Ishmael