Homeward Bound - Bryn Terfel

One of my Christmas presents was Bryn Terfel's Homeward Bound album. I love this singer and this particular song:

Foodie localism loves farming in theory but not in practice

Photo by Stijn te Strake (on Unsplash)  

As the local food movement grows with every new farmers' market, have the farmers themselves been forgotten?   https://getpocket.com/explore/item/foodie-localism-loves-farming-in-theory-but-not-in-practice?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Trader Joe's compostable bags

Really happy to see these compostable bags at our local Trader Joe's just now:

Winter Solstice

Clean future?

Shop small, shop local advert from Wales

Amazing when you consider this advert cost just £100 to make, compared to this year's John Lewis Christmas ad (£7MILLION).

An Acre of Land (PJ Harvey)

I love this song from the movie "Dark River" (2018):

Shall we gather at the river?

Shall We Gather at the River is a beautiful American folk song and gospel hymn composed by Robert Lowry late one afternoon in 1864, in the midst of the American Civil War.

And another version with Sir Bryn Terfel, Welsh bass-baritone opera singer:

U.S. National Parks in crisis due to invasive species

GETTY IMAGES

Burmese pythons are a particular problem in the Florida Everglades where they are killing off many of the native species. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50633580

Small Business Saturday

Sandhill Cranes (video)

Sandhill Cranes on Black Friday

Watched clouds of sandhill cranes landing at Jasper-Pulaski Wildlife Area, Indiana, at dusk. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/sandhill-crane

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Little Ice Age (Aeon)

Winter landscape with skaters (Hendrick Avercamp)

Understand the nature of the Little Ice Age (1350-1850 A.D.)
https://aeon.co/essays/the-little-ice-age-is-a-history-of-resilience-and-surprises

Plastic substitute from fish waste

This sounds like a good idea, given the amount of plastic waste that ends up in our oceans or is sent to developing countries to form toxic waste dumps.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/14/plastic-substitute-made-of-fish-waste-hauls-in-uk-designer-dyson-award

Sunset at Bobolink Meadow

Photo: Marge Ishmael

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/illinois/bobolink-meadow-trail

Delhi air pollution

Sadly I'm not surprised by this news about the catastrophic air pollution levels in Delhi. On a trip to Calcutta in 2016, I had a coughing fit and my eyes were stinging after 30 minutes of walking in the streets. Diesel fumes choked the air and I was amazed people were living with this situation on a daily basis.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50280390

Photo: Times of India

Day of the dead/Dia de los muertos

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Celebrating Dia de los muertos at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Wikipedia: "The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico, in particular the Central and South regions, and by people of Mexican heritage elsewhere. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and helping support their spiritual journey. In Mexican culture, death is viewed as a natural part of the human cycle. Mexicans view it not as a day of sadness but as a day of celebration because their loved ones awake and celebrate with them."

Cotton patch blues

I've been binge watching the Goliath TV series - Season 1.  This is one example of its great soundtrack.  A cotton patch blues sampler by the legendary Junior Kimbrough.

Wicked Halloween Weather

My first snowy Halloween!

Global warming will drown Mumbai, Shanghai, Bangkok

Scientists have dramatically underestimated the impact rising seas will have on cities around the world, according to research published in the journal "Nature Communications" on Tuesday. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/global-warming-sea-level-bangkok-shanghai-mumbai-902419/

Sugar Maple

It’s that time of year again for our sugar maple. Best known for its bright fall foliage, ranging from brilliant yellow to burnt orange, and for being the primary source of maple syrup.

 

Wild Turkey

Wild turkey in front of our cabin earlier today.  Photo taken through a glass window on a rainy day, so it's blurry.

Photo: Marge Ishmael

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/wild-turkey

More organic farming could worsen global warming

A new study shows a wholesale shift to organic farming could increase net greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 21 percent. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-more-organic-farming-could-worsen-global-warming

Birds and bees cartoon

Sausage dog balances stuff on head

Bison return to the Badlands

Thanks to generous donations to the World Wildlife Fund, bison return to the Badlands for the first time since 1870.

Don't Frack with Us!

 

Read more about the fearless anti-fracking activists of Lancashire:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/13/dont-frack-with-us-the-vivtorious-nanas-of-lancashire-activism

Calvin & Hobbes

Slow Burn (live from Tokyo)

The one and only Ms Musgraves - live from Tokyo.

British recycling in Indonesia

British councils send their recycling to developing countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam.  We in the west pat ourselves on the back for "tinkering at the edges" recycling efforts, when in fact our rubbish goes to form toxic dumps elsewhere. 
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/30/british-councils-sending-recycling-indonesia-burnt-unauthorised/

Snoopy and Woodstock

Poster

October day in Grant Park

A beautiful October day in Grant Park, Chicago.  General John Logan memorial commemorating the Union Army general of the American Civil War.   

Photo: Marge Ishmael

 

Kids addicted to technology

This is a Canadian commercial about the dangers of addiction to technology and the lack of being in nature.

E-Waste Mega Dump - Ghana

Ever wonder what happened to that old computer you threw out or left at a dump?  Read on:
https://ghana.for91days.com/agbogbloshie/?fbclid=IwAR3JH5OeBaZJNcdTYD5McapMMLS1g1bwEnRbOWpIljMumkv1E7BI8hE0QQs

Northern Flicker

Spotted a Northern Flicker through our back window today. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northern-flicker

Greta Thunberg: truth to power

Incredibly powerful speech at the UN Climate Action Summit yesterday. Greta – you can thank us Baby Boomers - the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed generation – for the climate mess we've inherited today.

Al Gore: Climate crisis is the battle of our time, and we can win

 

https://www.algore.com/

 

https://www.algore.com/news/the-climate-crisis-is-the-battle-of-our-time-and-we-can-win 

Fighting climate change

On Global Climate Strike Friday, environmental activists Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot's new short film about fighting climate change:

Birds disappearing from North America

There are 2.9 billion fewer birds in the U.S. and Canada now than 50 years ago, a new study found. A steep decline that stunned researchers.  https://www.npr.org/2019/09/19/762090471/north-america-has-lost-3-billion-birds-scientists-say

Jacqueline Larma/AP

Vertical Farming

Aster

My garden statue (Diana the Huntress) surrounded by late summer aster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aster_(genus)

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Fine Time/Kacey Musgraves

Full Moon on Friday the 13th

Moonrise over Lake Michigan.

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Cormorant

Saw this cormorant in a local lagoon today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormorant

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Jonathan Franzen: climate apocalypse inevitable?

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-if-we-stopped-pretending

The climate apocalypse is coming. To prepare for it, we need to admit that we can’t prevent it... according to this controversial essay by Jonathan Franzen.

The Great Gatsby

One of my favorite books (The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald) set in the flamboyant and excessive Roaring Twenties, was made into a movie in 2013 with two of my favorite actors (Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan) and a great song by Lana Del Rey.

Quotes from The Great Gatsby:

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.”

“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.” 

"It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”  

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” 

“They’re a rotten crowd’, I shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.”  

World's population could be 11 billion by 2100

United Nations population statistics show the world's population peaking at 11 billion by the end of this century...but who really knows?  https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-population-prospects-2019.html

Herons, cormorant

Photos from Thursday's nature walk:

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Doctors prescribing nature

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-doctors-are-increasingly-prescribing-nature?fbclid=IwAR2SinclIzEzPW8PfBQH7xjvwaIu-CJdoIHGMMY3RNdTobbInhctqNDdln0

Late summer wild flowers

We have lots of late summer golden rod and Queen Anne's lace in our yard. Some people classify them as weeds but I prefer to think of them as wild flowers.

Photos: Marge Ishmael

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daucus_carota 

https://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/goldenrod 

Labor Day/Working Class Hero

It's Labor Day here in the United States and this song by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band still seems relevant.

No forests, no life. Global Day of Action for the Amazon

March for the Amazon

September 5, 2019 - 4 PM – 5:30 PM

Brazilian Consulate In Chicago, 401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60611

Supporting Organizations: Extinction Rebellion Chicago

Bolsonaro's Burning Brazilian Amazon

Rapacious capitalists blaze a trail of staggering destruction  across the Amazon rainforest.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/23/amazon-rainforest-fires-deforestation-jair-bolsonaro

Morning Glory

My Morning Glory has suddenly taken off: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_glory

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Nature Conservancy

"Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me. I feel nature can offer some of the best remedies for healing, peace and balance in our busy lives." – Photographer, Sam Austin

American Lady and Rattlesnake Master

We also saw this American Lady butterfly https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Vanessa-virginiensis and Rattlesnake Master plants https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ERYU

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Joe Pye Weed or Ironweed?

We were not sure if this plant was Joe Pye Weed or Ironweed, but it was probably Ironweed: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/vernonia_gigantea.shtml

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Limenitis arthemis

Today we spotted a Limenitis arthemis, the red-spotted purple or white admiral, a North American butterfly species: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limenitis_arthemis

Photos: Marge Ishmael

Green heron and great blue herons

Spotted this young green heron in a local park...and a nest with an adult great blue heron and her young. https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/green-heron and https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-blue-heron

Photo: Marge Ishmael

Photo: Marge Ishmael