Saturday so...

 

Hummingbird at Cardinal Flower, photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service via CC PDM 1.0.

Monarch Butterfly on Swamp Milkweed, photo via Canva

from the internet

Allen's Hummingbird

Quick shots out the window of pileated woodpecker. His huge blaze caught my eye but then he kept hiding from me.

From the internet

Breakfasting squirrel keeping warm while it was 44 degrees last Mon. morning (and due to be colder Tues). we had frost warnings again. But yesterday (Fri.) it got to 80 F.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters

And for Skywatch Friday...let's look a bit closer at Lake Tomahawk.

I spy a family of Canada Geese! Fortunately they were swimming in my direction.

Somebody was honking up a storm. These were tiny little goslings to have been way out in the lake. 

It may have been this lone goose, or maybe the family's protective ones. I imagined that the lone goose might have been their son or daughter from last year, and wanting their parent's attention. Or something else only geese know about...

What do most Americans think of Climate Change?

 Here's last week's news from:

"We are pleased to release a new report, Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Fall 2023 based on data from the nationally representative survey we conducted in Fall 2023. 

Overall:

• Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of nearly 5 to 1 (72% versus 15%).
• 58% understand that global warming is mostly human-caused. By contrast, 29% think it is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment.
• 65% say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, including 29% who are “very worried.”
• 28% hear about global warming in the media at least once a week.

We also asked Americans what questions they would ask an expert on global warming, if they had the opportunity, repeating a study we first conducted in 2011:

Even when I enlarge that, it's pretty pale. Perhaps you can enlarge it on  your screen, or, go to the Yale Cmmunication link in the first paragraph, then you can see this chart better. I give up. The type face was black when I had it open, but it saves in this greyness. Sorry.

Butterfly

Bu

Joyful in a sinking ship

Sunday, first day of Eastern Standard Time

 Well, democracy may be sinking from the battering of MAGA-hatted fools who listen to lying tricksters. (I voted, all my friends voted, and we are pessimistically hopeful.)

But when I woke up this morning, I first did the "thankful for this day" routine.

Said I to myself "This is the last day of my life, whether it goes another day, week, month, year or decade. I am glad for it."

After that, and getting used to the skin I was in, gravity greeting my feet again on the side of the bed, I looked around and saw that I had become a butterfly, as I left my chrysilis and picked up the dirty clothes I'd flung on the floor last night. 

So here I've flown, my first flight of the day, to sip the nectar of coffee, and look at the laptop of beautiful messages. I breathe a deep breath, and smell something not quite pleasant. Maybe time for shower and breakfast...then on with my human life  tasks of the day.

I'll meet many other butterflies today when I go to church. I'll smile at them, behind my mask protecting my lungs from virus particles, and be glad again to be flying in this lifetime.

Poppies and Butterflies, Vincent van Gogh, 1889