FYI #NFBW: #Free #Fishing Days #Hobbies #Anglers #H2O #Freebies

Here's a fun outdoors freebie: Many states offer "Free Fishing Days" during National Fishing and Boating Week (generally in early June) when a person is allowed to fish on public bodies of water without a fishing license.

Visit http://takemefishing.org/nfbw for more information and to plan an outing that the whole family can enjoy. (I have fond childhood memories of tagging along on a few trips with my dad when he went fishing. It was fun to dig for worms.) Some people fish for food (remember to check for mercury contamination warnings depending on the body of water you plan to fish), some for sport, and others for the exercise and ambience. Being out on the water or on a bank near the water can be relaxing. Remember there's always catch and release. (Help prevent overfishing and promote sustainable ecosystems.) Enjoy the Great Outdoors!

A Dwarf #Magnolia Verdant: #Gardening #GreenThumb #Southerners #Nostalgia #Gifts #WeatherGeek #BFF

I have a Dwarf Magnolia tree in my yard. It came to me as a dream almost. Several years ago, a friend and neighbor who loves gardening like I do, gifted me a distressed Dwarf Magnolia sapling that he'd inherited. (He actually got two, potted in too small containers and having been neglected on a patio for some time, both seen better days.) As he and I have had numerous conversations about our shared love of fragrant Magnolia blossoms, he said that he immediately thought of me when the two strays landed on his doorstep. He laughingly delivered it in a wheelbarrow. And so I set out to rescue the one, while he worked on saving the other. Being inveterate green thumbs and fellow small town Southerners transplanted to the metro Atlanta area, we often share seeds & plants --- and their associated bounty. This ritual is part of how we bonded as neighbors and became friends.

On the day my neighbor turned up with this temporarily homeless little tree, he pulled it from the battered pot, dug a hole and planted it in my yard. It's yours now! I grinned in response. Over the years, I've tended to it near religiously: first tying it upright with a lance, pruning it, watering it and talking to it good naturedly. I dubbed the pitiful sapling "Ms. Magnolia Blossom 1999" or "Mags" for short --- monikers that just popped into my head. And our girl Mags has thrived! Turning from brown and withered to green and redolent. It took some time, nearly a full year to undo the withering damage alone. After she started to stretch out and unfurl, Mags began producing lovely fragrant puffy white blossoms in season. This process took roughly two years of nursing and coaxing, but 'twas well worth all the effort. Because now, at roughly the five-year mark, I get all the benefits of having a thriving Magnolia tree in my yard --- in a (comparatively) compact space.

In case you're unaware or curious, a fully grown Magnolia tree can easily top 30 feet in height and take up a full yard between its meandering roots and wide ranging branches, but the dwarf varieties generally only grow about 8-15 feet tall and can be kept "straight and narrow" through careful pruning and shaping. The sad sapling that I was graciously gifted was about 3 feet tall at the time, but is now a roughly 8.5 foot tall tree, having grown nearly a foot a year.

I had to take special care of her with the extreme drought the area has been experiencing over the last year or so. I took to hand watering Mags to insure she continued to thrive in a suddenly fragile ecosystem. She's doing well! However, I keep a vigilant eye on her, because the current yo-yo Winter to Spring weather pattern has many trees and plants blooming too early. Yet, the temperature still dips down to freezing or thereabouts as it did yesterday morning. (The rainstorms last weekend provided plenty of moisture, which was followed by a few days of strong sunlight before this returned shot of Winter. Having been thus bolstered, I think she'll do OK.) On Friday afternoon, in spite of the blustery conditions due to the incoming cold front, Mags looked resplendent in the bright sun, unbowed and verdant. Quite the beauty queen.

I plan to get out this afternoon and check on her, again, just to shoot the breeze. I can't wait for actual Spring! The smell of Magnolia blossoms instantly transports me to a better place, rather like those Calgon commercials of old. The Magnolia tree is quintessentially Southern, of course, and intrinsically tied to the warm and sunny memories of my childhood. (When you have a hardscrabble youth, you're willing to work to keep the bright spots close in adulthood. It's called perspective.) This little tree has proven a most wonderful gift 🎁. I cannot thank my gardening buddy BFF enough for providing carriage for my trips to bountiful.

#WeatherGeek: That One Day of Winter Really Kills #Yaz #AT40 #Nostalgia

The temperature is supposed to continue to drop this morning, down to 34 degrees or thereabouts. Today is our one day of Winter before rebounding to Spring-like temperatures come Friday. While such yo-yo weather has become the new normal around here, this doesn't make it fun.

The pollen count is already hitting very high marks (the equivalent of late Spring totals), as the unseasonably warm weather which occurs most days has convinced trees, plants and flowers that it's much later in the year. So the Winter temperatures shock. Oh, how Winter kills to paraphrase the band Yaz. (By the way, Upstairs at Eric's formed a seminal work in my musical education. Oddly enough, I won the vinyl LP as part of a prize --- along with another LP that left little impression, a 19" color TV, a class ring and some trendy clothing outfit --- in a trivia contest on Casey Kasem's American Top 40 Countdown, circa 1983, I believe. Winning this radio contest altered my perspective in several arenas; my family had only owned a B&W TV up to this point. Color television marked quite a transition. But, I digress...)

As it's difficult for anyone (or anything) to adjust to these drastic swings in temperature quickly, illness has been rampant. This weather pattern wears one down. It will be nice when Spring truly arrives, providing it doesn't continue to return to Winter-like temperatures once a week. If that is going to be the case, I'll need a vacation. Pronto.

#Bunny in the Back Forty: Oh #BeatrixPotter!

For the last several years, a family of rabbits have taken up residence in the back yard, up near the woodland. One day when out walking with pup, I spotted a good sized rabbit. The backyard trail we were following is along the edge of a wooded area, but also in the middle of a fairly developed neighborhood. I thought perhaps a child's pet had escaped back into the wild, as the bunny seemed only mildly curious at our presence.

Originally, it seems there was but a single rabbit, a pregnant mother that gave birth (or such was my assumption). But each Fall since this first encounter, whenever we're out walking around daybreak or dusk, we'll often spy several young rabbits of varying colors hopping about eating grass and seeds. (As it has been several years hence, these are presumably the children or grandchildren of the original rabbit.) I guess there's good eating in our woods, enough to sustain several generations of bunnies, at least.

They drive pup bonkers! I think she has dreams of coursing after hares (like those dogs do in Snatch, one of my favorite flicks), but luckily so far I have been able to prevent her undertaking of the sport. I have a fondness for Peter Rabbit, after all.

#Books Are Not Your Trendy #HomeDecor #Read! + #GroundhogDay

Lately, I keep seeing decorating tips involving books in various home + garden magazines that I read. Everything from people color coordinating the spines by shelf (How do you find anything? Must you recall "Mathematica had a blue cover" in order to remember to look upon the blue book shelf for it?) to those advocating stacking books sideways in order to have them act as pedestals for flower pots. Water much? While these ideas may be attractive, they aren't exactly practical for an inveterate reader.

My books are there for reference, for entertainment, for edification. They are not meant as mere decoration though many of them are exquisitely beautiful. And yes, I understand that one may acquire discards or "junk" tomes to use as decorative pieces, but that seems a waste. I cringe at the thought. I suppose if a book were damaged beyond repair I might consign it to some purely decorative use, but I still don't like it. Far better to use a faux book (a block wrapped in a book jacket or some such), for using an actual book seems somehow like sacrilege.

We each must make our own interior design choices, but, fair warning, if I happen to visit your home and the only books in it are glued shut, stacked sideways and holding up a begonia, I will look at you askance and make up an excuse to quit the premises pronto. I read.



P.S. By the way, we're hoping for an early Spring. Today is Groundhog Day, and that meteorological rodent had better NOT see his shadow.

#Dragons Exist! (Underwater) #H2O #RedSeaDragon #Oceanography

By now, certainly half the world has seen the video footage of an otherworldly red sea dragon (a new species, Phyllopteryx dewysea) in the wild. Not only was this a great moment for the study of sea life, but it was also interesting from a fantasy story standpoint as a sea dragon is a dragon! I want one. Perhaps, if I expanded my aquarium... Alas, it probably wouldn't be fair to the dragon... but a girl can dream. You do know I have a thing for dragons, right?

Are #Bats #Bootiful? @USGSWildlife #BatHouse #Entomology #Halloween #HelpfulMammals #OrganicFarm #WhiteNoseSyndrome

Eek! What's that? A flying bat. Run for your lives! Or preferably, one could display some uncommon sense. The motif of a swooping bat as an object of fear and terror is so common that children's cartoons and youth comics employ it regularly, indoctrinating us early, implanting an idea that bats are to be run from, are to be reviled, are to be eradicated. I'm Batman, anyone? The entire concept of a "batman," a vigilante crime fighter who strikes bad guys under cover of darkness, relies heavily upon our collective fear of bats. (In fact, this misguided fear is literally what inspires the comic book character Bruce Wayne to take up a bat's image.)

How many Halloween cartoons did you view as a child that featured at least one scene with a swooping black cloud of bats? (Every "spooky" one of them.) And what is always the response of anyone encountering a bat/s in any of these cartoons? (Abject terror. Shrieks and screams.) Bats rely on bio sonar or echolocation. When sound is how an animal "sees," can you imagine what it must be like to have nearly every human contact involve bombastic tones? Poor bats. Traditional Halloween imagery has unfortunately done a great disservice to bats. (Don't even get me started on the whole vampire bat thing.) We have taught the common man that bats should be avoided at best and dispatched on sight at worse.

As misfortune oft has it, bats desperately need our help these days. Enclaves of bats are being wiped out wholesale by a horrid spreading disease called White Nose Syndrome which is caused by Pseudogymnoascus desctructans, a cold-loving white fungus that burrows into the hibernating mammal and kills indiscriminately. [See NWHC WNS data.] In many areas the bat populations have thinned considerably and the disease is not yet contained. It does not aid the situation to have humans be squeamish (and shrieking) on top of things. These are dire days for bats. We must step up to find a cure obviously, but we must also try to bolster healthy bat populations in the meanwhile in order to prevent the possibility of a catastrophic extinction level event for bats. This is happening on our watch. Therefore, we must deign to stop it.

It is well past time, we citizens reclaim the bat for the good side. I will lead the charge, as someone must. Here's a tidbit: a single insectivorous bat will eat approximately 1/3 its weight in insects each night of a successful hunt. You heard me. This is nature at its finest, natural pest control. A word to the wise, if one plans to farm organically then there had darn well better be some bat houses placed strategically throughout his farmland. Not a farmer? If one is a proactive community resident, a so-called good neighbor, it wouldn't hurt to build a bat house or two around his property. In this new Age of Insect-borne Pandemics in which we live, the benefits of cultivating animals which help control insect populations cannot be stressed enough. If you're unable to build a bat house, consider surveying bat populations in your area and submitting your findings to the National Wildlife Health Center [Go to www.nwhc.usgs.gov for further instructions]. As if chowing down on pests weren't sufficient to make us adore bats, these helpful mammals also pollinate flowers and disperse fruit seeds. (There goes your food chain.)

Bat drawing, vintage sketch

Time to spread some bat love! As much as I would like to believe otherwise, I do realize it may not be feasible for everyone to build a bat house in his yard; however, there is something that anyone can do and that is to work to reclaim the bat's image, restoring its identity as a helpful mammal that should be appreciated. We don't have to remove bats from Halloween celebrations, we merely need to adjust our thinking. If we must think of Halloween when we think of bats, then let's create anew, coining positive associations. I'll start. I declare bats are bootiful! Hopefully, the next time someone encounters a bat/s unexpectedly, the person might recognize that the bat is likely as startled as he, and respond accordingly, by stifling any screams. Remember, be kind to bats!

P.S. It's my hope to write and illustrate a children's book using the term "bootiful" as an image altering descriptor of bats. I have a rough idea for it in my mind now --- it'll make for a perfect Halloween book release, providing the entire North American bat population hasn't been wiped out by then. In order to truly counteract the negative imagery of bats in our society, we've got to (re)educate everyone, starting with our young.

#Farming #ThreatWatch: Black-Eyed #Peas vs Cowpea Curculio #AgTech #Entomology

While browsing yesterday's AJC, I came across a "Sunday Conversation" feature with an UGA entomologist, Dr. Stormy Sparks (which is quite a moniker, but he should have perhaps been a meteorologist) discussing a pest which threatens black-eyed peas, a weevil called the cowpea curculio. No doubt the article was included partly as a human interest story, because many folks, particularly Southerners, believe eating black-eyed peas --- my favorite recipe is (a vegetarian) Hoppin' John --- on New Year's Day will bring good luck, a tradition with its roots in the time of slavery (that peculiar institution). I love peas generally, but personally I'd have to say that the black-eyed pea is at the bottom of the list --- although I appreciate them more now than as I child. Regardless, of my personal distaste for black-eyed peas, I have no desire to see a virulent pest threaten the plants' vitality.

South Georgia used to be a big producer of black-eyed peas (circa 1950s) but in recent decades production has decreased due to a combination of factors, which include a pest that has developed resistance to various pesticides. Entomologists are working to understand the weevil's odd effects on the black-eyed pea plants' ecosystem, in hopes of finding other ways to counteract it. This might take the form of a better (man-made) chemical pesticide or an organic agent.

I am greatly interested in entomology for three main reasons: 1) bugs often look cool (this is my childhood fascination), 2) insect borne disease transmission is an ever growing threat to human (and domesticated animal) survival, and 3) insect crop devastation is another major threat to human survival. I hope to use my fascination with bugs (1) to discover methods to help combat 2 and 3. This is the main reason why I have tried to absorb everything I could with regard to entomology. When one intends to live off the land (farming, hunting, fishing, etc.) and one lives far from the madding crowd (acreage in or near wilderness) the likelihood of detrimental pest encounters goes up exponentially. One must be prepared.

Being an amateur ecologist as well, I understand that chemical pesticides can bring their own harmful side effects, and so it's my hope to discover and/or develop natural, organic methods to counteract bug issues. (For instance, I have recently been experimenting with food grade diatomaceous earth.) In the history of agriculture, our reliance on chemical pesticides is a modern contrivance. I hope to employ "ancient" methods augmented with modern science and technology plus a bit of ingenuity to defeat any encroaching pests, be they ticks, weevils or what have you. I will look to farming cultures of old and update and adjust.

A Rainy Night in Georgia. Our Wild Weather Keeps on Trucking #WeatherGeek

Christmas Eve was in the sixties. Christmas Day started off in the fifties and topped out in the seventies. Yesterday, started in the fifties also, but pretty much stayed there as clouds, mist, drizzle and fog rolled in... which made the day simultaneously damp and clammy. Today, it's supposed to dry out a bit and return to almost seventy degrees.

My container garden, which utilizes seasonal plants that are supposed to go dormant over the Winter, is still blooming. The weather is like a yo-yo or a pogo stick, bouncing up and down, screwing with Nature's Clock. Air quality is consistently poor. My allergies are killing me, of course (literally and figuratively). I like the great outdoors, it loves me to death. Every time my system gets close to stabilizing, the weather pattern shifts once more.

So much for Winter. It's like I'm suffering through Spring in December. Hooray for January! Perhaps, next month will be more typical. But I'm not gonna hold my breath (it wouldn't be wise, I'm having respiratory problems as is). I might need a vacation from my vacation. I declare Tuesday a day of rest and binge watching. Borrowed Sleepy Hollow, Season One from my sister. Where's the popcorn? I need a Coke.

The Legend of #Tarzan Blu-ray #MovieReview #CGI #MatingCall @wbpictures

On Christmas Day, I watched The Legend of Tarzan at the behest of one of my sisters who'd brought along her personal copy. (At family holiday get-togethers, we generally watch movies for at least a part of the day traditionally.) She went to see it in the theater, had previously said it was one of the better movies she'd seen this year, and bought a copy of it during Black Friday sales. Having seen several versions of Tarzan (including a Saturday morning cartoon that I watched as a child on our little B&W television), I was skeptical that this particular film could hold any charm, but I underestimated David Yates (the director).

It was a surprisingly decent movie. Not perfect (the overdone CGI featured in the end "grand fight" sequence seemed especially ham-fisted, for instance) but entertaining overall, mainly due to its sweeping lush scenery, CGI animals, a few inspired performances and some wry humored dialogue. It was a story told with a bit of umpf and I enjoyed it enough that I would purchase my own copy for a fair price.

I had never considered Alexander Skarsgård as a potential Lord of the Jungle. I've seen a few of his Swedish flicks (he wasn't nearly as buff in those days) and one or two things he's done since arriving in Hollywood, but he had not the gravitas of his father, Stellan. But he embodied Tarzan all out in this. His height and size were exactly what was called for, and his grace, in spite of the aforementioned traits, made the perfect counterpoint for a long lost English lord.

Skarsgård and Margot Robbie had a warm chemistry, and Robbie, in her turn, brought enough of an edge to Jane that the character was rescued from the ashpile of annoying females and reinvigorated as a sensible woman with spunk. (A welcome respite from Jane as pitiful damsel in distress.) Samuel Jackson brought his own brand of craziness as usual and Christoph Waltz proved that he is once again an enjoyable despot. To a man, the casting was spot on.

The humor was both unexpected and well-placed. The action punchy, sharp and at times laughable (purposely). The animals majestic, if unreal. And the use of the natural order, from fights for dominance to mating calls, to create tension and resolve plot was a deft touch. You could have pinched me. (My sister and I often disagree on films.) A good Sunday afternoon flick arrived unexpectedly and I'm glad I answered the door to admit it.

When #Nature Calls, Sometimes It's a Wrong Number #GoodDog #Dogs #Wilderness #Fauna

So last night, er correct that, as 'twas 1:00a, so this morning. My pup comes to get me. (By the way, I will generally refer to any dog as puppy or pup, regardless of its age, because each is someone's furbaby --- or should be. To say, I'm a dog person is, putting it mildly.) Anywho, she's all frisky and dancing around and nudging me. So I ask her, if she needs to go out. Instant tail wag.

Know that normally, she sleeps through the night without incident, but like her human counterparts she sometimes over indulges during the holidays --- everybody who visits us these days brings treats, or so it seems --- and occasionally needs "an extra go." All she has to do is ask. I will get up and take her out, day or night. No argument.

She knows this, and as I found out this morning, counts on it. (We've had a few coyote sightings in our area recently, so I don't allow her to range unattended at night, though she'd no doubt be a proper match for any coyote. I'm not faulting the coyote, mind, we humans are the culprits who've encroached on his habitat.)

Rhodesian Ridgeback

Temperament: Dignified, Intelligent, Loyal, Mischievous, Sensitive, Strong Willed

So we go out at 1:00a-ish. It's already dropped down to 30 odd degrees outside. In other words, it's as cold as a witch's tit. But pup, my pup, she's out strolling like we're taking a Sunday morning constitutional, leisurely checking each and every tree, sometimes doubling back, pausing here and there. After a bit of this, I start to get the sneaking suspicion that I'd been snookered.

Of course, it being in the thirties outside is no matter to her. She has a nice full length fur coat, so frolicking in cold weather is nothing to her. I stop mid-step, I'm like pup, "Do you actually need to go?" She turns around and gives me the doe eyes, like "Whatdayamean? I thought this was a walk..." And there you have it. I discovered I live with a con artist.

We turned around and headed back toward the house. She came back in and went straight off to sleep. I, on the other hand, was wide awake from the effects of the bracing cold air. Shaking my head and laughing to myself. The rascal. Rhodesian Ridgeback for the win!

There Be Monsters Here. Pete's #Dragon & the Remaking of a Beloved #Disney Classic #Movie

I'm wary of seeing remakes of movies. Hollywood has been on a rampage, seemingly determined to remake every movie in recent (and not so recent) history; sometimes rebooting films mere years after the last remake. As a result, the quality of films being put out is at an all time low, in my opinion. There is little original, and the remakes are uninspired derivative drivel (for the most part).

Considering the landscape, it's a pleasant surprise when one discovers a remake with some merit. Sadly, this is not that tale. On a bit of a lark, a few days ago I rented the remake of Pete's Dragon (2016) on Google Play.

Google Play gave me $1.00 account credit + an "$0.99 Any Movie Rental" promotion = Free Movie Rental w/ 1-cent leftover.

I LOVE DRAGONS! Thought I should state this up front. I wanted a pet dragon as a wee tot, was fascinated with them and was sorely disappointed to be told such creatures did not exist. My personal video library is heavy on dragon flicks. I like them animated, animatronic and/or CGI. I will check out a movie merely because I heard a dragon makes an appearance in it.

Thus, I decided to take a chance on this new version of Pete's Dragon in spite of my distaste for remakes. Since it was a free movie rental, I figured if I absolutely hated it, I'd just stop watching, but I wanted to at least see the updated CGI Eliot. (In all honesty the original wasn't a spectacular film, but it gets a pass due to the gloss of my childhood nostalgia and because... DRAGON.)

Well, the movie started off very slowly. And initially I didn't gel with the fuzzy green CGI Eliot. Frustrated, I stopped watching for nearly 24 hours.

By the way, thanks for the longer active viewing window, Google Play --- so much nicer than "you only have 24 hours to view this title".

But I eventually went back, gave it another chance and finished watching it. Eliot grew on me, the human characters did not. (I actually desired to inflict violence upon several of them.) The storyline employs a good deal of heavy handed over-dramatizations, not to mention its plethora of "stupid human tricks".

I wouldn't purchase a copy and I probably would not watch it again --- unless babysitting a child who was interested in viewing it --- but there were moments of charm (mainly concerning the dragon). However, if Eliot does a spinoff without those pesky humans, I'm so there.

#FallLeaves in #Georgia: Ode to a Fiery #RedMaple

The front yard is an explosion of fiery colors, red, yellow and orange. The Red Maple trees have really out done themselves this year. Makes quite the statement, a sunlit centerpiece. No wonder Autumn is my favorite season; so much natural wonder to behold.

Cheers to cool weather and hot drinks. Roaring hearth fires, hot ovens, cable-knit sweaters and knee socks.

The trees are no longer green with envy. Fall has finally come home to Georgia.

Winter Is (Not) Coming

I could have told you, prior to the release of any scientific data bolstering the point, that this past Winter was one of our warmest on record (in modernity). And pray tell, how would I know this other than the fact that I barely needed a coat all season?

Well, first there was my unceasing allergies — it was so mild naughty things kept blooming right on through the Winter. "Winter? We don't need no stinking Winter," said the Flora.

And second, the backyard chickens kept by two different neighbors never ceased laying eggs. You heard me right. This is significant.

Normally, most chickens "in the wild" — as in, those not in an artificial daylight environment commercial operation — will cease laying eggs with the coming of Winter as the days grow shorter and it stays cold and dark for longer periods. However, the seasonal changes were so slight this time around that these chickens never received the necessary cues to wind their biological clocks down. They just kept on ticking all year! Poor chickens!

We know humans have issues galore when our circadian rhythms are knocked askew, so what happens when we reach the point where the chickens don't come home to roost?

It's this week's "Sign of the Apocalypse".

NOTICE: This post is a reblog from (the now defunct) castlemodern.tumblr.com. It was originally published 24-Mar-2016. Post may have been edited or updated from its original text.

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Author's Note: The above post is the reason I moved CM to a platform with full commenting features. I admit the post is a bit tongue-in-cheek --- I had recently read Sports Illustrated's Sign of the Apocalypse blurb, after all --- but really... the post garnered several "notes": one is someone pointing out there are chicken breeds which lay eggs year round so it wasn't due to climate change and another is someone reposting it to his tumblr with the addition of this little tidbit: "Chickens' egg-laying cycles respond to light cues, not temperature cues, as far as I know. People who want their..." 

I wanted to respond but had no desire to keep reblogging the post merely to make a comment. In my opinion, there wasn't an easy way to start a back-and-forth discussion on tumblr. I needed to rethink things and eventually decided to move my website to a different platform so that I would be able to engage readers, discuss, and even argue points in-line.

My comment is this: 

Climate Change is an important topic to me; however, even though global warming has been observed to interfere with the normal lifecycles (and breeding cycles) of various bird populations, I honestly didn't believe that one or two cases of our neighborhood's chickens laying eggs year-round meant the world would implode tomorrow. The post is mostly an interesting observation that all the neighborhood chickens, though different breeds, were oddly in sync and not be having normally. (One neighbor has kept chickens for over 20 years and has never before recalled her chickens not stopping laying eggs in Winter.) More data would need to be collected to determine causation, obviously. 

My second point is a direct response to the comment above regarding light cues vs temperature cues being the key to chickens' egg-laying cycles. Have we forgotten as much basic science as this? Light and (heat) temperature are often nearly interchangeable. Light has an inherent temperature gradient. Light cues include temperature cues by default. (Oversimplification, yes, but apparently it's needed.) 

If you think chickens do not respond to temperature changes or that said response can affect their ability to lay eggs.... urgh! Be very afraid, World, for we are actually doomed.