PHOTO STORIES BLOG

Wertzels are fairly common in Pennsylvania forests. You can hear them calling at dusk, especially in the fall. Almost everyone has heard them but no one remembers seeing one. There are no photos or video. It took scientists a long time to figure this out. It turns out wertzels have a unique and effective defense mechanism. Whenever a potential predator gets anywhere near them, they release a hormone that causes short term memory loss. If you go searching for one […]

Usually we just think of spearing a worm on a hook and offering it to a hungry fish so we can eat the fish. But why not just cut out the middle man? The middle fish? Worms are actually pretty nutritious with an impressive amino acid profile (assuming you are impressed by these things). Protein-wise they are about equivalent to chicken eggs. A worm omelette would be hearty breakfast. Worms are also voracious eaters and will quickly wolf down your […]

When you are deeply reverent about two things you can merge them. Blend them together into a composite, a mash-up, a stew. (Well maybe not a stew. That’s just a bunch of stuff cooking together in a pot or a mess you’ve gotten yourself into.) Folks seem to be conflating religion and politics these days. Melding the ancient teachings of sages and enlightened ones with the spewings of pundits and bunyips. Maybe it’s always been this way. I ain’t been […]

America. The You-Knighted States. It’s us, the U.S., the land of plenty. Plenty of containers and tarps for our stuff. Plenty of roadside markets for our stuff to be resold. Plenty of roads for roadside markets. Good and Plenty. Can’t get enough? Get more.

Not sure if this a modern N95 plague beak. Maybe. These masks didn’t offer much protection against bubonic infected fleas back in the dark ages, but they looked pretty cool and gave doctors who wore them an air of scary. The beak is for perfume. If the air smells good, it can’t be bad. (This would be good for podiatrists.) I suppose you could store other things in there, too. Maybe a little water, some snacks, your cell phone. It […]

What do you do when salemen/women come selling? I suppose it depends on whether or not they bring gifts. For the generous salesman/woman bring them in and give them the comfy chair. For the barebones sellers, just give them the comfy chair.

Now this is nice to see. It took way too long to come up with but at least it’s a start. Instead of styrofoam here is a cooler made out of “recycled tree pulp” (paper) and paraffin. It works and then it rots. Or you can dry it out and reuse it.

It’s a gesture of respect for a civilian. We don’t have to salute. No one is going to bust us to buck private if we don’t. We salute things, people, whatever because we want to. Because we hold them/it in high regard. Each of us is entitled to care about those things, people, positions, symbols we hold dear. Saluting expresses this to the person/thing/symbol and reinforces our reverence. What I salute or don’t salute may be different from you. That’s […]

It wasn’t the first pandemic, but it was a big one. The precursor to our 2020-2021-20?? one. Many lessons were learned and then ignored, discarded. Too restrictive. Too hard. Too expensive. Too inconvenient. But it was a time of innovation. Humans have a way of stepping up when their survival is threatened. Many inventions were created, manufactured and then forgotten. The A-1064 nose breather was a marvel. Though a little awkward it miraculously purified air for the user. Not only […]

A little bit of throw back lexicon. Can you dig it? It’s analog. According to Wikipedia, the term groovy originated in the early forties among jazz musicians getting into sync with the rhythm of their music. It also refers to the grooves in a vinyl record. When you are in the groove you are flowing. When things are flowing they’re groovy, cool, hip, right on. But that’s old speak, tired, lame, boomer language. We are in the digital age now. […]