Author Archives: makielb

Tonight and on Sunday. Great fun. Sunday is especially fun for kids. Now, on to the garden. The garden is still awaiting planting, which won’t happen until mid-May. We’re still getting kale for meals. Lots of garlic emerging. We’re still using garlic and squash (mostly butternut) from last fall. We should have another bumper-crop ofContinue reading “The garden, FoolMoon and more”

First the weekly report on the pandemic, where Europe and Asia are still seeing large numbers of new cases driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant. The data is from yesterday. This little gnome village was empty of gnomes or fairies and disturbed. This one nearby was also lacking residents with things knocked over. Then weContinue reading “The cold weather woke up a hungry monster”

The best way to start a dreary day is with humor, in this case bird humor. Then we were off on a walk with trees and more coated with ice. The eave of our garage as seen from the back porch. Trees were lightly coated with ice which was already starting to melt while weContinue reading “Rain, ice and bird humor”

The current situation with the pandemic. The driving force in the increase in numbers worldwide is the Omicron BA.2 variant. Fortunately, while it is easily transmissible the course of the infection is much more mild in people who are vaccinated. Now, on to nature. I’m ready for plants and fungi to start appearing in southernContinue reading “North vs. south, I’m torn but trying to do it all”

The global situation over the past week with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. I expect numbers in the US to start rising by the middle of April. Currently the pandemic in the US is one of the unvaccinated. Somebody posted this on the Internet yesterday. This really hit the mark with me since there is a neurotransmitterContinue reading “Odds and ends with birds”

Something about this diagram that appealed to me, other than I have read all of the books mentioned. We met our friends Mike and Linda for breakfast this morning. I highly recommend Avalon Cafe in downtown Ann Arbor for a nice breakfast, brunch or lunch. After breakfast Susan and I walked around downtown. Yes, it’sContinue reading “A cold spring day in Ann Arbor”

It seems that editorial cartoonists always hit the high points of the week. How can Thomas possibly be involved in any rulings in the future? Supposedly, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is refocusing its invading forces to the far east of Ukraine. The Russian casualties are mounting with dead, wounded, captured and defections all increasing.Continue reading “The world, and escaping it”

The current status of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Not a lot changing, but the Ukrainians seem to been holding their own. The current situation of SARS-CoV-2. The new Omicron BA-2 variant is now in Michigan and Washtenaw County. Now for some bird humor and birds. That is a slippery slope. It took me aboutContinue reading “Birds and more”

We spent the afternoon at Dexter-Huron Metropark west of Ann Arbor. We were searching for early spring wild flowers, but had to settle for mostly insects. Midges and stoneflies dominated what we saw. This stonefly (Plecoptera) was particularly abundant (waiting for identification) and the largest of what we saw. My favorite midge with feathery antennae.Continue reading “A visit to the Huron River”

Spring is here. Stay positive and remember it’s not summer. Hot and cold, rain and snow, sun and more daylight. For me, I am looking forward to bird migration and the appearance of wildflowers and insects. But I am also aware that we are still seeing the tremendous problems that the world is experiencing. TheContinue reading “Spring, a war, a virus and writing”