Author Archives: makielb

A report in The New York Times yesterday showed places inKiev that have been bombed by the Russians. A new type of “trash” that has been building up over the past two years. It is a rare day that we do not see a face mask on a walk. We spent a wonderful sunny andContinue reading “Nan Weston in March and more”

The past weeks pandemic statistics. However, this picture might be changing soon. A new variant had appeared. The new variant is a genetic recombination of delta and omicron and has been found in at least 20 people in Denmark, France and the Netherlands. Recent changes in Asia (compared to the US) show a dramatic riseContinue reading “A pandemic, a war and a writer”

This is how I feel about time change. While I am retired, I have very strong circadian rhythms and hate time change. Back in the 1970s I co-authored a paper on circadian rhythms, for which I did all of the surgeries involved with collecting the data. we got up early tody so that we couldContinue reading “Ann Arbor – time change”

The other day we listened to Terry Gross’ interview of David Sipress who draws cartoons for the New Yorker. This particular cartoon was mentioned, as he drew Gross with a skirt, which she pointed out that she never wears. A cartoon that I stumbled across today reminded me of the situation in Ann Arbor theseContinue reading “A day filled with humor and snow”

The price of gas and the situation in Ukraine is a gift for editorial cartoonists. Over the past ten days we have driven very few miles, opting to walking whenever possible. My cousin asked about family in Poland. The simple answer is that my ancestors and some cousins live on both sides of the Polish-UkrainianContinue reading “Ukraine invasion, Ann Arbor and the pandemic”

When I think about the Russian claim to Ukraine I think about what the south-western US would think if Mexico marched in and claimed ownership. An editorial cartoon from this morning. The higher gas prices that we are seeing is due to profits by the gas companies – it doesn’t have to be this way.Continue reading “A war, a virus and a walk to downtown Ann Arbor”

I pulled God’ Playground, A History of Poland, Part II down from a bookshelf to put into perspective what was happening in Ukraine today. Somehow the parallels between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the German invasion of Poland are difficult to miss. Let’s hope that the outcome of this invasion is better than theContinue reading “The war, the pandemic and humor to help getting through it”

Starting the day with a funny but appropriate cartoon. Having had kidney stones I appreciatre “drinking my troubles away with water.” First Common Grackles at our feeders. We spent most of the late morning at Ford Lake looking for waterfowl. The local flock of Greater White-fronted Geese were rather obvious. There were a few CacklingContinue reading “Interesting geese and a nice evening”

But first, what’s happening in the Ukraine. The attack on the nuclear power plant is both scary and unimaginable. I hope that this is all resolved soon. In 2013 I was invited to an Anatomy & Physiology meeting in New Orleans. Susan was able to attend with me. She was able to wander town whileContinue reading “New Orleans meeting – 2013”

We went to Barton Pond today in search of a White-winged Scoter. We found the scoter along with Redheads, Common Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks and Bufflehead. Unfortunately, they were quite distant. Although easily seen with a spotting-scope I could not photograph them. So I settled for the dam and some other stuff. More later…