Composed by Paul Simon this song was first released August 1965 in the UK as the opening track of his album, The Paul Simon Songbook. It was rerecorded by Simon and Art Garfunkel in December of that year and included as the final track of their album, Sounds of Silence.
This is a really terrific cover performed by the Everly Brothers.
I Am A Rock....
On this day in history there were a couple of devastating fires. One in Chicago and another where I live.
The Chicago fire was an economic and infrastructural catastrophe that left a massive urban population homeless but had a relatively low death toll. Conversely, the northeastern Wisconsin firestorm was a human tragedy of staggering scale, wiping out entire families, towns, and records in less than two hours.
3.3 square miles burned in Chicago while 2,400 square miles burned here. Ignited under the same extreme drought conditions. Chicago dominated national headlines while the Wisconsin wildfire was vastly more lethal.
300 lives were lost in Chicago while 1,200 to 2,500 people died here. The total loss of life will never be known because entire communities were obliterated.
The firestorm here, remembered as “The Tornado”, was the deadliest fire in U.S. history.
The Draconid meteor shower is comparatively a short-lived event in the general ranking of meteor showers. The Draconids occur when the orbit of the earth bisects the orbital path of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner.
When the dust and icy debris of the comet collide with the upper atmosphere of the earth it burns-up as the Draconid meteor shower.
This comet is named after its discoverer when Michel Giacobini first observed it on December 20, 1900. A subsequent observation by Ernst Zinner in 1913 added him to the name - thusly 21P/Giacobini-Zinner.
Radiating from the constellation Draco - the dragon - this constellation found in our northern hemisphere can be spotted near the bright star, Vega. This year the meteor shower is expected to peak around midnight October 8 and 9. A great opportunity to observe shooting stars and a waning crescent moon won't interfere.
Follow this chart facing north. Locate the Big Dipper low in the northwest. Traced backwards the Draconid meteors radiate from the head of the constellation Draco the Dragon. It is helpful to know that it is very easy to locate Draco - yet be assured that meteors can appear anywhere in the night sky.
Pro Tip - The Draconids are notoriously unreliable as to activity. Most of the time it is minor meteor shower. Other years it exceeds the Geminids and Perseids. In 2011 astronomers documented more than 600 meteors per hour at its peak!
We recently went hiking at a newer acquisition to the Door County Land Trust - Bear Creek Nature Preserve. While there our guide explained for us a couple of common parasites that make use of all of the Canada Goldenrod that is feeding the bumble bees this time of year. The following photos were from our walk here on Saturday.
The structure at the top of the stalk is a goldenrod bunch gall or goldenrod rosette gall. It is caused by a tiny insect called the goldenrod bunch gall midge - Rhopalomyia solidaginis.
In early to mid-summer a female midge lays an egg in the top (terminal) leaf bud of the plant stem. As the larva hatches and feeds, chemical secretions interfere with the normal growth signals of the plant. Instead of the stem growing taller it arrests the plant growth and produces a dense, rose-like cluster of short leaves.
The midge pupa overwinters in its chamber deep within the rosette, pupates the following spring and emerges as an adult. The midge gets free shelter, protection from predators, hijacks the plants resources for food and prevents it from flowering and producing seeds like a healthy plant.
You've likely spotted this before; it is called a goldenrod ball gall or stem gall. It is caused by the goldenrod gall fly - Eurosta solidaginis. It is another parasite.
In late spring a female gall fly lays a single egg inside the growing stem of the goldenrod. After it hatches, chemical compounds secreted by the maggot's saliva mimic the plant's growth hormones. This triggers the plant to grow a dense, corky ball of nutrient-rich tissue surrounding the insect. The larva chews an escape tunnel before snowfall, overwinters inside the sphere and by springtime the pupated adult fly escapes. Most of the time.
Further evidence that only the strong survive and weak are killed an eaten; the parasitic gall fly is the target of another parasite.
A small wasp - Eurytoma gigantea uses its ovipositor (egg-laying tube) to lay an egg with the fly larva. Upon hatching, the wasp larva consumes the fly larva, takes over the gall for the winter and emerges as an adult the following spring. Take that!
It's not over yet. Overwintering chickadees and woodpeckers easily locate these round spheres and will peck into them to feast on the fat, protein-rich larva inside.
It's a rough world in nature and a fascinating food web.
Doggo and I have plans to take a road trip.
Yup, we're going west to chase pheasants in South Dakota along with some of our pals. This will be her third trip and who knows what it is for me. Three dogs later I've lost track.
Most days our walk now includes a shell vest for me and Mr. Browning accompanies us. You just might have an opportunity to shoot something for dinner.
For the dog it's mostly about the routine. She knows that as soon as I go for my boots the pacing begins. Donning a shell vest the pacing intensifies. Strapping-on the e-collar is further confirmation. Grabbing Mr. Browning from the bench leads to a rush for the door.
Wisconsin's pheasant opener is in a couple of weeks. Between now and then there is a possibility of kicking up a grouse, doodle bird or wing shooting some doves.
Which is why The Frau calls it hunting. If it was easy it would be called shopping.
Meanwhile, from Friday's walk there was this.
I'm not sure if Ruby is laughing or grinning...
If you had a dollar for every trans woman playing college sports you would not be able to afford a gallon of diesel.
True or false?
Ask any three AI agents I have bookmarked and you'll find general agreement with something like this...
Posts
All Comments
