the sunflower also rises; 4 photo essay

 

xoxo

bb

(please pardon apparently FILTHY lens--eep!)

furry study buddy (warning to arachniphobes...) & garden alert

 

Study buddy

This was on the window screen yesterday, nearest where I sit and edit.

Nice pedipalps, baby! Kinda furry, eh?

Nice to have company while I'm working.
And an excuse to get off my fanny and grab the camera.
I'll try to figure out who she is when I have more time,
ooh, and then I can add (presumed) her to my species pages...


Garden alert for No. Hemisphere folks

Dood, it's the last day of August!

I've not even BEGUN my August plantings. (eep!)
You know, peas, lettuce, and whatever else
grows happily when it's cool vs. 100 dF.

What do you typically plant in late summer, early fall?

And when are you expecting/planning the harvest?
Fall, winter, spring... ?

I'm still learning, so am interested to hear what you do.

Typically, I'm so hip-deep in the high tide of August harvesting,
I can't even think about planting. However, this year
I am determined to get more year-round from our dirt.

Gotta get to it!

=)

xobb

wheee! great Motor Fire footage of lotsa helis, + planes & flames

 
As @YosemiteSteve said, great fire helicopter porn. =)

Motor Fire Air Show Copyright 2011 from Tim Walton on Vimeo.

This guy, Tim Walton, is the bomb! =) Sweet stuff.

There are some moments where you see THREE helicopters in the air at once. And several times he's showing you flames up on the slopes and one of the darn helis gets in the way. =)

Apparently Highway 140 will be open tomorrow at 6 a.m. (per Yosemite Wildland Fire facebook posting), and evacuees can return at 9 p.m. tonight. Sounds like things are wrapping up.

Nice WORK everyone!

bb

Heli-bellies, Motor Fire flame, & ADD--yes, there is a connection =)

Biobabbler's man-on-the-scene snapped these shots of the Motor Fire Saturday, some of which were taken from outside his office. Fire was ripping. All this pics are pretty big, so click 'n' zoom = good.

1st. Heli-bellies

These are Sikorsky S-64 Skycranes,

REALLY really big helicopters;

they can hold 3,000 gallons (US) of water,

and carry up to 20,000 lbs of stuff.

INSANE.

Bear mentioned, as we watched a video of a heli 

flying into a giant smoke cloud, 

that it takes some serious courage to fly into that.

Can't image it's pleasant, and I'd think all that heat

makes for some REALLY wonky air currents. 

Yikes. Plus, you know, can't see?!?

Scary.

And a fire is not the kinda place you wanna crash land.

 If you click on this you can read  its number...

Seriously brave, hyper-skilled folks.

Props to the fire folks! Woo-hoo!

 

2nd. Flame-age

Predicted high this weekend was 110 dF.

Oh, my.

Can you IMAGINE fighting fire in 110 wearing

undies, Nomex, and big ol' fire boots?!? Yikes

I like how you can see the burned over area through the smoke.

And I like orange: fire pretty... =)

 Anyone gotta smoke? Note torching tree/shrub down low.

And staff...

3rd. Why I write about fire

• to me, it's super interesting
• fire is terrifically important in ecosystems (so is relevant to bio-babble)
• people need to learn that fire is not "bad." Natural, lightning-ignited wildland fire (not sure that's the official terminology) is a normal part of nature, and super important for preventing catastrophic conflagrations, and helping native plants and animals do their thing (like, you know, persist)
• the fire, the planes, helicopters, trucks, etc., are just FUN =)

And, a bonus, one-time-only benefit
when Mariposa was kinda burning up a few years ago,
was that there were SO MANY FIRE GUYS in town.

At some point the ratio of fire fighter to resident was over 1:1.
A veritable testosterone tornado,
sporting navy blue FIRE t-shirts.

Sweet!

Yes, I try to find the silver lining...

"She's so brave!" =)

 4. Fire update.

All sources for fire info are NOT the same.
 A solid source of info on the fire IMHO is Inciweb.

Right now it says,

"Crews made good progress on the fire throughout the night. The fire was most active on the east side. There were a couple of hot spots on the west side of the fire, other areas showed little activity. There was no movement on the north side of the fire. Air support continues to help support the crews as needed."

Well, that matches with my interpretation of the change in air traffic. 2 days ago we had at least 24 passes of slurry bombers overhead. Today very few, and they've shifted east. So I figure the most active part of the fire's shifted east and/or there's less air traffic overall (so it's calmed down a bit).

Re: Evacuations

"Mandatory evacuations: Rancheria, Cedar Lodge, Incline, El Portal Trailer Village and local Merced River Canyon Campgrounds. Mandatory Road Closures: Highway 140, from the Foresta Bridge west is closed, Incline Road, and Forest Rd 1S12. There is no estimation as to when the will re-open. Old El Portal is advised to prepare for evacuations, this is a pre-evacuation."

5. ADD and crisis management

My mom just watched a documentary on ADD,
and apparently it said that people with ADD are good in a crisis.

This is because they can switch into hyper-focus mode,
not a mental state as available to everyone, apparently?
They just kick butt and take names (not my mom's words).

Yeah, baby! =)

I have noticed in the few "crises" I've been in as an adult,
that I see some people around me freaking out,
and I just don't get it. Honestly.

The following, to me, is a no-brainer what-to-do list:

• Stop everything you're doing and be quiet. Be still. Listen (frequently in the NPS this means to your hand held radio). Figure out what's going on.
• Formulate a plan. Determine what's absolutely required for you to survive, and do that right now. And only that. In priority order, until you're done. No person or thing, no matter how manic-arm-flailing-freaked-out they are, is allowed to divert you from your immediate tasks. No exceptions.
• Once that is done, you may now be in the way. If you know you are not needed, leave. Until you know whether or not you are required to help, be quiet. Be still. Listen.
• If you are required to stay, and you got all the how-to-not-die stuff done for yourself, check in on other people. Make sure their how-not-to-die list is done. Then reassure them, get them snacks, drinks, etc., think up mindless tasks for them to do to keep them busy, calm, quiet, and out of the way. Cleaning is good, until you can think of something more useful.

In a work context where radios are involved, there's one more: Stay off the radio unless you are a required participant. In the example I have in mind, someone who should not have even been on the radio at all, was filling the radio traffic with squeaky panic.  I rolled my eyes and shook my head, mentally shouting "GET OFF THE RADIO!"

Way beyond annoying. Potentially dangerous, and the Chief Ranger stomped on it immediately.

In a voice we'd never heard him use before, he said "UNLESS YOU ARE LAW ENFORCEMENT OR DISPATCH, STAY OFF THE RADIO."

AWEsome.  =) That Chief Ranger was the man in a crisis. =)

 To me, this is all a no-brainer.

And, it's a good example of why I don't view ADD as a "disorder."
I think it's niche separation*.
Different people are wired differently, and are good at different things.

I expect people who work on fires, or similar fields,
and are good at it, share some of this wiring
to a larger degree than a random sample of folks.

I know one guy who was an EMT and he's super ADD.
Very smart, but man, a hyper brain. Very restless.
But he was great at his job. And he loved it.

These folks are very good at logistics-of-the-moment,
can adjust the plan rapidly to changing conditions,
have an affinity for adrenaline/excitement,
have high physical energy, esp. when in a stimulating environment,
and fast-firing brains.

Plan A not working?
They're ready with Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, in priority order, instantly.
No sweat.

Totally adaptive.

But, for sitting 8 hours in an office, not so much.

Just a theory. =)

Like I said, I think it's all niche separation.

Everybody's good at something.

xobb

 *in this instance, I'm talking about intra-specific niche separation. It diffuses competition.

Very nice footage of Motor Fire...

 

Motor Fire Copyright 2011 from Tim Walton on Vimeo.

Interesting stuff...

bb

Fire fire fire, & biobabbler hears a Who

 

Bear is working today because of this:

Photograph of the Motor Fire from Yosemite Wildland Fire group, on Facebook.

And this a.m. it is 91 dF at 938 a.m. at our house,
and we are higher in elevation than El Portal (site of the fire),
so it'll be hotter there.

Wishing a safe day for everyone involved in this fire.

A television report called this the Yosemite Fire.

Let's be clear:

It's a US Forest Service fire, it does not (at least as of early this a.m.) involve even an acre of National Park Service land. The NPS being, of course, the landowner and manager of Yosemite National Park.

=)

Which, is why Bear posted on Facebook today the above boo-boo by the press as the reason why the USFS is not a huge fan of Yosemite.

If I were a USFS person, particularly those involved in dealing with this fire, Stanislaus NF (north of Merced River) or Sierra NF (south of the Merced) folks, I'd feel like one of the Whos in Whoville:

We are here! We are here!

Here's the YouTube version of Horton Hears a Who: zoom to 8:00 if you want to see the pivotal moment.

ANYhow, point is the US Forest Service is the main land owner right now, not the NPS, despite what one might interpret from the press.

And I JUST took this picture out my back door:

It's big, so you can click and zoom.
Bear says it's a slurry bomber.

It's a busy weekend, here.
Here's a pretty official source of info on the fire, if you are interested.

Speaking of, I have to go make the chicken wading pools,

and clean out their water towers, refill,

and include ice cubes 'cause it's already over 90 degrees.

Hope you all are well, and stay comfortable, safe, and dry.

=)

xoxobb

P.S. As of 4:17 p.m. we're up to about 19 slurry bomber passes overhead.

Phriday photo quiz, what do I weigh? + Garden panic

Me being the beans pictured below, harvested this a.m.

They're sitting on a large platter (well, larger than our normal plates),

and there's a quarter visible for scale.

Poor camera: bright sunshine on plastic

and BLACK ninja-kitty in same frame.

Didn't harvest for 2 or 3 days.

oops.

 

So, what does this pile of beans weigh?

 Closest guess by 8 a.m. Monday wins.

 And none of this "closest without being over" 

silliness--that's such an arbitrary cut off.

Statistically, it makes no sense to me,

and as a former stats nerd, I'm not gonna stand for it.

The prize, as usual, is GLORY.

And, if you have a blog, we'll link to it

so my 3+ blog readers will FLOOD your site

with traffic and you'll become rich.

(Maybe.)

Garden Panic

It's finally hit that time of year

where the yield is starting to freak me out.

 (peppers from SF farmer's market)

 

The pepper plants have all swooned from the burden of bounty,

languishing on the ground for want of extra support 

(or a better caretaker).

I'm now afraid of the tomatoes.

 (also from SF f.m.)

  Don't even want to check them.

Just walk by, averting my gaze,

trying to concentrate on other things.

The gardening equivalent of plugging your ears and humming

to not hear what you don't want to hear.

Traaa la la, la la.

So, Bear is dealing with the park fire,

and his wife is intimidated by tomatoes.

Go figure.

=)

xobb

WHAT IS THIS?!? MUST post this freaky thing NOW.

 

So, THIS was on my sunflower plant.

!!!

What is it?!?!

It's SOO cool!

It's wee, less than 1 cm.

Check out the amazing clear wings,

and cute, chubby body.

A serious little expression on his/her face.

I think I'm in love.

*sigh*

My day is MADE.

Everything else is gravy.

So cute!

Seriously, though, anyone know what this is, I'm all ears.

Ooh, and if we get an answer, I can file it in the species pages!!

sweet

Heavens, nature is an endless source of delight.

xoxooxbb

if I eat all of this, I may become a human bean... and tiny earthquake note

Today's harvest

Here you mostly see tomatoes,

but there are so many green beans 'neath,

my arm was getting tired from cradling it all.

Harvest plated. Note green bean spillover.

Reminds me of my favorite book,

Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner.

Above, we see the angle of repose for pole beans.

=)

Also, a FEW cherry peppers are on the left, 1st pick.

And one cherry tomato got smushed a bit on my shirt.

Had to eat that one right away.

I am no slacker when it comes to cherry tomato clean up. 

=)

Record keeping

So, do you weigh your harvest?

I have, but I'm super not consistent,

and the only place I record it is here.

How much of your gardening do you track?

How do you think you've benefitted from it?

Is there anything useful you would not have learned had you not?

Please share in the comments.

I mostly just track what I planted so I rotate my crops properly.

Earthquake

And, for those of you on the east coast,

who experienced the 5.9 earthquake today,

I hope you and yours are well.

Personally, I think earthquakes would be MUCH more fun

if you could know ahead of time all will be well,

so just have fun with it.

I do remember when I was 14, running outside during an earthquake

so I could feel our sidewalk move.

Thought it'd be cool.

It was.

=) 

xoxobb

mountain meadow Mumday, Yosemite-style

xobb

4 mountain lions strolling through my cousin's neighborhood...

 

And I like the musical switch up at the end. =)

Beautiful creatures. Guessing it's a family...

Plus, it's nice to see snow this time of year
for us Nothern-Hemisphere-ers (pant, pant, pant).

xo
bb

Ch-ch-ch-changes: If you've not noticed...

I've added pages to this blog, wherein I will house the species I have identified (frequently with your help), so I can work on cumulative learning vs.

"ooh, cool!"

(one one-thousand, two one-thousand)

... annnd delete-from-brain.

mantid on our house 2 days ago; it's amazing how they can defy gravity so well.

Also, then I'm not embarrassed by asking, say, skepticalmoth 

to identify a moth species he's already kindly identified for me. =)

Different day = different moth, right?

Uh, no.

(this fairy moth isn't the one, tho' he did identify this one for me, too)

Check out upper right hand corner of the white space under "Pages" (such a clever name!): home, plants, hymenoptera, and "what's what" which explains them.

Hope your weekend is moving along nicely. I am finding that I cannot stop picking beans.

It's VERY relaxing.

Very zen.

*sigh*

Much like doing owl limpet plots, believe it or not.

=)

xoxobb

Phriday photo quiz: my neighbor is apparently a skilled gardener...

 
I am kitty sitting for them, and also get to glean goodies from their garden.

Check these pups out--got them for the chickens. Note the coffee maker is a NORMAL SIZED coffee maker, 13 inches tall.

What DOES she do over there?!?

=)

QUIZ: What ARE these giant things?

And DON'T look at the comments until you have your guess ready. The answer is already there, but I HAD to post the comments/guesses 'cause 1 was such a riot. Proving again, my blog visitors are brighter and funnier than I. =)

bb

1st bean harvest (!), sleepy bees, and snuggly cats

 

First bean harvest of the year. Yay!!

 The bean teepee has turned into a bean jungle.

I've got beans in 2 other places, too.

Sleepy Bombus (yellow-faced bee, B. vosnesenskii, per my

previous bee ID adventure) warming in the sun

on pole bean leaves.
(This one's pretty sharp, so good for zooming...)

Another sleepy bee clinging to bean leaf, nicely hidden.

This one started grooming by the time I left,

apparently warming up. =)

My sophisticated bean basket.

Typically, I cradle the harvest in whatever shirt I'm wearing.

I was making fun of myself for doing this,
and my friend, who's an organic farmer,
said she does the same thing. Hooray! A professional.

Beans are sticky!

 Bowl o' beans = new smell for kitty.

Typically the kitties like to use them as chew toys.

The above cat selected one to his liking,

and being aware of this proclivity, I supplied our black,

napping kitty with his own, too,
laying it next to him on the cushion.

However, it's since been obscured by something stripey...

 Maybe the beans taste better warmed.

=)

bb

chicken snax -- pretty food!

 

Plain, organic yogurt, cherry tomatoes, and plain, raw sunflower seeds.

mmmm.....

Happy hens!

(tap tap tap tap tap)*

bb

*in case you don't know, that is the sound of chickens eating yogurt and sunflower seeds from a plate.