USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Gracie]

Well, Evie brought me a huge dragonfly yesterday. It was all mangled but alive. I googled on how to help it, and I didn't know they bite! Their mandibles are pretty sharp if you get your finger too close, they said. I was handling it all over its body..checking wings, body, removing kitty slobber and burrs and kitty hairs stuck on it. It didn't bite me.
Anyway...they are meat eaters, so I was at a loss of what to feed it IF it would eat. Gave it some water..which it did nuzzle. Then I got the wild hair to give it wet catfood from a can. It ate it. But..it didn't live. Either it was too mangled, or the catfood killed it. Such a shame. It was beautiful.

 

[Mindful]

I never fail to be entranced by the humming birds in America.

As they don't exist in Central Europe.

 

[Marion Morrison]

Well, Evie brought me a huge dragonfly yesterday. It was all mangled but alive. I googled on how to help it, and I didn't know they bite! Their mandibles are pretty sharp if you get your finger too close, they said. I was handling it all over its body..checking wings, body, removing kitty slobber and burrs and kitty hairs stuck on it. It didn't bite me.
Anyway...they are meat eaters, so I was at a loss of what to feed it IF it would eat. Gave it some water..which it did nuzzle. Then I got the wild hair to give it wet catfood from a can. It ate it. But..it didn't live. Either it was too mangled, or the catfood killed it. Such a shame. It was beautiful.

You can't touch Dragonflies. I learned that when I was 5. You just can't touch Dragonflies or Butterflies or it messes up their wings. Very fragile.

 

[Mindful]

Well, Evie brought me a huge dragonfly yesterday. It was all mangled but alive. I googled on how to help it, and I didn't know they bite! Their mandibles are pretty sharp if you get your finger too close, they said. I was handling it all over its body..checking wings, body, removing kitty slobber and burrs and kitty hairs stuck on it. It didn't bite me.
Anyway...they are meat eaters, so I was at a loss of what to feed it IF it would eat. Gave it some water..which it did nuzzle. Then I got the wild hair to give it wet catfood from a can. It ate it. But..it didn't live. Either it was too mangled, or the catfood killed it. Such a shame. It was beautiful.

You can't touch Dragonflies. I learned that when I was 5. You just can't touch Dragonflies or Butterflies or it messes up their wings. Very fragile.

I used to "grow" them. > Butterflies.

By that I mean, I grew plants that the caterpillars liked, and I watched them become plump and luscious, till they crawled away to pupate. A couple of them wintered on the ceiling in my house.

And then the magical moment when they emerged as butterflies. I used to get up at 5 am to watch it, knowing the metamorphosis was imminent.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I was bored this morning, well actually still am, and I ran across an old post by Sunshine.
I use to talk to her, I know she was an older gal... just curious if anyone knew what happened to her.
Hasn't posted since Aug. 2015.

 

[007]

Another smoky day here at the airport, and Anchorage. We've got the fires up in my neck of the woods, and south, too, but Anchorage is blanketed in wood smoke. It's bad enough today that anyone with asthma or respiratory problems is affected. What worries me right now is moose hunting season starts this weekend. Hunters are being warned not to hunt in the areas affected by the fires. That means a lot of townies will be trying their luck further up the mountain...where I live. Of course, too many people poo-poo the burn bans because they're only going to have a small campfire and they can control a small fire. It only takes a small spark to light the world on fire here right now. It's so dry and maybe as much as 2/3 of the spruce in our area are beetle-killed, making them 70' matches. One spark and they flame-on, and spruce burns hot. Additionally, the tundra and muskeg has dried out. That means the fire can go underground and pop up some other place. I just hope a lot of people decide not to hunt this year.

Wow... doesn't sound good around Anchorage. Is the entire state in that condition?

Year before last when I went out to Montana to visit family, the smoke was so bad you could barely see the mountains. I woke up one day and there was ASHES on my truck. I had to leave early and go back home. Didn't really get out of the smoke until Minnesota. Good ole Wisconsin was clear as a bell. I was very thankful for that. Forest fire smoke is very rare in Wisconsin. It's become a yearly ordeal in Montana.

It's been pretty smoky all summer. The Swan Lake fire on the Kenai Peninsula has been burning for over two months now. Because it's burning into wilderness they let it burn. Only when it threatens human habitation do they fight the fire. There are so many fires statewide that it is pretty miserable. While we are having the hottest, driest summer most people can recall around these parts, there are floods up north. I've noticed that the birch trees are already dropping leaves, not because it's fall but because they are so dry.

Albuquerque has been smoky all day and especially after the sun went down and the air began to settle--they say it is coming from fires in western New Mexico and Arizona. At one point our swamp cooler had pulled so much smoke into the house I went out to see if we were on fire, but we aren't as nearly as I can tell.

But we should all do our rain dances for New Mexico and Alaska. Hombre and I went to Alaska in August and it rained the entire time we were there, in Anchorage and all the ports of call when we cruised out. You would probably welcome some of that now.

There was once a severe drought in Iowa though and on a lark, they invited our Zuni rain dancers to come visit. Six inches of rain and still falling later, they suggested maybe the dancers should go home.

I talked with my nephew in Montana the just the other day and he said Montana had finally had a rainy Summer, and there wasn't smoke in the air for the first time in ages.
I lived out there on two different occasions, and I never saw smoke.

 

[Foxfyre]

I was bored this morning, well actually still am, and I ran across an old post by Sunshine.
I use to talk to her, I know she was an older gal... just curious if anyone knew what happened to her.
Hasn't posted since Aug. 2015.

Sunshine has not been around for a long time. She had a serious chronic condition so I am also concerned, but hope she is well.

 

[Foxfyre]

Well, Evie brought me a huge dragonfly yesterday. It was all mangled but alive. I googled on how to help it, and I didn't know they bite! Their mandibles are pretty sharp if you get your finger too close, they said. I was handling it all over its body..checking wings, body, removing kitty slobber and burrs and kitty hairs stuck on it. It didn't bite me.
Anyway...they are meat eaters, so I was at a loss of what to feed it IF it would eat. Gave it some water..which it did nuzzle. Then I got the wild hair to give it wet catfood from a can. It ate it. But..it didn't live. Either it was too mangled, or the catfood killed it. Such a shame. It was beautiful.

You can't touch Dragonflies. I learned that when I was 5. You just can't touch Dragonflies or Butterflies or it messes up their wings. Very fragile.

I used to "grow" them. > Butterflies.

By that I mean, I grew plants that the caterpillars liked, and I watched them become plump and luscious, till they crawled away to pupate. A couple of them wintered on the ceiling in my house.

And then the magical moment when they emerged as butterflies. I used to get up at 5 am to watch it, knowing the metamorphosis was imminent.

We have a niece and nephew that grow a special beautiful black butterflies that I think are rather rare. Keep them in an area where they can protect and nurture the caterpillars and then the cocoons. And we get a blow by blow photo story on Facebook as they emerge from the cocoons. Fascinating.

 

[Foxfyre]

Another smoky day here at the airport, and Anchorage. We've got the fires up in my neck of the woods, and south, too, but Anchorage is blanketed in wood smoke. It's bad enough today that anyone with asthma or respiratory problems is affected. What worries me right now is moose hunting season starts this weekend. Hunters are being warned not to hunt in the areas affected by the fires. That means a lot of townies will be trying their luck further up the mountain...where I live. Of course, too many people poo-poo the burn bans because they're only going to have a small campfire and they can control a small fire. It only takes a small spark to light the world on fire here right now. It's so dry and maybe as much as 2/3 of the spruce in our area are beetle-killed, making them 70' matches. One spark and they flame-on, and spruce burns hot. Additionally, the tundra and muskeg has dried out. That means the fire can go underground and pop up some other place. I just hope a lot of people decide not to hunt this year.

Wow... doesn't sound good around Anchorage. Is the entire state in that condition?

Year before last when I went out to Montana to visit family, the smoke was so bad you could barely see the mountains. I woke up one day and there was ASHES on my truck. I had to leave early and go back home. Didn't really get out of the smoke until Minnesota. Good ole Wisconsin was clear as a bell. I was very thankful for that. Forest fire smoke is very rare in Wisconsin. It's become a yearly ordeal in Montana.

It's been pretty smoky all summer. The Swan Lake fire on the Kenai Peninsula has been burning for over two months now. Because it's burning into wilderness they let it burn. Only when it threatens human habitation do they fight the fire. There are so many fires statewide that it is pretty miserable. While we are having the hottest, driest summer most people can recall around these parts, there are floods up north. I've noticed that the birch trees are already dropping leaves, not because it's fall but because they are so dry.

Albuquerque has been smoky all day and especially after the sun went down and the air began to settle--they say it is coming from fires in western New Mexico and Arizona. At one point our swamp cooler had pulled so much smoke into the house I went out to see if we were on fire, but we aren't as nearly as I can tell.

But we should all do our rain dances for New Mexico and Alaska. Hombre and I went to Alaska in August and it rained the entire time we were there, in Anchorage and all the ports of call when we cruised out. You would probably welcome some of that now.

There was once a severe drought in Iowa though and on a lark, they invited our Zuni rain dancers to come visit. Six inches of rain and still falling later, they suggested maybe the dancers should go home.

I talked with my nephew in Montana the just the other day and he said Montana had finally had a rainy Summer, and there wasn't smoke in the air for the first time in ages.
I lived out there on two different occasions, and I never saw smoke.

Albuquerque sits in a kind of large basin so that you drive up to get out of town no matter which direction you go. So if conditions are right, the smoke from western fires--even as far west as California, Oregon, Washington, can drift over the state and, if atmospheric conditions are right, will settle down onto the city until there is enough wind to push it out of here. And other times the winds don't bring it over us. Right now it's gorgeous out. No smoke.

 

[Mindful]

Well, Evie brought me a huge dragonfly yesterday. It was all mangled but alive. I googled on how to help it, and I didn't know they bite! Their mandibles are pretty sharp if you get your finger too close, they said. I was handling it all over its body..checking wings, body, removing kitty slobber and burrs and kitty hairs stuck on it. It didn't bite me.
Anyway...they are meat eaters, so I was at a loss of what to feed it IF it would eat. Gave it some water..which it did nuzzle. Then I got the wild hair to give it wet catfood from a can. It ate it. But..it didn't live. Either it was too mangled, or the catfood killed it. Such a shame. It was beautiful.

You can't touch Dragonflies. I learned that when I was 5. You just can't touch Dragonflies or Butterflies or it messes up their wings. Very fragile.

I used to "grow" them. > Butterflies.

By that I mean, I grew plants that the caterpillars liked, and I watched them become plump and luscious, till they crawled away to pupate. A couple of them wintered on the ceiling in my house.

And then the magical moment when they emerged as butterflies. I used to get up at 5 am to watch it, knowing the metamorphosis was imminent.

We have a niece and nephew that grow a special beautiful black butterflies that I think are rather rare. Keep them in an area where they can protect and nurture the caterpillars and then the cocoons. And we get a blow by blow photo story on Facebook as they emerge from the cocoons. Fascinating.

What do those caterpillars feed on? I know the Monarch eats milkweed.

 

[Foxfyre]

I never fail to be entranced by the humming birds in America.

As they don't exist in Central Europe.

Really? I assumed they were everywhere. But since our hummingbirds winter in southern Mexico, Central America, and South America, I guess it would be a really long flight for them to cross the Atlantic. Our friends in Corrales--a bedroom community of Albuquerque that nestles up against the river--have a long porch and lovely back yard with maybe two or three dozen hummingbird feeders. They buy only the best hummingbird nectar and have to fill the feeders every couple of days but have hundreds of the little birds hanging around all summer. But they do start departing about now to make the long trek to their winter habitats.

 

[Mindful]

I never fail to be entranced by the humming birds in America.

As they don't exist in Central Europe.

Really? I assumed they were everywhere. But since our hummingbirds winter in southern Mexico, Central America, and South America, I guess it would be a really long flight for them to cross the Atlantic. Our friends in Corrales--a bedroom community of Albuquerque that nestles up against the river--have a long porch and lovely back yard with maybe two or three dozen hummingbird feeders. They buy only the best hummingbird nectar and have to fill the feeders every couple of days but have hundreds of the little birds hanging around all summer. But they do start departing about now to make the long trek to their winter habitats.

The nearest we have to them is

The hummingbird hawk-moth.

 

[Foxfyre]

Well, Evie brought me a huge dragonfly yesterday. It was all mangled but alive. I googled on how to help it, and I didn't know they bite! Their mandibles are pretty sharp if you get your finger too close, they said. I was handling it all over its body..checking wings, body, removing kitty slobber and burrs and kitty hairs stuck on it. It didn't bite me.
Anyway...they are meat eaters, so I was at a loss of what to feed it IF it would eat. Gave it some water..which it did nuzzle. Then I got the wild hair to give it wet catfood from a can. It ate it. But..it didn't live. Either it was too mangled, or the catfood killed it. Such a shame. It was beautiful.

You can't touch Dragonflies. I learned that when I was 5. You just can't touch Dragonflies or Butterflies or it messes up their wings. Very fragile.

I used to "grow" them. > Butterflies.

By that I mean, I grew plants that the caterpillars liked, and I watched them become plump and luscious, till they crawled away to pupate. A couple of them wintered on the ceiling in my house.

And then the magical moment when they emerged as butterflies. I used to get up at 5 am to watch it, knowing the metamorphosis was imminent.

We have a niece and nephew that grow a special beautiful black butterflies that I think are rather rare. Keep them in an area where they can protect and nurture the caterpillars and then the cocoons. And we get a blow by blow photo story on Facebook as they emerge from the cocoons. Fascinating.

What do those caterpillars feed on? I know the Monarch eats milkweed.

Every species of butterfly has its own preference, but the black swallowtails I mentioned prefer things like carrot, dill, and fennel leaves but all butterflies will eat anything suitable if their preferred food isn't available.

 

[Mindful]

In the US, I sit for ages in the garden, watching the humming birds.

For some reason, they congregate around the crepe myrtle.

 

[Foxfyre]

Well, Evie brought me a huge dragonfly yesterday. It was all mangled but alive. I googled on how to help it, and I didn't know they bite! Their mandibles are pretty sharp if you get your finger too close, they said. I was handling it all over its body..checking wings, body, removing kitty slobber and burrs and kitty hairs stuck on it. It didn't bite me.
Anyway...they are meat eaters, so I was at a loss of what to feed it IF it would eat. Gave it some water..which it did nuzzle. Then I got the wild hair to give it wet catfood from a can. It ate it. But..it didn't live. Either it was too mangled, or the catfood killed it. Such a shame. It was beautiful.

It was good of you to try to save it, but once a dragonfly is injured, it is unlikely it will survive. We were taught as kids not to try to catch them because they injure easily. They are beautiful and fascinating creatures though. I loved watching them as a kid.

 

[Foxfyre]

I must REALLY need a vacation to the beach with ocean skies filled with stars...….cause no matter how I look at that I do NOT see a car door

I didn't either until this morning. Happened to glance at it and I could immediately see the bare ground under the edge of the rusted out door.

 

[Foxfyre]

I never fail to be entranced by the humming birds in America.

As they don't exist in Central Europe.

Really? I assumed they were everywhere. But since our hummingbirds winter in southern Mexico, Central America, and South America, I guess it would be a really long flight for them to cross the Atlantic. Our friends in Corrales--a bedroom community of Albuquerque that nestles up against the river--have a long porch and lovely back yard with maybe two or three dozen hummingbird feeders. They buy only the best hummingbird nectar and have to fill the feeders every couple of days but have hundreds of the little birds hanging around all summer. But they do start departing about now to make the long trek to their winter habitats.

The nearest we have to them is

The hummingbird hawk-moth.

Interesting. I have never heard of those.

 

[Nosmo King]

It's what you might call 'chamber of commerce' weather here in the Crotch of the Tri-State area! Today is the day the postcard pictures of town are taken. Amazing many townsfolk, the sky is actually blue. We are perpetually shrouded by clouds. The weatherguessers panel tested the phrase 'partly cloudy'. The idea was how to predict tomorrow's weather and add a bit of optimism by including 'partly'.

Meanwhile, down Florida way, they, for once, won't be bragging about their weather paradise. I lived and worked in Puerto Rico for eighteen months. The one hurricane that made people nervous was Hurricane Andrew. Not that Andrew's path had it anywhere near Puerto Rico. It activated the Seabees stationed at U.S. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads. Those men and women were open for business! Lines of bulldozers made their way to the airfield and were loaded on cargo planes. The logistics were impressive.

My mission was substantially unglamorous even though the setting was magnificent. My job there was to record the flow into the three sewage treatment plants then find and fix the leaks in the sewer lines and manholes.

When women asked me how I maintained a tan in December, I told them I have a project in Puerto Rico and I have to go back right after New Year's Day. That would seal the deal until the gag-inducing details of my Caribbean project. Ces' L'amore!

But I have lived through two hurricanes which is two too many for this Son of the 40th Parallel. My first was Hurricane Elana Labor Day weekend 1985. That's where I made rookie mistakes. I was curious and ventured out in it. Mind that the eye of the storm was about 70 miles to the west over the Gulf of Mexico and heading North, but we were on the east side of the storm which is the more hazardous side.

I watched 4'x10' sheets of drywall swirl around a partially finished high rise the way Autumn leaves swirl around a fence post. A gas station canopy was a block away. In the wake of the storm a mound of sand that piled up on Siesta Key confused me. Siesta Key beaches have the world's whitest sand. Golf course sandtrap white. I stared at it and thought to myself, 'That'll take forever to melt.' What can I say? My life experience with mounds of white are in the corner of a shopping center parking lot in mid January.

Rookie mistakes and I admit them. Don't you judge me!

So, I pray someone learned from my faux pas or just don't repeat them. We all know someone in Florida or we may have family visiting theme parks and beaches there for Labor Day. Lord, keep them safe! Amen.

 

[JustAnotherNut]

I must REALLY need a vacation to the beach with ocean skies filled with stars...….cause no matter how I look at that I do NOT see a car door

I didn't either until this morning. Happened to glance at it and I could immediately see the bare ground under the edge of the rusted out door.

ok, I tried really really hard...….and the best I can come up with is what looks like 'ocean' is the running board?????? And the actual door is the 'sky'????


Sorry, but even that's pushing it......cause I really want that vacation

 

[saveliberty]

Always happy to see you Save. How is the job going? Are you in the running for Postmaster General yet?

No, I think I'm still fast enough they can't catch me for that job. Our office is dramatically under staffed and it is showing physically and mentally on the younger employees.