Elderhood

 I really thought I would like Elderhood by Louise Aronson. The author is a doctor with 25 years of experience. She specialized in geriatrics. She is also an educator. But my mind kept wandering off during the pages. I really liked the stories about individual patients but then the book would wander off into philosophy  or the difficulties of medical school or some research projects that did not seem to relate to the subject at hand. The author claims the term she coined, elderhood, earns more respect and admiration than old age. Potato/potato. She also includes all the derogatory thoughts society has ever had about old age and that wasn't pleasant to read. No one likes to be told they are not worth the time and effort to be treated for their ailments. This just wasn't the book for me. Maybe others would like it better.

Serviceberry In Bloom

 This week in Duluth the Serviceberry trees burst into bloom. Also known as Juneberry trees, this large shrub/small tree has a distinguishing characteristic of all the flowers on the tree burst into bloom at the same time. Unlike apple trees or plum trees or lilacs, the flowers don't open gradually. It's all or none with serviceberry trees. The name serviceberry comes from the time before modern cemetery habits. When people died in the winter, they were put in cold storage or the corn silo to wait until the ground thawed. When the serviceberry bloomed, everyone knew it was now time to dig that grave, bury the body, and hold a service for the deceased. Serviceberry trees look similar to wild plum except plum thickets are so thick a person can hardly walk through. Serviceberry thickets have more space for a person to get around. Serviceberry fruit in the fall. The fruits are edible and prized by goldfinches, brown thrashers and blue jays.

Turtles Of Woodstock Bay

One

One, two

Three, four, five (those anglers are catching crappies).

Six, seven

Eight, nine, ten

Eleven, twelve, thirteen

Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three.

 

Phenology Hike

 

Today I went on a phenology hike at Hartley Nature Center. I downloaded an app called Nature's Notebook onto my phone and we had a lesson on how to use the app to record phenology. I had biked to the nature center and we spent over two hours there learning about phenology and looking around. Look at the green mustache on this green frog. This is the frog that makes a sound like a loose banjo string when the water warms up. This frog was lurking in the Hartley pool. We saw American redstart, chestnut sided warblers, broad-winged hawk, red-winged blackbirds, Trumpeter swans, a belted kingfisher, American robins, turkey vultures and goldfinches. One of our instructors made a whistle out of a willow branch.

This was a very athletic leopard frog who did not want to be picked up. See the anger in the eyes?

I walked around Hartley by myself for another hour before hiking home. Once at home I picked these violets in the backyard and added them to my salad. Delicious!

Slenderman

 A friend of mine worked in schools as a mental health counselor before she retired. She lent me Slenderman by Kathleen Hale. This crime took place is Waukesha, Wisconsin and the author grew up in that area of the state. She knows Wisconsin people and Wisconsin politics and Wisconsin culture. Sometimes I had to smile at her descriptions of the weather. She wrote things like since it was deer hunting season the men in the town wore clothes soaked in deer urine or people wore ankle length down coats so they looked like caterpillars running from their car to the court house. The story is about 3 twelve year old girls at a birthday party. One of the girls stabs her friend 19 times while the other girl watches. I felt bad for all three girls. Morgan, the one did the stabbing was living with early onset schizophrenia. She saw clouds and rainbows all the time. She had voices talking to her since before she went to school. Morgan was a seriously ill child whose father also had the same problems but he refused to talk about it. Our society doesn't seem to accept that mental illness is an illness. The system in Wisconsin refused to treat Morgan for her illness for years.  Would they also refuse to give insulin to a diabetic? Morgan didn't choose schizophrenia. Now Morgan is being treated medically for her illness but she is not being treated socially. She has no idea how to interact with people her own age. When this incident happened on May 31, 2014 I didn't pay much attention. I don't remember hearing about it. I was fascinated and horrified by this true crime story.

Twelve Miles

 

I asked the ESL teacher that I work with where to bike in Duluth that is not so bumpy. I have been getting headaches from my brain banging against my skull on the bumpy roads here. He suggested the Carlton road, known by most as the Munger Trail. Yesterday I parked near the Munger Inn and rode 6 miles toward Carlton and then six miles back. This is where the six mile ride ended.

Trilliums were in abundance. Sometimes the trail went between rock cliffs. Yellow trout lilies bloomed beside the trail. I heard chestnut sided warblers and white throated sparrows singing. A red fox crossed the trail ahead of me. I really enjoyed riding away from the danger of automobiles. The air was fresh and pine scented.

Happy Birthday Bob!

A couple of women from Senior U mentioned to me how much fun they had last year at the Bob Dylan singer/songwriter contest. So I decided to go. Tickets cost five dollars. The concert was held at the Sacred Heart Music Center. I took this picture before the music started. The venue was nice. I used the facilities at intermission. Several women mentioned how odd it was to have Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in the stained glass window over the stall watching them pee. Twelve musicians performed a song they composed followed by a Bob Dylan song. Nine of the performers were male. In the end Mississippi Mike won the contest followed by a lady who played a harp and another lady from Brainerd. Bob Dylan is a big deal here in Duluth. I hope he has a happy birthday.

 

Reflections

 The spring edition of Reflections has come out. This is published by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Volunteers are encouraged to submit pictures or stories. I submitted a story and forgot all about it but it's in there.  Here is the link.

https://rise.articulate.com/share/THoc7dGEE9IKVn7ZfuFoMn5QI_CUjMh3#/lessons/D9UgIlzCyMhQYyU6khX7Cl8FIIhRzo5N

The Nature Of Fragile Things

I was in the mood for historical fiction so that is why I read The Nature Of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner. This is a story about a woman named Sophie who emigrates to the United States from Ireland. She lands in a tenement in New York City. She can barely scrape by and is unable to send money home to her widowed mother. She reads an add for a mail order bride. A man from San Francisco is interested in taking a wife to help him raise his five year old daughter. Sophie travels to San Francisco. Within a half hour of getting off the train she gets married at the courthouse to a complete yet handsome stranger. After that they go to his boarding house to meet his daughter. Five year old Kate is virtually silent since the death of her mother. Sophie is a kind woman who doesn't understand her husband's aloof behavior but she bonds with Kate by being patient and trustworthy. Sophie becomes involved with two other women during the earthquake of 1906. Their lives become intertwined during the catastrophe. The story about the women and the girl overcoming fear with love was riveting and hard to put down. 

Vinegar Girl

In 1963 I enjoyed a Western comedy movie called 'McLintok" starring Maureen O'Hara (with her beautiful red hair) and John Wayne. I loved that movie. I really enjoyed Westerns and I still do. I realize now that that movie was sexist and misogynistic but I still liked it. I also enjoyed Ann Tyler's book, Vinegar Girl, which, like the movie "McLintok," is a retelling of Shakespeare's "The Taming Of The Shrew." This book is set in modern times with cell phones and modern day problems. The vinegar girl is Kate Baptista who lives with her father and younger sister, Bunny. Kate has a job as an assistant at a preschool where she sometimes get in trouble for answering questions honestly instead of using discretion and diplomacy. Parents complain about her. The kids love her honesty. After work she feeds her family, cleans the house, does the laundry and gardens in the back yard. Kate feels obliged to supervise her younger sister who, at age 15, loves to break the rules and have boys over to the house without supervision. Her father is a research scientist working on a medical break through at Johns Hopkins. His assistant, Pyotr, an orphaned research scientist from Ukraine, is about to be deported. Kate's father needs Pyotr so he comes up with a scheme for Kate to marry Pyotr so he can stay in the country and finish the research. Pyotr is the person who gives Kate the nickname Vinegar Girl. He appreciates her honesty. I always enjoy Ann Tyler's writing and although this wasn't her finest work, it was worth my time.

Traveling Through Spring

On Easter I flew to Pennsylvania. I parked my car on a pile of snow in the parking lot here in Duluth. In Pennsylvania the trees were leafed out and the daffodils were past their peak. When I returned to Duluth after 3 nights my car was parked on asphalt and all the snow under the car had melted. Snow remained in most yards though. Last week on Friday I left Duluth. Tree buds were swollen but no leaves were present. When I arrived in Chanhassen the tulips were abundant. Most trees had full leaves on them. Lilacs were in bloom. Crabapples were at peak and the sidewalks were littered with pink and white apple blossoms. Lawns were mown. The arboretum was like fairly land because it was so beautiful. When I left on Sunday afternoon the temperature was 83 degrees. I traveled through Saint Paul and by 4 p.m. the temperature was 81 degrees. The temperature remained at 81 degrees until less than 4 miles before Hinkley. In Hinkley the temperature was 61 degrees. The farther I went north east the smaller the leaves were on the trees. In Duluth the temperature at 6:30 was 51 degrees. With all my travels I am having multiple spring experiences which is fine with me because spring is my favorite season.

Wild ginger is pollinated by ants which is why the blossom is down where the ants can reach them

Watch Out For Herbivorous Domination

I never noticed this sign at the archery range before.

 

Mission Accomplished

 In 2021 I made a goal to volunteer 500 hours as a master naturalist in order to receive the presidential volunteer service award that includes a letter from the President. I accomplished my goal and yesterday I got my letter and the pin. I worked hard for that award. Nearly half of the hours were spent at Schoolcraft State Park where I got SO MANY mosquito bites and removed so may wood ticks from my clothing. Ten percent of the hours were spent at Hawk Ridge and that was totally fun because I enjoy talking with people. Plus carrying a hawk up the hill from the banding area to the public display area is so thrilling my heart was pounding in my chest. I am happy that I accomplished my goal. Now I wonder if I will do it again next year.

Spring Peeper Trail

Yesterday morning I went on an early morning guided hike along spring peeper trail in Chanhassen. After we walked down the grassy path toward the boardwalk over the pond the guide explained that we were hearing boreal chorus frogs. There are no spring peepers in this wetland. Someday, if they hear a spring peeper, they will know that they have established a top notch wetland. As soon as we stepped on the board walk I saw one sora rail go right and one sore rail go left. That was cool. We also found a broken egg along side the path. A common yellow throat perched in a shrub next to the wetland and sang. Two sand hill cranes hid in the distance.

Two trumpeter swans swam toward the group of master naturalists. I think they were asking to be uploaded to INaturalist.

 

Inspiration Peak

I am at an event at the Bell Museum on the corner of Cleveland and Larpenteur Avenues. I adore the dioramas. This elk diorama is of Inspiration Peak. 

 

Happy Hour

 This story is set in the summer of 2013 in New York City. The tale is told by 21 year old Isa as she struggles to make ends meet by selling clothes in a market with her friend Gala. Isa is more responsible that Gala and therefore tensions arise. I can't imagine living as these two women live. They go to bars and pray someone will pay for their drinks because they don't have the money. They don't have enough to eat but sometimes they go out to eat oysters. Happy Hour, by Marlow Granados, is a novel about a life foreign to me, the life is Isa and her friend Gala.

Stone Blind

 Stone Blind, a novel written by Natalie Haynes, is a new look at the story of Medusa. In this tale, Medusa had curly black ringlets. She lived on an island in a cave with her two sisters. Medusa was the only human in a family of gods. When Medusa is punished because Athene is angry with Poseidon, she looses her black ringlets and snakes grow into her head in a painful process that takes days. Also, any living thing she looks at will be turned into stone. Medusa feels her only solution is to live in solitude and to cover her eyes. There are many strong female characters in this book which took me 6 hours to read. Gorgons, monsters, legends are all good topics to take my mind off my other troubles.

Bullseye!

The last guy I worked with tonight at archery was laser focused. Look at all those bullseyes. He was on fire.

 

Wildflowers at Jay Cooke

I drove to Carlton today to look at the wildflowers blooming at Jay Cooke State Park. I parked on Leimer road. I parked at the small parking lot. Most of the wildflowers are at this end of the park. This is bloodroot and it was ten feet from my car.

This is cut leafed toothwort. I got there about 8 a.m. I left at noon and even more wildflowers were up as the temperature warmed up. I saw a few bugs but no mosquitoes and no ticks.

Virginia spring beauty. Lesser flycatchers and oven birds were calling.

Fawn Lilies.

Yellow trout lily.

Marsh marigolds.

Wild ginger flowers are right at the soil level.

Round loved hepatica.

Wood anemone.

More round lobed hepatica.

This picture doesn't do it justice but thousands of yellow and white wildflowers dot the landscape.

Jack in the pulpit.

 

Nine Mile Ride

This afternoon I left my house about 1 p.m. with ten miles on my bike. As I was getting ready to leave my neighbor saw me and asked me a few questions about the bike. I asked him if he wanted to try it and his face lit up. He took it up the hill whooping and hollering like a young boy instead of a very tall millennial. When I got back nine miles later, he took it for another ride down to the local elementary school and past the mayor's house. He just bought a new mountain bike but now he wants one of these. Also he has an indoor/outdoor cat named Donald Ferguson after a forest ranger in Two Harbors. He bought the cat during the rat infestation which happened before I moved in. Evidently road construction near the shore forced the rats to leave the sewers, come up Chester Creek, and live in this area. My neighbor on the other side agreed. She would have 40 rats under her bird coops snacking on spilled bird food. Some were Norway rats but others were pet store rats and they came in a variety of colors. Donald Ferguson patrols the yard during the summer and gets rid of the extra rabbits.  Ferguson killed seven birds last year. I told him I was more of a dog person. I suppressed my opinion about feral cats.

I had a nice ride. First I went  east and then north and west and south. I explored the Saint Scholastica campus and rode past the monastery, the cemetery, the ball fields. The campus was quiet today but I saw one graduate in a blue gown posing for pictures in front of Tower Hall (see picture). My poetry teacher teaches here but I don't know what building. The dormitory buildings have the names of trees. I thought it was strange to see a building named Maple surrounded by spruce trees. College Street has a nice bike path and I felt safe there. My bike enthusiast neighbor has been trying to get the city of Duluth to put bike lanes on Skyline Parkway with posts to separate the bikes from the cars. That would be a great idea.

Farmer's Market

 

Today the city opened the non-paved trails to traffic again. In the spring the dirt trails are closed because boots and bike tires ruin the trail while the soil thaws. I decided to walk six blocks east to the Farmer's Market. Here is my view from the sidewalk. I have to descend 29 steps to get to the trail that runs along Chester Creek. Once I am down to 4th Street, I walk on the sidewalk past the Burrito Union to 3rd Street and that is where the market is.

When I got there I talked to the Master Gardeners for a time. I got a free tote bag from the Farmer's Market. And I bought some sheep cheese. I told the farmer I was going to make Spanakopita. He had never heard of it. I used the recipe from the New York Times website.  Opa! It was delicious. Plus now I am strong like Popeye.

Trial Of Sadness

 Today, at UMD, I watched one of the strangest films I have ever seen called "Triangle of Sadness.". This is a foreign film written in English. The film is a satire or a black comedy. Some parts are disgusting. Our audience was prepped by being told that all liquids seen on the film are merely colored water. The only actor I recognized was Woody Harrelson and his performance was less than stellar. The first part is about two models, Carl and YaYa, who are dating. Carl and YaYa argue about gender roles and who should pay for dinner. The second part is on a yacht. The crew is told to accommodate any whims by the customer. Carl and YaYa are on the yacht too. One Russian customer wants the crew to go swimming in the sea. Even the kitchen crew goes swimming which spoils the food. The captain of the ship (Woody Harrelson) and a Russian guy named Dimitry have a drunken discussion on communism and capitalism over the ship's microphone during a storm during the stormy night. The third section is the aftermath after the yacht. This was my favorite part. The ending was left up to the viewer's discretion. In the group of twenty people that I was with, half agreed with me that a woman was murdered on the beach. The other half thought there was no murder or they didn't care if there was a murder or not. This is definitely not a Hollywood type movie. This film won awards at the Cannes film festival and an 8 minute standing ovation. "Triangle of Sadness" is a different kind of film and maybe that is what we need these days, something different.

Trial Run

This morning I had my trial run of my new Lectric bike. I biked 1.3 miles uphill to my classes. I have yet to install the front and rear accessories to the bike but I can do that on a rainy day. I had a hard time figuring out how to charge the battery. I finally figured that out by lying on the dirty cellar floor and looking at the undercarriage of the bike. Usually it takes me 20 to 25 minutes to get to class but I got there in 5 minutes even though I took the long way. I parked it about 10:30 a.m. When I left after 4 p.m. I did not go straight home. I recalled my trips on the motorcycle when I told myself I am only going to Elk River and then coming home and soon enough I would find myself in Monticello and even Saint Cloud. I love the open road. One advantage to the motorcycle is that I can use the entire lane to avoid the pot holes. On a bicycle I have to stick to the side of the road. I suffered some severe bouncing today. I look forward to my next trip. Rain is forecast for tomorrow so the next ride is up in the air. I am happy the trial run went well. I took a detour on the way home down a bike path along Tischer Creek so I think I put 5 miles on the bike.

 

The Checklist Manifesto

 A young girl falls into a freezing pond. Her parents find her and bring her to the hospital. While she is basically dead, the hospital staff revived her to life after carefully following a checklist. Doctor Atul Gawande is so impressed by this story that he started to do research on checklists. He wrote The Checklist Manifesto in 2009. He talks about medical situations but also construction and the airline industry. When high rises are construction checklists are used. The checklist itself is not the magic that keeps high rise buildings safe. Communication about the checklist with all the players is what makes it work. The owner, the architect, the building supply manager, the electricians, the plumbers, the welders and the concrete layers are all involved in daily decisions. Each member of the high rise team is required to sign off on approval. They are also required to respond that they have read all emails. No one outranks another person. This is a team with one goal - construct a high rise that will withstand the wind and weather. The airline industry has done the same thing. Once a problem occurs new checklists are written. When 3 Canadian Geese entered both engines of US Airways flight, co-pilot Sully Sullenberger took over controls as the pilot was more experienced with the checklists. Together, with the help of all staff on board, they were able to land the plane in the Hudson and everyone survived. The author's point is that the health care field is less willing to adapt checklists. This author is a surgeon and he worked with the World Health Organization to create surgery checklists. Unfortunately, in the health care field, some practitioners think they know it all and do not appreciate being questioned. I enjoyed reading this book and have started making my own checklists. I get more done if I follow a checklist.

Vernal PoolsT

Today I surveyed three of the four vernal pools at Hartley Nature Center. I walked into this one looking for tadpoles or salamanders. I found mosquito larvae.

Zero reptiles talking here. Ravens were talking though. Water temperature was 40 degrees. This nature center uses candy thermometers. Maybe I should use one of my candy thermometers when I monitor the stream instead of the cheap thermometer I got free with Smokey the Bear bling.

 

This one is the third one and is about the size of a bathtub. Handy that it is right off the sidewalk though. Water temperature was 48 degrees.

This last one was a mile hike up the hill. Do you see a pond? I do not.

I will have to check with the organizers to see if I am at the correct spot.