Chasing Tail

This black snake got his tail literally chased by an angry jay bird across my driveway and down two houses. The bird is unfortunately out of frame, but this snake was in a hurry.

The snake couldn't get away fast enough. It looked like it was running on its elbows. Funniest thing I saw all day.

How Do They Know?

I have two beautiful ornamental cherry trees in my yard lining my driveway. Every year they are the first to bloom and the first to drop their leaves at the end of summer.

I have no need to traipse into Washington, D.C. for the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, I can look outside my window and get the same effect.

It's just barely September and still hot, hot, hot outside. My cherry trees are madly dropping their leaves like it is some kind of race. Now most deciduous trees drop their leaves to prepare for the oncoming winter and preserve the main trunk. Since it is still so stinkin' hot outside, what in the world are these trees preparing for? How do they know winter is coming? If it stayed warm year round, would they bother to shed their leaves?

I know we can quickly point to genetics, acclimation, biological clocks, or some such. But really, how does a tree know? If I were to design a tree, how would I go about that? How can I get this much reflection from a three-second glance at my trees as I back out of the driveway?

Sometimes I just sit back and marvel at the wonder of it all.  God saw the world and all the things He had made and it was very good. I'm going to have to agree.

The Seeds Of Expectation

Every year I say I'm going to get a head start on my garden; most years it doesn't happen. It doesn't help that my garden is 650 square feet of largely red clay.

At one point it was appreciably better amended; at one point I was appreciably younger too. But when we expanded the house to fit all the Nodlings, a lot of fill dirt got dumped in my garden which puts the lousy soil on top -- oh, and rocks, HOW we've got rocks (did I mention the rock quarry down the street?)

So I had to wait for the rains to begin in order to till the garden, otherwise even with a front end rototiller it's impossibly hard. What I need to do is haul half the dirt out and replace it with grade-A topsoil. In the meantime, I just keep amending and tilling.

So that part is finally done; now I've got seeds in their starter pods. I think I was trying to make up for lost time, because I overbought on seeds. We've got bush basil, purple basil, savory, beets, cantaloupe, zucchini, cow peas, black beans, green beans, peas, leeks, sweet yellow onion, parsnips, corn, yellow banana peppers, cucumbers, Bibb lettuce, strawberry, and celery.

I still need tomatoes, bell peppers, and yellow squash. The kids want pumpkins. Sigh. I've got to fit all that into 650 square feet.

To let you know how I feel about my garden, I was planting in the rain. Here is my post from last year when I was waxing poetic (an original!).

---

I have a mistress to whom my wife bids me go; "Indeed", she says, "you have been away too long".

It is not a lady that beckons, but rather the earth in my garden. For three years she has lain fallow; no crops, no food, no fruit of the earth has she given me. "Alas", I sigh, "my lady lies barren, my mistress comforts me not."

A man comes from the earth, made by the effortless hand of God; a man toils in the earth to bring forth its fruit by the sweat of his brow -- such is his doom. And yet the garden is his refuge, he longs to feel the land beneath his feet; to plant and to furrow; to take delight in the tender shoots from the earth; to reap and to gather the work of his hand.

If God in His mercy sends His rain in due season, yet shall she bear forth. My fields are plowed, my garden prepared -- let the sowing begin! "Come.", my mistress beckons, "Come and let it begin again."

Rear Guard

You know an animal is fearsome when you are afraid in your car. Doubly so when it is the size of a large house cat.

Two skunks were crossing the road: one made it, the other didn't -- or hadn't by the time I came whizzing by. The one that made it scrambled to the side of the road and leaped to attention - backwards and with tail up. I instinctively swerved away from an imminent spray. Even if it gets on your car, it'll stink up your garage and everything within 50 feet.

Squid and God

Discovery reports:

Jan. 23, 2009 -- The circular teeth squid use to snag and handle prey could lead to strong but lightweight, environmentally friendly composite materials, according to new research. [...]

The teeth get their strength from architecture. A series of tooth pores runs through the protein, and on the outer edge the pores are spaced widely for a hard, shape edge that digs into the flesh of hapless prey. Toward the base, the pores are closer together, making a softer material that can absorb the prey's thrashing without breaking. [...]

Such products would likely be environmentally friendly and relatively cheap to manufacture, since the reactions that produce squid teeth don't require exotic ingredients, harsh chemicals or temperature extremes.

Reproducing nature's proteins has proven difficult at best. Spider silk, which pound for pound is stronger than steel cable, has yet to be mass produced despite decades of work.

And what have we learned class? After noting that the best designs are those that are mimicked from nature (and the difficulty in copying that design) we must conclude that nobody makes it better than the Master.