Happy Solstice everyone. The snow continues to fall here. The beauty of winter by fall outweighs the inconveniences.

We gave the new tenants the keys to the old place yesterday. That stress is gone. We no longer are responsible for the rent there.

Nog goes well in tea.

In my opinion, this is the best online game for the season.

yesterday
as lake was leaving
i found a pigeon in the back garden
she was just sitting there
i went up to her
she was unable to fly
i picked her up and put her in a box
and gave her some food
and water
i checked her wings
they were not broken
i tried to coax her to fly
but all she could do was flutter
she got used to me quickly
and would step up onto my hand
and she even jumped onto my shoulder

the rain was coming
i couldn't leave her outside
so i got one of the bird cages we don't use anymore
and put her in it
in the basement
i tried to find an animal rescue that would take her
no luck
everyone i called was at capacity
and gave me the same speech about not enough funding
i continued to try throughout the day

i kept watch on her in the basement
around 2, i brought her outside
she had lice
pretty bad lice
the rain had stopped
and i sat with her on the back porch
for about an hour and a half
picking the lice off her
and giving her scritches
she just laid in my hand

i gave her some water
from a bowl
as i held her

i put her back in her cage
i had other things to do during the day
the next time i went down she couldn't use her legs
she was flopping around the cage
she was getting worse
i gave her more water
though i had to hold her head up to the bowl
i picked some more of the lice off
and put her back

i was still trying to find a rehabber
but at this point it was becoming clear
i wouldn't find a place until the morning

the next time i went down
she was having spasms
i had talked to a vet
she told me to make sure to give her some gruel through an oral syringe
i had come down to do that
but i never did
her neck was twisted around so much that i thought it was broken
i moved it back
she was still alive
but she was stiff
she felt half-dead
it wasn't much longer
i buried her in the garden where i found her
the rains had started again
i placed her in the earth
with some wish pods
under the tree
in the garden
where she can fly away

merrypersies and I went to the Whole Foods in Alewife yesterday. Walking back to the Alewife T stop, we watched the rain clouds coming in. We had no idea what was in store for us.

A few drips preceded what was to come. They brought little warning. merryperseis was still unsure if it was even worth it to take out her umbrella. She decided to take it out, but it really wasn't any help.

The storm lashed out with what essentially was a wall of water. Our umbrellas snapped instantly and we were soaked. Not the kind of soaked where you run through the rain hoping to get out before you become "too wet". This was an instant soaking. We were immersed. The sheets of rain and then the hail pelted us as we ran towards the nearest building. The nearest building wasn't nearly near enough, but we ran towards it anyway.

It was very disorientating, everything moved so fast. The hail was pea-sized and we were never in any real danger, but it did get the adrenaline going. We sat under the awning of the Alewife Towers until the storm subsided a bit and sloshed our way back to Arlington.

Summer has arrived.

I think it may be time to put the coats in the basement for the season.

Woke up about an hour ago, had a bowl of creamy mushroom soup and went outside to start shoveling. The snow had turned to sleet by the time I got out there. A good 5 inches of the mix, mostly loose snow, was on the ground.

I got some pictures of one of the dark-eyed juncos that have been hanging around yesterday, but the sun had went down too far to get good exposures. I'm going to try again Monday. Without my birding camera, I have to be sneaky to get close enough for a good shot. Sneaky in this case means feeding them on fenceless fenceposts near the window.

i'm just not fit for snow shoveling anymore
but it still needs to be done
so i did it
it's cold out there
i'm pretty dizzy in here, but it is done
for now
there is more snow falling
it won't be done for long
winter in massachusetts

traffic is incredibly backed up
purpleglitter can't leave
she can't even get out of the garage
berv is sad.

purleglitter coming home from work early makes berv happy

Braced for the first significant snowstorm of the year. It's already started coming down, not to heavy yet. A quick, but powerful storm — they're predicting 5 to 8 inches (13 to 20cm) of snow in just 6 hours.

Shovel ready, salt laid down. Here we go.

From the The Universal Household Assistant or What Every One Should Know (1884):

Things to try. — Try popcorn for nausea.    Try cranberries for malaria.    Try a sun-bath for rheumatism.    Try ginger ale for stomach cramps.    Try clam broth for a weak stomach.    Try cranberry poultice for erysipelas.    Try a wet towel to the back of the neck when sleepless.    Try swallowing saliva when troubled with sour stomach.    Try eating fresh radishes and yellow turnips for gravel.    Try eating onions and horseradish to relieve dropsical swellings.    Try buttermilk for removal of freckles, tan, and butternut stains.    Try taking your cod liver oil in tomato catsup, if you want to make it palatable.    Try hard cider -- a wine-glass three times a day -- for ague and rheumatism.    Try taking a nap in the afternoon if you are going to be out late in the evening.    Try breathing the fumes of turpentine or carbolic acid to remove whooping cough.    Try a cloth wrung out from cold water put about the neck at night for sore throat.    Try snuffing powdered borax up the nostrils for catarrhal "cold in the head."    Try walking with your hands behind you if you find yourself becoming bent forward.    Try a silk handkerchief over the face when obliged to go against a cold piercing wind.    Try planting sunflowers in your garden if compelled to live in a malarial district.

Is too hot. Where is autumn already, I'm am done with summer. Brain has melted. Is too hot.

6 of the 10 most intense Atlantic hurricanes on record (in terms of central pressure) have occurred withing the last 10 years, with 5 of those occurring in the last 4 years.

1 Hurricane Wilma, 882 mbar — 2005 2 Hurricane Gilbert, 888 mbar — 1988 3 Labor Day Hurricane, 892 mbar — 1935 4 Hurricane Rita, 895 mbar — 2005 5 Hurricane Allen, 899 mbar — 1980 6 Hurricane Katrina, 902 mbar — 2005 7 Hurricane Camille, 905 mbar — 1969 8 Hurricane Mitch, 905 mbar — 1998 9 Hurricane Dean, 906 mbar — 2007 10 Hurricane Ivan, 910 mbar — 2004

This represents a clear and significant uptick in the strength of the strongest storms. Global warming is not just a problem the future will have to deal with, it is currently happening on a destructive and deadly scale.

Instead of going to pride, I had my pussy shaved.







Paddington did not like getting shaved at Doggie Styles (yes, that was the actual name of the groomers), but she was quite matty and really needed it. She'll be happier in the summer weather, too.