Something to tide you over

I'll be in Reno most of the day tomorrow and when I do have any time, I'll be working on my podcast so here's a rain check and a few photos to amuse you until I have a little time to do more.

The good news is that the lovely Delicata seems to be doing better. She came out and gobbled up a bunch of the honey smeared orange. That must have been quite a treat.

Okay, on with the show, up close and personal I give you, compliments of the Eye of Science ....

Lavender

Marigold

and...TA-DA...


Velcro

Death of Yogi Nugget

It's a sad day around here today. This morning I discovered that Yogi Nugget died. I realize that with all the disaster and death that's going on in the world, especially now, this news is about as insignificant as insignificant can possibly get but still I care. Life is life. I will miss her.

I'm leaving for Tonopah tomorrow for the weekend, then I'll be in Oregon most of next week but I will post more photos and story as soon as I get the chance. They'll be in the Cockroach Diary.


Ps. I just got my first visitor from New Orleans since Katrina hit. Good to see people are getting back online. That part of the stats map has been dark for days. Welcome back!

Nugget's hot August night

I can only take so much of even my own ire, the yelling camp to camp, idea clashing against bloody idea, the frenzy of who is right, who is wrong. Like they say, what counts is who is left. Here I have to take the long view. "It" won't go like any of us say, think or feel, right or wrong. Of that I am sure. That's how life is and for me that's a relief.

When I get sick of it all, as I do on a very regular basis, I think about our sun burning out, imploding on itself and becoming ... a dark star? a black hole? an event horizon? ... and I visualize the atoms of our bodies, worlds and "possessions"..... being drawn back into Maha Vishnu's body, perhaps not forever because the idea of forever is a material calculation, but for longer than any of us fussing around in this shit storm can ever have any hope of even beginning to comprehend or respect. It helps me get my perspective back.

So...it's a lovely, peaceful hot August night here in Nevada, and I'm taking a break from it all with my friends Nugget and Delicata. You can join us if you like for Nugget's midnight adventure.

Lift off; Minerva, Hank and other old friends

Lift off, with the goods.

We're going to Los Angeles for a few days. I should be trying to sleep. We're leaving early. I always seem to do this, stay up late before a trip and have a lot of trouble getting up in the morning. Whywhy? Oh well. No deep thoughts after 9 pm. I left Delicata and Nugget slices of avocado, orange and banana plus the usual dry food and Minerva has a new block of suet. I think she may be a raven rather than a crow. She travels alone which is typical of ravens not crows. Mr. Lee mentioned it the other day and I was only too happy to agree. I like the idea. Ravens are cool and then I get to say, "she travels alone, not in a ......... murrrrrrrrrrrrderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" (of crows). The legend of crows murdering one another isn't even true, as the FAQ points out, but it makes a good story therefore persists. And I am always up for a bit of drama. Minerva, on the other hand, is more into stuffing her beak, although she did fight off a couple of intruder crows the other day.


A few personal deities and friends of mine.


Hank is not in this happy group shot. He's taken to sitting on the top of my monitor, smoking cigars and talking tough. Ducks are like that, especially black ducks.

Feast

Delicata loves sweet oranges.

Heaven on earth
I gave the cockroaches a slice of a sweet, juicy orange the other day. It was a treat after I cleaned their terrarium. Nugget couldn't have cared less. She shot straight back into the dark safe hut. Delicata, on the other hand, loves sweet oranges. If it's not sweet, forget it. She stayed out and feasted, in spite of the fact that it was her first day out in a long time. The two of them have been laying low in the hot hut and we've hardly seen them all winter. I guess this is a sure sign it's spring. Well, and the fact that Delicata really loves oranges.

I liked the photo even though it was blurry so I slapped a couple of filters on it. The glow in the orange reflects the way Delicata feels about oranges, as does the way she is straddling it. All in all, it "captures the mood"... ecstasy. Ever think a cockroach could feel such happiness?

Half billion year old neighbors

The Jeep is finally ready so we're leaving in the morning for about ten days in the mountains along the Nevada/Utah border. We'll be at about eight to twelve thousand feet so if it's too cold at night, we'll just head south. If we stay north, we'll have a chance to look for trilobites which are suppose to be fairly abundant in that area. I'd love to do that. It would great to find some. They lived about a half a billion years ago when the Great Basin (Nevada) was a warm, shallow inland sea under the equator.

Cockroach pyramid of happiness
L. to R. Ha'Penny, Nugget & La Delicata

Also, I updated the Cockroach Diary today, something I haven't done since last April. I didn't have time to note all the important changes. I'll finish that when I get back. Tonight, they are happily tucked in after the trauma of the bedding change. It's a sweet little scene in there right now. They're all snuggled up together on the end of the terracotta pot. They must love it when we're gone. At night the house is quiet and dark.