32 October 2022 – Today I learned:
that some people have a lot of time on their hands and a honking great amount of creativity and ingenuity in their heads.
I spent all day learning various things: several bug IDs (actually both Eristalis tenax), a moth ID (Sunira bicolorago); that the rat snake is the dumbest snake; that I have quite a lot of orange and black animals (many insects) photographed; that the winner of Fat Bear Week contest weighed 1400 lbs; that the average person loses 15 socks a year and that a psychologist and statistician developed a formula for Sock Loss; that at least 5% of people have Long Covid (Covid symptoms) more than 6 months after infection; 33 ways to sleep well at night and that there’s an effective sleep supplement called 5-HTP; that a drink called The Obituary is basically a martini with absinthe; that a friend still has plants to give away … hmmm; that Shaggy Mane Ink Caps (Coprinus comatus) undergo a self-digestion process called deliquescence that turns them into inky, black goo; that Promethea Silkmoth (Callosamia promethea) caterpillars that have been parasitised by Enicospilus americanus ichneumon wasps in spring undergo a hormonal change when they spin their silk cocoon now, which signals the wasp larva to rapidly grow and consume its host from the inside out; how gorgeous miscanthus grass flower stalks are, and also larches even when past their fall colour prime; that one vermillionaire firecracker annual in the garden bit the dust in the last few days (due to cold/frost) but the other one still looks good, and they’re only about 12 yards apart but the latter is closer to the house; that some grasshoppers still remain at the local bog, and a few dragonflies too; that the red clover might be the prettiest flower blooming in my garden at the moment (others include perennial mums, buddleia, ‘Rozanne’ geranium, evening primrose, yarrow, yellow hawkweed, annual mums, the firecracker flower, and an annual whose name I don’t know); that the ruby-crowned kinglet is still hanging around; of an interesting list of self-reflection questions I may use; that a blood test that can screen for multiple cancers is on the horizon; how to take care of your feet on a long walk/hike; where to buy the kind of excellent dot bandages my dermatologist uses (or close enough); what’s in both the Moderna and the Pfizer bivalent Covid boosters (a friend asked); that the smell of cooking salmon really nauseates me and a “fun size” M&Ms packet makes it all better; and I could really go on and on.
All the time, I was waiting for something special to end this 31 Day series with. This is it.
I present to you this 4-min. video for your consideration and amazement: Pass the Wine, Please! It’s a wild ride and I bet you will learn something. (h/t to McKinley Valentine at The Whippet)
Thanks for joining me on this month of noticing what I’ve learned!
Featured image: collage with some of the other things I learned today — the pink flower, second row on the left, is the annual whose name I don’t know