Gumbo

February 04, 2026

Melissa and I seem to be in constant search to find what to eat for dinner.  The task is made more difficult as I rarely go to the store to buy specific items for the evening’s meal and instead try and find innovative ways to cook what we already have on hand.  This approach is made more so as I try and use up leftovers or clear out the produce that I canned or frozen over last year’s growing season.  Several days ago, I had scrounged a packet of chicken pieces (breasts and thighs) I had frozen to make chicken and rice casserole.  I have a set recipe in my mind for how to make this dish, but I am still toying with how to get the rice to come out perfectly.  I have followed on-line recipes, and it will often come out either crunchy (too little liquid) or mushy (too much liquid).  The other issue is it is made in a 9-inch (23 cm) by 13-inch (33 cm) glass dish.  This makes a ton of casserole!  While I seem to have no problem eating all the rice, the leftover chicken is a harder sell (especially breasts). While scrolling on-line this afternoon I came across a sausage and chicken gumbo recipe.

When I went online, I found gumbo (Louisiana Creole: Gum-bo) is a stew that is popular among the US Gulf Coast community.  The dish combines ingredients and culinary practices of several cultures, including Central and West African, French, German, Spanish, and Native American Choctaw.  A gumbo consists primarily of a strongly flavored stock, meat or shellfish (or both), a thickener, and the Creole “holy trinity” (celery, bell peppers, and onions).  The preferred method in the historical New Orleans variation has a French-inspired dark, even chocolate-like, roux (flour and fat mixture) that is the official state cuisine of Louisiana.  Creole gumbo generally contains shellfish and a dark roux.  Cajun gumbo is generally based on a dark roux and is made with shellfish or fowl.  Sausage or ham is often added to gumbos of either variety.  After the base is prepared, vegetables are cooked down, and then meat is added.  The dish simmers for a minimum of three hours, with shellfish and some spices added near the end, and traditionally served with rice. A third, lesser-known variety, the meatless gumbo (z’herbes) is essentially a gumbo of slow-cooked greens.  Gumbo was first described in 1802 and was listed in various cookbooks in the latter half of the 19th century.

My decision to make gumbo was a mix of trying something new and my desire to use the leftover chicken in the refrigerator and the half-pack of kielbasa in the freezer.  I have made variations of this dish before, but this is the first time I started from a roux.  Being a creature of habit, I only partially followed the recipe.  I started by baking the flour in the oven at 350F (177.6C) for 45 minutes for the darkened color and to add a toasty flavor to the roux.  While the flour was baking, I got restless and went ahead and sautéed the cut-up chicken and sausage as well as the trinity (different pans).  The roux itself was a mix of vegetable oil (olive) and toasted flour that was cooked down on low heat for 35 minutes.  Since the vegetables had already softened, I placed them in the pot along with a can of Rotel tomatoes and chilies, Cajun spices, cayenne pepper, and six cups of chicken broth.  Next came the chicken and sausage and a Bay leaf for flavor.  The on-line recipe suggested letting the gumbo simmer for “1 to 2 hours” rather than the noted minimum of three.  I put the finished ingredients on around 4 pm and we will not eat until after 7.  That should give the flavors enough time to meld.

THOUGHTS: When I made my Gumbo, I used the eyeball measuring approach.  Between that and my hand slipping when I was “measuring” the cayenne the dish came out spicy hot.  I have learned (from Melissa) that one way to cut the heat is to add sugar.  I tasted the mixture again to be sure, then added two tablespoons of sugar.  I am looking forward to having Gumbo over white rice tonight.  We can all stand to learn new ways from each other.  Between Zydeco dancing and Cajun dishes, who can go wrong?  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Birds 2025

January 31, 2026

Today’s local newspaper (“Sunday”) ran a front-page story on how the cold weather is prime birding season around back yards and feeders.  This reminded me that I am even later this year in reporting my annual birding totals.  Once again, I saw several red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) on the power lines going to and from town but was unable to get a picture, so they were not added to my count.  While I was able to take my usual trip to the wildlife area this year and did record five different species (long range).  However, the lighting was so bad I was unable to identify any but the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) flock I noticed while trying to capture several deer (again long range) in a filed.  Another miss.  The end-of-year presence on my feeders was good as the cold weather brought the sparrows (genus, Passer), along with house (Haemorhous mexicanus) and purple (Haemorhous purpureus) finches.  The northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) did come back in mass but I saw only one or two blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata).  I have yet to clean out the bluebird (Sialia sialis) house but have seen the sparrows nosing around the entrance so I will need to get rid of the old debris for this year’s nesting.

All that said leads to my “great reveal” concerning my birder totals for 2025.  The number of feeders has fluctuated throughout the year as I began with 12 feeders offering different types of food.  The squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and grackles (Quiscalas quiscula) managed to take out my camera feeder, and the finches have all but abandoned the thistle seed feeder for some reason.  I also switched to safflower kernels rather than black oil sunflower in my two window feeders hoping to discourage the squirrels (it sort of works).  That leaves me with 9 active seed feeders to go along with the 9 hummingbird feeders.  Now, on to the results.  You may recall I recorded 26 species in my first year (2020), ended with a high of 52 species in 2021, dropped to 44 species in 2022, a low of 30 species in 2023, and then rebounded to 39 species in 2024.  During 2025 I was able to rise a little higher and recorded 44 different species.  My European sightings happened again as we took two trips, one to the Greek Isles (9 birds) and another up the Danube River (8 birds).  The bus ride to the Neuschwanstein Castle (Disney’s type site for his princess castles) also yielded 4 different species of raptors, but I was unable to document them.

Most of my sightings have been limited to the immediate area, but we are planning to expand that during 2026.  We are taking the RV along the interior to the Atlantic side of Florida and then back along the Gulf of Mexico as our return.  This will hopefully produce some new shore bird sightings.  We are then driving across Oklahoma to Arizona with a return through Utah.  This should record a few species of desert birds.  Then we are scheduled for an Alaskan cruise in June which should score some Pacific birds.  I am hoping between our trips I can raise my totals (and overall species count) to new levels this year.  We will see.

THOUGHTS: I am looking forward to participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count 2026 again this year.  The 2025 count had hundreds or thousands of people from all over the world and found 8,078 species of the world’s known species, or 158 more than in 2024.  Be sure to mark your calendars for the Great Backyard Bird Count 2026 (February 13 to February 16, 2026).  You can sign up and find how to participate at https://www.birdcount.org/participate.  Once again, birds are the (literal) canary in the mine shaft (earth) when it comes to gauging the health of our ecosystems.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Bustards

January 30, 2026

WAY down on my MSN browser I came across an article on an invasive species that is disrupting the fragile ecosystem of the Desert National Park (DNP) in Rajasthan, a state in northwest India.  Hybrid pigs, from wild boar (Sus scrofa) and domestic pig (Sus domesticus), appeared in the park after a canal project brought in permanent water sources and crops, turning the arid desert into a pig haven.  In the past two decades the invasive species have become opportunistic predators and competitors endangering local plants and animals.  Manas Shukla, a wildlife researcher at the DNP, said, “The invasive pigs are becoming a major competitor of threatened vulture populations over food that can further impact these declining species.”  Farmers have reported crop damage, attacks on livestock, and even humans.  Bustards (Family, Otididae) and vultures (Family, Accipitridae) are also at risk, as the pigs eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds and the carcasses eaten by the scavengers.

When I went online, I found Bustards are a family of large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grasslands and steppe regions.  The word bustard comes from the Old French “bistarda”.  The naturalist William Turner listed the English spelling as both “bustard” and “bistard” in 1544.  All the common names are derived from Latin avis tarda or aves tardas given by Pliny the Elder.  The word tarda comes from tardus (Latin, “slow” and “deliberate”), which aptly describes the species’ typical walking style.  The two largest species of bustards, the kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) and the great bustard (Otis tarda), are frequently cited as the world’s heaviest flying birds.  Males can exceed 44 pounds (20 kg), and average around 30 pounds (13.5 kg), with a length of 59 inches (150 cm).  The smallest species is the brown bustard (Eupodotis humilis), which is 16 inches (40 cm) long and averages 1.3 pounds (600 g).  Bustards are among the most sexually dimorphic groups of birds with males often 30% longer and sometimes more than twice the weight of females.  Bustards are omnivorous and opportunistic, eating leaves, buds, seeds, fruit, small vertebrates, and invertebrates.

Forest officials have removed the pigs from bustard enclosures but have yet to enforce large-scale control measures due to wildlife protection laws.  Researchers argue that the invasive pigs are not native wildlife and should be controlled or translocated to protect the local ecosystem.  Human intervention, like building infrastructure or bringing in artificial water sources, changes ecosystems to unintentionally favor invasive animals.  Native populations decline because the ecosystems have changed and allowed invasive species to proliferate.  About 2 in 5 threatened or endangered species are at risk due to invasive species, according to the National Wildlife Federation.  Invaders bring harm by outcompeting, preying on, and spreading diseases, along with disrupting food chains, and destroying habitats.

THOUGHTS: Like the threat to the Bustards, human activity can bring invasive species to new environments.  Travel and trade transport species but changing land use can also allow them to move and prosper.  Converting land for agricultural use opens it to exploitation from invasive species.  The United Nations shared that human activity has already altered approximately 70% of the world’s ice-free land, and often in ways that unintentionally reshape local habitats.  Many of the world’s creation stories place humans as the caretakers of the world rather than exploiters of its resources.  Ignorance (or apathy) can no longer be an excuse for destruction of the environment.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Artemis II

January 28, 2026

I have mentioned that I have an on-line subscription to our local paper that is sent instead as hard copy.  They no longer have carriers and instead deliver via USPS.  With the bad weather last Saturday, the Sunday paper did not arrive (I know, how do they get Sunday’s news by Friday night?) until the Post office restarted delivery yesterday.  Inside the front section was a USA Today article on how to take a trip to the moon.  The launch is scheduled to occur between February and April of this year at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  The Orion capsule will carry four astronauts on the lunar journey.  While there may not be enough seats for everyone to ride along, NASA has provided a way to punch your ticket virtually.  When you sign up on the Artemis II site you will be included on an SD card that will fly inside Orion when the Artemis II mission launches.

When I went online, I found Artemis II will build on the success of the uncrewed Artemis I in 2022 and will demonstrate a broad range of capabilities needed on deep space missions.  Artemis II will be NASA’s first mission with crew aboard the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft.  NASA is sending astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.  The flight is designed as a test of NASA’s deep space capabilities, as humans fly on the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for the first time.  

The crew will perform initial checkouts of Orion’s systems and manually test the spacecraft’s handling near Earth over the first two days of the mission, before heading toward the Moon.  Orion’s service module will provide the push needed to break free from Earth orbit as a translunar injection burn will send the astronauts on a four-day outbound journey around the far side of the Moon.  The approximately 10-day mission will launch from Launch Complex 39 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no later than April 2026.

The figure eight flight pattern for Artemis II will extend more than 230,000 miles (370149 km) from Earth and fly 4,600 miles (7403 km) beyond the Moon, making it the furthest humans have traveled from Earth.  The flight will allow the astronauts to evaluate spacecraft systems along the way and test how they behave will direct human interaction.  Several payloads will fly aboard the craft to expand our knowledge of space radiation, human health and behavior, and space communications.  These tests are designed to help advance future exploration efforts.  After completing its journey, Orion will undergo high-speed reentry through Earth’s atmosphere before safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.  NASA and a Department of Defense recovery team will retrieve the four-person international crew (three American, one Canadian) and spacecraft.  Signing up for the virtual flight (https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/) will provide mission updates and information about the launch.  You can also sign up for the NASA newsletter to receive updates in your inbox.

THOUGHTS: I was intrigued when I read about the Artemis II launch date as we are scheduled to be in a campground across from Kennedy Space Center during February.  If conditions are right, we might be able to watch the launch and then accompany the astronauts on the virtual ride.  I grew up in the Apollo era of moon trips that sparked my imagination (and desire) for space flight.  While I may not be able to afford the 2026 Virgin Galactic commercial flights (priced around US$600,000) or enlist in NASA’s astronaut training program (age), I will be traveling to the moon virtually within the next few months.  The Artemis ventures will take humanity to the moon and on to Mars.  Lest we forget, this is another journey made possible through international cooperation.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Get Out

January 27, 2026

Last weekend we had a major winter storm that spread across the US that affected multiple states and resulted in freezing temperatures and heavy snow.  The storm was predicted to hit our area around 9 p.m. CST Friday and when we checked the snow was just starting to fall.  We got 4 inches (10 cm) of snow Friday night, followed by 4 inches (10 cm) of sleet/ice on Saturday, then topped by another 3 inches (7.5 cm) of snow early Sunday.  I had been clearing off the ramp from our back door and spreading a pet friendly deicer during each break so it was clear, allowing me to get out to fill the bird feeders and the kids could make it to the side yard.  While the storm had passed by Sunday afternoon, our back patio (and the roads) had become a 5-inch (12.5 cm) slab of ice.  ARDOT (state transportation) warned people to stay indoors to avoid the treacherous conditions and to stay out of the way of the emergency crews trying to clear the roads and restore power.  Melissa and I both took the warning and decided this was not a good time to get out.

When I went online, I found the storm brought power outages and treacherous road conditions across the South and Northeast and allowed few people to get out. The treacherous conditions have so far been linked to 34 deaths in 14 states, including two in Arkansas.  The Associated Press news agency reports that the storm has been linked to the deaths, with causes ranging from hypothermia to weather-related traffic, sledding, and snow plough accidents.  The Arkansas deaths were both linked to improper use of an ATV.  The storm brought dangerous winter weather conditions, including ice and freezing rain, leading to widespread travel disruptions and emergency declarations in affected areas.  The precipitation was compounded by overnight temperatures that dropped into single digits (F) and never climbed above freezing (32F/0C) during the day.  Schools, governments, churches, and businesses were all closed over the weekend and are only beginning to open today. 

Today marked the fourth straight day in isolation and both the kids and us were needing to get out of the house.  Since it was going to climb into the 40’sF (4.5+C) by afternoon we all made a break for it.  I knocked the remaining 3 inches (7.3 cm) of ice off the Jeep and put the crankcase in 4-high.  We struggled to get over the ice dam surrounding our vehicle, but a little extra gas got us over the top.  The cul-de-sac and street leading to the town’s main throughfare were all packed with snow, but once out of our subdivision the main road was wet but not slick or icy.  We took the kids to the lake where we walked, and it was packed with snow as well.  Melissa asked me to cut a few “doughnuts” and then I drove out on the spits to see what conditions could be to walk tomorrow.  I immediately slipped when I got out and realized I would need to wear my crampons and not stay out too long if we walked at all.  Still, it was good to get out to reacquaint us with the world. 

THOUGHTS: I always saw the irony of snow days in school as what they really did was allow students to get out and play in the snow.  One of my fond memories as a child was the winter when my brother and I built snow caves in the drifts along the side of the church.  Then in my senior year in high school when the town shut down and my friends played tackle football in the snow (could not go fast) and then went to a park and played duck-duck-goose in the fresh powder.  Being a January baby, I have always liked snow and did not mind the freezing weather.  I must admit, the cold is only fun if you are able to dress warmly.  Hypothermia, frostbite, and even death can come quickly in fridged conditions.  Thankfully, several area agencies open “warming stations” when the temps drop below freezing.  Most of the 34 deaths were people unable to find warmth.  We cannot let unhoused become uncared for.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Ash Borer

January 12, 2026

Yesterday’s local newspaper carried a USA Today article on a project designed to restore native ash populations to the state of New York.  The ash saplings planted at Cornell Botanic Gardens as part of the Nature Conservancy’s Trees in Peril project are part of an effort to restore the disappearing species.  Ash has long been valued for its lumber and is used in baseball bats, tool handles, flooring, and fireplaces.  The invasive species attacking the trees was first discovered by entomologist Mike Griggs on Cornell University’s campus, as tree canopy dieback, yellowing and browning of leaves.  The condition had spread farther west in the state in 2009, and quarantine zones were established in 2015 to block the spread.  Accord­ing to the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, the emerald ash borer has killed millions of trees across the US, caused billions of dollars in damage and loss, and overtaken virtually all of New York state.

When I went online, I found the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), or EAB, is a green jewel beetle (buprestid) native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash species (Fraxinus spp.).  Adult beetles are typically bright metallic green and about 0.33 inches (8.5 mm) long and 0.063 inches (1.6 mm) wide.  Emerald ash borer is the only North American species of Agrilus with a bright red upper abdomen when its wings are spread.  The species has a small spine at the tip of the abdomen, and saw-like (serrate) antennae that begins at the fourth antennal segment.  Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees and the larvae feed underneath the bark to emerge as adults in one to two years.  The ash borer is typically found at low densities in its native range and does not cause significant damage to trees but is a highly destructive invasive species to the ash trees of Europe and North America.  Adults prefer to lay eggs in stressed ash but readily lay eggs in healthy trees among other tree species.  Little was known of the ash borer before it was found in North America. 

Local governments are attempting to control the ash borer by monitoring its spread, diversifying tree species, and using insecticides and biological control.  A significant discovery was made by the US Forest Service when they found relatively healthy trees amidst a forest of dead trees.  The surviving trees, called lingering ash, could serve as a catalyst for repopulating ash populations across the US.  The ash borer larvae tunnel through the living tissue and with 100’s of 1000’s of insects in each tree can essential girdle the tree making it impossible to transport resources between the canopy and roots.  Researchers found some lingering ash can “wall off” the larvae and prevent the insects from girdling the tree.  A second possible defense is related to the organic compounds emitted by ash trees during photosynthesis and used by the ash borer to detect the trees.  If an individual tree does not produce those chemicals or does so at low levels, the tree becomes “invisible” to the insects.  The goal of the project is to propagate 50 to 60 genotypes of trees of each of the three ash species (white, green, and black).  In 5 to 6 years cuttings (scions) will be collected and the process repeated.  The lingering ash will then be planted among susceptible trees to restore ash to the forest environment.

THOUGHTS: The Emerald Ash Borer likely arrived in North America from Asia in the 1990’s hidden in solid wood packing materials (crates and pallets) used in cargo ships.  Detection in the US was in Michigan in 2002.  This accidental introduction allowed the invasive beetle to spread rapidly, killing millions of ash trees.  Movement of infested firewood by humans accelerated its spread across the continent.  The predators and diseases that naturally keep the ash borer in check do not exist in North America.  Developing the lingering ash would be a significant check on yet another invasive species.  Otherwise, Major League Baseball will be forced to use aluminum bats.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Snake-tail

December 30, 2025

It seems fitting that just before New Years I come across an article on ending relationships.  Female praying mantises are notorious for eating their mates during or after sex.  According to Christopher Oufiero, head of the Towson University Mantis Lab, mantis has some of the most diverse camouflage strategies in the animal kingdom and much of mantis behavior, especially mating, remains a mystery.  “Mantises are good at not being found.  It’s kind of what they do,” says Lohitashwa Garikipati, a doctoral student at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.  However, Oufiero and Garikipati were part of a study that found a dwarf mantis species in which males avoid this fate with an elaborate dance where it moves its abdomen.  Sometimes this is sinuously like the coils of a serpent and sometimes jerkily like the tail of a rattlesnake.  Their behavior inspires its name, the snake-tail mantis.

When I went online, I found the snake-tail mantises (Ameles serpentiscauda) are in an order of insects (Mantodea) that contain over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families.  The discovery of the snake-tail mantis began with a chance encounter in the summer of 2024 when on a remote beach in Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea.  Battiston’s colleague Oscar Maioglio spotted some dwarf mantises on shrubs along the shoreline he thought resembled a known species of dwarf mantis (Ameles andreae), except that their wings were smaller than expected. He collected a few individuals to rear back in his lab.  When he and Maioglio saw the specimens mating they knew these mantises did not belong to any other known species.  The small wings and serpentine courtship dance of the collected specimens strongly suggested they belonged to a unique, never-before-documented species, and genetic analyses confirmed it.

One major open question is the function of these courtship displays.  Whatever the deeper meaning, scientists theorize that performing a courtship dance reduces the male’s risk of the female eating him after mating.  It seems to succeed as the researchers observed no sexual cannibalism among the lab-reared snake-tail mantises.  “Why or how selection for this mating display may have occurred remains to be seen,” says Garikipati. “But I think it is an interesting clue that tells us that these little animals are probably a lot more complicated than we give them credit for.”  There is some urgency behind Battiston’s eagerness to learn more about the snake-tail mantis. As far as he and his colleagues can tell, the new species is only found in a restricted area of a few hundred yards along the Sardinian coastline.  While most of this habitat lies inside a protected area, increasing tourism and overgrazing by sheep and goats could threaten the entire species’ existence.  To ensure the future of the snake-tail mantis, Battiston and his colleagues have proposed that the IUCN categorize it as Critically Endangered and recommended stricter measures to preserve its habitat.

THOUGHTS: While the male snake-tail mantis avoids the female abruptly ending the relationship, many human pairings end around Christmas and New Year’s.  Psychology Today says the holidays highlight how reality may not match one’s ideal.  The gift-giving, travel and parties also increase stress around money, a top area of conflict.  Meeting parents or navigating whose family to visit creates further tension and pressure, along with a perceived pressure to “define” the relationship.  The New Year acts as a natural reset point for evaluating life choices and can lead to a post-holiday breakup surge, causing January to become “breakup month”.  While breaking up may seem like getting your head bitten off, at least you are not a (male) mantis.  Relationships require work.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Last Fruits

December 27, 2025

Back in August I blogged about my first attempt to grow a second yield in my raised beds (2nd Crop).  I replanted several of the vegetables that had done well in the spring (and that I liked).  For some reason, few of the vegetables sprouted.  What sprouted were the cabbages, cauliflower (both Brassica oleracea), and about half of the peas (Pisum sativum).  When it looked like we were going to get our first freeze in November I had covered the plants with bed sheets held above the plants with garden hoops.  I had done this in previous years and found it to be effective (and reusable).  The peas were harvested and eaten in salads prior to our trip, but I just let the brassica go to see if they would ever mature.  The cabbage never did head and the cauliflower never balled.  I thought about tearing them out, but the plants still had robust leaves.  Last week I finally gave up and pulled the plants.  I did not know what I would do with them, but cabbage leaves were the garden’s last fruits.

When I went online, I found cabbage leaves are completely edible, including the outer ones.  The texture and flavor will vary from the inner leaves.  Both types of leaves can be used raw in salads, cooked in soups, sautéed, or even used as wraps for other fillings.  The outer leaves are tougher but also more nutritious due to their exposure to the sun and can be blanched or used as wraps or stuffed as rolls.   The inner leaves are more tender and sweeter and are good for raw applications.  All the leaves should be washed to remove dirt and checked for insects and bad spots before preparation.  I ended with a large pile of outer leaves and a smaller pile of inner (sorta) leaves that I decided to make into sauerkraut anyway.  I washed the leaves, cut out the woody stems, and sliced the outer leaves for over an hour before the amount of work made me rethink processing the entire pile.  Instead, I went with what I had and then processed the smaller pile of inner leaves in the same way.  Sauerkraut was still a long way off, so I put the bowls of last fruits in the refrigerator

Two days later (today) I decided to finish processing my last fruits.  I added salt to the bowls of leaves and kneaded it for 5 minutes to break the leaves down and then packed them into quart jars, one for the outer leaves and another for the inner.  Working with my last fruits got me motivated to work the tomatoes frozen tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) and sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum) from August into more canned pasta sauce.  I added two red onions (Allium cepa) and three cans of diced tomatoes from the pantry along with spices and simmered it for four hours to render it down and meld the flavors.  While the sauce was finishing up, I brought the water bath to boil to sterilize four 1-quart jars and lids.  While I only used three, I have found it is easier to not use a jar than try and prepare another jar while everything else is ready.   I transferred the sauce into the jars, added lemon juice (for acidity), and let them boil for 45 minutes.  My last fruits were finished.

THOUGHTS: When we went to dinner with our gardening friends just before Christmas, I told her I had harvested my last fruits and planned to make sauerkraut.  That was when she asked if I had started planning what to grow in my beds and containers next year.  While I have begun to think about next year, there is hardly a plan.  That is the thing about gardening (or farming), you can never stop planning, or you will quickly get behind.  The same can be said for reaching out to those who need help.  If you do not plan and then act to make a difference, you will be overcome by apathy.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Tortoise

December 24, 2025

Inside Monday’s newspaper was a USA Today article on a dog being trained to help with relocation of a threatened species in Florida.  Gerry-Anna Jones, a trainer at Goldstar Puppy Academy in Fort Pierce, is training Echo, a 3-year-old male husky-shepherd mix, to sniff out a small fake scented shell so the reptiles can be moved and protected before their habitat is developed.  Florida’s building boom is having a disastrous effect on the reptiles which are a 60-million-year-old keystone species whose burrow provides food and habitat for about 365 species of bugs, reptiles, rodents and other mammals.  Before 2007, developers could bury them alive, which suffocated or starved them.  Since being deemed a threatened species, they must be relocated.  Relocations have increased 358% on the Treasure Coast from 178 in 2014 to 816 in 2021, compared to 66% in Florida from 6,730 in 2014 to 11,171 in 2021, according to Neal Halstead, research director and lead instructor in the authorized gopher tortoise relocation agent training program at the nonprofit Wildlands Conservation.

When I went online, I found the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae native to the southeastern US.  The genus Gopherus contains only tortoise’s native to North America.  The species has forefeet well adapted for burrowing, and elephantine (stocky) hind feet, a feature common to most tortoises.  The front legs have scales to protect the tortoise while burrowing.  Individuals are dark brown to gray-black in color, with a yellow bottom shell (plastron).  A projection on the throat (gular) is evident on the front (anterior) plastron where the head projects from the shell.  The female has a flat plastron while the male has a concave plastron that is generally longer than the female.  The adult upper section of the shell (carapace) length ranges from 6 to 11 inches (15 to 28 cm), with a maximum of 16 inches (41 cm), and is at least twice as long as it is high.  Body mass averages 8.8 pounds (4 kg), with a range of 4.4 to 13.2 pounds (2–6 kg).  They are the only extant species of the genus Gopherus found east of the Mississippi River.  The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the gopher tortoise as “vulnerable”, primarily because of habitat degradation.  The animals are considered threatened in some states while they are endangered in others.  The gopher tortoise is the state reptile of Georgia and the state tortoise of Florida.

Jones is working with Echo to switch from scent samples to live tortoises now that he knows his job, with a goal to have Echo ready for field work by spring 2026.  “He has been able to pick up the scent,” Jones said, “This morning (December 18), he hit on a burrow.”  She trains Echo to zigzag through the landscape until he smells a live tortoise.  After pinpointing a location, Echo will lie down next to a tortoise or its burrow.  Handlers will work with a registered gopher tortoise agent or researcher to collect data and move the animal to a permitted recipient site if needed.  At the recipient site, the tortoise ideally will become habituated to its new home range over several months to prevent the tortoises from homing back to their old burrow.  Jones believes the collaboration between the Goldstar Academy and Gopher Tortoise Alliance is a major step toward conservation.

THOUGHTS: While Echo is being trained to find the gopher tortoise, other dogs are being trained to locate other species.  Dogs are used in surveys with the Mojave Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) prior to construction to protect critical habitat.  Dogs find Eastern Box Turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) to aid research on reptile diseases by the St. Louis Zoo.  Dogs located the

once-thought-extinct western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) in California’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  I was impressed that the kids were able to determine which hand their treat was in!  The association between wolves and hunter–gatherers began 17,500 years ago and they are the only domesticated large carnivore.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Garbage Patch

December 17, 2025

When I opened my MSN browser this morning I found an article on life flourishing in the open ocean.  This is a mix of natural, surface-dwelling ocean creatures and resilient coastal species that use floating plastic as rafts to colonize the open sea, forming new (artificial) ecosystems even as they face dangers from entanglement, plastic ingestion, and toxic contamination.  This biological hotspot is also an ecological nightmare as the plastics disrupt feeding, growth, and development of other marine animals.  Life on the plastics includes coastal species like barnacles (subphylum Crustacea), bryozoans (Phylum Bryozoa), anemones (class Anthozoa), and crustaceans (Subphylum Crustacea) that were carried from home by currents from the 2011 Japan tsunami.  Open-Ocean species like violet snails (Janthina exigua) and blue button jellies (Phylum Ctenophora) also thrive using floating plastic for shelter and feeding.  The non-biodegradable plastics allow these diverse communities to form and even reproduce, bringing life to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

When I went online, I found the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or Pacific trash vortex, is a spiral (gyre) of marine debris particles in the central North Pacific Ocean.  The patch is located roughly from 135°W to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N and originates from the Pacific Rim, including countries in Asia, North America, and South America.  Despite the common perception of the patch as giant islands of floating garbage, it is of low density (4 particles per 3.1 yd2 or 1 m2) which prevents its detection by satellite imagery or boaters or divers in the area.  The patch is a widely dispersed area consisting primarily of suspended “fingernail-sized or smaller” (often microscopic) particles (microplastics) in the upper water column.  Researchers from The Ocean Cleanup project claimed the patch covers 620,000 square miles (1.6 million km2) and consists of 50,000 to 142,000 tons (45,000 to129,000 metric tons) of plastic as of 2018 and has grown to twice the size of Texas.  By 2024, the group had removed more than 1 million pounds (453592 kg) of trash from the Patch.

Rehabilitating the Garbage Patch poses a significant challenge due to its immense size and location far from any country’s coastline, making it difficult for any nation to bear the financial responsibility for cleanup.  Various international organizations have pledged to stop the growth of the Garbage Patch.  Charles Moore (who initially uncovered the patch in 1997) is actively involved in raising awareness through the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.  The Ocean Cleanup, led by Boyan Slat, aims to eliminate 90% of ocean plastic pollution by 2040.  The organization is developing technology to extract plastic from the oceans and intercept it in rivers before it reaches the sea.  Their approach is to concentrate the plastic in “artificial coastlines” before collecting and removing it with a long U-shaped barrier that directs the plastic towards a retention zone.  The group’s collection exceeds hundreds of tons (90+ metric tons) and continues to grow.  While microplastics dominate the patch, 92% of the mass consists of larger objects like plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, pens, baby bottles, cell phones, and plastic bags.  The patch contains around 6 pounds (2.7 kg) of plastic for every pound (0.45 kg) of plankton.  A similar patch of floating plastic is found in the Atlantic called the North Atlantic garbage patch.

THOUGHTS: As plastics are being removed from the Garbage Patch the question remains about the life that exists there.  A team of scientists found almost every piece of plastic removed was carrying (mostly invertebrate) life.  On average, each plastic item carried about 4 to 5 different species and nets and ropes tended to have especially dense communities.  Nature seems to adapt to humans’ worst levels of pollution.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.