August 12, 2024

Last week Melissa and I went to eat with friends at a restaurant located in an area that used to be Camp Chaffee.  Camp Chaffee was established in 1941 as part of the US Army’s training and readiness program during World War II.  From 1942 to 1943 Chafee trained and equipped three armored divisions that deployed to Europe.  The camp continued to train armored divisions after the war and in 1956 officially became Fort Chaffee.  In 1958, Elvis Presley was inducted into the army and received the most famous military haircut in the world in Building 803, now part of the Fort Chaffee Museum.  The Fort was opened to migratory groups three times as a humanitarian housing center.  In 1975 to 1976, 50,809 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees processed through on their way to US resettlement.  In 1980, 25,000 Cuban refugees passed through Chaffee awaiting US resettlement.  In 2005, several thousand victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita found refuge at Fort Chaffee for disaster relief assistance.  Fort Chaffee was recommended for closure in 1995, and 7,192 acres were declared surplus and turned over to the local community.  The acreage is managed as a mixed use community which now retains industrial, medical, commercial, and housing sites (and our restaurant) creating wide lawns and groomed roadsides.  As we left the restaurant we were stopped (along with others) by a flock of non-migratory Canada geese strolling across the road.

When I looked online, I found the Giant Canada goose (Branta canadensis maxima) is the largest subspecies of Canada goose, on average weighing 11 pounds (5 kg), and are found throughout central North America.  The subspecies was declared extinct in the 1950’s, but a small population was rediscovered in Rochester, Minnesota in 1962.  Recently, the subspecies have been increasing and are now commonly found in parks and other urban areas in the US.  It is thought that introduced Canada geese in Europe are derived from “maxima” in addition to the subspecies “canadensis”.  The Giant Canada goose was once kept and bred in captivity for use as food and hunting decoys to lure the migratory Canadas close enough to be taken.  The Giant Canada is larger and prefer not to migrate, so many do not.  If adults do not migrate and teach their offspring the migratory route, youngsters will not be migratory, resulting in flocks of urban geese who do not know how to migrate.

The calls of Canada geese flying high overhead in long, awkward V-formation is one of the most lasting signs of the change of seasons.  The southern migration peaks in October as the geese that bred in summer in Canada and Alaska move south to the US.  However, there are other Canada geese who prefer to remain in warmer climes throughout the year.  The birds we call “Canada Geese” comprise a range of geographic populations and subspecies.  Some are larger, some smaller, and most subgroups have distinct breeding ranges north in Canada.  However, other Canada Geese are non-migratory and stay year round.  These are the descendants of birds introduced by management authorities in an effort to revive some of the original wild populations that had been decimated by the 1900’s.  While some Canada geese are migratory and fly thousands of miles each year between nesting and wintering sites, others are non-migratory and thrive on the acres of delectable grass on lawns, parks, and golf courses.  These were the geese who blocked our path as we drove home.

THOUGHTS:  Canada geese have the same problem as other migratory populations in the US.  They are exhilarating as the vast V formations fly overhead, but cause problems as they can overwhelm the limited resources of a particular area when they stop.  Economists tell us it is the population of migratory workers who have (and do) already made America great.  Rather than freeing up jobs, expulsion could result in economic collapse.  Accommodating everyone is not easy, but neither is the mess left behind if we fail to do so.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 11, 2024

When I took the kids out for their constitutional after feeding this evening, I noticed a large insect on the inside of the porch nestled between the window and screen.  I have recently been battling the paper wasps (Polistes major) and the black and yellow mud daubers (Sceliphron caementarium) that nest under the eaves or in secluded places and I was not pleased to see this larger version inside the porch window.  I tried to slide the window back to allow the wasp to escape but it just moved back to resist the sliding glass.  This wasp intrigued me as it was three times the size of any of the wasps I had been battling.  I googled a picture of the insect and found out this was an eastern cicada killer.

When I looked online, I found the eastern cicada killer (Sphecius speciosus), or the cicada hawk, is a large, solitary digger wasp species in the family Crabronidae.  The name cicada killer may be applied to any species of crabronid that preys on cicadas, but in North America it is typically applied to this species.  It is called the eastern cicada killer to further differentiate it from the multiple examples of related wasp species.  The species can be found in the Eastern and Midwest US and southwards into Mexico and Central America.  Adult wasps are large (0.6 to 2.0 inches/1.5 to 5.0 cm) and robust with hairy, reddish, and black areas on their middle parts (thoraces), and black to reddish brown rear (abdominal) segments that are marked with light yellow stripes, and with brownish wings, somewhat resembling yellowjacket and hornet species.  The females are a little larger than the males, and both are among the largest wasps in the Eastern US.  The males are smaller because they are not given as much larval food.  Since females carry the cicada prey to the nesting burrow, they benefit from being larger.  Cicada killers exert a measure of natural control on cicada populations and may directly benefit the deciduous trees on which the cicadas feed.

The eastern cicada killer is a solitary wasp and had very different behavior from the social wasps such as hornets (genus, Vespa), eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons), or paper wasps.  Cicada killer females use their stings to paralyze their prey (cicadas) rather than to defend their nests.  While social wasps and bees will sting to protect their nests, the cicada killer does sting humans unless it is handled roughly.  While the larva feeds on the cicada carcass, adults feed on flower nectar and other plant sap exudates.  While males will aggressively defend the areas around nesting sites against rival males, they have no stinger.  Although they appear to attack anything that moves in their territories, males are actually investigating anything that might be a female cicada killer ready to mate.  They are generally not aggressive towards humans and usually fly away when swatted at, rather than attacking.  Although I do not mind the cicadas, I am glad I did not whack the cicada killer wasp.

THOUGHTS:  It is interesting that while I have yet to find any appreciable numbers of cicadas (genus, Magicicada) during this super hatch, I did find a cicada killer.  While the insect appeared to be a massive wasp (which it is) it will rarely sting humans.  I was wary of approaching the aggressive looking wasp until I read it was fairly docile.  Even knowing it would not attack, I still kept my distance to allow the wasp to go about its day.  Looks are often deceiving, and we instinctively see a scarry personae (yellowjacket) to avoid confrontation.  Humans are known to do the same with our own projections, trying to look scarry so others may leave us alone.  It is only when we move beneath the projection that we are able to understand the worth (and reasons) behind the projections.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 07, 2024

Last year I blogged how our city’s street department picked up limbs and yard waste on the first Tuesday of the month.  They have guidelines governing length, diameter of limbs, and placement, but the service is free.  At the time I suggested reducing the amount of waste by composting or mulching your grass clippings to keep them out of the overtaxed landfills.  Limbs are a different challenge.  One reason I opted for hügelkultur to fill my raised beds this year was because I had two trees that needed serious pruning.  The raised beds took care of most of the pruning debris, and I stacked the remainder by the curb as I had done the year before.  While I am not actively pruning the trees in my yard this summer, branches do fall or get in the way (i.e., grow) and I stack them by the curb and wait for them to disappear.  I had always wondered about the process for removing the tree limbs but assumed they were collected along with the trash.  As the kids and I returned from our walk this morning I found I was wrong.  A backhoe loader was parked along the curb picking up the limbs from my neighbor’s yard and loading them onto two dump trucks.

When I looked online, I found a backhoe loader, also called a loader/tractor excavator, or just a backhoe, is a heavy equipment vehicle that consists of a tractor-like unit fitted with a loader-style shovel/bucket on the front and a backhoe on the back.  It’s relatively small size and versatility allow the backhoe to be used in urban engineering and small construction projects.  The machine is similar to a Tractor-Loader-Backhoe (TLB), which is a larger agricultural tractor fitted with a front loader and rear backhoe attachment.  The development of the backhoe began with the inventors at the Wain-Roy Corporation of Hubbardston, Massachusetts.  Wain-Roy developed and tested the first backhoes in 1947.  In April 1948 Wain-Roy sold the first all-hydraulic backhoe, mounted to a Ford Model 8N tractor, to the Connecticut Light and Power Company for US$705.  Digging while on tires causes the machine to rock and the swinging weight of the backhoe could cause the vehicle to tip, so most use hydraulic outriggers or stabilizers at the rear when digging and lower the loader bucket for additional stability.  Raising and lowering the outriggers to change position reduces efficiency and many offer small, tracked excavators (skids).  These sacrifice the loader function but increase digging efficiency.

When the kids and I pulled off the main street one of the city trucks was leaving full of tree limbs.  When we pulled into our subdivision the backhoe was parked along the curb picking up limbs and depositing them in the back of another truck in the lane beside it.  The backhoe had its stabilizers down, so I knew there was no way it was moving.  The workers continued to load the limbs.  I thought about going around to the other entrance to the subdivision, but I was in no hurry and watched them work.  Shortly after, the backhoe stopped loading, and the dump truck backed out of the lane to let us pass.  As I pulled into the other lane, I noticed there was another car stopped and waiting on the other side of the workers.  Technically he had the right-of-way, but I had not seen him before I proceeded.  I waved thanks as I drove through the work zone, but everyone ignored me.  I guess I was just another obstacle in their day’s work.

THOUGHTS:  I had the opportunity to watch a backhoe when I was director of a camp in Kansas.  We had bought a used tractor with bucket and mower attachments which we used often.  A volunteer owned a newer small tractor equipped with a backhoe.  He brought it out and quickly dug a trench and replaced the culvert under the road between two of our small ponds, something we had been unable to do.  Having the right tool for the job makes a tremendous difference.  The secret is knowing what you can do and doing it well.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 06, 2024

Everything began to die off in my front flower bed with the hot summer temperatures (95F⁺/_– or 35C⁺/_–) while we were on vacation.  I had contracted the neighbor kids to water my vegetables, but the flowers were on their own.  When we returned, I decided to begin watering the beds to try and maintain the garden phlox (Phlox paniculata), elephant ears (Philodendron giganteum), and hasta (Hosta plantaginea) we had planted there.  Now they are all doing well in spite of the summer heat.  When I went out to water the raised beds this morning, I noticed something flitting from flower to flower on the phlox.  It was moving so fast it was hard to get a good look at it, but it was clearly collecting nectar from the flowers that are now in full bloom.  On closer inspection I knew I had seen this creature before.  It was a hummingbird clearwing moth.

When I looked online, I found the Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe) is a moth of the hawkmoth family (Sphingidae).  Coloration of the clearwing varies between individuals, but typically the moth is olive green and burgundy on its back, and white or yellow and burgundy on the underside.  Its wings are transparent (i.e., “clearwing”) with a reddish-brown border.  Its legs are light-colored, which combined with the lack of striping on the underside is a diagnostic for the species.  The clearwing range extends from Alaska to Oregon in the west and from Newfoundland to Florida in the east.  It is a migratory species and is most common in the eastern US and southern Ontario, Canada.  The moth beats its wings quite rapidly and has a wingspan of 1.6 to 2.2 inches (4 to 5.5 cm).  The clearwing has two broods a year in the southern portion of its range, but only one in the north.  The clearwing lives in second-growth forest, in meadows, and is commonly found in the cultivated gardens of suburbia (like mine).  It has minimal economic impact to humans, being neither a crop pollinator nor pest.  The moth does pollinate several cultivated flowers and is the primary pollinator for some species of orchid.  The species is not endangered or threatened.

The Hummingbird Clearwing has often been mistakenly identified as multiple distinct species for its color variation.  The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775 as Sesia thysbe in his Systema Entomologiae.  The species name (thysbe) is likely a reference to Thisbe, half of a pair of ill-fated lovers in Ovid’s Metamorphoses and associates the blood-stained scarf of Thisbe to the reddish-brown coloration of the moth.  Due to the variable coloration and wing patterning of the clearwing, it and other members of Hermaris were described as different species during the 1800’s.  The various forms of clearwing were examined in detail by entomologist Ronald Hodges in 1971.  He dissected a number of specimens representing the range of coloration and geographic scope and found no differences in their reproductive organs and concluded the many variations represent a single species.  The nine defined species were all collapsed into the single species of clearwing.

THOUGHTS:  The common name for the Hummingbird clearwing comes as it closely resembles a hummingbird as they hover over flowers, sipping nectar with their long proboscis during the heat of the day.  The clearwing also resembles several species of bumblebee (genus, Bombus) in both appearance and behavior.  This is an example of convergent evolution where analogous structures are established that have similar form or function in different species but were not present in the last common ancestor of either group.  Analogous traits arise when different species live in similar ways and/or a similar environment.  When occupying similar ecological niches similar problems can lead to similar solutions.  This can explain why dispersed human cultures come up with similar stories and technological solutions.  It does not have to be the result of alien contact.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

August 01, 2024

When we were in Maine, we were amused with stories of the odd behaviors caught on the video cameras surrounding our niece and nephew’s house.  They purchased an abandoned restaurant situated on a lake and for the first several years they were constantly visited by folks thinking the restaurant was still open.  Since the property is on a secluded dead end road anyone who makes it past the fence and onto their yard has no business being there.  Still, there have been several visitors (mostly intoxicated) who have arrived while they have been at work.  That prompted my nephew to install video cameras on the property to alert them if anything happens while they are both gone.  Since their monitoring service records and saves the activity, we were able to watch the antics.

When I looked online, I found the smart home monitoring and security market is one of the most important smart home market segments and was expected to reach approximately US$32.5 billion in 2024 in the US, before nearly doubling in size by 2029.  In 2023, smart home monitoring and security devices constituted the second largest segment of the smart home market in terms of shipments, estimated at around 252 million units.  Connected cameras and doorbells are the most common home security products.  These products are usually designed as part of an integrated smart home ecosystem and are able to generate ongoing revenues for the manufacturer in the form of a subscription fee to access saved recordings.  In 2023, the market for smart doorbells worldwide was valued at around US$16 billion.  In 2024, global spending on information technology is forecast to exceed US$200 billion, with the largest segments being security services, infrastructure protection, and network security equipment.  Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, presents an immense potential to improve analytic accuracy, reduce processing in the cloud, and make the system more reliable.

It was somewhat ironic that after we returned home, we had our own home incident.  Melissa had noticed a man lurking around the shop in our back yard and asked me to go see what he was up to.  Our yard backs up onto a large fee space that is lightly forested on one side.  I let the dogs our back and then went with them to see if I could find anything.  I did not.  The next day Melissa heard the front door rattling and went to check.  She opened the door just as the same man was reaching to open the screen.  By this time the kids had arrived and were providing a “friendly” greeting.  She asked if she could help him, and he mumbled something and left.  Melissa began to research camera monitoring systems and reached out to our nephew to see what he recommended.  We now own four cameras for monitoring our two entrance doors, my raised beds and the shop, and our living room.  The living room is for monitoring the kids when we leave them on their own.  A pig’s ear will only keep them occupied for so long.

THOUGHTS:  Between the kids and our new monitoring system we both feel safer, but some warn about how the stored information from the cameras is potentially used.  Shoshana Zuboff, the author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” warned passing laws that allow police to access stored video creates an environment that fuses government power and private power.  As long as the government depends on the tech companies for access, there will be no laws to stop unwanted data collection.  A security camera can act as a useful deterrent to prevent property crime (break-ins and porch thefts), but will do little to prevent violent crime, although it could help a police investigation.  Both the cameras and the audio alerts can be turned off or set for specific hours.  This allows you to choose when you want to be online and how you are monitoring.  Every advance in technology can be both a bane and a blessing.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 25, 2024

I have tried to learn (and struggled) a number of different languages during my academic career.  It started with German as an undergrad in an attempt to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree.  I took German 101 three times over the next three years and got no higher than a C.  I ended up taking Statistics and settled for a Bachelor of Science.  As a graduate student I took Spanish (several times) to fulfill the language requirement for my Master of Arts.  After getting a D on the mid-term during my second try I threw myself at the mercy of the TA (a fellow grad student) and asked what I had to do to pass.  He saw my pain and suggested if I came to class every day, turned in my homework, and tried to interact as best I could, I “might be able to pass”.  While I will never know how well I actually did, I received the required B to pass my language requirement.  My Doctorate required a second language “proficiency”, and this time I struggle through French.  The only time I did passably well was when I studied Arabic during a semester in the Middle East.  That was when I realized as many do, immersion creates a necessity to survive.   

When I looked online, I found language immersion is a technique used in language education where two languages are used for instruction in a variety of topics, such as math, science, or social studies.  The languages used are referred to as the L1 and the L2 for each student, with L1 being the student’s native language and L2 being the second language to be acquired through the immersion program.  The type of immersion will depend on the age of the students, the class time spent in L2, the subjects that are taught, and the level of participation by the speakers of L1.  While these programs differ by country and context, most language immersion programs have the goal of promoting bilingualism between the two different sets of language-speakers.  Biculturalism is often another goal for speakers of the majority language (spoken by the surrounding population) and the minority language (not the main language).  Research has shown that bilingual education gives students greater comprehension and teaches the secondary language in a native-like manner.

I still periodically dabble in learning another language, especially when I am considering a trip to another part of the world.  When we went to Europe several years ago, I attempted to learn French (again).  I gave up after a month when I realized my hearing kept me from comprehending what the on-line tutorial was saying.  Now that we are considering a trip to Greece, I was again bitten by the language bug.  Knowing that immersion is the best way for me to learn, I decided to see if I could use my iPhone to help.  I went to Settings and found one of the features would allow me to change the language of the phone.  Without (careful) thought, I changed the phone settings to Greek.  Everything on the phone shifted to Greek as the primary language.  It was not even transliterated but used the Greek alphabet.  I did not know what the settings on the phone were or how to change them back, especially as my phone had Latin alphabet symbols while the instructions were now in the Euclide alphabet.  I was finally able to switch back by comparing Melissa’s settings placement to mine.

THOUGHTS:  Another language course I took was English as a Second language (ESL).  This was offered to teach English speakers how to work with non-English speakers to help them with their language proficiency.  I did complete this course, but it was probably good that I was transferred from California to Kansas.  Who knows what damage I might have done to the students (lol).  It is said once you learn a second language it is easier to learn another.  That is not the case when you fail to learn the first one.  Language is central to understanding the ethos and culture of others.  Without knowing the underlying vocabulary of another, you will never truly communicate with them.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 24, 2024

The weather has been perfect for the vegetables growing in my raised beds.  It has been cooler (10F/5.5C) than normal for the last week along with several soaking rains.  The vines have taken off and overflowed their raised beds.  I tried to plan ahead concerning the placement of the vines in my beds.  The taller raised bed is dedicated to the three rattlesnake watermelon seeds and one wing of the u-shaped bed is dedicated to the three cantaloupe seeds (both as suggested).  I had not been as discriminating with the cucumbers, but I had planted them the suggested 2 feet (0.6 m) apart.  The   vines have grown beyond my expectation.  I had already scooped the vines of all three overspilling on the ground and placed them back in the bed.  The overflow has also enticed a small eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) to visit my beds, and I see it scurrying away most mornings when I water.  Today I decided I would prune the vines to help keep them in the beds. 

When I looked online, I found watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) require significant space not only for the vines but also for the fruit.  The vines reach 30 feet (9 m) and the fruit itself can weigh as much as 200 pounds (91 kg).  To curtail the size of both the vine and the fruit, the vines can be trimmed.  Pruning watermelons promotes healthier vines and may increase fruit size.  Irregular or rotting fruit should be pruned to enable the plant to focus energy towards growing bigger, healthier melons.  The downside to watermelon trimming is that it may affect pollination as the plant needs both male and female flowers to set the fruit and cutting back the vines may reduce the female flowers, which are fewer than the male in a 1:7 ratio.  Cutting back cantaloupe (Cucumis melo) plants is generally not necessary, and the more leaves that remain on the vine the sweeter the fruit.  Still, pruning cantaloupe plants has some benefits and results in fewer fruit which enables the plant to put all of its energy into fewer fruits which will become larger melons.  Another reason to prune cantaloupe vines is to make them easier to trellis, either using a net trellis or string and vine clips.  Although I did not trellis my melons, it seems like my decision to prune was (possibly) a good one.

The next question was the best way to prune the different vines.  Pruning watermelons can be done simply with a good pair of gardening shears to remove any dead, diseased, yellowing, or infested leaves or shoots at the joint where they connect to the main stem.  Also, remove any secondary vines that are not bearing blooms or look scrawny.  Do not prune the vines while wet as watermelons are prone to parasites and diseases and damp pruning will encourage their growth and spread.  If you prune your cantaloupe to produce larger melons, you should retain the primary stem.  The idea is to retain the primary vine, remove the first lateral, and reduce the size of all the additional secondary branches.  This probably would have been good information to have before I pruned.  I just cut off the vines that were overhanging and pushed the others back onto the beds.  Unknowingly, that also meant I cut off several large cucumbers that were close to being ripe.  We will see.

THOUGHTS:  While I knew the vines of the different melons and cucumbers would spread, I was not prepared for the extent of their spread.  I had tried to grow both types of melons in the ground bed where I now have the three sisters and neither of them took off to the extent of the raised beds.  That is probably because I had amended the soil before planting rather than just placing them in the ground and seeing what happens.  Every year I find raising vegetables is a combination of what I know and reaching out to others to augment what I do not.  Pushing ahead to “see what happens” rarely creates a positive result.  The same is true when interacting with different groups of humans.  Listening to find common ground is always the best way to achieve positive results.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 22, 2024

We have had enough rain the last two days that I have not needed to water my vegetables.  I still go check on the beds to make sure the plants are doing ok and to harvest whatever is ripe.  That was mainly tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), but I have also picked two cantaloupes (Cucumis melo).  We ate one and took the other to our elderly neighbor.  We have shared my fruits with her in the past and she has always seemed appreciative.  For the last two weeks every time I go out, I thump the two large watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) to see if they are ripe enough to pick.  While they should be ripe, I have never been good at selecting a ripe melon, either in the store or on the vine.  My other task this morning was to take the reduced compost from my kitchen composter to place in the in-ground composter in my raised bed.  Yesterday I noticed spider egg sacs on top of the compost and did not think too much about it.  Today when I opened the box there was a large (1 inch/2.5 cm) spider guarding her egg sacs.  It was a black widow spider.   

When I looked online, I found there are several species of Black widow spider (Latrodectus species) found in Arkansas, but the most common is the southern black widow (Latrodectus mactans).  The defining characteristic of the widow is the shiny black color of the adult female’s body.  Females also have a distinctive red hourglass-shaped mark on the underside of their abdomen, which serves as a warning sign to potential predators. The males, on the other hand, are smaller and have lighter color. Black widow females measure around 0.5 to 1.5 inches (12 to 38 mm) in length while the males are significantly smaller at 0.25 to 0.75 inches (6 to 19 mm).  The black widow is a venomous spider, and the female’s neurotoxic venom is potent enough to pose a significant threat to humans.  They do not generally bite humans unless they feel threatened or provoked.  These spiders are most active during the night and prefer to stay hidden during the day.  Black widow spiders play an important role in controlling the population of small insects, with a preference for fire ants (Solenopsis Invicta).

Female black widow spiders are notoriously known for their tendency to eat their mates after mating, but this behavior is not always (or usually) observed.  The name “black widow” has been used to describe the spider for over a century.  It is unclear who first coined the term, but it is believed to have originated in the US.  These spiders are cannibalistic, and the females will sometimes eat the males after mating.  This behavior gives rise to their name, and it was once believed that the females always killed and devoured their mates after copulation.  However, this behavior is not observed in all situations and is relatively uncommon.  The male, who is less than half the size of the female, will spin a small “sperm web” and then deposit some semen into the web.  He then coats two appendages near the mouth (palps) which resemble tiny claws or thick antennae with sperm.  On occasion these palps will become lodged in the female and will tear off as the male retreats, often killing the male.  He is later eaten by the female of his species.  More often the male will scurry away unscathed.

THOUGHTS:  A new study has found a proposed reason for the black widow’s red hourglass marking.  Duke University researchers showed the iconic hourglass on the abdomen of the black widow can only be seen by potential predators but remains invisible to the spiders’ prey.  Birds can more easily identify the wavelength of red than insects.  Black widows also hang upside down, heightening the effect of the warning to aerial predators.  Birds would see a spider model with red markings and get startled and jump back.  I had a similar reaction when I opened the compost bin.  Humans tend to react based on “what is known” more than what is fact.  This is compounded by an unwillingness to take time to find the truth.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 19, 2024

As I approached the park for the kids walk in May a bird ran across the road in front of my Jeep.  I had seen this species running in the brush in 2020 when I had stopped at Fort Smith Reservoir for some fishing and birding.  I returned several times and in different seasons but never saw the bird again.  When I started walking the two dogs together, I switched the walk to a lake outside of town rather than the park.  After we returned from vacation it was too hot (100F+/37.7C+ heat index) to walk them comfortably on the treeless lake path.  It has been cooler this week (90F/33.2C) and I decided to try walking in the park again.  The park has trees for shade and a walking trail for my convenience.  The first day was when the bird ran across the road as we neared the park.  The next day I tried to get a picture, but it was too fast and scurried out of sight.  Yesterday, the roadrunner decided to stop as we approached and allowed me to take its picture.

When I looked online, I found roadrunners (genus Geococcyx), also known as chaparral birds or chaparral cocks, are two species of fast-running ground cuckoos with long tails and crests.  The bird I saw was a greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) which ranges from central California to southeastern Missouri and south to central Mexico.  The lesser roadrunner (Geococcyx velox) is indigenous to Mexico and central America.  Both species live in arid lowland or mountainous shrubland or woodland.  The roadrunner generally ranges in size from 22 to 24 inches (56 to 61 cm) from tail to beak. With an average weight of 8 to 15 ounces (230 to 430 g).  They are large, slender, black-brown and white-streaked ground birds with a distinctive head crest, long legs, strong feet, and an oversized dark bill.  The tail is broad with white tips on the three outer tail feathers.  The bird has a bare patch of skin behind each eye that is shaded blue anterior to red posterior. The lesser is similar to the greater roadrunner but is slightly smaller, not as streaky, and has a smaller bill.  Roadrunners are non-migratory and stay in their breeding area year-round.  The greater roadrunner is not currently considered threatened in the US but is habitat limited.

Roadrunners and other members of the cuckoo family have zygodactyl feet, meaning two toes face forward and two face backwards.  This leaves distinctive “X” track marks appearing as if they are travelling in both directions.  The Hopi and other Pueblo tribes believed roadrunners were medicine birds, capable of warding off evil spirits, and the X-shaped footprints were seen as sacred symbols, believed to confuse evil spirits by concealing the bird’s direction of travel.  Stylized roadrunner tracks have been found in the rock art of ancestral Southwestern tribes.  Roadrunner feathers were used to decorate Pueblo cradleboards for spiritual protection.  The roadrunner is considered good luck by the indigenous tribes of its range.  While some revered the roadrunner and never killed it, most used its meat as a folk remedy for illness or to boost stamina and strength.  The word for roadrunner in the O’odham language (an Uto-Aztecan language of southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico) is taḏai, and the O’odham tradition credited the roadrunner with bringing fire to the people.

THOUGHTS:  Although capable of flight, the roadrunner generally runs away from predators.  The bird was made popular by the Warner Bros. cartoon characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, created in 1949.  In each episode, the cunning Wile E. Coyote unsuccessfully tries to catch the Road Runner but is never successful.  The cartoons rely on a misconception that a roadrunner is faster than a coyote.  In fact, a coyote can sprint 40 mph (64 km/h), which is twice the roadrunner at 20 mph (32 km/h).  I always felt bad that for Wile E. and hoped he would catch him.  Seems nature was on my side.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 18, 2024

I have been baffled for weeks concerning what bush I had growing in my raised beds.  I have three of these bushes that took off in the location where I had planted Brussel sprouts (Brassica oleracea).  As the plants began to mature, they overtook whatever I had planted next to them, growing to over 2 feet (60 cm) high and bushing out over 2-1/2 feet (76 cm).  When the fruit began to appear, I saw it was wrapped in a thin papery husk much like a tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa).  The problem was, I had not planted any tomatillo and now I had three of these large plants growing in my beds.  I tried several plant identification methods, and none got me any closer to identifying the plant.  I was desperate and reached out to my Arkansas Gardening Facebook group.  The immediate response was for a tomatillo or variety of gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), but again I had planted neither.  This morning Melissa went out to harvest some of the okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) I had planted for her and on return told me she had identified my unknown plant as a variety of ground cherry.      

When I looked online, I found the cutleaf ground cherry (Physalis angulata) is a member of the Physalis genus, which includes the tomatillo that is commonly grown in Arkansas.  Both tomatillos and ground cherries originated in Central and South America.  The cultivar is now widely distributed and naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide.  The ground cherry fruit is encased in a thin, papery husk just like a tomatillo that splits when ripe, then falls to the ground.  Ground cherries have been grown in North America since the mid 1800’s and were popular additions in Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine.  The plant’s edible fruit can be eaten raw, cooked, or jammed, but all other parts of the plant are poisonous.  Unripe raw fruits, flowers, leaves, and stems of the plant contain solanine and solanidine alkaloids that may cause poisoning if ingested by humans, cattle (bovine) or horses (equine).  The typical ground cherry fruit is similar to a firm tomato in texture, and like a sweet, tangy grape in flavor.  I picked one of the ripe berries and it was quite tasty.

Having found the ground cherry, tomatillo, and gooseberry are all similar, I looked to find out how they are different.  Ground cherries and tomatillos have similar features, and the nomenclature can be confusing because tomatillos are often referred to as Mexican husk tomatoes whereas ground cherries are called husk tomatoes.  They are both part of the same genus, and their fruits both grow in papery husks, but ground cherries are typically smaller than tomatillos.  They are also yellow or orange when mature while tomatillos remain green.  Another member of the Physalis genus is the cape gooseberry, also known as the goldenberry.  The botanical name indicates their origin, and like ground cherries they are native to the Americas.  Cape gooseberries are unrelated to European gooseberries (Ribes uva-crispa) but are very similar to ground cherries (the names are often used interchangeably).  The stems of the plant are stiffer than those of the ground cherry and are not prostrate and sprawling but instead more upright.

THOUGHTS:  I found several sites that spoke of the conditions of temperature, light, soil, and water that allow ground cherry plants thrive.  I chuckled as my ground cherry had been propagated by birds and without any special attention.  Several times I came close to throwing them on the mulch pile, but I wanted to find out what these intruders were.  Ground cherry is often propagated by birds who drop the seeds in disturbed soil where it takes off on its own.  Even though it is not native to the US it was widely embraced after migrating to America.  Human immigrants bring the same diversity and have sparked cultural adaptations earlier European immigrants now claim as their own.  Embracing immigrants along with their foods and culture provides the diversity that can keep America strong.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.