Word of the Day

Snow on the Driveway

Willow and Darwin on the driveway, before it got plowed

Stupid Natives

In the 1850s British explorer Sir Richard Burton called Somalis superstitious for believing mosquitoes caused malaria.

Hell Freezes Over

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Ocean Front Property

THIS WAS NORTH AMERICA 72 million years ago. For a sense of time scale, the Catoctin Greenstone that my house sits on is about 570 million years old.

Bad Connections

A very good video, rap with a message.

The thinker here is Prince Ea, straight out of St. Louis with a degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with Latin honors. And it shows in all the best ways. Full applause.

Passenger :: Let Her Go

Suffocated With Kindness

Over at the New York Times, William Neuman notes that:

“Shopper's in the supermarket today can buy chicken free of nearly everything but adjectives. It comes free-range, cage-free, antibiotic-free, raised on vegetarian feed, organic, even air-chilled.

“Coming soon: stress-free?

“Two premium chicken producers, Bell & Evans in Pennsylvania and Mary’s Chickens in California, are preparing to switch to a system of killing their birds that they consider more humane. The new system uses carbon dioxide gas to gently render the birds unconscious before they are hung by their feet to have their throats slit, sparing them the potential suffering associated with conventional slaughter methods.”

Bell & Evans seems to be trying very hard to produce what a lot of customers want.  Hope they do well.  See this link for their terms explanation.  

Pictures taken today at the local Wegmans.

The Political Economy of Bullshit

Into the Woods Alone

Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore unsuitable.

I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of praying, as you no doubt have yours.

Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit

on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,

until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost

unhearable sound of the roses singing.

If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love

you very much. — Mary Oliver

The Honesty of Now

“Dogs, lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you're going to lose a dog, and there's going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can't support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There's such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware that it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and the mistakes we make because of those illusions.” 

Dean Koontz — The Darkest Evening of the Year.

Picture is Amy Kathrine Browning’s Lime Tree Shade (1913)

Lording Over the Feed Store

Charles Town, West Virginia

Their Struggle Is Real

Deer on the Edge

These deer were jungled up a few hundred yards down the road from the house.  

Deer are edge creatures — you can walk a 1,000 miles in the deep woods and you will be lucky to see one (though you may hear them running off).  

This Maryland county is full of small and large woods next to orchards and farms with big pastures as well as scores of thousands of acres in corn, soy, and winter wheat. There’s no shortage of water either.  Really ideal deer habitat.

Frederick County has over 16,000 acres of public hunting grounds, most of which is rocky upland woods. Of the approximately 7,500 deer harvested im the county every year, only about 350 deer are harvested on public land.

We Need a Drone Strike

More Snow

Another light snow this evening. It’s supposed to top 40 degrees Fahrenheit tomorrow and Saturday, with perhaps more snow on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles…

The Best Hitler Is a Dead Hitler

Soviet soldier carrying Hitler statue head in Berlin in 1945.

How Many Days in January?

Shadow Weirdness

Shadows are funny things.  The dog weighs 10 pounds and is 11 inches tall.  Based on these shadows, I’m three feet tall and weigh 60 pounds. Also, I have a freakishly small head.

Swarm

Chase any problem on this planet around, from global warming to water pollution, from species loss to fisheries collapse, and you will find too many people is the root of the problem.

When bees get too crowded, a hive will make a second or third queen and split off a swarm to find a new location.

But where will we humans swarm off to?  Mars?  

Hell, we can’t even manage this planet!

Behind every vegetarian is a vegan asking “how can you wear shoes,” and behind every vegan is me, asking them — and everyone else — to have fewer kids.

Are You Prepared?

More Bald Eagle Pictures From Today

The Gold In Golden Doodles

Railing against “doodle” crosses seems to be a full time sport for some, but I have never engaged in it.  

Crosses are how all “breeds” were created, and if a religion is simply a “cult” that has lasted, then a breed can be described as a mutt that has done the same.

All good and carry on.

That said, a Golden Doodle breeder sailed into the comments with her amusing instant expertise.

Long story short, I googled “Golden Doodle rescue” and came up with this rather amazing site >> https://www.puppyspot.com/puppies-for-sale/breed/goldendoodle?

What the actual fuck??

Look at the personnel!  Look at the prices!  

And I defy anyone to tell me where this thing is located.

And it’s “AKC Approved and authorized”?  

Really?  

I sort of doubt that!

All breeds!

We bring the puppy to you!

“Only Responsible breeders”.  

Oh yes.  I’m sure that last point is absolutely true.

Spinning My Wheels on a Monday

I had to be nowhere for a few hours, so I hit the coffee shop, then drove up into the watershed where I snapped a random picture of a deteriorating farm truck, before heading to the grocery to stock up on a few frozen things to put into the new freezer chest. On the way home, I went down a small road near a creek where I thought I might be able to jump a deer, which I did, but there was too much brush for a decent picture. On the last bit of road before the house, I shot a few pictures of sheep in the snow, and a Turkey Vikture waiting for a death not his own.

Ireland Uses a Monkey to Craft Hunting Legislation

Over in Northern Ireland, John Blair, a Member of the Legislative Assembly, plans to use a Private Members’ Bill to ban the hunting of mammals with dogs, including trail hunting.  

The proposed legislation would effectively

outlaw flushing with dogs for pest control (i.e. terrier work), and would push licensed hunting out of existence and affect shooting and gun dog trials.

In 2021, Mr Blair brought forward a similar Private Members’ Bill, which was narrowly defeated at the Second Stage. 

The first stage of setting in motion a revised Private Members Bill (PMB) in Northern Ireland is to launch an “online consultation” in the form of a loaded questionnaire on “Survey Monkey” — written to trigger intended answers.

Yes, “Survey Monkey” 🤦‍♂️

The mind reels.

Blair has already circulated the questionnaire to ANTI hunting groups around the world to gin up skewed results.

➡️ So what can anyone do now?

Well, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.  

Every supporter of basic hunting rights (to say nothing of sensible deliberative processes) can complete the “Survey Monkey” questionnaire.

 

➡️ A completed sample of the ANTI Hunting “Survey Monkey” poll (they’re calling it a “Consultation Process”) can be read here >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2025/01/irish-working-terrier-commentary.html? with commentary from the Irish Working Terrier Federation.

➡️ To complete the “Survey Monkey” questionnaire,  click on this link >> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JBHuntingPMB

Any internet-connected device can be used to complete the survey before the January 20th deadline (extended from Jan. 13th).

Irish Working Terrier Commentary

This is completed sample of the ANTI Hunting “Survey Monkey” poll (they’re calling it a “Consultation Process”)  being used to start the process of outlawing hunting with dogs in Northern Ireland, with commentary from the Irish Working Terrier Federation. ⬇️

Importing Deer Meat to the US

Due to peculiarities of US history and law (the Lacey Act of 1900), domestic wild harvested meat cannot be sold in commercial establishments.  The Lacey Act banned the commercial hunting of wildlife, which is why the US now has far more deer, elk, bear, duck, geese, and turkey than it did 125 years ago.

This Red Deer (elk) venison was imported from New Zealand.  Red Deer are not native to New Zealand, but they were imported numerous times after 1851, and in the absence of predators, wild populations have skyrocketed to the point they are a serious environmental threat requiring regular culling by helicopter in high mountain areas.

In addition to very large numbers of wild Red Deer (elk), New Zealand also had 1.3 million animals behind high fences on 3,200 commercial farms.

Wyeth’s Fox In Winter

N.C. Wyeth's fox in winter "Men of Concord" endpaper illustration 1935

Darwin Cosplaying As a Lion

Broody Pair of Bald Eagles

Pair of Bald Eagles nesting about a mile from the house. I figure at least 3-4 weeks before they lay.

The Miracle of Snow and Ice

Mother nature dropped another 2 inches of snow last night. 

About two-thirds of the people in the world have never seen snow, and in the US about 25 percent of the population never sees snow where they live. 

For a huge swath of the world prior to the 20th Century, snow and ice were a miracle beyond imagination.

Today of course, miracles occur on a daily occurrence.   

With the flick of a switch night becomes day, and with a small turn of the thermostat a cold house becomes warm.

People around the world can read this sentence faster than I can write it, and cars whizz down the road at speeds faster than a horse can run.

All of this to say that my new chest freezer was delivered today, and is currently plugged in and cooling-down in the garage.

A small  miracle, but it came with a reminder that humans are not yet omnipotent.

You see, I have a very long and steep driveway.  

When  it snows, even after it is plowed, the last 150 feet tends to defeat trucks.  

Last year, even a front end Kubota loader could not get up that last 150 icy feet, which is a few degrees steeper than the lower driveway.

History repeated itself today.  

The big delivery truck backed up about 1,200 feet, and then it stopped 150 feet short of the top.

Gravity and traction won again, and so installing the miracle of endless frozen food required me to hoist the chest freezer on my back, and then hump it into the garage as if I were a jungle porter on the Stanley Expedition.

Mother Nature always bats last — a reminder to not get too comfortable or to rely too much on technological miracles. Apollo 13, after all, was fixed with Duct Tape.

Cults and Canine Crosses

Canine crosses are how all “breeds” were created.

If a religion is simply a “cult” that has lasted, then a breed can be described as a mutt that has done the same.

A Pet Shop Memory

This is the hand of a gorilla with vitiligo — a condition that strips pigment from parts of the body, and which can be quite dramatic on dark-skinned people. 

The picture reminds me of when I was a very little kid, and living for a very few years in Washington, D.C. 

Back then there was an old circus chimp living in a massive iron cage in a pet store on Pennsylvania avenue near Eastern Market.

This pet store sold puppies in the front window, and lizards and snakes in the back.  

The chimp's cage was to the right of the narrow aisle in between these two features, and as you passed by his cage, he would reach through the bars with his hand, his fingers curled, gesturing for a cigarette. This poor old circus chip was addicted to cigarettes -- something he had gotten hooked on as a circus performer.  Now it seemed to be his only pleasure.  

I never saw that chimp let out of the cage. The thing I remember now, more than 58 years later, was how scary his hands were, with long cracked nails at the end of grasping digits.