https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4923804
https://www.freelancer.com/u/PriscillaKing
https://www.guru.com/freelancers/priscilla-king
https://www.fiverr.com/priscillaking
https://www.iwriter.com/priscillaking
https://www.seoclerk.com/user/PriscillaKing
You can also mail a U.S. postal money order to Boxholder, P.O. Box 322, Gate City, Virginia, 24251-0322.)
This post has four more sections: Phenology, Politics, Headline News, Cat Sanctuary Updates. Should we make things easier by separating them with bold-type headings? Why not? Some correspondents say they like even blog posts broken up into small sections by bold-type headings.
Phenology
So we've had a heat wave this week. Autumn weather is getting off to a delectably slow start. An early spring and a long cool summer have brought some things to their "autumn" phases based on how long leaves have been on trees, like the pawpaw trees, dutifully bearing fruit and turning yellow on schedule. (The Cat Sanctuary had a nice pawpaw harvest.) Other trees, like dogwood and sycamore, are changing color on a schedule that seems to be directly tied to seasonal changes in light, independent of temperature. Trees that stay green until frost are still green.
This weather seems more favorable to the family known as Brush-Footed Butterflies than any weather I can remember. I'm seeing more of these autumn-flying beauties, in richer variety...Two members of the Nymphalid butterfly "family," both of which are common and well distributed in the Eastern States but unusual at the Cat Sanctuary, are the Painted Lady and the Red Admiral.
Some form of Painted Lady is found in almost every part of the world. Scientists think most of those seen in the Eastern States are the same species found in Europe, but a minority of our Painted Ladies, which have darker upper sides and more vivid lower sides, are a distinct species. The fun part is that individual butterflies vary, with variations depending partly on weather, so even experts can disagree on which species an individual Vanessa cardui or V. virginiensis should be counted among...Here's V. cardui, the "basic" Painted Lady, sometimes also called the Cosmopolitan or Belle Dame:
I've seen both kinds in the last week or two; I looked them up for you because the underwings of V. virginiensis looked--startling. If I'd seen one before, I hadn't noticed how much bigger and more contrast-defined the camouflage pattern on the underwings can be.
So we've had a heat wave this week. Autumn weather is getting off to a delectably slow start. An early spring and a long cool summer have brought some things to their "autumn" phases based on how long leaves have been on trees, like the pawpaw trees, dutifully bearing fruit and turning yellow on schedule. (The Cat Sanctuary had a nice pawpaw harvest.) Other trees, like dogwood and sycamore, are changing color on a schedule that seems to be directly tied to seasonal changes in light, independent of temperature. Trees that stay green until frost are still green.
This weather seems more favorable to the family known as Brush-Footed Butterflies than any weather I can remember. I'm seeing more of these autumn-flying beauties, in richer variety...Two members of the Nymphalid butterfly "family," both of which are common and well distributed in the Eastern States but unusual at the Cat Sanctuary, are the Painted Lady and the Red Admiral.
Some form of Painted Lady is found in almost every part of the world. Scientists think most of those seen in the Eastern States are the same species found in Europe, but a minority of our Painted Ladies, which have darker upper sides and more vivid lower sides, are a distinct species. The fun part is that individual butterflies vary, with variations depending partly on weather, so even experts can disagree on which species an individual Vanessa cardui or V. virginiensis should be counted among...Here's V. cardui, the "basic" Painted Lady, sometimes also called the Cosmopolitan or Belle Dame:
 |
| Photo donated to Wikipedia By Jean-Pol GRANDMONT - Self-photographed, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27747981 |
And here's V. virginiensis:
 |
| Photo donated to Wikipedia By Patrick Coin (Patrick Coin) - Photograph taken by Patrick Coin, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=768953 |
Today on Twitter someone posted a photo of a butterfly and asked if anyone recognized it. It looked a lot like V. cardui but, without size and location information, it's hard to say; some little Checkerspots have wing patterns that look a lot like V. cardui. One way to tell the difference is that Painted Ladies are largish butterflies, as big as some of the smaller Swallowtails, with wingspreads that would probably cover the palm of your hand (well I've not seen your hand). Checkerspots are small, with wingspreads only about one inch.
Red Admirals, V. atalanta, average slightly smaller than V. cardui and have even darker colors...
 |
| Photo donated to Wikipedia By Ernie - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7738907 |
All three species eat "weeds" when young, sip flower nectar when mature. Cardui, meaning "thistle," refers to one of their favorite foods.
And, although the poisoners have left Spanish Needles and cow-toxic Johnson Grass (the tall wild grass that's easily mistaken for young cornstalks in spring) as dominant species along Route 23, at the Cat Sanctuary several flowers keep on blooming. I don't think my flybush has ever bloomed so profusely for so long. Dayflowers are finally subsiding; ladies' thumbs are not. Several species of bedstraws and Eupatorium are blooming beautifully. Black-eyed Susans...as I just mentioned on Twitter, the specimens in the not-a-lawn at the Cat Sanctuary are almost five feet tall. But I'm not seeing wild sunflowers along Route 23 where I've seen them in other years.
Politics
Yesterday I spent most of my online time writing an article about Alabama's Moore-Strange primary election. (It'd be interesting to know +Andria Perry 's preference, if any; I didn't ask.) Here's what that article did not say...
"Can this election get more strange?" quipped Jim Geraghty, although apart from the candidates' names, and Judge Moore's claims to fame, it doesn't seem to have been an especially strange bit of Republican Party infighting. From here in Virginia, it seems a bit like deja vu.
Obviously I don't have a vote in Alabama, so I'm not sure how I got onto the Moore mailing list. If he'd asked me about some of his publicity stunts, I would have advised against them. Roy Moore of Gadsden, Alabama, is an evangelical Christian who's never avoided any possible controversy. He achieved nationwide fame by plunking this 5,280-pound rock into his state's rotunda:
 |
| Photo donated to Wikipedia By maorlando - God keeps me as I lean on Him!! from Far NW Houston, Pinehurst, Texas, U.S.A. - Front of Impressive Ten Commandments Monument, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62091917 |
Anti-Christians screamed and howled. Moore dug in his heels, and eventually surrendered his position rather than his monument, which brings the word "graven image" to some minds...even if the person also concedes that any crybullies claiming a chunk of stone hurts them should be allowed to waive the fine they deserve for wasting a judge's time if they carry the stone to where they say it won't hurt them any more, on their backs.
Then there was a flap about same-sex marriage, on which I would have advised him not to feed the monster any more attention than it's already consumed. Homosexual lobbyists think annoying people with their "weddings" is more important than securing equal rights for widows and bachelors...what more need be said? That fact disparages those homosexual lobbyists so much more thoroughly than any comment anyone could add to it. There have to be more worthwhile moral battles to fight. A Real Leader might have chosen the rights of widows and bachelors.
And I think the position of this web site on Republican infighting has been made sufficiently clear. In Virginia, Republicans had several acceptable candidates for governor. All of them ran at the same time. All of them did the Democrats' job for the Democrats. That's how our governor's mansion came to be occupied by a Democrat who, when a deranged member of his party opened fire on Republicans, blurted out one of the tackiest-sounding shock reactions of all time. I won't even type his name here because I do feel sorry for him, but Lord have mercy.
There is a very wide range of opinions these days about who Republicans are, who they should be, what they should stand for, whether some of their favorite authors (e.g. Thomas Sowell
) even are Republicans. In the presidential election we had so many legitimate Republican candidates they couldn't even all be fitted onto one stage for the preliminary debates, and what did we get? I'm still getting e-mail from Republicans who still hate that infighting brought us an alleged Republican President who has no politics, neither has he any shame, and whose hand many Republicans vow they'll never shake. Deal with it, Republicans. That's what infighting does for you. There are times for thinking in terms of tennis, or NASCAR racing, or chess, and times for thinking in terms of football.
) even are Republicans. In the presidential election we had so many legitimate Republican candidates they couldn't even all be fitted onto one stage for the preliminary debates, and what did we get? I'm still getting e-mail from Republicans who still hate that infighting brought us an alleged Republican President who has no politics, neither has he any shame, and whose hand many Republicans vow they'll never shake. Deal with it, Republicans. That's what infighting does for you. There are times for thinking in terms of tennis, or NASCAR racing, or chess, and times for thinking in terms of football.
This web site would like to have been able to report that Mr. Moore and Mr. Strange sat down and worked out a strategy they could use as a team, rather than locking horns. Did not happen. But it's not too late; that could happen.
NBC featured a priceless photo of Roy Moore's impression of Roy Rogers, cowboy hat and buckskin horse and all. Right. A lot of the electorate miss Roy Rogers. I'm sure the Old Left can think of many snarky things to say about this. Myself, based on yesterday's reading and what I've learned while writing this blog, I see an important lesson for the nation here:
1. Circa 2007, yes, 2007, Democratic Party bloggers were aware of rifts within their ranks. Specifically, a poll that surveyed lots of Democrats' attitudes on lots of issues found that there were basically three types of Democrats: (1) centrists whose views differed from those of centrist Republicans on only a few issues--and those were individual differences, not solid enough to be used to define a difference between centrists in the major parties; (2) another large bloc of benefits-oriented voters, including many women and members of ethnic minorities as well as retirees and welfare recipients, who identified strongly as Democrats because of their handouts or concerns about discrimination, and whose views on everything else were generally well to the right of John McCain; and (3) a minority of left-wingers who expressed the kind of views President Obama and Candidates Clinton and Sanders have been expressing in the past ten years and who were solidly committed to their party, financially and otherwise. The Democratic Party gambled on party loyalty, financial dependency, and fear, to allow these extremists to take control of the party's policy and direction. Real Democrats, including friends and relatives of mine and people for whom I'd still be willing to vote, still exist...but you never hear about them any more.
2. And, as Hugh Hewitt 
explained in detail in his wearisome little book, and as the same poll also showed, there are several distinct types of Republicans too. The ones who, if not solidly committed to their party, are solidly committed to preserving their wealth and willing to invest some of their wealth in politicians, are "good old boy, country club" types with very little noticeable politics, religion, or shame. The ones who at least fear and loathe "liberal" attitudes toward "immorality," the Religious Right, are another distinct bloc within the party. Civil libertarians, constitutionalists, most of the serious Tea Parties, might be considered a majority of Republicans if we could be lumped together as Republicans, but (a) we don't like being lumped together and (b) we're not necessarily even willing to identify ourselves as Republicans, which makes it hard. We saw this acted out last year, didn't we? Candidates Carson, Cruz, and Paul each had many passionate supporters, Jeb Bush had his share of the vote...and the rich guy who'd never even been a Republican, in any noticeable way, ended up getting the richies' vote and thus the nomination.
explained in detail in his wearisome little book, and as the same poll also showed, there are several distinct types of Republicans too. The ones who, if not solidly committed to their party, are solidly committed to preserving their wealth and willing to invest some of their wealth in politicians, are "good old boy, country club" types with very little noticeable politics, religion, or shame. The ones who at least fear and loathe "liberal" attitudes toward "immorality," the Religious Right, are another distinct bloc within the party. Civil libertarians, constitutionalists, most of the serious Tea Parties, might be considered a majority of Republicans if we could be lumped together as Republicans, but (a) we don't like being lumped together and (b) we're not necessarily even willing to identify ourselves as Republicans, which makes it hard. We saw this acted out last year, didn't we? Candidates Carson, Cruz, and Paul each had many passionate supporters, Jeb Bush had his share of the vote...and the rich guy who'd never even been a Republican, in any noticeable way, ended up getting the richies' vote and thus the nomination.
3. Centrist Republicans like John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and let's never forget W Bush, work very well with Democrats--because typically on all but one or two issues they could be Democrats. In Faith of Our Fathers
McCain said that in so many words: apart from his commitment to military issues he could as easily have been a Democrat. So no wonder he worked well with politicians who--so far as I know George Stephanopoulos
is the only one who's said it in a book--could, apart from one or two issues, as easily have been Republicans. Similarly, Mark Warner gets along well with his still majority-Republican constituency, and Jim Webb gets along so well with Republicans that in some years he's actually let himself be called one...and this is where the majority of Americans actually seem to be these days. They're not right-wingers, they're not left-wingers; some of them are loyal to one party or the other for just one or two personal reasons, and some of them are swing voters because they truly have no preference between the major parties. And the election between Bill Clinton's moderate right-wing buddy and Bill Clinton's extreme left-wing buddy was a jolly close one; if Trump won the popular vote--which has been questioned--he won on the votes of those centrist Democrats and swing voters.
McCain said that in so many words: apart from his commitment to military issues he could as easily have been a Democrat. So no wonder he worked well with politicians who--so far as I know George Stephanopoulos is the only one who's said it in a book--could, apart from one or two issues, as easily have been Republicans. Similarly, Mark Warner gets along well with his still majority-Republican constituency, and Jim Webb gets along so well with Republicans that in some years he's actually let himself be called one...and this is where the majority of Americans actually seem to be these days. They're not right-wingers, they're not left-wingers; some of them are loyal to one party or the other for just one or two personal reasons, and some of them are swing voters because they truly have no preference between the major parties. And the election between Bill Clinton's moderate right-wing buddy and Bill Clinton's extreme left-wing buddy was a jolly close one; if Trump won the popular vote--which has been questioned--he won on the votes of those centrist Democrats and swing voters.
4. So when Penny Nance
e-mailed, recently, that her correspondents were bewailing the way the extreme left just keeps winning, what can they do-o-o? and PN replied that for a start they could pray...praying is good, yes, but a secular answer also suggests itself to me. The centrists of these United States could just stop letting the extremists play both ends against the middle. They could, as Arthur Brooks
suggested, recognize themselves as being a majority. That's not where the money for the big expensive TV campaigns is, granted...but it is where the American grassroots vote is, and in these days when every eighteen-year-old seems to have a web site, it's possible that the centrists could win the popular vote without the big expensive TV campaigns.
e-mailed, recently, that her correspondents were bewailing the way the extreme left just keeps winning, what can they do-o-o? and PN replied that for a start they could pray...praying is good, yes, but a secular answer also suggests itself to me. The centrists of these United States could just stop letting the extremists play both ends against the middle. They could, as Arthur Brooks suggested, recognize themselves as being a majority. That's not where the money for the big expensive TV campaigns is, granted...but it is where the American grassroots vote is, and in these days when every eighteen-year-old seems to have a web site, it's possible that the centrists could win the popular vote without the big expensive TV campaigns.
Purely as a strategy...if "conservatives" or "Republicans" could agree to represent the Religious Right viewpoint Judge Moore embodies, and "liberals" or "moderates" or "Democrats" could agree to represent the mainstream viewpoint Senator Strange has represented, the first thing I'd expect would be that the party of Luther Strange, Mitch McConnell, Jim Webb, Lindsey Graham, and so on, would rock the first popular vote in which they could get themselves unified.
I'll stop there, let Republican correspondents chew on that thought, and move on. As far as I'm concerned, today's national news brought one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
Headline News, Good & Bad
Good news: Steve Scalise. If you watch TV or follow anyone who follows any news site on Twitter you've seen the official pictures of him limping back into the Capitol. Tear-inducing, maybe. I am so glad the suicidal lunatic failed in his effort to murder a Republican.
Bad news: yet another hurricane, after all that disaster relief money's already been poured out, and our President's extremely controversial suggestion for funding...I don't seriously think he's going to get away with what Twitter reported he was threatening to do to fund the evacuation of flooded-out Puerto Ricans. They are U.S. citizens. They have rights. They also have friends, and it is to be hoped that those friends have got their backs. I tweeted "Say WHAAAaaat?" with extra A's for extra outrage, but I suspect it was a shock reaction intended to generate better ideas; our President may be orange, old, and obnoxious, but he's not really that stupid.
Enough politics, some are saying, what about the cats?
Cats
Some local lurkers might consider it a fail: Heather is still the only full-time resident cat at the Cat Sanctuary. I do consider it a fail that Suzie-Q rejected me, and a tragedy that sweet little Boots died during the round of animal mortality following the glyphosate poisoning disaster. But as far as the other cats I agreed to adopt? I'm seeing a clear win.
I think the core cat family at the former Cat Sanctuary on Jackson Street are definitely social, and definitely tame, gentle, and lovable cats, although not pets. Nobody had been petting them; when I lured some of them within range, grabbed them by the scruff of the neck, and picked them up, they made it clear to their human neighbors and to me that they liked being petted.
As discussed in earlier posts, I tried to adopt the young black cat, Boots' mother, first. I called her Schatzi. She looked as if she recognized that as a name. I said, "Is that your name? Schatzi?" She looked as if she'd accepted it as her name. And I've been speaking to her since, and she has definitely continued to respond to the name "Schatzi."
So she is a Listening Cat--one of a minority even among clever social cats who become devoted pets. If anybody goes to the trouble of bonding with her and teaching her words, I can guarantee they'll be bowled over by her cleverness. Schatzi was born to be another once-in-a-lifetime pet, like my Heather, or Mogwai, or Mackerel, or even Black Magic.
But not mine. She made that clear. She let me pick her up, pop her into a carrier, and take her to the Cat Sanctuary. Then she saw Heather, Boots, and Bruno. Then she bolted, and although I set out food for her, I didn't see her again...because I didn't go back to the former Cat Sanctuary on Jackson Street. One of her neighbors on the block Schatzi considers her home called to tell me that she was back there.
She had found her way back home, after being carried more than a mile away in a carrier from which she wasn't able to see out.
We are not talking about a normal cat here, Gentle Readers. Well, she is Heather's cousin. Heather's great-uncle Pell also had an uncanny homing sense...I took him into the Duffield market one day while he was up for adoption, and although he hadn't been able to see out from the truck in which he was transported, he knew which way Gate City was and spent the entire day pulling in the direction of home. He accepted a new home when he was ready to move out on his own, and not before.
I went back to the house Schatzi called home, and she knew me, she knew her name, and she would not take a food treat from my hand again. She was where she wanted to be, she nonverbally said. So I petted other members of her family and talked to the human neighbors about how most cats really feel more attached to a place than to a person, and a trailer park really needs a few resident cats, and I did not particularly need more cats, and although I couldn't let cats as clever and lovable as that family go to a shelter the cats were obviously happy where they were...
Well, they're still there. I saw Schatzi and her larger, equally black brother, and her friendlier, gray-tabby brother, too, out in the yard this morning as I walked past. They still look very pleased to be in what they consider their home--the little strips of grass that constitute yards in a trailer park. As far as they're concerned, one of them has claimed a human pet of her very own and got that human to feed the rest of them a few yards from where their original human used to feed them, and they're still a happy social cat family. And Schatzi still knows me, still knows her name, and is still nonverbally saying "Don't call me, I'll call you, if I ever want a new home, which I don't."
From these cats' and my point of view, the Cat Sanctuary did rescue and place five particularly valuable cats in a good home, this summer...and I only had to pick up one of them to get them into their Fur-Ever Home.
I give all the credit to Schatzi, another little black alley cat who is evidently smarter and nicer, in some ways, than some humans.
Do youall miss Petfinder links yet? I do too. When they get rid of the nasty sticky cookies I'll post more Petfinder links. Meanwhile, here's an Amazon link:
 |
| Edgar Allan Poe seems solely to blame for the myth that black cats are unlucky or sinister; in England it's orange cats that are said to be unlucky, and black, black-and-white, or three-colored cats are said to bring good luck. Meh. They make lovable pets, anyway. Just ask anybody who's been owned by one. |
No comments:
Post a Comment