Valentine's Day Musings

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! 

After a series of (abnormally) warm and sunny days, we caught 0.19" of rain late yesterday and awaken to a cool (47°F), cloudy, and blustery morning.  Online weather shows 3-4 mph breezes with gusts to 10, but it seems that it's much windier than the anemometers on rooftops are showing.  

All in all, a good day to stay indoors.  The plan:  laundry and cooking crepes.  At some point I'll dash over to the UPS to drop off an Amazon return and then swing by the dry cleaners to pick up some items.  Almost certainly there will be some Ingress along the way.  

Despite last night's showers, there's still plenty of pollen in the air, at least so my itchy eyes tell me.  The last numbers I saw for juniper were 1100 on Wednesday, 1800 on Thursday, and 800 Friday morning.  I'm taking the full complement of allergy meds these days.  

In other news, the Grey Lady published an article today that revealed how DHS is subpoenaing social media providers (Google, Meta, etc.) for information on hundreds if not thousands of user accounts.  These accounts are those that allegedly are critical of DHS, provide ICE tracking and alert services, or are otherwise considered a threat to DHS.  They are administrative subpoenas, not backed up by judicial orders.  

Already there has been successful push-back, but the threat to our 1st Amendment rights is real.  One wonders what web-scraping tools this administration is using to assess their targets?  

In yet more distressing news, this time environmental, TCF revoked the Clean Air Act Endangerment Finding.  Apparently, the lawsuits are already flying.  First thoughts on this run towards awful-horrible, but upon reflection, companies like auto manufacturers are not going to stop building cars that are fuel-efficient or not put catalytic converters on them, because the next administration will immediately reverse this ill-advised policy.  

I for one am hoping my 10-year old Prius lasts 3 more until the automotive landscape tilts back to EVs and a robust network of charging stations.  Then I can buy a decent all-electric plug-in for what will likely be my last car.  

Nature's Notebook Visits the Botanic Garden

Yesterday Theresa Crimmins, Director of USA-NPN, visited the BioPark.  In the morning she spoke to a group of about 60 guests from the Think Trees urgan forestry conference about what phenology can tell us.  In particular, she emphasized how 12+ years of data from BioPark Nature's Notebook "tribe" has become a valuable resource.  

Not only were all six of us there from the team, Matt Peterson, the Northside Assistant Director, was in attendance, too.  This was a particularly good occasion for us to show the value of citizen science at the Botanic Garden.  

Afterwards, we took Theresa, her son Zack, and a gaggle of others out to the CWG.  We walked our observation loop and stopped to discuss most plants.  Matt got an earful about the damage done by vehicles and tree thieves.  But the day was warm (too warm for February) and sun kind.  All in all, it was a very pleasant time outdoors.

That's not to say that yesterday's astronomical pollen count didn't catch up with me after my Claritin wore off.  Today the forecast is for evening rain.  Let's hope it knocks back the pollen count and maybe even give us a good bit of snow in the mountains.  Our snowpack is awful this winter and wildfire season will not be fun.  

Sun's Day

After a late start, I'm watching Olympic curling this morning.  Mixed doubles, Sweden vs Canada.  Sweden just won.  

Then spent much of the afternoon watching figure skating:  free dance and pairs free skate.  Lovely stuff with some crazy high scores.  

There's been a bit of household chores amongst the edges of Olympics watching.  Still not able to lift >10 lbs, so I'm limited to using a 1/2 gal. water can for the sunroom plants, have to carry grocery bags one at a time, can't properly pull up the bedspread when making the bed, that sort of stuff.  

Made a quick grocery run to get a few items for dinner tonight and for tomorrow's Swedish cardamom  bread / cinnamon roll bake.  It takes a good 3½ hrs, so I'll want to start early.  

Meanwhile, in the sunroom some things are thinking that it's spring.  The lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus, above) is blooming prolifically.  The Hibiscus that we severely cut back is budding out.  Plectanthrus is blooming strongly.  We've kept the fungus gnats, scale, and mealybugs in check.  Looks like we'll be coming out of winter in good shape.

An Unspecified Freya's Day

We've got a string of unscheduled days going on here.  Frankly, the only things on my radar are this morning's ASPT webinar, picking up an Rx for Jane's cat, a quick stop at Smith's for wine, and tomorrow's Acequias of Albuquerque talk at the Nature Center.  Perhaps lunch at Christy May's, a place I haven't been to in years.  

I've just finished the webinar and here's the link to its archive on their Youtube channel... https://www.youtube.com/@AmSocPlantTax.  Fascinating stuff (for us plant tax geeks).  Next month, March 6th, the topic will be plant taxonomy and public gardens.  I've already sent the Zoom registration link off to my colleagues at the BioPark.

An Unspecified Thor's Day

Archie is on travel this week, out at the Tonopah Test Range until Friday late.  It's another Thursday without D&D.  That means my entire day is wide open.  I took a pass on the BioPark volunteers meeting.  Watered the plants in the sunroom.  Listened to two short webinars from the Center for Plant Conservation's Rare Plant Academy.  Threw together a batch of banana bread.*

That leaves the afternoon unscheduled.  White meat chicken breast dipped in hummus for lunch, while Caro finished off the pork tenderloin BBQ with cole slaw.  The plan is to make shrimp tacos or tostadas for dinner with another batch of cole slaw.  

It's been another unseasonably warm day with bright sunshine and light breezes.  I knocked off a couple laps around the neighborhood to keep my step-count up as my surgery heals.  

_______________

* Joy of Cooking, 1971 ed. (It includes lemon zest; later versions don't.)

Birthday Month Continues

I had thought all the birthday celebrations were over.  After all, surgery on the 22nd kinda put the kibosh on anything more on the 26th than eating Debbie's cake and opening gifts from her and Caro.  I have even cashed in my free birthday chocolate éclair at Flying Star.  But this morning Baldo delivered a package from Jane, bless her heart. 

Inside the bag were 3 boxes, small, medium, and larger.  First, I discovered a small bottle of green ink.  That's a hint that there might be a pen or brush involved.  Sure enough, the larger "box" was a beautiful leather-bound journal.  And of course, the middle-sized box contain a wonderful fountain pen. 

I shall be making good use of these... as soon as I remember how to fill a fountain pen with ink.  

Now on closer inspection, I find that it takes both ink cartridges and has a piston converter for bottled fountain pen ink.  Easy peasy, I pop in a black cartridge and I'm set to go!  

Acequia Guide #1 -- Griegos Acequia

The Griegos Acequia is my nearest ditch and the one I ride up most often, especially when I just need a 30 minute cardio workout and don't want to load the bike onto the Prius.  It flows north to south, like most do and technically ends just west of Valle Lane and my neighborhood of Candelaria Village.  What's left continues into Matthew Meadow as the Menaul Lateral.  

The northern beginnings of the Griegos Acequia is vague on the MRGCD maps.  Map 31 shows the Griegos Lateral coming down from the north behind Los Poblanos, going under Montano Road via an enormous siphon, and arriving at the edge of Dietz Farm.  The Griegos Wasteway splits off here and strikes to the west to empty into the Atrisco Feeder.  

What water doesn't head down the wasteway flows southeast along an unlabeled section of channel crossing Rio Grande Blvd, going over the Griegos Interior Drain, and eventually being identified as the Griegos Acequia near Guadalupe Trail and Griegos Road.  From that point it runs south until it goes under Candelaria Road just east of Valley High School and surfaces in the short section west of Valle Lane.  

The Griegos is not only a great local cardio workout, but the gateway acequia to many of my North Valley favorites.  Let's peddle north and see how it goes.

I have to bike a 100 yards or so up the sidewalk of Candelaria to reach the ditch by the high school where I cross at the light.  The bit to the south deadends at a wall at the edge of Matthew Meadow, so I ignore that, but it's an obvious hangout for students who keep cutting the lock on the ditch gate. 

On the north side of Candelaria, the west bank runs behind the auto mechanics shop of the high school into the Broadview Addition, a very normal North Valley neighborhood.  The path drops down to cross Cherokee Road.  You can take that west to a pedestrian walkway the gets you on Valley Pool Road and points west.  

North of Cherokee staying on the west bank one crosses Van Cleave Road and shortly after come to San Lorenzo Avenue.  At this point it's easiest on a bike to pop a few yards east to San Clemente and bike a hundred yards until there's easy access to the east bank of the acequia via someone's driveway where the street turns hard right.  This avoids hopping a curb and struggling with a rough, narrow patch.  

The east ditch bank trail continues behind residential properties (with a side branch going west to Avenida Cristo Rey) until it comes out on Griegos Road at Guadelupe Trail.  The traffic volume means extra caution needs be taken when crossing--there is no light.  

Most often I ride up Guadelupe Trail to Colombus Park and then return for a 3 mile trip.  One can also head further north from the park, cross Montano, and make your way into the Los Poblanos Open Space... but that is another trip.  

If one stays on the east bank past Griegos, the acequia runs by larger homes and fields.  At one field there are two awkward styles that requires some careful maneuvering to squeeze your bike through the fence.  Beyond that, it's an easy peddle curving to the northwest until one reaches the Griegos Interior Drain and its very wide access road.  

From here one can go south a bit along the drain to Dietz Place and thence to the Flying Star and other shops at the Dietz Farm Plaza.  Continuing mostly west on our acequia, one quickly comes to Rio Grande Blvd.  On the west side of the street, the acequia's source is found where the Griegos Lateral bubbles up after passing under Montano and the wasteway tumbles off towards the river.  

Total distance from Candelaria Rd to Montano, 1.67 mi (2.69 km).  

Back in the Garden

After about 2 weeks now, I've finally gotten back into my regularly scheduled Nature's Notebook work.  Today, on the way out to the Cottonwood Gallery, the arborists were busy working on the velvet ash (Fraxinus velutina) that lines the main pathway beside the Festival Green.  

It looks like they're doing thinning and removing troublesome branches, whether diseased, crossed, or otherwise weakened.  It's quite a production.  Possibly inspired by the fact that the NM Urban Trees Conference will be held in the next 2 weeks.  Of course, with the overhead hazard, we had to detour through the Spanish-Moorish Garden, the Jardin Redondo, and the Ceremonial Garden.  

Once out in the CWG, we had the usual debates.  Excitedly, flower buds are swelling on the Siberian elms even though we're still counting last season's fruits on the Forestiera.  There's even signs of sap rising on the Penstemon and Ribes.  Spring is around the corner.

There was a Nature's Notebook murmuration (their monthly Zoom chat) this afternoon.  I asked about our sad Forestiera fruits.  Erin says we should keep counting them.  

Now it's time I stop typing and get back to this afternoon's Focaccia baking.  

Curiosity Cabinets

I had a splendid time this morning listening to a Linnean Society webinar entitled "Rearranging the Universe | The Enduring Spell of Curiosity Cabinets" by Geovanni Aloi.  It was an evening  lecture in London, which meant it was an 11:30 event here in ABQ.  That suited me perfectly as I am not terribly active as I recover from surgery.  

The discussion was quite wide-ranging and touched on several points that are relevant to not only my own office (a sort of curiosity cabinet itself) but to botanical gardens in general and herbaria in particular.  It's timely in that I just got word that the BioPark Society has setup one of it's donated herbarium cabinets in there offices down on 10th St.  

Thank you, Rotary Club

Herbaria began to take their modern form 4 centuries ago.  By the 1700's we had fairly standard methods as collections began to take on the role of name bearers.  The concept of the type specimen became central to botanical nomenclature.  We continue to have a myopic focus on named species.  The NM Rare Plants Technical Council focuses most of its energy on listed species and only secondarily on endangered habitats.  Our phenological observations are predicated on data from specific individual plants that we revisit every week.  (In February there is a confluence of these things as the Rare Plants TC meeting and a Nature's Notebook presentation and tour occur on the same day.)

Collections of natural objects have long been a human preoccupation.  Our very survival from deepest times probably owes a great part to our ability to notice our environment and pass on our observations to subsequent generations.  

Our own consciousness at root focuses on patterns:  similarities and differences that have meaning.  Our perception is constrained by our senses, which scan the environment like a searchlight in the dark, sweeping a narrow beam of attention.  Alan Watts, in his work “The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are,” Chapter Two: “The Game of Black-and-White” put it eloquently:  

“Attention is therefore something like a scanning mechanism in radar or television [...] But a scanning process that observes the world bit by bit soon persuades its user that the world is a great collection of bits, and these he calls separate things or events. [...] The truth is that in looking at the world bit by bit we convince ourselves that it consists of separate things [...] We do not see that the world is all of a piece like the head-tailed cat.”  

I consider myself both a plant taxonomist and an ecologist.  At that intersection is a world where at first individual species are all important and then, with a twist of the mind, not important at all.  The important thing then becomes the system with all its glorious chaos and moving parts.  As it turns out, both view points are valid and important.  

Returning to the subject of curiosities, whether a garden, a room, a shelf, or a herbarium, we find that they all reflect a great deal about the culture of the times and its values as well as the personality of the collector.  

My office collections feature books, family memorabilia, crafts (mostly gifts from others), photographs, and small figurines that have personal meaning to me.  Grandfather's Mauser, a WW1 war prize, hangs on the wall.  It hasn't been fired in over 100 years and is a testimony to the family's survival through two great wars and all the little ones since.  No Horak has been in the military since Henry was drafted in WW2.  Of course, there's also the teddy bear collection, which has now expanded to a large stuffed critter collection.  Each is named.  Each has a story.

But I digress. 

Turning to more public collections, the botanical garden itself is a horticultural showcase that demonstrates that Albuquerque is a place of cultured appreciation.  Having a noteworthy garden is a point of civic pride and its collections focus on New Mexico habitats, local conservation efforts, and comparisons with similar habitats worldwide.  

The herbarium at the Botanic Garden continues to flourish, albeit slowly.  Cabinets have been obtained.  The collection grows as Sheila and I harvest and press materials.  Summer students help with the mounting.  We have a meeting in two weeks to plot next steps.  At last the herbarium is moving beyond a curiosity, becoming both a notable educational tool and an important part of their IUCN work.  

More to come when I dig deep into the BioPark's conservation efforts like their seed bank and ex sito collections.  

Ecological Security

The Guardian today tells the tale of a UK national security report that was buried by their government because of inconvenient truths.  The long and the short of it is that the report highlights how climate change caused by fossil fuel emissions is not only an environmental threat but a national security threat as well.  

UK food security is at risk as drought, flooding, extreme temperatures, and population growth create stress with a very real possibility of ecosystem collapse.  By that the report's authors mean that basic ecosystem services like clean water, clean air, and food will be severely diminished.  One analysis concluded that the UK will no longer be able to support its livestock industry under future conditions.  A major shift in dietary patterns would be required.  

Elsewhere in the world, the catastrophic melting of Himalayan glaciers could result in mass migrations in south Asia and increased border conflict.  Water scarcity in south, east and central Asia will be a major disruptor.  The possibility of a nuclear exchange in the region becomes more likely under the expected climate change.  

One can only imagine that similar thoughts are running through those parts of the US government who haven't drunk MAGA's climate Kool-Aid.  Of course, there will be no report produced as the USG rapidly dismantles its climate monitoring and response infrastructure.  I'll try to track down the graphic I saw yesterday showing how the EPA and related agencies took huge hits in their personnel levels.  Only the Dept. of Health showed worse declines.  

Just to have a photo for the thumbnail of this post:  

Cylindropuntia viridiflora ripe fruit in winter

Another Trip Around the Sun

The birthday boy survived another solar orbit, thanks in no small part to Caro's tender ministrations.  Debbie dropped in for a while this afternoon and brought a delicious cake.  We toasted with Martinelli sparkling cider.  (The Acetaminophen has really put the brakes on drinking wine.)  Got a bunch of lovely gifts:  a couple books, a French rolling pin, a Norfolk Island pine planted as a kokedama, a set of hand-cut travel combs, a pair of spherical "ice cube" molds.  Cards and good Facebook wishes have poured in.  

Kokedama

All in all, a great day except that I'm recovering from Thursday's surgery.  Caro has been spoiling me since I'm limited in what I can lift.  So far there's been very little discomfort, so I've stopped the Tylenol today, but I'm keeping up with the Ibuprofen and other Rx's.  Last night I slept particularly well, so that's a move in the right direction.  

I learned this afternoon that Theresa Crimmins, Director of the USA-NPN, will be speaking at the Botanic Garden on the morning of the 12th.  Judith Phillips has made arrangements for us to give her a tour of the Cottonwood Gallery afterwards.  Looking forward to hearing her talk and then engaging with her out at our observation sites.  

Snow

Finally, a wee bit of the white stuff, just in time for Burn's Night.

The backyard with its bistro lights in the sand cherries illuminating the bodhisattva fountain is dusted in perhaps a ¼" of snow.  Radar shows another hour or so of possible snowfall.  Early morning might be magical... bitter cold, but magical.  

Perhaps Ric will get down to the Japanese Garden for photos in the snow?  

A Meeting with the Robot

Spent yesterday under a robotic knife.  

 Surgery was #2 in the morning, so I was home by noon.  It took most of the afternoon for the happy gas side effects to wear off.  No nausea and the discomfort was minimal.  Even now after the first night, it feels more like I just did 50 situps.  

I have a bunch of Rx to take now.  Trying to get on a reasonable 6 hour schedule.  Things have to be taken with food, so I'm having an early breakfast.  My appetite hasn't been affected and there are no restrictions.  Sleeping on my back is new and difficult for me, but we have new adjustable beds, which helps immeasurably.  

We now return to our regularly scheduled botanical blog.  

This week the U.S. National Phenological Network held its first Local Phenological Leader (LPL) conference.  It's been a virtual event, handled very well by the USA-NPN staff with Zoom.  On Day 1 I was the lead-off speaker for their first Local Phenology Showcase session.  It went well and I'll post the link to their recordings when they become available.  

I met several other citizen scientists from the Southwest:  our own Sheila Conneen was online, Grace Burford from Prescott, Colleen Kaufman from the BioPark (but not part of our team), and Sylvan Kaufman from the Leonora Curtin Wetlands up in Santa Fe.  More on this in the next post.  

My surgical recovery is keeping me away from observations this Monday, but that's not such a bad thing with a serious bit of weather blowing in later today and bitter cold temperatures expected after that.  

In other news, USA-NPN Director Theresa Crimmins will be visiting Albuquerque in a few weeks.  I plan on being available on February 12th to assist Judith Phillips with a tour of our Cottonwood Gallery observation sites.  More on this in February.  

And speaking of February, on the 11th down at the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge we will be having the annual NM Rare Plants Technical Council meeting.  This is always a very deep in the woods meeting of like-minded plant taxonomists, ecologists, and field botanists.  I count myself as a bit of all three and this meeting keeps me in touch with important plant conservation topics covering the entire state.  It's an eclectic group of old and new professionals from across every state and federal agency.  University herbarium staff, National Park Service biologists, and state Fish & Wildlife are among them.  More on this in February, too.  

Biking Albuquerque's Acequias

I'm in for some recuperation time after this week's up-coming surgery, so I need a desk project.  Thinkin' I'll write up descriptions of my favorite acequia bike rides.

• Albuquerque Acequia
• Duranes Lateral 
• Griegos Interior Drain
• Griegos Acequia
• Harwood Lateral
• Griegos Wasteway
• Pueblo Acequia
• Chamisal Wasteway
• Menaul Lateral
• Albuquerque Riverside Drain
• Atrisco Feeder
• Bike-in Coffee
• Tingley Ponds
• Albuquerque Main Canal
• Corrales Lower Riverside Drain

I should have decent photos of most of these along with notes on wildlife and plants.   I've got my work cut out for me.  

Normally Abnormal

It was a totally normal day:  wake up, coffee and toast, off to the Botanic Garden, home for lunch, some Sandia consulting work, 5:00 news and exercise, leftover pork tenderloin et al., and finally bake some Jamie Oliver chocolate rye cookies.  I spent the evening watching MS NOW with Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnel (the latter interviewed Sen. Warren), followed by Nat Geo episodes of digs in Egypt.  

The Nature's Notebook Gang at the BioPark

In South Carolina, Buddhist monks continue their walk for peace while their faithful dog, Aloka was surgically treated in Charleston by vets working pro bono.  We expect them to reach Charlotte on the 15th.  Perhaps my nephew can see them.  

Somewhere during all that, protesters across the nation sought to get ICE out of their communities.  Protesters in Iran were killed by the hundreds.  Courts, Congress, and NGOs fought with the current regime.  Chaos still reigns in Venezuela.  Gaza is a mess, as is most of Africa.

What's wrong with this picture?  How can ABQ be so normal while democracy is on the ropes and autocrats plot to turn the world into Hitler's 1938 Germany?  

FELON47's sycophants keep trying to gut existing conservation measures, destroy existing wildlife refuges, and sell off our public lands.  As for me, I finished my slide deck for the Nature's Notebook online conference.  What hope is there for citizen science when mainstream science is under concerted attack by TCF?  

Jamie Oliver's 5-ingredient chocolate rye cookies

In the final analysis, I can report that sous vide pork tenderloin cooked with sage, cinnamon, and lemon peel is great.  Fleischmann's recipe for Brewer's Rye Bread is also excellent.  (Note to self:  Get some deli pastrami, Swiss cheese, and sauerkraut.)  

Of Possible Interest

These two items rolled into my inbox over the last few days, one on gardening and health, the other on the need for a coordinated data structure to capture the vast wealth of knowledge housed in Botanic Gardens worldwide. 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250509-how-gardening-boosts-brain-health  

https://phys.org/news/2026-01-botanic-gardens-vast-knowledge-untapped.html 

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues its off-the-rails trajectory while I bake brewer's rye bread.  It shouldn't be this normal.

Sponge after 30 minutes

After second rise

Got dem IUCN Blues

The 2/3rds of the White House that is still standing issued an Executive Order today withdrawing the U.S. from 66 international organizations.  Among them was the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).  Nothing could make clearer that this administration passionately hates our environment.  

The list is long and includes:  

• Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
• International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
• International Tropical Timber Organization
• Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
• UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries
• UN Oceans
• UN Population Fund
• UN Water

On top of that clear message that the U.S. has no interest in preserving a functional global habitat for humans, let alone wildlife, there were a few other ringers:  

• International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies
• International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
• International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law

I am deeply, deeply distressed.

And all this atop a day of ICE shooting an unarmed observer in Minneapolis.  

I did manage to update our hardcopy Nature's Notebook records based on Monday's observations. 

 

January 6 Redux

Welp, here we are again "celebrating" 1/6, the convicted felon's (TFC) failed coup.  Five years later and we haven't learned the lesson:  justice delayed is justice denied.  Congress had their chance, but the McConnell-led Senate didn't convict TFC after his second impeachment.  Their rationale:  the court system is the appropriate venue to punish him for his actions (and inactions) that infamous day.  

And we're still paying the price.  

That said, it looks like the tide is turning.  Mark Kelly refuses to be cowed and others in the Pentagon  are pushing back against those vindictive actions.  There's a vote coming in Congress to overturn his first veto of the 2nd term.  SCOTUS might declare illegal his abuse of tariffs.  The misadventure in Venezuela may rapidly backfire. 

Hide and watch.  

Shifting topics, there was set of Nature's Notebook observations to be made yesterday, followed by an online "murmuration."  That Zoom chat involved about 16 various NN users.  I'm reminded that I need to pull together a slide deck for a lightning talk about our BioPark group for the NN virtual conference coming up later this month.  

In things both political and natural science, I'm find solace in the story of the candle and the sun.  A candle complained about being small next to the sun.  The sun replied, "In darkness, your light matters more than mine."  Small things can have profound effects at the right time.

I'll end by noting that the sun is returning.  Today has about 50 seconds more sunlight than yesterday.  

First Phenology Observations of the New Year

 Political matters out of Washington continue to dominate rent-free space in my head.  Today I came across a succinct quote from one of the founding parents:  

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny,” James Madison warned in Federalist No. 47. 

Watching television news is definitely not good for my mental health, so getting out in the Garden was a very pleasant diversion.  Sandy and Sheila were out for various reasons and that left me on my own for making Nature's Notebook observations.  

It's winter and that means most of our species under observation are dormant.  There are a few green leaves on one chamisa (Ericameria nauseosa) and the cholla's fruits (Cylindropuntia imbricata) still can't decide if they are green or yellow.  

This time of year if there's something up in a cottonwood, it's either a snoozing porcupine or a cluster of mistletoe.  Today I saw only the latter.

Now that it's January, River of Lights is over and the crews are out dismantling the displays.  It will take them weeks to undo all the zillions of lights and pack everything away until next fall.  Let's hope that they don't clobber too many of the new labels in the process. 

Datura in the Cottonwood Gallery

Assume Corruption

Our American experiment in Democracy seems to have failed.  The founding parents assumed that wise and honorable men (white landed males) would control the levers of power.  Even through the Civil War and the depredations of the late 19th century Robber Barons, things held together.  Richard Nixon was unable to subvert our system. 

But with the coming into power of a second DJT term, the wheels are off.  Toadies in Congress and the Supreme Court do nothing to exercise their lawful obligations to be checks and balances.  Along with a feckless Department of Justice that no longer heeds its requirement to be an independent agency, there is no resource in our system of government that can reign in the current administration.  

The result is a president unfettered by law, Constitutional, International, or otherwise.  That he would pardon one convicted former president of a Central American country, all the while violently attacking another while confiscating their oil makes a lie of his interest in protecting the U.S. from South American drugs.  

When/if we have an opportunity to redress this situation, it will not be by reestablishing "norms" of governance.  Laws will have to be enacted that codify unambiguously the limits of power and the forceful and redundant means of enforcement.  

Never again will SCOTUS or DOJ be allowed to subvert our Constitutional rights and protections.  Their behavior forces us to assume corruption and greed will be the prevalent motivation and that institutional guardrails will have to become fortress walls.  No longer can we rely on "men" of good will to uphold our way of life as the current group has abdicated all respect and honor.  They will long be remembered as cowards who sold their country for a handful* of silver.   

________________

* Federal Reserve data indicates that as of Q1 2024, the top 1% of households in the United States held 30.5% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held 2.5%.

Exceptions

White rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit!*

Now that I've got that detail taken care of, I can wish everyone a happy New Year.  

There are, of course, exceptions.  People who are particularly hard to extend a loving kindness metta to.  

Moving on to more positive thoughts, I can vouch for this recipe:  cacio e pepe from research published last year in Nature.  Two thirds cups of cheese to a scant teaspoon of cornstarch turns out to be the optimum ratio.  

Here's a toast to a better 2026... 

_______________

*  Spoken and typed before even the title of this piece :-)