NK3

The fierce winds last Friday almost certainly spelled the end of Hanami.  Maybe the crab apples will be able to carry on the show now.  But by Saturday morning, things were cool and calm, just right for No Kings 3.

Caro, her cousin, and friend Jeff piled in to my Prius and we set off with our signs.  I dropped Caro and Jeff at Palo Duro and San Mateo.  A friend of cousin Kathy let us park in her driveway and drove us to the drop off on San Mateo.  We rendezvoused at the Montgomery Park pedestrian bridge.  

The park was packed.  Latter overhead imagery let me estimate 39,000 protesters at the event.  That's 3.1% of the greater Albuquerque metropolitan area.  We're closing in on that magical 3.5% theoretical limit when we can overturn an autocrat.  

We saw a few friends but missed connecting with most of them.  Speakers spoke (including Stacy Abrams) and then the march began.  We watched the crowd go past as we walked down to the dropoff/pickup location.  And soon we were home.  

A good day's effort.

Tomorrow (Monday) is a Nature's Notebook day.  Sheila can't make it.  Sandy needs to start early so she can help out at the Natural History Museum afterwards.  

Early this morning I came across a Margaret Roach interview with Ned Friedman that resonated with out weekly efforts at a relationship with our plants.  https://awaytogarden.com/life-changing-lessons-in-a-tree-with-arnold-arboretums-ned-friedman/

More tomorrow...

Hanami Continues

Yesterday I was in the garden putting out Backyard Refuge labels.  While coming back from the Cottonwood Gallery, I swung around the back of the waterfall pumphouse in the Japanese Garden.  The Yoshino cherry there was in glorious full bloom with petals just beginning to be shed.  

When I collected a back branch for the herbarium, I was showered with petals.  Sakura fubuki is in progress, "wind blown cherry blossom falling like snow."  

Of course, it's not just cherry blossoms falling, the elm seeds are blowing like snow into drifts all across the town.  

Phenology Week

The gang at USA-NPN continue to put out good stuff for their Phenology Week program.  Yesterday things kicked off with the director, Theresa Crimmins, giving an introduction to Nature's Notebook and the sorts of questions that can be answered with its data.  

As it turned out, Theresa used the BioPark's team and data as her exemplar.  Once again we were able to get national attention for our small but dedicated group with almost 13 years of weekly data.  

 

Bonsai Rescue

It's sad when a couple you know breaks up and goes their separate ways.  Sometimes it involves children and it's not their fault.  Same thing this week except it involved bonsai.  

After some desperate txt msgs, the Albuquerque Bonsai Club sprang into action.  Six of us mobilized after Saturday morning's board meeting and drove north to the property.  Bob (not his real name) was staying out of state with his sister, but Alice (not her real name) was there.  

Walt used video conferencing with his phone to walk through the extensive collection, getting guidance from Bob.  Afterwards, we staged everything that wasn't being moved by Bob later in the week to areas near the cars.  Large specimens went in trucks and hatchbacks.  First a batch was moved to Walt's house, about 20 minutes away.  Then the rest of us parceled up the remaining trees, loaded them into our vehicles, and headed to our respective homes.  

Just a small portion of the Bob's collection

The extent of the collection was mind-boggling.  Hornbeams, junipers, ginkgoes, acacias, maples, pines, and more.  It was a 4-hour effort to save all the trees that Bob won't be able to move to his new home.  Many have found their new forever home.  Some will be auctioned off to other club members later.  I plan on sending some up to my nephew in Chamita.  

Hanami, 2026

It's been the year without winter in ABQ.  Today I was giving a tour of our Nature's Notebook sites to a researcher from the mothership, Tucson and the U of A.  On the way out, we passed through the Japanese Garden and to my amazement, the cherries were blossoming.  Time to get out there to enjoy their ephemeral beauty. 

Recursion #2

Quite a few years ago, I hit 50,000,000 AP in Ingress.  It was a worthy target, so I recursed... set myself back to Level 1.  

Today I hit precisely 100,000,000 AP and am in the process of recursion again.  

In other news, Eloise is a beautiful baby.  Ty and Nirankar are wonderful parents.  

Tree rescue for Karl R's bonsai collection was scheduled for tomorrow, but has been pushed back to Thursday for the team that can help on a weekday.  On Saturday we'll finish the job.

Tik Tok

Once again, it's that dreaded time of year when we switch from standard time to daylight saving time.  At least I remembered how to change both cars' clocks.  And I didn't kill myself up on a ladder for the 3 that are out of reach.