May Day Mayday!

“Mayday” is used around the world to radio distress calls. Londoner Frederick Mockford, came up with the word because “mayday" sounds like the French word m'aider, “help me”.

USA is the only country in the world that does not officially recognize workers by celebrating May Day on 1 May. This, despite the holiday commemorating the Haymarket Riot of 1886, in Chicago (Illinois, USA!).
Given the pandemic, no May Day 1st celebration this year would make sense. Yet, in Donald Trump’s upside-down world, he’s using the Defense Production Act to force meat-packing facilities to remain open...and expose workers to Covid-19. (Then again, he loves his hamberders! )
Moreover, he and his sidekick enabler Mitch McConnell “support limiting the liabilities of employers who order their employees back to work so that they can’t get sued if their employees get sick.”
Mayday for workers, indeed!

Still in upside-down world, pro-Trump group plans to hold car rallies to “drive for freedom” and protest against pandemic lockdown measures and stay-at-home orders.
Why? Because

"America cannot destroy the lives and dreams of the majority to protect a few. The cure cannot be more dangerous than the disease. We risk losing who we are as a nation by completely shutting down the country and the economy."

Today, “a few” consists of:
3,274,750 confirmed cases of Covid-19 around the world, 1,097,035 of which are in the US – the highest rate in the world.
Global deaths at 233,795 with US deaths at 63,905.

***

At 3:43am this morning I discovered a reactivated Internet.
I’m positively giddy! At last I can, again, spend hours online obsessing over the news!

News blues

Sea mammals…
…evidence of a drop in underwater noise pollution has led experts to predict the [pandemic] crisis may be good news for whales and other sea mammals.
David Barclay… examined sound power – a way of measuring “loudness” from two sites, one inland and one farther offshore…[and] found a significant drop in noise from both.

“Generally, we know underwater noise …has effects on marine mammals….There has been a consistent drop in noise since 1 January… up to 1 April.”…. Economic data…showed a drop of around 20% in exports and imports over the same period, he said.
… The reduction in ship traffic in the ocean, which Barclay compares to a “giant human experiment”, has had scientists racing to find out the effect on marine life.
“We are facing a moment of truth,” said Michelle Fournet, a marine acoustician at Cornell University, who studies humpback whales in south-east Alaska. “We have an opportunity to listen – and that opportunity to listen will not appear again in our lifetime.”

Birds…
Birds enjoy a quieter world, too. But the long-term for wildlife looks bleak.

Nikki Williams, head of campaigns at the Wildlife Trusts, said: “The current crisis means nature is losing out, because many organisations are having to scale back important work caring for special places, which they usually do with the vital help of thousands of volunteers.”
… valuable habitats … need continual management to ensure they do not turn back into scrub….{Nevertheless] “One noticeable phenomenon of late has been the daily chorus of birdsong…. [T]he current lack of noise might indeed be helping singing birds to be heard by potential mates and rivals, thus increasing their breeding success.
Mathew Frith, of the London Wildlife Trust, said: “Many of our birds, such as the robin, wren, chiffchaff, skylark and meadow pipit, nest on or close to the ground, and so are easily flushed by dogs. With parks so much quieter than usual, these species may do well this spring.”
The RSPB also notes that the lack of people visiting the seaside will help shore-nesting species such as little terns and ringed plovers, which are especially prone to being disturbed by holidaymakers.

Insects…
The biggest assessment of global insect abundances to date shows a worrying drop of almost 25% in the last 30 years, with accelerating declines in Europe that shocked scientists.

The analysis combined 166 long-term surveys from almost 1,700 sites and found that some species were bucking the overall downward trend. In particular, freshwater insects have been increasing by 11% each decade following action to clean up polluted rivers and lakes. However, this group represent only about 10% of insect species and do not pollinate crops.
Researchers said insects remained critically understudied in many regions, with little or no data from South America, south Asia and Africa. Rapid destruction of wild habitats in these places for farming and urbanisation is likely to be significantly reducing insect populations, they said.
Insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times, and are essential to the ecosystems humanity depends upon. They pollinate plants, are food for other creatures and recycle nature’s waste.
The previous largest assessment, based on 73 studies, led scientists to warn of “catastrophic consequences for the survival of mankind” if insect losses were not halted. Its estimated rate of decline was more than double that in the new study. Other experts estimate 50% of insects have been lost in the last 50 years.
The research, published in the journal Science, also examined how the rate of loss was changing over time. “Europe seems to be getting worse now – that is striking and shocking. But why that is, we don’t know,” said van Klink. In North America, the declines are flattening off, but at a low level.
…“we know from our results that the expansion of cities is bad for insects because every place used to be more natural habitat… This is happening in east Asia and Africa at a rapid rate. In South America, there is the destruction of the Amazon. There’s absolutely no question this is bad for insects and all the other animals there. But we just don’t have the data.”
Losses of insects are driven by habitat destruction, pesticides and light pollution. The impact of the climate crisis was not clear in the research, despite obvious local examples.
Van Klink…highlighted another study showing that rising carbon dioxide levels are reducing the nutrients in plants and significantly cutting grasshopper abundances on prairies in Kansas, US. ”That is absolutely shocking, because that could be happening all over the world.”
“We definitely have a lot of reason for concern, but I don’t think it’s too late…we can reverse these trends.”

Humans...
The vast illegal wildlife trade and humanity’s excessive intrusion into nature is to blame for the coronavirus pandemic, according to a leading US scientist who says, “this is not nature’s revenge, we did it to ourselves”.

Scientists are discovering two to four new viruses are created every year as a result of human infringement on the natural world, and any one of those could turn into a pandemic, according to Thomas Lovejoy, who coined the term “biological diversity” in 1980 and is often referred to as the godfather of biodiversity.
“This pandemic is the consequence of our persistent and excessive intrusion in nature and the vast illegal wildlife trade, and in particular, the wildlife markets, the wet markets, of south Asia and bush meat markets of Africa… It’s pretty obvious, it was just a matter of time before something like this was going to happen,” said Lovejoy, a senior fellow at the United Nations Foundation and professor of environment science at George Mason University.
His comments were made to mark the release of a report by the Center for American Progress arguing that the US should step up efforts to combat the wildlife trade to help confront pandemics.
Wet markets are traditional markets selling live animals (farmed and wild) as well as fresh fruit, vegetables and fish, often in unhygienic conditions. They are found all over Africa and Asia, providing sustenance for hundreds of millions of people. The wet market in Wuhan believed to be the source of Covid-19 contained a number of wild animals, including foxes, rats, squirrels, wolf pups and salamanders.
Lovejoy said separating wild animals from farmed animals in markets would significantly lower the risk of disease transmission. This is because there would be fewer new species for viruses to latch on to. “[Domesticated animals] can acquire these viruses, but if that’s all there was in the market, it would really lower the probability of a leak from a wild animal to a domesticated animal.”
“The name of the game is reducing certain amounts of activity so the probability of that kind of leap becomes small enough that it’s inconsequential. The big difficulty is that if you just shut them down – which in many ways would be the ideal thing – they will be topped up with black markets, and that’s even harder to deal with because it’s clandestine.”
The pandemic will cost the global economy $1trillion this year, according to the World Economic Forum, with vulnerable communities impacted the most, and nearly half of all jobs in Africa could be lost.
Lovejoy said, “This is not nature’s revenge, we did it to ourselves. The solution is to have a much more respectful approach to nature, which includes dealing with climate change and all the rest.”

Air…

Leonardo Setti and his team at the University of Bologna in Italy have detected coronavirus in particles of air pollution. They’re investigating “if the virus could be carried more widely by air pollution…. Two other research groups have suggested air pollution particles could help coronavirus travel further in the air.

Setti’s team suggests higher levels of particle pollution could explain higher rates of infection in parts of northern Italy before a lockdown was imposed. …The region is one of the most polluted in Europe.

…Previous studies have shown that air pollution particles do harbour microbes and that pollution is likely to have carried the viruses causing bird flu, measles and foot-and-mouth disease over considerable distances.

The potential role of air pollution particles is linked to the broader question of how the coronavirus is transmitted. Large virus-laden droplets from infected people’s coughs and sneezes fall to the ground within a metre or two. But much smaller droplets, less than 5 microns in diameter, can remain in the air for minutes to hours and travel further.

Experts are not sure whether these tiny airborne droplets can cause coronavirus infections, though they know the 2003 Sars coronavirus was spread in the air and that the new virus can remain viable for hours in tiny droplets.

But researchers say the importance of potential airborne transmission, and the possible boosting role of pollution particles, mean it must not be ruled out without evidence.

Prof Jonathan Reid at Bristol University in the UK is researching airborne transmission of coronavirus. “It is perhaps not surprising that while suspended in air, the small droplets could combine with background urban particles and be carried around.”

He said the virus had been detected in tiny droplets collected indoors in China.

Setti said tiny droplets between 0.1 and 1 micron may travel further when coalesced with pollution particles up to 10 microns than on their own. This is because the combined particle is larger and less dense than the droplet and can remain buoyed by the air for longer. … The pollution particle is like a micro-airplane and the passengers are the droplets.”

All agree “scientific research might take two or three years to confirm such findings.”

Reverse these numbers…

Atmospheric CO2 weekly readings from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (part per million) on
25 April 2020: 415.88 ppm
This time last year: 413.71 ppm
10 years ago: 393.25 ppm
Pre-industrial base: 280
Safe level: 350
Source: NOAA-ESRL

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Meet Ron Finley, my new hero, aka LA’s “gangsta gardener”.
“The garden seduces me,” he say. “I’ll get out there at 9am and next thing I know it’s 7pm … gardening takes your mind off things. Everybody should have a garden to cultivate.”

[F]or Finley, gardening isn’t about producing the perfect floral pom-pom, it’s about growing people. Planting is his unusual form of protest, and having a garden stuffed full of beautiful plants and vegetables is a byproduct of that.
To many, this will seem a surprising way to rebel, but Finley lives in what he calls a “food prison”. South Central Los Angeles is a predominantly black and Latino neighbourhood known for liquor stores, vacant lots, drive-throughs and drive-bys. Due to its favourable climate this should be the market garden of America but home-grown produce is an alien concept to many.

Like Finley, I’ve found gardening a joy any time and during lockdown it's a joyful lifesaver. Even mowing the lawn - which I did again today. Happy to report it's getting easier.
Lockdown hasn’t been the challenge I’d expected because of the garden. Days zip by even when Internet access doesn’t distract.
As I’ve stated many times, I’m paying more attention to details previously taken for granted. 

The pandemic is a mixed blessing, but it is also a blessing….

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 

Watch Videos of Garden Creatures

Chomping at the ‘net

Twenty-four more hours without Internet.
Under normal circumstances, I’d pack up my laptop and relocate to a local café where Internet access comes with a cup of coffee and a cream scone.
Under pandemic conditions, cafés are closed – and I’m counting hours and minutes on fingers and toes.
Internet withdrawal. Forced by circumstances to refrain from Trump bashing.
But bashing is Trump’s bread and butter. Who is his latest victim?
Is Dr Fauci still around?
Dr Birx?
What's Bheki Cele up to?
Has Jared saved the world yet?
Enquiring minds want to know.

***

Scan of my cell phone reports 4,546 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in South Africa (and increase of 185) with 88 deaths; 168,643 tests performed.

***

Laptop open, I sipped my morning coffee and ponder the pandemic.
Yesterday, one live-in domestic worker reported a member of her extended family had died quickly and unexpectedly. She had no details about the cause of death. New lockdown rules mandate no travelling to attend funerals.

Wrapped in worry, I barely noticed two early bird hahdidahs catching early worms on the lawn.
Pandemic consciousness has elevated the once-ordinary to the now-extraordinary and I leaped for my camera. Clumsily, I snuck to the window…and alarmed both hahdidahs.
They took off to settle on the lower lawn.
I crept outside, checked my gumboots for spiders before pulling them on, set the camera to video, and filmed … recording only distinctive hahdidah cries and tail feathers.
Thanks to lockdown, I’m reminded that life lives – and I’m part of it.

***

A saga of giblets

Giblets are what’s left of chicken carcasses after removing the choice bits – breasts, thighs, drumsticks, etc.
My mother buys bulk packaged giblets from a big-box store to feed her dogs.
Giblet procurement, once easy, has become increasingly difficult. Giblets are an affordable food for financially stressed, hungry humans.

Before she was advised to stop driving, my mother purchased, every three months, dozens of packs of frozen giblets she stored in two dedicated chest freezers. She also purchased a case of six 2-liter bottles of her favorite wine. She transported these in her economy-size Toyota Yaris hatchback, along with three dogs she delivered, and picked up afterwards, to “their favorite groomer.” (One was Scruffy: blind in one eye, deaf, emitting a one-tone bark every 7 to 9 seconds. Yes, I timed him.)
Giblet and wine purchasing, and doggie delivery/pick up became tasks of Dutiful Daughter. At first, this enterprise appealed to my sense of the ridiculous and I made several runs.
Then I balked.
Forty-five minutes driving a Yaris chock-a-block with frozen food, a case of wine, 3 uncaged dogs, and my mother in the passenger seat in a country with among the world’s highest rates of road fatalities?
No. No. And no.

I retrieved my mother’s decades-old made-in-China Chana bakkie (pick-up) and, before returning to California, made one last wine-and-giblet run. Side trip to the doggie groomer not included.

My wonderful liveaboard California lifestyle reminded me how much I enjoyed life and, by my January return to South Africa, I’d decided against further death-defying giblet-jaunts in the Chinese Chana.
But, big question: with giblet supplies running low in the chest freezers, where to buy more?

Lockdown complicates the giblet hunt
The big-box store's online shop sells and delivers only non-perishables.
The local butchery (“too expensive,” says my mother) sells only gizzards, no giblets, nor can they locate any.
The local grocery store sells only Pet Mince.
My mother explains that her dogs (IMHO, all “pavement specials” that is, mongrels) “don’t like” gizzards or Pet Mince.
My internal conversation? “Tough shit. These days, people eat giblets. Let the damned dogs sacrifice!”
Nevertheless, Dutiful Daughter drives to the veterinary clinic to purchase salve for a dog’s skin irritation. I asked the receptionist if she knew where to purchase giblets.
Miraculously, she had a friend with “pure breed dogs” that eat only giblets.
Back home, I called this friend and, yes, indeed, she could recommend a butcher who specializes in “halal and other odd things like giblets.”
Location of his butchery? “Little Lagos.”

***

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

The distinctive breathless quacking and hissing of Egyptian Geese had me scanning the area with binoculars.
Four roosted atop a distant electrical pylon.
Hadidah ibis frequently roost on the pylons bordering this property. Woolly neck storks occasionally roost there, too. I’ve never spotted Egyptian Geese on this pylon.

Enquiring minds
Do Egyptian Geese boycott the closer pylon? Or, have hahdidahs somehow insulted Egyptian Geese and created a rift? Vice versa?
Does pecking order decree different roosting spots for different birds?
Do birds of a feather flock together to intimidate birds of a different feather?

***

Lockdown gifts humans with time, and my neighbor spends his racing pigeons.
The wonderful sound of dozens of wings whirring overhead draws my attention to the communication between those aloft and those earthbound.
With his birds flying in high circles, the sedentary human below waves a black flag.
Then, the human lays down the flag, and, slowly, perhaps reluctantly, the birds return to the coop.
How did this language develop? Which came first: the egg or the flag?
Perhaps lockdown will gift me an opportunity to inquire into the ways of bird and man.
Meanwhile, the mysteries of not knowing….

***

I suspect when I’m afloat on my houseboat, my mother convinces the domestic workers to provide only her preferred cuisine: multiple snacks of Rooibos tea and Romany Cream biscuits and Jungle Oats for lunch and dinner.
I try to insist my mother eat a daily serving of vegetables and a fruit/yogurt/olive oil-based smoothie. Insisting works less than half the time.
The domestic workers cook for themselves – and for the gardener when he’s here.
I cook for myself and recycle what I can, from coffee grounds - sprinkled on acidic-soil-loving roses, avocado trees, hydrangeas – to food waste.
I carried out the fortnightly composting today, starting with repacking the sink hole with garden clippings. This hole has an endless capacity for garden debris – unless it’s home to a garden-debris-consuming dragon?

After the sink hole, I moved Stage 3 material – mature compost – into the garden. I moved Stage 2 material – almost composted food scraps - into Stage 3. Then I moved Stage 1 material - fresh food waste – into the Stage 2 receptacle, and covered and wired it shut, out of reach of curious monkeys and hungry scavengers.
Finally, I weeded the entire area to discourage seeding of black jacks and invasive khaki weeds.

Another successful lockdown completed - two days sans Internet - with sanity intact.

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 

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No ‘net, no posts

Catching up on late post for Wednesday April 29

My mother’s house nestles in a shallow valley with lush trees and undergrowth. It’s lovely but it offer lousy Internet and wi-fi connectivity.

My first visit here – 2014 – was maddeningly frustrating. It reminded me of the early days of the Internet - before many of us had been spoiled by technology! 

I’d hoped connectivity would improve over the following year. Instead, a visiting ISP technician explained that the “height of the trees blocked the signal.” 

I took to visiting a local café where I confined my Internet use to an hour a day. 

Competition between businesses to provide customer service isn’t much of a thing here, at least in this part of the province. Apparently, neighborhoods are divided into sectors with one ISPs “owning” the right to provide services to all residences in that sector. Residents are hostages to the efficiency and professionalism of their neighborhood’s ISP. 

After three years I found an ISP that provides most of my needs. Until recently, I paid for 20G per month but used far less. Pandemic anxiety switched that around and, these days, I regularly run out of bandwidth! I “topped up” another 10G mid-month, then used that up by 27 May. I had two options: 1) pay for another 10G (for the remaining two days of the month), or 2) wait until 1 May.  

I opted to wait. 

Internet withdrawal is nasty!  

Imagine being stranded on a tiny desert island with an active and curious brain, no access to online library e-books, no cellphone, and no intelligent friends. 

Add pandemic lockdown anxiety, only Clorox at hand, Donald J Trump making decisions – and you get an inkling of my Internet withdrawal! 

Thoughts on pandemic 

Much news these days about stir-crazy people contravening stay-at-home/shelter-in-place orders. Unless one is directly impacted, it’s easy to assume the pandemic is relatively under control. 

A trip outside quickly shows pandemic anxiety is alive and well, and that nothing virus-related is under control. 

A week since my last foray into town, this week I planned a trip to: fill my mom’s monthly pharmacy scrip; convince the vet to sell meds for my mom’s dog’s skin irritation without bringing the dog in for examination; purchase hardware store items; purchase a new tire (tyre in SA) for my mother’s car; find a technician willing to troubleshoot my mother’s Telkom wireless landline phone. (She’s been incommunicado for 3 weeks.) Plus, a big ask of local police: permission for the gardener to return to work at least one day a week. 

I phoned some places before I set off. 

A clerk at the hardware store answered – good sign: the store was open – and he explained that only essential businesses – plumbers, electricians, etc., – could purchase. He added stores would be fined up ZAR30,000 (US$1,700) for contravening this rule. 

Since I had him on the line, I asked if he knew whether the local tire repair shop was open. (Front passenger tire has slow leak that I’ve had repaired three times in the last three years. Time for a new one.) Alas, only emergency tire repair service is available.) 

Backstory: My mom has been advised not to drive but…stubborn … she drives when she decides a dog needs veterinary care. Scary truth: when I’m not here, my mother is the only person in the house who can drive. (This is one feature of my mother’s puzzling decision not only not to downsize for retirement, but to burden herself, her family, and her domestic workers with a large house and garden, too many dogs, etc.) 

My first week back this year, I drove my mother, one domestic worker and an assortment of dogs to the vet four times – for minor issues such as skin irritation. 

Following that, I drove my mother and a domestic worker to the vet to euthanize two elderly and ill dogs, 2) drove solo to pick up two fancy urns with dog cremains, 3) drove solo again to pick up two fancy urns with dog cremains that hadn’t arrived according to the first schedule. 

When it comes to dogs and vets, I thank the gods for lockdown! 

***

I’m delighted by simply wiping the dust off my vehicle, strapping on the seatbelt, and exiting the security gate.

I’m thrilled with having a valid reason to experience life outside the security fence. 

Potholes, once objects of frustration and derision, now warm my heart – like running into a long-lost friend. 

Full parking lots at mini malls present an opportunity to ponder human behavior. Are those shoppers really shopping? Or are they enjoying liberation? Maybe I should escape more often?

At the vet's clinic, I bought two bottles of dog skin irritation muti (Zulu word for medicinal concoctions cooked up by songoma/ "witchdoctors”). 

While we waited for the vet to agree to dispense meds without seeing the actual dog, the receptionist and I agreed that, yes, indeed, people locked down in houses have unrealistic views of what’s going on “out there” until they visit “out there”. 

Lockdown underplays the potential threat from coronavirus. We agreed that the elderly and frail seem least willing/able to grasp the concept of lockdown. 

By the way, I noticed the skin muti cost about the same as “the kit” of injector pens for whose purchase I’d felt soundly berated. 

My quest to ask police permission for the gardener to travel failed utterly. 

I handed over the letter describing our household’s need for a strong male to perform certain tasks for a frail 87-year-old. 

The officer’s refusal wasn’t adamant. Rather, she looked at me as if I’d asked her to become president of the United States: bemused. 

(After I returned home, I contacted the neighbor who’d described another frail 87-year-old’s success requesting the same of the police. I learned that after police received that woman’s letter, they visited her home to confirm her need. Hmmm, I doubt police visiting here would result in permission.) 

My visit to the police station had an unexpected bright side. Angels’ Care, a center that feeds and supports underprivileged children, is located right across the street. 

Last week, I’d tried, unsuccessfully, to donate funds online to Angels’ Care. Seeing the facility right there felt like divine intervention. I dropped by, explained my online experience, and the office admins cleared a path to successful donation. 

***

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… 

Humans who live in the cushy west routinely discard items that could easily be reused/  recycled/ composted. 

I grew up on rural KZN before the widespread use and abuse of plastic, before municipal services, at a time when precious water was pumped from a stream and stored in tanks; when septic tanks were common; when food waste was fed to pigs or composted; when only refuse that couldn’t be recycle was burned in burn pits. 

I’m grateful for running water, electricity (unless Eskom is load-shedding!), and flushing toilets - although my houseboat hosts a composting toilet. 

Convinced the contemporary world is wasteful, I try to conserve. I carry my own shopping bags and complain to grocery store managers about frivolous use of plastic containers. 

Do I sound like a stuffy ideological puritan? 

I’m not but I try to act on my belief that mindless cycles of consumption and dumping threatens people and planet. 

My latest pro-compost action? 

Recycling that soft pond weed (I’ve described in earlier posts) and making a footpath through long grass. 

Background: Swamp cypress grow in wetlands and send up aerial roots that act as secondary lungs when the area is flooded. Grass and weeds also grow think and fast under these beautiful trees. The combination of lush grass, weeds, and aerial roots create tripping hazards. Bushwhacking the area is difficult but not impossible – at least for the gardener. The bushwacker contraption is too heavy for me. To cope while he’s away, I laid a footpath made of pond weed and clumps of invasive waterlilies.  

***

First thing in the morning, after I step outside, I check my gumboots for spiders before pulling them on, strap on my camera, and call the dogs for a walk around the garden. 

Two of seven dogs accompany me (the rest hunker on beds under blankets). I carry a big stick while walking and wave it in front of me as I apologize to spiders for breaking the webs they spun overnight. 

This wards off spider bites and furthers my reputation as Neighborhood Crazy Lady. 

Pond weed path.

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 

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Free Freedom?

Ten facts about Freedom Day

Yesterday, Monday April 27, was Freedom Day in South Africa.
Under normal conditions, Freedom Day is a public holiday to celebrate and commemorate the first post-apartheid elections held on April 27, 1994.
Freedom Day during Level 5 Lockdown seems like an oxymoron.

Perhaps it’s the public holiday…or Midlands weather – cold and wet – or the Lockdown Blues… or Trump Fatigue…or that we've blown passed 3 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 - one third of which are in the US ....that makes today’s post shorter than usual.

Before closing, this US state-by-state guideline may help you plan your day.

Regarding my homestate of California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is not prepared "to open up large sectors of our society" but made the first modification to the state's stay-at-home order with the resumption of "essential" surgeries.

“Tumors, heart valves, the need for people to get the kind of care they deserve," Newsom said. "If it’s delayed, it becomes acute. This fundamentally is a health issue.
The guidelines became effective immediately.
Meanwhile, San Diego announced April 24 that beaches could reopen for various forms of exercise beginning at sunrise on April 27. Boardwalks, piers, and parking lots remained closed; gatherings were still banned and beachgoers should maintain social distancing and wear a face covering, the city said.

You go, Gav!

On a bright note

Glow-the-dark/bioluminescence of swimming dolphins…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Cold, wet, rain… forecast is the same for tomorrow.
Perfect for plants, fine for fish, dismal for dogs, and lousy for lockdownees….

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 

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“Not worth the time and effort”

World: 2,971,669 confirmed cases; 206,542 deaths

US: 965,910 confirmed cases; 55,000 deaths 

SA: 4,546 confirmed cases; 88 deaths

BBC News
Click to enlarge 

Favorable front page news coverage and high ratings have been The Donald’s obsession for decades.
Massaging tabloid coverage of his shenanigans with women, business dealings, and lifestyle - along with his “reality” show "The Apprentice" - likely contributed to his election. 

A first-class narcissist, he adores coverage.
His disastrous comments on injecting disinfectant into the human body, however, may be his Waterloo.
Then again, this is Trump. Who knows what else his “very, large brain” cooks up before the election?

Click to enlarge

These days, even his handlers urge him away from the podium.
They fail, however, to confiscate his cell phone.

Over the weekend he went on a Tweet tirade

  … against the media Sunday, slamming a days-old story about his lax work habits and even bashing his usual favorite Fox News, calling for an “alternative.” 

Trump also called on reporters who wrote about Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election to return their “Noble” prizes. There are no Noble prizes for reported stories, nor are there Nobel Prizes. There are Pulitzer Prizes for journalism; there is a Nobel Prize for literature. That particular three-tweet rant about Noble prizes subsequently vanished. ... 

Hours later, Trump called his comments “sarcasm” — insisting he meant to say “Noble” prizes all along (even though he had earlier called on the “Noble Committee” to rescind the awards). 

Trump’s 10-tweet media attack (as of Sunday evening) first scorched The New York Times for what he called its “phony story” Thursday reporting that he often doesn’t arrive in the Oval Office until noon after spending the morning watching TV news — and enjoys eating Diet Coke and French fries. 

He called himself the “hardest-working president in history,” who hasn’t left the White House in “many months,” apparently forgetting a campaign rally just last month.  

One can almost feel sorry for a narcissist of his caliber to fail this spectacularly while the entire world watches. 

Back on Day 27, April 22, after his former friend Piers Morgan critiqued Trump’s (and Boris Johnson’s) woeful leadership in a time of crisis, I predicted “Piers Morgan can bid goodbye to that friendship.” 

Three days later, Donald Trump ‘unfollowed’ Piers Morgan on Twitter

Simultaneously, The Lincoln Project, and Republicans for the Rule of Law (prominent Republican groups) regularly release ad spots condemning the president, members of his administration, and other prominent Republicans. 

The next six months will be fascinating - if we survive Covid-19 pandemic. 

Trump won’t be physically removed from office – “Not worth the time and effort.”
His coterie of thugs, yes men, and Republican toadies, if wise, would limit his public announcements (including Tweets). 

After all, with Trump at the helm, they’ve succeeded in shrinking government – a decades-long goal. All that’s left is to drown it in the bathtub. That, they may accomplish before the election.
That’s terrible for the world, but powerful Republicans daily display how little “the world” matters to them. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… 

Cold and wet enough today to pull my winter faux-sheepskin jacket from storage. While temps drop in SA (F: 61/53; C:15/12) spring gears up in California (F: 85/55; C29/18). 

Alas, with no camera at hand, I missed shooting a red-chested cuckoo with its distinctive call: “Piet-my-vrou”.  (Listen to its call) Onomatopoeia anyone? Incidentally, Piet-my-vrou is the bird’s Afrikaans name. 

No recent goldfish sightings – but now I know they’re there….

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 
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"Out, Damned Spot!"

What'll he push next?
Don't hurry him -
 he could get it right
(...Nah! Unlikely)
(Click to enlarge)

“Out, damned spot,” says Lady Macbeth as she washes invisible blood from her hands. “Out, I say! - One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't. Hell is murky! ...afeared? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?”

In this scene, Shakespeare communicates Lady Macbeth’s internal attitude to her despicable actions brought on by overweening ambition. And to abuse of power by the powerful.

Lady Macbeth’s conscience still flickered.

Click to enlarge.

The Donald’s? Not so much.
He wallows in abusing his power . Moreover, he proudly tells the world that his decisions come from his “gut” and his “very, very large brain.”

Do you see either gut or large brain at work in this clip of Trump promoting the injection of disinfectant into the human body?

The clip shows me a desperately deluded individual aiming to go down in history as The Guy with the Definitive Cure.
As this gaff becomes a universal meme, The Donald is back-pedaling, claiming, “It was sarcasm.” (Sheesh, can’t you take a joke?)
Sarcasm?
During a pandemic that has, to date, killed upward of 50,000 Americans?

Astoundingly, some diehard Trumpies believe him.
Kudos to the 100+ Maryland residents who’d like to believe him but decided to ask actual experts before following the deadly advice.

Of the “big problem” in Trump’s response, former Trump officials say:

…he is not relying much on data  but instead is using what he’s previously called “his very, very large brain.” At a briefing in mid-April, he pointed to his head when asked the metrics he would use to decide when to reopen the economy. 

… Asked whether Trump is a different person because of the virus, Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s short-lived communications director, said: “No way. This guy hasn’t changed one iota.” [He added] “There’s only one thing that he’s concerned about and you know what that is? It’s TRUMP,” … spelling out the letters for effect. “When he does a news search,... [he] doesn’t search ‘USA,’ he searches ‘TRUMP.”

The Mooch got that right.

Then there are the pesky Americans (gotta be Democrats and socialists) who left a pile of newspaper-stuffed body bags outside Trump’s D.C. hotel.
Their message? “Most of the country believes in science….”

***

Listening pleasure

Click to enlarge

Music soothes ... and, during a pandemic, can lighten the load. The firefighter (left) gets it. He's playing his trumpet to lighten the load for residents locked down in Quito, Ecuador. Enjoy these, too:

• Randy Rainbow with A Spoonful of Clorox
• Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo’s pandemic take on Miriam Makeba’s famous song ‘Pata Pata
• Below: Song of Frogs after Rain – I recorded this after a heavy rainfall that flooded the garden and wetlands next door.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Click to enlarge

Detergent suds in the stream appear in the garden pond a few times a month.

Someone in the ‘hood is doing what residents near Howick Falls do: use public waterways to wash laundry.

***

I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to photograph a pair of long tailed birds flying into a yellowwood tree in the garden. They could be widowbirds, shown left. 

I’m almost certain they’re not pin-tailed whydah.
The whydah is a handsome bird – at least with his seasonal breeding plumage, as shown below.

The seasonal appearance of his tail must boost his confidence because, during this time, he chases, pecks, and bullies his feathered colleagues.

After his tail feathers drop off, he turns back into a small black and white bird… and the bully becomes the bullied.

Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 
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Meaty Issues

(c) Progressive Charleston
click to enlarge.

China’s Calling

Trump might have small paws, but when it comes to grasping money, they reach around the world.
From possible money laundering  to loans coming due, life’s going to get interesting for the guy who too often gets away with bad chit!
Those of us who follow the prez, know he’s up to his orange hair in various money schemes.
Now We the People (at least, those of us who care) discover that Trump owes tens of millions to the Bank of China – and the loan is coming due:

In 2012, his real estate partner refinanced one of Trump’s most prized New York buildings for almost $1 billion. The debt includes $211 million from the state-owned Bank of China — its first loan of this kind in the U.S. — which matures in the middle of what could be Trump’s second term.

Second term? Nah, he’s not getting another shot at that, is he? The question is, how will he squirm out of this one? And, how deeply will he implicate all of us?

***

The meat of it

Increasing evidence suggests climate change, decreasing natural environments, and pandemics go hand in hand. Fossil fuels subsidies are in the mix, too. So are your individual actions....

Usually not a head-in-sand kind of person, I admit existential pain kept me from looking too closely at the toll of ongoing poaching, hunting, and trafficking of wild animal and the devastation of our communal oceans.
Last week I joined the Daily Maverick webinar, Earth Day: Nature and Societal Reset in the Age of Covid-19.  Presenter Linda Tucker clued me into what was happening with lion bones … and lions, and tigers, and bears….
It ain’t pretty.

Serendipitously, soon after the webinar, I received an email from Dear South Africa, a policy shaping outreach organization to which I subscribe.  Dear South Africa encourages citizen participation in governmental propositions. (If you are South African, sign up )
This time, it asked citizens: Do you support the draft amendment to the Meat Safety Act?
I read the information then, not one to hold back, I responded:

No, I do not support the draft amendment to the Meat Safety Act.
Never in my wildest nightmares did I consider humans to be as short-sighted, greedy, thuggish, and self-centered as this amendment shows them to be. Instead of domesticating and/or eating and/or otherwise consuming wild creatures, we humans should be doing our best to conserve them and the natural lands that SUPPORT THEM AND US IN THE LONG TERM. If its an issue of money, FAR MORE MONEY CAN BE MADE CONSERVING RATHER THAN KILLLING. Wake me up, someone. This nightmare must end!

You can get involved and share your view on the Meat Safety Act

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Next week, lockdown will ease from Level 5 to Level 4.
Who knows if easing will make much of a difference in the here and now. Long term, however, lockdown has gifted me with the time to truly notice the ongoing lives around me: birds, bugs, fish, fowl, primates, plants. I noticed and appreciated these lives before but this time around, the joy of just sitting, listening, and watching has been a luxury.

Pond Creature Takes a Breather
Click to enlarge

This frog (Common Striped River Frog?) popped out the pond and posed for me.
I titled it, "Pond Creature Takes a Breather."

Far away in Florida, endangered sea turtles agree that Covid-19 has an upside.
They're taking a breather, too.

Monkey dream
I dreamed an ill neighborhood monkey placed herself in my care.
I wrapped the wild creature in a blanket and felt her furry forehead for fever.
We stared into one another’s eyes...and we saw one another. Fellow creatures.

The dream ended there but the feelings evoked have not ended. I hope they don’t.
I’ve re-dedicated to following the knowledge with which I’ve been gifted. Oh, the existential pain will be there, but my personal pain is nothing compared to that foisted upon our living planet by thuggery, greed, and ignorance.


Read Week 1  | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4  |  Week 5

See photos Spying on Garden Creatures 
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