May: On & Off Earth..

OMG.. A hardcore TDS* blitz to call out a 'former' TDS*, Bob No Good. Seems he got caught admitting that maybe donnie is an idiot and likely to make the GOP losers again. Support now leaning to total fascist, AK in hand, no idea what that idiots name is... 

GOOGLE SUCKS...HAS ANYONE THERE EVERY WRITTEN ANYTHING..ON A WORD PROCESSOR??

May 2024

On & Off Earth

Was it the hot and dry fall, the cool but very wet winter, or perhaps the little taste of snow that set the stage for the Lady Slipper explosion going on in my woods this spring? What ever variables combined, our local showy orchids have doubled or even tripled in number this year.  Even as many of my dogwoods were less than impressive with bloom this spring, the Lady Slippers have picked up the slack.

I just learned there are over 60 species of orchids in Virginia. Most are neither plentiful in their range or number and many are not as eye catching as the Lady Slippers. All seem to have a very local connection to the fungal world living just beneath the forest floor; they do not transplant well. I have only discovered one other species in my woods, the Large Twayblade, leaves similar to its Lady Slipper cousin but with tiny flowers on its bloom stalk; equally lovely but much less of a show off!

Other than the splash of pink from the Lady Slippers and wild Azaleas, also having a banner spring bloom, the forest theme is now green. I can pick out tree trunks close to the house but beyond that the eyes run into a wall of green, billions (trillions?) of leaves stretching out for the sun. Out of the forest the green theme continues to lawns, fields and gardens. The quick switch from cool to hot leads me to believe any frost danger is well past. Early tomatoes planters gaining the advantage this year.

Our tilted world really allows the sun to beam down in May, almost 14 hours on Mayday and over 14 1/2 hours by month’s end. Serious sun protection is required all month!! Mix in the extra light before sunrise and after sunset and May is not a good month for off-Earth sky observations. The Spring constellations don’t really sparkle or dazzle and there are no planets visible in the May evening sky, all either behind the sun or low in the eastern predawn sky. The Full Flower moon is on the 23rd. Our view of the sun changes from Aries to Taurus on May 15th.

With the eclipse news cycle well past, the new happening is the emergence of cicadas. We will not be trapped in the madness of their mating songs. The convergence of the 13 year variety and the 17 year variety, a first since Jefferson was president, will, like outbreaks of tornadoes, be a Great Plains thing. The local 17 year crew has several more years of life below ground before returning to share their ‘songs’ with us.

Pacific Ocean temperature watchers have noticed that El Niño, the pool of warm water sloshed up against South America is beginning to fade. An uptick in the Trade Winds, pushing that warmth westward, back across the Pacific, seems to be leading to a La Niña for the rest of 2024. For us, that likely means a hotter summer with more hurricanes. Out west, they may get a break from the constant barrage of storms. Earth changes rolling & roiling ever onward.

Sitting outside on a recent evening, I watched a bat work the sky above and behind my house, hard to follow as it darted about snagging bugs; thankful for every mosquito it snacked on, before that mosquito snacked on me. I wish the bats would eat some ticks! Perils aside, May beckons, get out and enjoy the warm side of Spring.

Today On Earth

*TDS - TrumpDickSucker..MT Greene so longs to suck his stubby..Pick her for VP..guarantee a big loss!!

Photo for this column..again