nature | My Desultory Blog

Let’s go swimming … come on in, the water is fine. #sharks

RichC | January 23, 2019

A filler post, but not a good photo for those nervous about swimming in the ocean. The photos last week from a couple of freedivers in Hawaii swimming with a massive Great White Shark known as #DeepBlue really has me wondering just how wise it is to be that adventurous. There is a fine line […]

Category: Environment, Misc, Nature, Photos, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: filler, great white shark, nature, ocean, photo, sharks, swimming

Archive: Asclepias Syriaca (Common Milkweed) flowering date shift in response to climate change | Scientific Reports

RichC | December 13, 2018

While this article (PDF version) may not necessarily garner front page news, it is something I wanted to read and archive because it was researched and published by my nephew Aaron Howard. Well done. The consequences of altered flowering dates due to climate change can be severe, especially for plants that rely on coordinated flower […]

Category: Education, Misc, Science | Comments Off on Archive: Asclepias Syriaca (Common Milkweed) flowering date shift in response to climate change | Scientific Reports
Tags: aaron howard, biology, climate change, nature, pdf, publication

What a view! Happy Birthday to my son-in-law Drew

RichC | December 13, 2015

Looking at this sunrise photo at the Grand Canyon on a small screen does not do it justice, so click so it’s full-size; that’s a great photo from Drew‘s new Nexus 6 smartphone. Perhaps its not just the amazing view or stunning sunrise photo … but the fact that my “crazy daughter” (as Drew titled his email) […]

Category: Nature, Personal, Photos, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: beauty, drew, family, grand canyon, katelyn, nature, nexus6

Some animals are perfectly adapted to their surroundings

RichC | December 29, 2014

Hey kids, why don’t you go play on the rocks while mom and I get lunch ready? (a photo from Australia, so don’t panic if you are hiking somewhere with smaller snakes) —

Category: Environment, Nature, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: australia, nature, rocks, snakes

An Oahu, Hawaii photo that was too beautiful not to share

RichC | June 20, 2013

Karen Hutton of KarenHuttonPhotography posted a gorgeous photo from Makapu’u Lookout in Oahu, Hawaii yesterday that makes me want to return to Hawaii. (our 2006 trip) Her description was nice too: I could almost see the curvature of the earth on the horizon… it was dizzying! And wonderful, and blue, green, gorgeous and stunning. I […]

Category: Environment, Photography, Photos, Social Networking, Travel | No Comments »
Tags: beauty, hawaii, nature, photography

The most interesting thing you will learn this weekend

RichC | November 24, 2012

I’ve enjoyed beachcombing and ocean exploring all my life, but I never realized just how important the prehistoric looking horseshoe crab is to biomedical science and pharmaceutical research. For 30 years I’ve had shells, sand terrariums and even a horseshoe crab shell hanging in my office but never knew all that much about them … […]

Category: Nature, Video | No Comments »
Tags: crab, horseshoe, nature, ocean

Most Recent Posts

08/20/19: Archive: Photo wrap-up of our 2019 summer week with Annalyn
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08/16/19: A Great White Shark video always makes a good filler
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08/13/19: Ceiling fans: Direction, energy consumption, old vs new?
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08/12/19: Happy Birthday Brenda, with a couple photos from the archives
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08/11/19: Will the average American middle class family rent forever?
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08/10/19: Is a little consistency in Amazon delivery too much to ask?
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08/09/19: Tech Friday: Overcoming Paywalls with the help of Pocket
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08/08/19: Where have the years gone? 11 years ago and now in 2019. #TBT
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08/07/19: Personal thoughts on recent events in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio
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08/05/19: Nobody likes investing when there is blood in the stock market?
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08/05/19: Content by Netflix and Amazon and filming Hillbilly Elegy
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08/04/19: Our culture has accepted two huge lies … a Rick Warren #quote
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08/03/19: Kitchen Ideas when you would rather be on a boat
A filler photo tidbit for today’s post, but this creative kitchen island idea from one of my sailing groups caught my eye. It “would” have worked in our kitchen … I’m just not sure I could… »
08/02/19: Tech Friday: How safe is data with cloud storage services?
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08/01/19: Volkswagen is winning us back and easing bounteous warranty
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07/30/19: Falling back on fiberglass and autobody skills for house repairs
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07/29/19: Music Monday: If You Love Me Let Me Know – Olivia Newton John
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07/26/19: Tech Friday: Quantum computing and cryptography
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07/25/19: An old newspaper clipping and a great summer job #TBT
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07/24/19: Do you recycle or think about your environmental footprint?
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07/23/19: It has been HOT and an update on the New Gutters for the house
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07/22/19: Music Monday: Cheeseburger in Paradise – Jimmy Buffett
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07/21/19: What do you do when you lock yourself out? Use a hammer?
I am calling today “embarrass your wife day,” as she admitted to the questionable decision to open a door with a hammer when I was out of town last week (although she hid the damage for a day). Now that a few days… »
07/20/19: Anniversary: 50 years ago we landed on the moon – July 20, 1969
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07/19/19: Tech Friday: Photo manipulation is disturbing and creepy #faceapp
Disturbing and “creepy” (as Katelyn messaged) … although I don’t mind looking a bit younger. 😉 Photoshop in the old days was fun to play around with, but nowadays, video and photo manipulation is beginning… »
07/18/19: Archive: Condo1718 electrical updates and mirror thoughts
I’m archiving the last few photos from my iPhone from this past weekend updates to Condo master bathroom. I finished what I was able to do without an extra set of hands and will do the rest the next time Brenda is… »
07/17/19: The condo master bathroom is slowly coming together
Finished up the vanities in the master bathroom at the condo this past weekend and all went well in putting in 5 new valves and 2 drains. I shocked even myself in that all “went as planned.” Unfortunately… »
07/16/19: Fifty years ago NASA launched Apollo 11 in our race to land a man on the moon in the 1960s
In the space race with the Soviet Union (USSR) during the 1960s, the United States “rocketed” ahead on July 16, 1969 as NASA sent the three men of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins… »
07/15/19: Why not just stick with American Standard, Delta or Moen?
My wife does not appreciate the common everyday American branded sinks, vanities or faucets … and wanted something a little more unique for the Condo master bathroom (sort of like the other bathroom update last year… »
07/15/19: Music Monday: A one hit wonder – Oh, Oh, Oh It’s Magic
Heard this one-hit-wonder this past week and thought it would make a great addition for Music Monday. The once Bay City Roller members, David Paton and Billy Lyall, formed the group Pilot in 1973 and in 1975… »
07/14/19: Book: Moondust – In Search of the Men Who Fell to the Earth
As we approach the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon in 1969, I’ve been enjoying both television anniversary shows, articles and the book Moondust – In Search of the Men Who Fell to the Earth.… »
07/13/19: Art: “Inner Beauty” can mean different things #stingray
… »
07/13/19: Tropical Storm Barry expected to make landfall as a Hurricane
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07/12/19: Tech Friday: The challenges of policing speech on social media
There are challenges from users and governments facing several of the companies who make money advertising to the millions of eyeballs and the marketing of users personal data. We all want “free services,” but most… »
07/11/19: Twitter is a dead bird at the moment …
I tend to use Twitter $TWTR as my daily newsfeed and choice of social media comment platform, but on Thursday afternoon this week, it is not working. For me, it is no big deal, but for reporters and politicians, it is… »
07/11/19: Beautiful early morning summer driving in Ohio
For decades I drove the Cincinnati to Cleveland/Akron/Warren Ohio drive at 4AM each week, but in recent years business has changed and the drive is no longer a regular thing. Part of me misses that early morning trip,… »
07/10/19: Children are online A LOT, so how do we protect them?
Oh for the good ol’ days when we read cereal boxes in the morning and just wanted the trinket inside or collected box tops while learning “delayed gratification.” Kids online: ”81% of the world’s… »
07/09/19: Catch up post after our 2019 Fourth of July Family weekend
The holiday weekend at our house in Cincinnati was fun for all as I enjoyed my kids stretching out my birthday celebration with a Saturday Indians – Reds baseball game (posted on Saturday). We all had a great time… »
07/08/19: Congratulations–130 yrs for the Wall Street Journal newspaper
As a newspaper oriented guy from years ago, I have a soft spot for ink on paper and digital journalism (started as local newspaper photog when in high school and worked for Knight Ridder in the 1980s). Even my eventual… »
07/07/19: Technology, communication, parenting and The Lord’s Prayer
As a grandparent, I so enjoyed how technology has been able to keep our family connected. Perhaps it is not unlike remembering my mother talking with her parents daily on the “wired” telephone after we moved “so… »
07/06/19: A big thanks to Taylor for planning a Reds-Indians family day
Thanks Taylor for planning and my family for spending an extended birthday weekend over the 4th of July. We all enjoyed the great time together as a family at Great American Ballpark watching my two favorite MLB team… »

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