Musings

Northbound this time of the year in North America is a journey back in spring. In southern Michigan we found our first lilacs in bloom, this small type with a confusing shape to the plant and an unmistakable scent…our first lilacs of 2024.

We also spotted our first Great Lake of the year. We are so fortunate have a room on the beach facing Lake Huron—this is our view. The beach is infested with some sort of beach flies (not mayflies), if you trust my identification. The seagulls are flocking to the insects, so there’s more drama than the waves crashing on land.

Posted at 9:52 PM | Comments Off on Firsts

Tomorrow is election day, and I thought up this post before I “hit a wall,” and went to bed early. Without posting. Without watching the Rachel–Fani interview.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Delayed post

In early Covid, the Apple store moved to an exterior location in Lenox mall, not far north of our house. We visited there because the Guru’s new iPad (with a fabulous screen), began just rebooting without rebooting, with an Apple logo, then the waiting circle; repeat. Not good. Anyway, a Genius determined that the system software needed to be reinstalled, meaning that after we returned home the Guru started over with repopulating the device with his digital world. Fortunately, the machine seems to be fine…just some software stutter-glitch. [If I have it right.] Oh, the staircase? The sterile, angular, cold staircase? It’s in the interior of the two-story Apple store, invisible to people in the store. Mostly Apple customers leave the store and take the escalator in the hallway outside the store to change levels. Since the rest of the store features clear glass, even along the balcony wall of the second story, this walled-off stairway is additionally strange. Must be a fire code requirement to have the staircase.

Posted at 9:56 PM | Comments Off on Stark stair

I’ve been mapping the distribution of Bronze Age mounds in modern central Turkey, and thinking about the (human) population density, and the agriculture and distribution system it took to feed those people. This is the era of the Hittites (not what they called themselves). I’ve been vastly ignorant of Hittite history, which perhaps is just as well, as there have been several breakthroughs in recent research that has changed our ideas about their political economy to some extent.

Posted at 10:29 PM | Comments Off on __ on the past

The other day I recommended to the Guru that he read an article in the New Yorker, and I told him the title. A bit later he asked if I was sure it was in the New Yorker, as he couldn’t find it. Surprising…he’s a guy who knows how to find stuff on the web.

After the dust settled, I found the article by searching the author, and it turned out the title was totally different on the web. Howizzat?

Posted at 10:18 PM | Comments Off on Hrrrrumph

Here in North America, gardenias are non-native plants, so maybe I shouldn’t enjoy them so much; however, the heavenly scent cannot be overlooked…over-smelled?

Posted at 9:08 PM | Comments Off on In the moment

The gardenias are out. The best thing is to stand by them, close my eyes, and inhale.

Posted at 8:59 PM | Comments Off on Heavenly

The English word avocado etymologically traces to the Nahuatl (“Aztec”) āhuacatl also written auacatl. The spelling is different, but the sounds are more similar. That final -tl is tricky. We English speakers tend to stick a vowel sound between them. Nope. It’s slightly easier for me to eliminate the vowel temptation by starting with tl- in practice. Still, -tl without a vowel sound is against the customary English sound patterns.

It’s better to learn a language by listening rather than reading/writing, I think….

Posted at 9:50 PM | Comments Off on Fruity thoughts

We had several hours with my brother today. He was here for meetings downtown. He said he’d like to get outdoors and walk a bit before the hours he’d be spending sitting in a plane returning to SEA. So, we took him to Piedmont Park (not original, but almost always rewarding), where we found lunch and some off-white plant specimens.

The upper photo is of a long hydrangea bloom, its weight bringing it horizontal. This one is what I think is cottonwood “cotton”…with a slightly green tinge.

We had a grand time, and also saw ducks and geese and turtles, a few dogs, and many people strolling and generally enjoying the afternoon. Just as we did.

Posted at 8:47 PM | Comments Off on Off-white

I spotted the first blooming dogwood I’ve noticed this year…

…and this reminded me of a European scenario.

Posted at 8:11 PM | Comments Off on Of note