3:00 snapshot #850

Our shitty work knifes are now organized and hanging from a magnet. I want to get a 20 dollar Japanese knife (a santoku, if I'm googling correctly) so I can chop greens and sweet potatoes without cramping my hand.

Taken while sitting at a red light

One of the most conspicuous signs of the changing seasons is the large groupings of crows. They gather in the evening and spread out in the morning. This was taken from the intersection of Hyde Park Ave and Canterbury Street on my morning commute. There were a half dozen or so crows on the wire.

More urban species

European ground beetle Carabus nemoralis

This large (7/8 inch) beetle with a variably iridescent pronotum can be a surprising find underneath a log or in garden debris. Like most ground beetles it is a predator on other invertebrates, and like most animals found in urban soil it is native to Europe. One wonders what the native soil fauna of the various coast of North America might have been, but that fact is lost to history. Soil ballast from European ships contained creatures that had already been living underneath cityfolks' shoes for centuries and was dumped on the shores of The Colonies. Overturn a log in Boston or New York and you will find animals native to London and Amsterdam. I would love to do a global survey, turning over logs and rocks in cities around the world and comparing them all.

I found this individual in Boston, outside the Tropical Forest exhibit in the Franklin Park Zoo.

Finishing something?

I just noticed that I'm only 2 species away from finishing my 100 species project. I have #99 ready to go, and #100 is in my camera, which I left at work this weekend. I'm tentative about starting a new project for next year, partly because I like to take the winter off, and partly because I expect next year to be a very busy one.

Why is next year going to be busy? Several reasons: I plan to start keeping chickens and making beer, for two. Also, there will be a Presidential Election, and I anticipate being an anxious wreck, especially as the year wears on. I remember 2008 all too well, being anxious all the time that America would idiotically elect a Republican for president, as if the previous 8 years weren't enough reason not to. This coming year may be less stressful, in that they haven't managed to find anyone qualified for the office, and most of the people running would be hilarious if they weren't evil scumbags. However the country has had 4 years to forget what hell it was to live under a GOP administration, and many people have blamed Obama for not farting unicorns even though he accomplished more in foreign policy than any president since Nixon (without, you know, being a crook), and probably averted a second Great Depression. All the while the Republicans have steadfastly stood in the way of everything Obama tried to do EVEN WHEN IT WAS ORIGINALLY THEIR IDEA. Where was I? Oh yeah, I'll be preoccupied with the election next year.

Speaking of elections, I'll be running for President of NEAAZK this year (the Zookeeper Association at my Zoo) and so far it looks like I'll be unopposed. That's good, but it means that much of the year I'll be in a position of responsibility like I've never experienced before, planning events and making decisions and whatnot. This is the main reason I'm nervous about committing to a blog project.

Nonetheless, I have a pretty good idea of what that project will be called and what it will consist of. I don't expect to surprise you too much, but I will be putting out a reliable blog product (maybe fewer typos?).

Also I want to do more Urban Nature Walks.