Summer Most Heat Moon
Practicing a little odonatology this morning.
Also some some caratology.
And various other -ologies.
Monthly Archives: July 2014
Itchy Palm? Too much odonatology?
Summer Most Heat Moon
The dragonfly came up in conversation yesterday because I saw one outside the window at Running Aces and remarked I’d read they hadn’t changed in 300,000,000 years. A remarkable fact to me and one I confirmed in some quick internet research this morning.
Tom then added that they were unique in their ability to vector their prey, that is, calculate the prey’s path and their own so they would intersect. All other apex predators chase their prey. Very interesting. (see video below)
A little more poking around found a few more interesting facts about the dragonfly, but I put the most remarkable one (to me) last.
1. The study of dragonflies, and sometimes damselflies, is called Odonatology. Dragonflies are referred to as Odonates.
2. About 5000 species of dragonflies and damselflies are known
3. Top speed for a dragonfly is between 30 and 60 km/h (19 to 38 m.p.h.)
4. A dragonfly needs warmth to fly and you will notice they will often land when
the sun goes behind a cloud.
5. Because of their compound eyes, dragonflies can see in many directions at once
6. Fact: They Calculate Velocity For A Perfect Kill
The dynamics of capturing an object in mid-air are staggeringly complex, so much so that it’s usually something that’s only done by animals with complex nervous systems, like seagulls, or humans. To intercept something moving with its own velocity, you have to be able to predict where it will be in the future. When researchers began studying dragonflies in 1999, they found that rather than “track” their prey—follow it through the air until they caught up with it—they would actually intercept it. In other words, dragonflies ensure a kill by flying to where their prey is going to be.
That indicates that dragonflies calculate three things during a hunt: the distance of their prey, the direction it’s moving, and the speed it’s flying. In the space of milliseconds, the dragonfly calculates its angle of approach and, like a horror movie monster, it’s already waiting while the hapless fly stumbles right into its clutches.
7. Most of a dragonfly’s life is spent in the naiad form beneath the water’s surface…They breathe through gills in their rectum, and can rapidly propel themselves by suddenly expelling water through the anus.[6
Railbirds
Summer Most Heat Moon
A warm summer evening, a true northern summer evening with just a hint of coolness after the sun went down. The Woollies gathered at Running Aces: Mark, Scott, Warren, Frank, Bill and Tom. Most of us were novices at betting the horses, but we made up in enthusiasm what we lacked in knowledge. Normally, you would expect such a situation to favor the house, but I’m sure as a group we took home more money than we bet. Warren hit a boxed exacta and so did I. Between us we won over $215.
The food is good bar food and we had a window table with a clear view of the finish line. We discussed betting techniques: what a cute name, color, odds by Ricky, odds by trackman published at the bottom of the program, looking at the racing history of the horses. Names seemed a dominant choice.
I bet on Hooray Katie. Lost. Frank bet on Hanna. Won a quarter. Tom and Mark bet on Kissmelikeyoumeanit and won. Mark won an exacta. Bill won a couple of times. I think Scott won, too.
These horses, pacers and trotters, are Standardbreds. This means that they trace their ancestory to Hambeltonian 10(pic). If thoroughbred racing is the sport of kings, harness racing, the same source of information says, is the sport of the people. The people were out there tonight, cheering and drinking, enjoying the summer evening. And the Woollies were part of it.
Huh
Summer Most Heat Moon
Over to Beisswinger’s hardware store to pick up the mower after repairs. While there I noticed a group gathered amongst the riding mowers on display, two men with Beisswinger tee-shirts and two Chinese or Japanese men taking notes, while a third took photographs. Here’s what surprised me. My reaction.
My first thought. Hmmm, Chinese investors getting ready to make a bid for the Do It Best hardware corporation. In taking care of the mower and payment I forgot to ask anyone who the visitors were, but my reaction itself is noteworthy. How the economic landscape has changed.
On the Run
Summer Most Heat Moon
Started a new book last night, On the Run, by Alice Goffman, a recently graduated sociologist Ph.D. Her father was Erving Goffman, also a sociologist. You may be familiar with his work on social interactions. For example, in a work on human interaction he observed that the amount of space people need when conversing while standing differs by culture.
On the Run recounts Alice’s 7 years of living in a poor black neighborhood of Philadelphia, but recounts it from a sociological perspective. I’ll write more about this as I get into it, but I wanted to note two things I’ve learned already. Things that disturb me quite a bit.
First, in the introduction she cites devastating statistics about the incarceration of black males. This one really got me. 60% of black males who don’t finish high school end up in jail. 60%!
Second, she remarks on a coincidence that’s been staring us in the face for a long, long time, but is even more devastating. The rise of tough-against-crime legislation and the war on drugs-both of which are primary drivers in what one sociologist calls “mass incarceration”-began in the 1970’s. This is the period just after the passage in 1964 of the Civil Rights Act and the victories of the civil rights movement. Think about those two things together. They should give you pause.
More later.
Beet Generation
Summer Most Heat Moon
A few images from the beet harvest last weekend.
Flowing With The Move
Summer Most Heat Moon
When we are ready, a house will appear. I believe this. We’ve looked at many, many houses online now. Kate’s visited several parts of Colorado and we’ve narrowed our geographical preference. By the time next February comes, we’ll have clarity about what we want, what we need. The one available at that time, our next house, will emerge out of the clutter of competing listings, we’ll find it. And buy it.
Before that, we finish decluttering this house, getting it ready for the market. We look at our pared down furnishings, get out the tape measure and figure the room we need for our own creative spaces. That will help us decide just how much we need in a new home, or new home plus out buildings.
All of this living in the move means staying in the flow toward Colorado, realizing where the energy naturally goes at this stage and following it. Putting our shoulders behind work at the time it needs to be done means we use the momentum of change to our benefit. Easier than fighting against it, trying to push things to move faster. Then the momentum of change works against us.
We can, now, decide on communities, specific locales like Idaho Springs, Golden, the I-70 corridor. We can, now, pack and declutter, packing those things we won’t use until next year and throwing those things we no longer need. SortTossPack has come once already and they’ll come again, probably around Labor Day. Later in the fall the yard work contractors will prune and mulch, declutter the front.
Kate and I will probably head out to Colorado for Thanksgiving together, so I can drive around with her. We’ll stay two or three nights in Golden, then another two or three in Idaho Springs. Get to know some people. By that time our house should have left, unpacked, only those things we’ll need through the move.
Then, in December or January we’ll finish up the physical modifications that need to get done for staging the house. And we’ll begin actively checking the market in Colorado. Looking for that house that is ready for us.
A Busy Time
Summer Most Heat Moon
Ah. A week of guests, Jon and Ruth. 4 days with Kate gone, then 3 more days with a guest. Kate home.
Result? Weariness. A dullness and a minor sense of dispiritedness. An interesting word, this last. The spirit has gone, at least to some extent. The air has gone out of the tire, deflated. The body sags a bit, wanting to settle into a position of rest. There is to each breath the hint of a sigh.
Granting this description a full paragraph makes it sound more than I’m experiencing. It is a minor, will go away feeling. But, it is real. There is, too, a mild exhaustion. Recovery is not quite as quick as it used to be. That’s a third phase reality, too.
And, yes, it was all worth it. Jon and Ruth being here saw the deck get done, our move’s primary purpose strengthened, some important time with Ruth by herself. The time alone meant Kate was riding ahead, hand blocking out the sun, learning the mountains. Mary’s visit reaffirmed family ties, brought knowledge about mom and dad I did not have. So, yes I’m glad all of it happened and will be equally glad to have life take on its new norm as we continue to live in the move.
Today, though. A rest day.
Nocturne
Summer Most Heat Moon
As the night settles gently here, Kate is home and has taken Kepler with her to bed. He sleeps in his own bed near ours.
There’s a dynamic when she’s gone, a bit unsettling, but also affirming. Let me see if I can be clear about it. We are, together, more than two, but also two. When we are apart, the twoness remains in memory, but the day-to-day facticity of it shifts. There is no other body in the bed. Nor at breakfast. Nor as the day goes by. The simple joy of a dog’s antics, wonder at some passing insect or cloud, soothing of a momentary mood, a reminder of each other’s value just by being present one to the other is lost. Only for a while, but lost anyhow.
The affirmation comes in knowing these things by their absence. The unsettling rises with this third phase certainty, some day one of us will leave and not come back. What then? The facticity of the relationship will be gone and with it all those subtle, ordinary, sacred moments that make up a common life. Death brooks no return and the loss will be in that sense total.
That is not now, for us. And I’m glad. Happy that we had this day together. And hopeful that we will have tomorrow. We do, after all, have that move to prepare.
Scouting Report: First Impressions
Summer Most Heat Moon
No battle plan survives contact with the enemy. So it is with housing criteria. Which is why we had our scout out on a horse, peeking at houses through shrubbery, checking out communities and areas. Current impression. Acreage with trees on more or less level ground and in the mountains may not be in our price range. So, what to do?
Retreat to lower ground, changing the altitude criteria, or reconsider acreage? Right now I’m thinking the latter. We have four dogs, yes, but will have only three and at some point not too far away, only one. (Vega and Rigel will have shorter lifespans than Gertie.) Perhaps we could find a place with less acreage but land we can fence for our dogs, who are homebodies for the most part anyhow.
I’m also willing to pull back on the gardening, having a smaller plot. As my energy and enthusiasm for physical labor wanes, my interest in the life of the mind continues to increase. We might need to focus on our indoor pursuits for our property and let the Rocky Mountains tend to our earth connections. This could make more sense for aging in place anyhow.
With a smaller lot we can buy more house and maybe gain all the way round. Just thinking out loud right now.