No thank you, Mrs Cleaver!

This spring, before the temperatures spiked super high and nothing grew anymore, my back yard became a site for this odd weed I didn't remember seeing before. A light to mid green color, growing up rather than spreading, and extremely sticky proliferating nuisance. I'd try not to touch it because it was so tough to remove it from my hands. In looking online as to what in the world this weed is, I found it was called Galium aparine. It's also called cleavers, catchweed, bedstraw, sticky willy and some other names that are probably more colorful because I'm sure many people despise it as much as me. 

Cleavers can grow up to four feet tall and are covered with hooked hairs. These are what cling to anything and everything with a vengeance, much like hyper Velcro. Although I don't recommend it, the leaves and stems of the weed are edible if cooked. Teas can be made from its dry leaves. Dry and roast the fruits to make a  drink similar to coffee. Its roots can be used to make a red dye. Personally, I decided to eliminate it from my yard. 

 

Separated at birth?

 Reba McEntire and whatever character this is from the movie Ice Age. (No offense to Reba. She's great!)

 

Do we need 'em: Flants

Years ago I began seeing ants with wings, something I was sure never existed when I was growing up. Were they mutants? Was there some kind of odd mating with flies creating winged ants? I began calling them flants, a mix of fly and ant. When I saw one again this spring, I decided to research the strange insect. Apparently they are normal and always have been. They are ants called alates. These winged alate ants fly in order for the queen to mate with males from different colonies. Then she creates nests in various places. Apparently, afterward mating, the queen will chew off her own wings. Something I'm sure she didn't sign up for. 

So, since flants are ants, the question then is, do we need ants? And that answer would be yes, because: 

• They improve soil aeration, redistributing nutrients and organic matter (dead insects, plants, debris), enriching the soil. 
• Some ants collect seeds and carry them to their nests, where they can sprout.
• Ants prey on insects (termites, aphids, caterpillars) and other pests, helping control their populations and reducing crop damage. 
• Ants provide food for birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. (Sorry ants, them's the breaks.)

I could've sworn I saw fireworks From your house last night

 

In another month it will be the 4th of July and lots of people will be buying and setting off fireworks. As the decades roll on by, I find that I'm not as enthused as I used to be to see, or especially to hear, fireworks. It's rare to see something I haven't seen many times over and wow, I'm now understanding why the loud booms bother animals so much. To combat visual burn out and auditory sensitivity, as well as pollution, it might be nice if places could use dynamic, imaginative fireworks created by drones. The pictures here are examples of some drone handiwork. 

Unfortunately, it is still rare for drone fireworks to be used. The major reason is the cost. Traditional displays cost between ten and twenty thousand but drone fireworks average around a hundred thousand. In larger cities and places that can swing the cost, the spectacle, safety, environmental friendliness and minimal noise to bother animals and elderly might be worth it. 

Everybody cut footloose!

Not sure if I wrote about this way in the past. At The Oracle of Bacon, you can enter another actor you may have some degree of separation from and find out how many degrees they are separated from actor Kevin Bacon, thereby finding out how many degrees of separation you are from Bacon. For example, one time my college roommate literally (mistakenly) crashed into Angie Dickinson at an ice show in Los Angeles, knocking her over. Since Angie was in the movie Ocean's 11 with Jessica James and Jessica was in the movie Diner with Kevin Bacon, my degree of separation from Bacon is four. 

The Great Moose Migration

The science fiction comedy Red Dwarf asked the question: "It's 1971, a Swedish man crashes into a tree, what causes the accident? There's nothing medical, nothing wrong with the car." And the answer: 

 

This is a screenshot from SVT where usually nothing much happens until the moose begin their annual spring migration across the Ångerman River in northern Sweden to summer pastures. Last year 9 million people tuned in to watch them. This year, I'm joining the ranks.