Getting The Word Out

I was not sure I liked the idea of Bill Nye the Science Guy debating Ken Ham of the Creation Museum in Kentucky.  

The Creation Museum is where you can see exhibits like this one, showing a girl not being ripped to shreds by an animal that lived 100 million years before there were humans - or 6 thousand years ago according to Ham's imaginative take on the bible.

Ham read the bible carefully - or not - and decided that the world was created 6,000 years ago, which probably came as a surprise to a lot of people at the time.

I guess someone forgot to tell him that
the Flintstones were a children's cartoon

Anyhow, the question among people who paid attention in science class was whether even standing up in public to talk to Ham would give him credibility.  As Mark Twain wrote, "Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience".

This must have been edited out of my 

copy of the bible.

Today Phil Plait, who definitely paid attention in school, wrote an editorial explaining why the debate was a good thing.  He pointed out that scientists too often think that the facts are obvious and need no explanation.  They are seen as snobby intellectual atheists.  

(A note on that atheist thing:  while more probable than the fact that some gigantic, petulant - read your old testament, folks -  man-like creature is watching over us and visiting us with plagues, atheism likewise is not based on observed fact.  In fact, science can not prove a negative.  Just because something has not been found doesn't make it impossible.  It just makes it unlikely.  So a true scientist must be an agnostic - not proven awaiting further data.)

What is needed, according to Plait, is articulate people people of faith to stand up and explain things.  People like Pope John Paul II, a deeply religious man, who stated that there is no conflict between the fact of evolution and his religion.  So, ironically, what we need are people of religion who can explain science and let the masses know that most traditional religions have no problem with science.

I wonder if Ham has a problem with science in the form of microchips, gps, internal combustion, television, medicine beyond quarantining lepers.

Phil Plait's article may be seen here.

Sunny Day!

It is snowing.  A lot.  The media will be full of photos of snow.  A lot.

So, I am posting some photos I took at Hammonasset State Park yesterday.  It was sunny, the Sun was warm, it was a beautiful day for a walk (although I was just out playing in the snow and today is also a beautiful day for a walk)!

This is a yellow-rumped warbler.  They are one of the first 

warblers to show up here in the spring.  Apparently they

have learned from the robins that there is no longer a need

to fly south for the winter.

Red tailed hawk.  Our largest hawk.  Only eagles and vultures 

are larger.

When I was at KP Elementary, we drew pictures and sang

songs about the first robin of spring.  Climate change has

changed that.

Tree sparrow

Starling.  An English invasive bird that has caused a lot

of damage here, but they are beautiful.

Phragmites, or reed grass.  A sign of wet ground.

The best photo I have ever taken of a horned lark.

Cedar waxwings and a robin.  There are a lot of cedar trees

here, and the waxwings love the cedar berries.  There is a

starling here also.

This is a Carolina wren.  This species showed up in my part 

of CT about 10 years ago.  They are moving north.  

Wrens are tiny birds with attitude.

Black locusts.  The pea-like flowers smell like grapes.
Good firewood.

Spring Checklist

Sugar Maple sap running:  Check.


Red Maple buds swelling:  Check.



Willow twigs turning orange:  Check.



Cardinals whistling:  Check.


Skunks up and wandering:  Check.


Woodpeckers drumming:  Check.

Its spring!  Take tomorrow off.   I hereby cancel school in Connecticut for tomorrow.

Foxes Wanted

"The mouse is a sober citizen who knows that grass grows in order that mice may store it as

White-footed deer mouse tunnels in the new snow.  They had better 

stay away from the tender, sweet bark of my apple trees!

underground haystacks, and that snow falls in order that mice may build subways from stack to stack: supply, demand, and transport all neatly organized. To the mouse, snow means freedom from want and fear." - Aldo Leopold.  

I, on the other hand, could use a few foxes or hunting cats. My mice need more fear.

Snow Monday - Snow Wednesday - Snow Monday

My sympathies to the students in Avon, Simsbury, and West Hartford, who had school today.  Extra sympathy to the teachers who had to drive home in the nasty.


I spent the afternoon walking in the snow, them sitting by the fire and drinking tea.

Anyhow, you will NOT have school at all on Wednesday.  Not. Gonna.  Happen.  I know how much you teachers love those meetings, but you'll just have to tough it out.


And.... how about next Monday?  Stay tuned, but it looks like it could be a three day weekend.

On the other hand, my neighbor told me that she tool 3 gallons of sap from her maple trees yesterday.  Spring!!

It Doesn't Get Stupider

As you might have heard, it snowed in Atlanta last week.  Two inches of it.  Schools were closed for days and people abandoned cars on the highways.

And the Stoopid People came out.  Apparently they made snowballs, held a lighter under them, and then were amazed when they didn't see water dripping from the snowballs.

Of course, those of us who have seen snow before know that melting snow becomes slush.  The water gets soaked up by the snowball.  

But to the Stoopids, it was a sign of Secret Government Chemical Tests!   

Read more about the Secret Government Chemical Tests here.

This Week's Weather - For Real. Updated Monday 8 am

-  As I said - those schools close to the coast and those with the greatest fear of legal action are closing.  West Hartford and Simsbury will probably have early dismissal.  I have yet to see a snowflake.

                  Punx$utawney Phil, 

                  a major touri$t attraction

Today is Groundhog Day.  In Punxsatawny, Pennsylvania, it is currently 37 degrees Fahrenheit and snowing.  Yet the most famous groundhog money-maker, Punx$utawney Phil, apparently saw his shadow when he was dragged from his warm cage out into the cold where people shoved cameras in his face.

According to Stormfax, you would have better luck flipping a coin.  Phil has predicted the weather accurately only 39% of the time since his first time out in 1887, proving that the Punxsatawny Chamber of Commerce are not the folks to turn to for weather forecasting.  

(Photo: Dan and Lin Dzurisin, 
Creative Commons license)

Today is a Cross-Quarter Day, halfway between the solstice and the equinox.  While it will take a while for the northern hemisphere to warm up, the hour of sunlight that we have gained since the Winter Solstice is definitely affecting Mother Nature.  I saw skunk footprints in the back yard yesterday.  Mr. Skunk and Mr. Woodchuck have been wakened by the strengthening sunlight, and are in the mood for Love Sex.  Once they find a female, the groundhogs will go back to sleep until the new clover is up.  The skunks are likely to be wandering about looking for snacks. 

Maple sap is running, and I saw skunk cabbage shoots in the swamps yesterday.  Cardinals, crows, and chickadees are practicing their spring songs, and woodpeckers are starting to drum.  Yes, under the snow Spring is here already.

The snowstorm currently whacking Punxsatawny, PA will pass far south of Connecticut, bringing us only flurries on Monday.  I am not predicting any affect on the school day. a few inches of snow.  Afternoon activities will be canceled, schools in southwestern CT schools and those with a greater fear of legal action will close early.

Wednesday will be a mess.  While the best snow storms for us are the nor'easters that pass just to the south and east of us on the 70/40 benchmark, this one will be too far north and south for maximum snow.  We will be on the 'warmish' side of it.  However, the wind patterns are expected to create another, smaller storm that will pass right over the 70/40, adding snow to the mix.

What will we get?  I am more and more confident of a wintry MESS on Wednesday.  I seriously doubt there will be school anywhere in Connecticut.  Good day to cancel plans and stay home.  Those of you with wells, make sure you have extra water on hand.

Then, dig out.  A storm that has not yet formed over the west coast jut might wipe out next weekend.  Nothing definite yet, but it never hurts to start being afraid.