Another July more than halfway done means I’m another year older. The shape and flavor of celebrating that fact has evolved over the years to mostly involve my favorite foods from my favorite restaurants. (I am happy to report none of our nation’s unhealthiest “restaurants” is on the list.) It’s amusing to note how closely that predilection for fine dining ties to my natal sign’s inclinations. And yesterday, our property rewarded me with an up-close-and-personal interaction with a hawk. Aligning me with quite a few people who’ve picked up bird-watching in the past few years – though my interest goes back to my childhood, when my grandparents would carefully point out and name all the birds in our neighborhood.
I’m also finding out much more about dragonflies – our property is host to at least half a dozen varieties, ranging in hue from black and white through teal, blue, red, green, and brown. Attuning to the property means a deeper connection to the trees here, which made it all the more interesting to read how much more deeply rooted those entities are than scientists had previously measured. I’ve also been thrilled to note the uptick in our local firefly population as well. It’s been slow, intentional progress on our part, though I’m disgusted to report that very few of my neighbors seem to be worrying about their contribution to the die-off of our pollinators. Eventually, I may be the only thumb in the dyke in our neighborhood, but my aim is to earn a Certified Wildlife Habitat designation for our property. I’m well on my way through the check-list, so maybe for next year’s birthday, I’ll finally apply.
We’ll see whether we switch our toilet paper, though.
In other science news, I was fascinated to read that researchers have turned light into a supersolid for the first time this year. And there’s a good likelihood that we have a brain microbiome, given findings about those in fish. And very soon, we will no longer hear reports from NASA’s Voyager probes (which are only several years younger than I am… and now more than 40 years into their extended missions – could it be said I’m in the extended mission portion of my life??).
If that’s the case, maybe some future extended mission will involve a pirate ship discovery. Maybe the pirates who sunk that treasure could have made better decisions if they’d know about mental time travel, though. With that mental detour to criminality, I was happy to read tips from burglars on how to deter their interest.
I am happy to report that Gayla and I are 10 chapters in to a new paranormal cozy mystery, so my writing muscles are limbering up. We’re targeting release for later this year, so I’ll post here as soon as we have details finalized – and those could include some amusing, non-traditional marketing options. Stay tuned. 🙂