Rain Gryphon

And so the Pope returns, completely intact, from Iraq. I would not have bet a nickel on that. I expected him and his entourage to be blown to fragments in the first day or two. He's a brave man, and my virtual hat's off to him.

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Today I set the plants outside, and can leave them until at least Thursday afternoon. The plants were desperately needing some time in the sun. I've been swapping them in and out of the breakfast nook window, but it's not the same thing. Where I placed them, by the front door, was under several feet of snow three weeks ago.

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Alexandra (the cat) very much likes grape popsicles, the good ones that are made of grape juice and smashed grapes. (In all fairness, I have not yet tried her on any other sort, so it may be a more general taste). This is an unexpected discovery. There's something very fulfilling about sharing a treat with one's pet.

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Moderna vaccine apparently dramatically reduces viral shedding, by at least 60%. Not really a surprise, but certainly welcome news anyway.

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Thai sailors rescue cats from sinking ship. The boat was on fire and sinking, and the crew abandoned the ship's cats. Some Thai sailors swam across from their ship and rescued them. Again, not really surprising, but with all the nastiness in the world, it's nice to see people living up to the best traditions of their service.

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Last Friday, I more or less stumbled upon the location of the cardinals' nest. It was in a shrub, about four feet off the ground, completely invisible from above. There were three eggs. I was excited, since cardinals' nests are hard to find, and this one was situated where I could take pictures of the chicks very easily. I had no idea how long the eggs had been there. I checked every day, and the number stayed at three, so I figured I had about two weeks at the most to wait. Mom was getting used to me as well, and would stay right nearby in sight and go back when I was done.

So, yesterday morning it was raining, and I forwent checking, since I didn't want to flush her off her eggs in the rain. Late afternoon the rain stopped, and the sun came out a bit, so I went to check. The eggs were gone. Just a sad, empty little nest, and mombird sitting on the power line, watching from a distance.

It had to have been a bird, prolly a grackle or the bluejay that's been showing up to eat peanuts of late, although I suppose a woodpecker could have done it also. I don't even know if they got to hatch. So, bit of a disappointment there.

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The robin outside the bathroom window is doing well. Chicks are about a week old, I think. I can see her plainly, but I'm looking up at her, so don't know how many she has. The way it's situated, it would be hard to get a ladder in there. Same for the other robins' nest.

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They gave away 185 free boxed dinners at the Sleepy Owl in Syracuse on Sunday. There were still 24 cars in line when they ran out, which is sad. One is tempted to go get a free dinner. It's free, and like the wearing of anti-Chinese Doom masks, it's just fun to take part in the general activity. However, there are people in actual need. Perhaps at the end of the emergency, there may come a chance with surplus opportunity.

Still we're much better off than these people.

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Pope Pius XII had a vision of Christ in December 1954. I love his reaction. He was gravely ill, and expected to die anyway. He looked up from his book, and there was Jesus. Pope's all "Yay! Let's go!", but Jesus said he'd have to wait a few more years, then Pope was all :/ . He was the first since Sylvester I (the "Donation of Constantine" guy) to have such a vision, apparently. I'd really expected that to be more common amongst popes.

Pope's all cranky because we give our weapons systems playful names.

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The spaces between Saturn's rings are almost completely empty, no dust or anything. I don't think anyone expected that.

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Notable 19th Century American Murders.

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Ohio - the Berserk State.

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A thoughtful essay about what a pet cat can mean to a soldier.