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 |   A Journal to impart knowledge and facts |
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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
  Words for today: Live, Laugh, Love, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Live from my desk to you.  Yesterday a day to bring laughter and love. It was sunshiny all day and melted all the snow. Today, it is overcast and threatening rain all day. Has not rained yet. Tomorrow, I have not checked the forecast for tomorrow. News at one o'clock said lots of rain expected in the far west of USA and deep southern states. I wonder why they did not say what we are going to see weather wise? In any event Spring birds have been here for several weeks. Odd to hear spring bird song in the mornings, when I put out feed in the bird feeder, in the middle of a blizzard, which we had two heavy snow days over the weekend. Now, hoping Spring stays sprung. Have a great day no matter the weather. |
 March 20,2023: Prompt: Try the “stream of consciousness” writing and tell us what you see when you're looking out of a window, any window closest to you at the moment. At my desk sunshine is streaming through a window onto the desk. One of my cats is sleeping in the broad place where the sunshine is hitting. Behind the cat is the scenery. Farm equipment is covered in tarpaulins, The sunshine has melted a lot of the snow. Most of the ground is green where grass grows. Patchy places of snow still hang on where trees shade the wet turf. Even the trees without leaves have a shading presence. The bird feeder is bare because in the night the deer have come and licked it clean. It is slightly wobbly because the deer stretch their necks up into the feeder to get all the last bits of seed. It stretches the wires that stabilize the feeder, so the feeder is always a little bit off balance. I tighten the wires occasionally, but the deer come back again, so it continues to be a little loose on the pole. Out the window extending behind the yard is the hay field and the woods. Birds fly in and out of the apple tree all day that I can see from the window. It is the tree closest to the bird feeder. Birds will continue to check the feeder from the apple tree all day to see if I have put more seed into the feeder. The driveway is close to the house. You can see the deeply rutted mud tracks made by the car. The weather this year did not really ever freeze the ground, so the tracks are pressed into the driveway by the weight of the automobile, when it goes into and out of the garage. Prompt: Travel-- Share with us a real or imaginary travel story. Who is with you and who or what do you meet on the trip that is extraordinary? Was there a difficult moment and at the end, what advice would you give to other travelers? It isn't often we travel anywhere. One day feeling adventurous we went looking for bike or hike trails. I suggested we try Oil country. So, off we went in our Jeep to oil country. Traveling Route 8 toward Titusville we passed through some small towns. Most of the road travels through farmland with some villages along the way. Entering Titusville is different than it use to be. There is a new Walmart and a Tractor Supply. You pass the Veterinarian office close to the same area. The biggest attraction is the Oil Creek Railway. Passage on the railway takes you around oil creek park with views of fishermen casting rods on the creek, good views of deer, birds and other wildlife, and stops at the museum where it picks up bikers and their bicycles who rode out of town and around the many trails offered by the park. There are sites where old oil wells have been abandoned but the ancient oil producing machinery still stands. The trails to walk or ride bikes on are quite extensive and well kept. Besides taking a ride on the railway, we walked up a trail for a while, and visited. a picnic area. One time K and I took the tour on the Oil creek railway which is really a very relaxing afternoon train ride. Another time we took one of my granddaughters; on that particular trip we visited the museum and walked some trails and visited a park that had camping facilities and picnic tables. You really have to have some travel maps of the area in order to find all the sites that are interesting. The historical visuals at Oil Creek are worth seeing. It makes you wonder about the people who discovered oil there, and then they went to the far east to discover oil in other parts of the world. The Oil Creek Railroad offers overnight stays in a train car motel. Someday I'll go back to ride the train again. At some part of November or December they offer a mystery train. A group of people put on a mystery performance. The passengers get to try and solve the mystery. A nice way to become an amateur sleuth. THE END |
For Blog City: Write about the Bluebird of Happiness. Bluebirds have been a symbol of happiness for years uncountable. The Bluebird of Happiness Day in the USA is September 24, 2023. One of the first mentions of Bluebirds as a symbol occurred in China. Some Chinese thought the blue bird was immortal and a symbol of the sun. In reality, the small blue bird with the orange chest (the Eastern Blue Bird) has a lovely song, is devoted to its family, and exhibits beautiful colors. They are welcome in gardens, because they eat insects and plant destroying bugs of many kinds. Like many birds their numbers are diminishing in parts of the world. A phrase, Bluebird Days depicts a sunny day following a storm. A 1934 musical recording, The Bluebird of Happiness became an international hit in 1945. In 1908 Maurice Maeterlinck published a play "The Bluebird" which became an opera, numerous different movies, as well as a novel written for children. New York's bird symbol is the Eastern Bluebird. More than one state uses a blue bird as a symbol. Robert Frost wrote a children's poem "The Last Word of a Bluebird" https://rainydaypoems.com/poems-for-kids/nature-poems/the-last-word-of-a-bluebir... Birds of all kinds are symbols. Isaiah 40:31 and Job 12:7 are two examples. Hope your days are Bluebird Days. |
| Weeds or Yummy vegetables? While other people are trying to find ways to get rid of weeds in their yards, I'm trying to find ways to save my weeds and still mow the grass. Dandelions are very eatable. There are yummy recipes online that tell you what parts and when to harvest the parts for the best eating. I used to give them as treats to my horses and still give them as treats to my parrots. Milkweeds are a special need to Monarch Butterflies. One of the reasons the Monarchs are down in numbers is the difficulty in finding enough Milkweed to sustain their numbers. It is also used in the production of water safety equipment and the plant itself is medicinal if used properly, but it can alsos be poisonous. We have a natural pond on our property where I can find mint growing in wild bunches. Mint is used medicinally and is also just good flavoring in salads and summer drinks. I like a leaf in my tea. Lambs' quarters is a good salad fix and considered a weed. Lavendar grows wild in some places. Lavendar has so many uses. My point today is, until I started looking at these plants and looking up these plants, I was not aware of the many uses they have. During WWII many plants we consider weeds made it to the family table because food was scarce. Because they grow wild does not make them contemptable. They are in hiding until you find the reason to make them a part of life. ![Merit Badge in Every Moment Matters
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| Weather Haiku March Winds Sun Moves, sunshine peeks. Warming winds climb high in sky. March, surface winds blow. |
Andre the Blog Monkey's Banana Bar / Share the Love Event Part 2![Merit Badge in The Blogging Banana Bar
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Congratulations & Thank You
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For competing the full four weeks of the Non-Judgmental Blogging Event in January 2023.
Please show your badge when entering the Banana Bar and join others in the Banana Bloggers' Lounge .
Your blogging is always welcome at [Link To Item #1985857] .](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-The_Blogging_Banana_Bar-2246010_9.gif)  Personal Prompt 2: A find on a Japanese Beach A woman, on a beach in Japan, reported an object on the beach. Police and bomb squads found a 5 foot in diameter steel ball resting on Hamamatsu beach. Japanese personnel were not sure how to respond. You can understand their caution when you take into consideration WWII Hiroshima and recent threats from North Korea. North Korea has been hurling armed rockets into the sea near Japan. Under the circumstances what would you think? The large rusty steel ball was one more problem Japan doesn't need. Authorities examined the ball and x-rayed it. They soon decided it wasn't dangerous to the public and carted it off to a storage place to rest. I wonder if anyone will claim it? If you look close at pictures of the object it seems as if there might be a hatch and a handle on one side. After reading several articles about this object I still wonder what is inside? In one article Professor Mark Inall, an Oceanographer at the Scottish Association for Marine Science, voiced his opinion, that the ball may be a foreign made buoy. He asserted that they may be used as anchoring for instruments to keep them floating in the ocean. The buoys often break free from ocean mooring and wash up on other shores as well as Japan's. Wet metal, and saltwater account for the scrubby rustic look of the ball in photographs. Of course, other suggestions include the Aliens are among us version of this story. If there really is a hatch in the object maybe it should be opened. Could be a message to eartlings inside. Or just more rust. THE END All Word Count by WDC:301 |
| Andre the Blog Monkey's Banana Bar/Share the Love Event, February part 2 P23: When did you last go re-read items you wrote over 2 years ago. Go read one and tell us about what you thought of your writing from back then. I chose "Mushrooms On the Trail" to reread. It was first entered into my portfolio on September. 29, 2015. Then it was modified September 2nd, 2017. After I read the story, I thought it would be good to go back and re-edit it. I would be more specific in some sentences. One explanatory paragraph should be aimed at the reason for it being there. It seems to bounce from the characters of the story to the narrator in an odd way. I do like the story content. It was supposed to have a small adventure while presenting wild mushroom facts as purposeful as possible. Then there are words to put in and words to take out. I think anything I write would need editing after a couple of years. I rely on the editing tool a lot for spelling and commas. I know a lot about grammar but always ignore specifics until I finish writing a piece. The older I get the less it seems to matter although, as a reader I know that isn't true. I was in a local writing club in the early 1970's. The leader was experienced in selling some of her work. She told the club you should lay your writing aside for a week or so then reread and edit it again. Even if you do what she advised, I think you should do it after a couple months. Editing is an ongoing purpose for any writing, and it is the job that doesn't get done often enough. I should review some of my own reviews. The ones I wrote about books I have read. They are the oldest and probably need a lot of work. Recently, someone reviewed a poem I wrote in 2021. "Future Knowledge," is an ok poem. I just don't remember writing it and posting it. I don't consider myself a poet either. I have another story line about a horse stable in the portfolio. I wrote the first stable story when I took my course with WDC about fiction short stories. I took two of the stable stories out of the portfolio that had the same characters and setting. I'm not sure they are still where I put them. Sometimes, what I write comes up missing here. If anyone had offered to pay me for my writing it would probably make a more subjective need to me. Since, that does not happen I guess it still doesn't worry me much. One time someone took a story I wrote and rewrote it their way. The grammar was perfect in the way they submitted the story The story had lost the mystery and character I had put into it. When I review others on WDC, I keep what happened to my story by the other writer, in mind. It is nice to have good grammar. A written piece also has to have something special presented by the writer. Grammar is important but, the story has to have that special something from the personality of the writer. All words count by WDC:554 WRITE ON! |
| Andre the Blog Monkey's Banana Bar/Share the Love Event February Part 2 Personal prompt 1: Spring Events The weather temperatures are bouncing up and down like a weightless rubber ball. Friday it snowed enough to cover the ground and build up an inch across the top. Then is rained ice. The ice covered the outside of the house windows. Before dusk everything had melted. We could see green grass and dead leaves. All these up and down temperatures in one day. We are experiencing winds of 16 and above on a regular basis. The last few days we have had low temperatures at night and climbing temperatures during the day. The first day of March will arrive this week. Which means, the weather isn't all that unusual. Snow geese are moving out of Pennsylvania headed North to their nesting grounds. One morning I was outside early this week and heard a flock of Canada Geese on the beaver dam outback. Then a Canada Drake flew over the pond checking out the territory. It's nice to hear them setting up on the Beaver Dam for summer. One particular night last week when the temperatures were really high, 50 degrees or so, I heard peepers on the pond singing their spring song. Peepers are small frogs. The males sing together in a chorus to attract the females. It's a sure sign that spring is on its way. When the weather turns cold for a few days they are quiet. As soon as Temperatures start to rise, they take up their song again. Although people often speak of the return of robins as the herald of spring bird migration. We get red-winged black birds before robins. There was a small flock, maybe 30 at the feeder yesterday. Soon we will be seeing Eastern Bluebirds and Robins. Many doves stay all winter and start nesting in late February and early March. I'm watching the buds on the trees. When they start to grow, I will know the weather will stabilize. These are the ways spring makes itself known to us. All Words count on WDC: 347 ![Merit Badge in Fancy
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| Andre the Blog Monkey's Banana Bar / Share the Love Event Part 2 P21:Will the AI"chatGpt" eliminate the need for authors or learning to write well? Bing research: Reference: https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2020.00054 Absolutely not, is the answer to the P21 above. If you cannot use your brain for new learning experience it will slow down. The Chat GPT will cause you to have new learning experiences. You will have reasons to use the 85 billion neurons encased in your brain. If you want to stay alive keep learning new ideas. Because it is basically a machine it will take its' ideas from humans. When using the software, it will still be necessary to know what you are doing and how the software should be responding. The neurons of the brain need to keep active in order for your body to run smoothly as you age. Every new learning experience, as you age, prevents loss of mental abilities. Try learning math, or reading nonfiction books about something you were always curious about or learn to use a new machine to cook with or clean your house. Computers brought in so many learning opportunities. Take a course in writing. How to write fiction or nonfiction is two different systems. Each has their own way of developing a story. Even though the Bot will be able to write something for you; you will have to edit and put your stamp of approval on the content. Stories are written with a certain age bracket in mind and other necessary criteria. It will be up to the writer to make sure the story is what you intended. Editing is not the easiest job because you will have to understand what is needed to be presented in each written work. When a writer writes, they usually have something in their own mind, that they desire to present to the reader. Can the bot get it just exactly the way a writer would present it without the writers help? As this technology developes it won't be long until the bots are being used to present courses of study to students. Those writing courses have to be designed by writing teachers. This type of thinking has different paths to follow. The Chat GPT is just the beginning of an extension of the information age. Have you ever read somewhere that we only use a small part of our brains? Well progressing technology like the Chat Bots is going to wake up parts of the brain that have never been used before. WRITE ON! All Word Count by WDC:428 |
| Andre the Blog Monkey's Banana Bar / Share the Love Event part 2 P22: Spy Balloon? Your opinion on actions, threat, retaliation. Bing results: Reference: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/02/ufos-spy-balloon-norad-sensors-milit... https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blinken-chinese-surveillance-balloon-program-spr... www.Newyorktimes.com/ an article by Amanda Holpuch published Feb3,2023 I suggest if you want to form an opinion you should consider accessing the above references. I never heard of slate before, but the article was thorough and well written. My opinion about the whole scene is the actions taken by the USA were well founded. According to references above we never caught this type of surveillance before, because our sensors were not programed to revel this type of outdated surveillance. The USA first used surveillance balloons during the civil war. Both sides had such surveillance. And, in the 1940s and 1950s the USA floated surveillance balloons over Russia and China. Also, in an article by Amanda Holpuch published in the New York Times on February 3.2023 a picture was run of a USA spy balloon stationed in a military base in Kabul in 2012. So, in some instances not such an outdated use of spy equipment. There is also some possibility that China's President did not have any particular knowledge of the balloons presently floating around in the world to spy on other countries. Do we know that for sure? Sources state that the Chinese balloons have quietly traveled over approximately 40 different countries. The USA has alerted different countries that the balloons are in the air. The FBI is apparently in charge of processing the information gained from the Balloon shot down over the sea near South Carolina. Since many countries now have spy satellites and spy planes this is just another piece of surveillance fluff, that all these countries including the USA are involved in. The USA and China recently sent representatives to a meeting about the balloons. We continue to have diplomatic relations with China. China and the USA are also talking about the war in the Ukraine. Knowledge poised with diplomatic understanding has been conveyed to China concerning the USA sovereign rights. My own opinion is no country in the world will gain from nuclear missiles being used against anyone. If the authorities in charge of major players such as USA, Canada, UK, China, Germany, Russia and others remain mentally sound they will not allow a threat to go any further than a threat. If someone actually uses a nuclear weapon against someone. Whoever gave the order. should be removed from their posistion by underlings who have better judgement. All Word Count on WDC:421 Just My Opinion |
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