Cunningham

 

Lilac

Eastern Redbud

Hilltop

 European Crab Apple Tree

Grape Hyacinth

Rhododendrons 

Tulip

Tulips

Dead nettles

Siberian Buglos

Tulips

Bugle

Wild Cabbage

Phlox

Lake meditation

 

Lake meditation today.

I was reading today that these yellow flowers Buttercups are invasive and take over so other flowers can't bloom (source).

I like "almost died in wilderness" stories. Here's one in the New York Times.

4/19/24. Yesterday I thought about walking down to the lake and I thought about how muddy it was, the car noise of the two highways bracketing it (Van Wyck and the Grand Central Parkway), the tire in the water (you can see in the top photo), and all the garbage people leave behind. Sometimes urban greenspaces aren't kept up well and they can be unappealing. I've been tempted to take a garbage bag and do some cleaning when I go. 

The fisherman takes garbage out, which I really appreciate.

I'm also noticing how dirty NYC is, so maybe it's my issue of the moment. 34 years living here, I sometimes am not bothered by it. I look at the clouds in the sky or see the beauty. Sometimes I get negative and see the garbage. Another layer of trying not to be negative.

Eclipse & Earthquake & Hurricanes

248PM NYC 

It’s partly cloudy so that complicates things:

3:06 PM

3:14 PM

In DC, my cousin’s shot:

In Queens NYC, the eclipse isn't 100%. Have to go to Buffalo for that. The next one is going to be 2079 (source). There will be one in August 23rd 2044 in other parts of America. 

On Monday April 8th, the eclipse starts at 2 PM, and peaks at 3:25 PM with 90% covered sun for NYC, and ends at 4:36 PM.

The next eclipse happening is on March 30, 2033 and will be visible from Alaska just after sunrise and coincides with the peak season for the aurora borealis.

The August 23, 2044 eclipse will be visible in Montana and North Dakota. The path of totality for this eclipse includes Greenland and parts of Canada.

I'm going to the library today to see if you can check out some eclipse glasses. They had a sign all out. I bought some on the street for $5 a few days later. 

Wow, just felt an earthquake: 10:24 AM EST here in Kew Garden Hills (4/5/2024), Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, USA. Reminds me of the hurriquake, the earthquake during a hurricane. Yup, it was centered in New Jersey (twitter). Says it's 5.5. Some are saying 4.8.

Indeed, yesterday Times had an article about how the change in the ocean temperature could give us a tough year for hurricanes. Remember when forest fires in Canada brought orange skies?

Feeling like end of times. My Christian friend gets excited when I say that, and I back away. Jesus is wonderful, but I'm a Buddhist, and I'm just speaking emotionally, not from spiritual conviction. Causality is how I see the world. I can work harder in meditation, study, ethics, fellowship and devotion on the Buddhist path to get past suffering, which is symbolized by the moon I'm reading in How Karma Works: The Twelve Links of Dependent Arising by Geshe Sonam Rinchen.

Links/sources:

NASA Eclipse site

USA Today

12 Nidanas

Milwaukee Sentinel has a good graphic about future eclipses.

Fun facts

NY Post: "Total solar eclipses actually happen every 18 months or so. The next time the WORLD will witness this phenomenon will be on August 12, 2026. The path of totality will fall over Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and a few scant feet of Portugal."

Next Eclipses NY Times.

Bonus nature sound:

Bald Eagle squalks.

walk today

I thought that was a great bra in the sky, but jokes aside, I found the combination of clouds to be fascinating. This was from a week or so ago.

Cherry blossoms starting on Monday.

Above Vinca vines are used as ground cover. Vinca minor is also called lesser periwinkle or dwarf periwinkle. 

There were some interesting andromodus. Pieris japonica is shade loving and low maintenance. I think it's my next girlfriend.  

Cori says there's a double broad, lots of cicadas. There's a 13 year cycle, and a 17 year cycle and sometimes a big one of both those cycles happens together. 

I also note, some odd creatures have been washing up in bulk on California shores.

First flowers

March 11th 2024, Kew Garden Hills, NYC, New York, USA

Now I'm not out there finding the first flower, I just noticed this, so not making any almanac claims. I wonder if the rhyme should change to "February showers bring March flowers".

Amazing animals

Blue Dragons These sea slugs are pelagic; they float upside down by using the surface tension of the water to stay up, where they are carried along by the winds and ocean currents.

Axolotl These aquatic salamanders have one of the most incredible abilities of all animals on Earth: They can regenerate a missing limb, tail, spinal cord, parts of their brain, heart, and lower jaw, and other organs.

Dung Beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night.

Tardigrades survive in the most extreme conditions, including the bottom of the ocean and Mount Everest. Tardigrades are also the first animal to survive in space.

Colugo are arboreal gliding mammals that are native to Southeast Asia. Sunda flying lemur is also a flying lemur.

Sea Gulls have unhinging jaws which allow them to consume large prey.