Botany, Travel, and Art, Oh My!
A Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston, Illustrated by Silvia Long and geared toward children aged 5-8, or Kindergarten reading level. This book is designated as children’s non-fiction. This book goes through different types of seeds and gives examples of each. Unlike some children’s books the illustrations are photo-realistic botanical watercolor paintings.
If you are at all like me, you’ve wondered a time or two why bats, pumpkins, and the like have become associated with Halloween, Samhain, All Hallows Eve, or otherwise associated with the season. This is not going to be an exhaustive description, so feel free to share further lore in the comments, but it will cover a wide range, but today we will be discussing our beflighted mammal friends.
Even with everything occurring and abundant uncertainty, take a moment to drink some water, take a breath, and perhaps even hum a few bars like the bees do. It won’t create a vaccine, nor feed someone in need, nor even get your shopping done. However, it might just help you relieve the tension and other stresses you’re holding, at least for a time.
“In a bid to “save the economy,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stopped enforcing environmental laws. According to these newly relaxed regulations, businesses failing to meet previous standards of public health and environmental security will not be fined, penalized, or subject to any civil penalties, wrote Knickmeyer, of the Associated Press. Many of these businesses are from the oil and gas industry and are often routinely cited for dumping hazardous materials already.”
Today, we’re talking about the only plant to currently have “rainbow” in its scientific designation: The Arctostaphylos rainbowensis, or Rainbow Manzanita. This dicot shrub is native and endemic to California (4,5), existing exclusively in the far southern portion of the state, specifically between northern San Diego to southern Riverside counties.
Hail and well met, everyone!
So, I’ve been posting here and uploading largely separate content on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/Ethnobotanicam). I’m experimenting with still posting on the various platforms I currently use (Youtube, Instagram and the like), but cross-posting here as a method of aggregating all my botanical content into one place. Let me know what you think. Have a fab day, everyone, and happy LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Kate
Water is party to all things, dear reader. While all Earth-dwelling embodied lifeforms have their own characteristics, goals, needs, and expectations of their environments, water is a common necessity they all share. Without proper hydration, the brain's receptors stop interpreting and correlating information and general organ failure occurs, plants are unable to photosynthesize, and moisture continues to evaporate from the body at a rather high rate.
There are many people who have some level of arachnophobia, or a fear of spiders. While most keep to themselves, there are some that are highly aggressive when disturbed. Generally these species rely heavily on web cues and have rather poor eyesight.
NOTE: There are images of spiders in this post. If that is something that disturbs you, you’ve been forewarned.
