Peripheral vision is a greater awareness. It is paying at least slight attention to the things that are not directly in front of you. It is a survival skill. The origin of peripheral vision is likely couched deep in the evolutionary history of getting caught unawares. A great solution to this was to have…

            Flowers are nature’s ornaments. They show all of the colors and shapes that can be imagined and even more than that. There have been so many times that people see a flower that is so far beyond their wildest imagination that the observer just has to stop and say, “Wow”. The colorful bit of…

            Bread is delicious. It is a staple of our diets and has changed and advanced the way our minds work. It allowed civilization to rise. Breads are fundamentally simple: flower, water, baking at their heart, and they are cheap and easy to buy. Still, there is so much you can do with them in…

Post Script: I am ecstatic that the Jurassic Park/World now features a returning, named dinosaur character that is a raptor (Blue). And Magic: the Gathering has raptors that are legitimately, and much more accurately, feathered!             Raptors of the dinosaur variety are the ultimate predators: smart, fast, sharp teeth, claws, extra-bonus-killing claw on each foot,…

I was contemplating which ode to publish today when this little one (buteo jamaicensis) came to visit. It was cold enough that I kind of wanted to invite it in, but it did let me get within about three meters. 😀 Raptors are birds of prey. They get their common name with the dinosaurs from…

Staying at home is the easiest thing in the world. You don’t even have to get out of bed to accomplish it. Everything around you is familiar, everything as you put it, everything as you prefer it. Your home is the most familiar place to you such that you can navigate it in the dark.…

Calvin and Hobbes is the quintessential comic. It has a huge amount of repertoire. It is delightful for all ages. It has a combination of simplicity and sophistication in its art and humor. There is a Calvin and Hobbes comic that can apply to any situation, and it is not hard to empathize with each…

Venomous snakes are impressive. These are the ultimate of ambush predators, and they nearly always go unnoticed in the undergrowth or canopies of the world. The lengths of evolution to achieve a creature with poisons that remain among the most potent in the world is really impressive. Add to that snakes’ generally miraculous abilities of…