June 3 2021 - Egyptian Plagues and Australia

 

You know those websites attempting to take a contemporary perspective on an ancient religious story.  Here's today's.   How do the ten plagues apply in contemporary times? "When Pharaoh persisted in his refusal to liberate the children of Israel, Moses and Aaronwarned him that G‑d would punish both him and his people. And, indeed, God sent the ten plagues, one after the next, until Pharaoh conceded." from chabad.org  What are the plagues? Water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the killing of firstborn children. I didn't pursue the headline's story - how the plagues apply.  I was more interested in how they could have occurred in quick succession.  Time Magazine had an article with the possible theories of how the series of events might happen. They are volcanic eruption, red algae, and climate change.   So I wonder about the mouse invasion in Australia. This plague's specific causes are given as last year's abundant grain crops, followed by a mild wet summer which allowed for excessive breeding.  There have been lots of mouse plagues in Australia's history.  The first was recorded in 1872 and then every few years there's a plague somewhere - that's from the Wikipedia entry on mouse plagues.   Here in Canada, I've been unaware of Australia's circumstances.  That changed with the Weather Network'spictures and headline: "Australia's 'cannibal' mouse infestation could be followed by a snake plague."   Here are more headlines: Aussie Mouse Army 'Marches on Sydney' Biblical plague of mice and snakes panics rural Australia ... When will the mouse plague end 'You can't escape the smell': mouse plague grows to biblical ... If you think the snakes in Australia are bad, wait until you see ... And then? This reference:  Gerard Dallow from a Sydney-based organization called Micropest who told nine.com.au that "snakes are likely to follow" the rodents, potentially leading to a spike in their population numbers.  Australia is home to 100 species of venomous snakes.   There are articles of snake invasions in past years so this would be a worry in Australia.  What could follow the snakes? The other plague I found is the 'spider plague' caused by historic flooding in March 2021.  The AccuWeather article quote: "Lowe added that there are no more spiders than usual, but people are just seeing more of them, especially since most of the spiders seeking shelter are ground-dwelling."  He then went on to say there could be an increase in specific types of spiders because of the rains. I am feeling lucky to be in Canada - with our worst-case scenario of mosquitoes in the summer.    This is one of the Ringling Museum miniature figures for today's picture - giving encouragement to the Australians in their time of difficulty.

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Dec 30 2020 - Garden Stories of the Year

 

There are lots of 'best of' lists in newspapers this time of year.  It's the end of the year, so looking back, summarizing, choosing the best are the standard activities.   Britain's best garden was declared for 2020 and it is Marie and Tony Newton's garden in Walsall, England.  The story and pictures are HERE.   Retired medical doctor Tony Newton and his wife Marie have nestled 3,000 plants and flowers, including 450 azaleas, 120 Japanese maples and 15 blue star junipers into a one-quarter-acre plot of land.   This aerial view demonstrates the sheer volume of plants in their plot compared to their neighbours.  That's a lot of Japanese Maples that I see.     While this story is excellent, it really can't compete with the next one:  photographer builds adorable tiny log cabins for his backyard to keep mouse families safe from cats.  The story and pictures are HERE.     A meditative moment of koi fish is our image today.   They seem to be floating somewhere - like our hope that 2020 floats away ... far away.  Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca