Weekend Updates

Many readers told me they enjoyed the Weekend Updates I posted in late June so I’ve decided to make it a regular end-of-the-month feature.

Blog Updates (from oldest to most recent):

I have not seen a ladybug since one landed on me in March (3/20 post).

It is important to remember that the disaster in the Gulf is far from over (5/6 post).




Although oil has disappeared from the surface of the water in many places, serious questions have been raised about the amount of dispersants used and what the long-term effects of these chemicals might be.

The State Street trees in front of Channel 8 (5/17 post) are doing well despite the heat. Each tree now has a tag listing its species and information on how to request a tree of your own. Urban Resources Initiative (URI) emailed that they had planted 275 trees around the City of New Haven before “switching program gears to focus upon Community Greenspace.” Community Greenspace has assisted New Haven residents with developing pocket parks and community gardens throughout the City. 

The woodchuck wars continue to rage in Beaver Hills (6/16 post). My source tells me that the neighborhood shooter has switched to Havahart traps. He has caught at least one woodchuck baby (lured by some tender greens) and what happened to that unlucky victim remains a mystery. A skunk has been spotted heading under the garden shed, presumably keeping what remains of the woodchuck family company.

Chatham Seals

“Times Are Strange” (7/16 post) spoke of sightings of great white sharks off the coast of Cape Cod. On Friday, July 30, Chatham officials closed South Beach to (human) swimming indefinitely after three great whites were sighted by a spotter plane. One shark was spotted cruising along the shore just 100 yards from a large group (of humans) assembled in a semicircle near a “Happy 30th” written in the sand. Officials advise that people swimming where it is still permitted avoid getting too close to the seals.

“Where Have All the Codfish Gone?” (7/21 post) was tweeted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and generated quite a bit of interest at several sites dedicated to fishing issues. A blogger in Iceland who promotes the Icelandic fishing industry left a favorable comment. This eclectic blog has stories and videos on a wide variety of themes relating to fishing and fish: http://icelandicfish.tumblr.com/

Other News:

The New Haven Independent has listed ontheroadtogreenness as one of its favorites. You can find a link to my blog on their site under Road To Greenness.

Single-stream recycling has come to New Haven. In short, what this means is that you now no longer need to sort your recycling before you set it on the curb — just dump it all into your bin. I know it sounds crazy, but this video explains how this is possible.



But wait, there is even more to the trash/recycling story! A pilot program in which your current largish trash toter becomes your recycling bin and a new, smaller one becomes your trash toter, is scheduled to start soon in the New Haven neighborhood of Westville. You can read more about it at the Independent.

It’s been very hot here. We have had a hummingbird feeder in the yard but have not succeeded in attracting any hummers. The Fat Robin sent out a newsletter advising that you change the nectar every two days during this time of extreme heat, especially if you have located your feeder in a sunny area. During cooler times, twice a week is enough if the feeder is in the shade. The Fat Robin also stated, “If you haven't been very successful with attracting hummingbirds to your yard, don't give up! The BEST time in Connecticut is yet to come (very soon in fact)!”

It is now the first day of August, too early for the statistics for July. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released its State of the Climate Global Analysis for June. NOAA reports that June 2010 was the warmest June on record, and that April-June 2010 was the warmest three-month period for the Northern Hemisphere.

During these exceedingly hot days in the Northeast we heard frequent references to the Heat Index. This site explains what the Heat Index is and how the formula was derived, provides a Heat Index Calculator, and includes a chart indicating that it is dangerous for almost anyone whenever it is over 90° and even the least bit humid.

Finally, on a somewhat lighter note, a friend forwarded this story about a person who is researching and photographing the world’s oldest living things. How old they are will blow your mind. For sure.

Weekend Updates

It seems a good time for some blog updates, from oldest to most recent.

In response to my March 24 post, a couple salvaged some metal from their basement, turned it in at Alderman-Dow, and now have $24 they didn’t have before.

The Cove, the Academy Award winning documentary about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, discussed on this blog on April 30, was deemed too controversial for showing by many theaters in Japan. It was banned on a U.S. military base in Japan as well. On June 9, over 600 people crammed into a public hall in Tokyo for the first public showing of the film in Japan since the Tokyo International Film Festival, sparking a nationwide debate over free speech.

It is now two months since the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon rig off the Louisiana Coast. On May 6, I first posted the link for the Google Crisis Response to the oil spill in the Gulf. Matter of Trust is still collecting hair, but clearly no amount of hair boom by itself will get us out of this mess. There are widely differing points of views about who is to blame and how much progress is being made. You can check out the facts at PolitiFact.com, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning site of the St. Petersburg Times. The first dead whale has been reported in the Gulf, and concern about how far the spill will spread mounts in light of the May 27 prediction by NOAA of an “active to extremely active” hurricane season. In an article entitled “Gulf Oil Spill: A Hole in the World,” which appeared in yesterday’s Guardian, Naomi Klein compares the disaster to a violent wound inflicted upon the Earth. In this compelling piece, the author, trained in economics, writes, “It's one thing to be told by an incomprehensible chaos theorist that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can set off a tornado in Texas. It's another to watch chaos theory unfold before your eyes.”

On a happier note, the trees planted on State Street (May 17) are being well cared for. I saw a water truck there today.

The wind turbine at Phoenix Press (June 5 blog) now has a name. Gus(t) was selected as the winning entry in a contest for New Haven schoolchildren. Runners-up include: Win(d)ston, MELVIN (Manufacturing Energy with a Large & Valuable Impact Now), PEG (Produces Greener Energy), Kilowally, and Urban Blossom.

My post on Marshmallow Fluff (June 8) resulted in a flurry of e-mails from native New Englanders who thanked me for the happy memories it evoked. I was told of readers who had to sneak the treat at the home of a friend since their mothers refused to buy it. I was also reminded that Fluff was an excellent topping for hot cocoa and was outstanding in a sundae when placed under the hot fudge. Those born outside the Northeast didn’t get the post at all.

Which brings me to the Woodchuck Wednesday post (June 16). The last I heard, Woody’s widow and children were still alive and well in Beaver Hills. There have been no woodchuck sightings in my yard. But we did have a very dirty non-avian bather in our birdbath one recent steamy evening. The prints it left behind lead me to think that it was a raccoon, but feel free to draw your own conclusion.