Bug Success!

Last Thursday morning I was returning from my haircut and came across an osprey's nest that I'd not noticed before (my eyes are usually on the road or if a passenger, looking for bugs on the windshield). So of course Cranky Baby and I stopped to take pics. In the first one you can see the Canadian and Nova Scotian flags next to the telephone pole where the birds had built their massive nest. The osprey is the provincial bird of Nova Scotia by the way. Another shot.
While waiting for something to happen, one of the adults flew from the nest and arrived back about 5 minutes later with an eel. If you click on the picture you may be able to get a better look.

Then driving to my folks place a little while later I heard on the radio about Ethel and Oscar, the two adult osprey in that very nest and that they have one baby and there's a cam to watch the excitement!! Here's the link.

Then this evening, I was clearing the table for supper. I had caught a little white, fuzzy moth the other day so took a look at it and then checked my other jar on the table, the one with the blue mud dauber wasp eggs in it. And there was a live one!! Must have hatched in the past day or so. I was as excited as a kid at Christmas. So I took pics and set it free.

Way too much excitement for me these days. And it doesn't stop there, either. Tomorrow I will be 45. Yay me.

Stationary Bike Ride

This morning I was up at 4, out the door at 4:40, and at work at 5 to set up a tent and my bicycle to join the morning show, Griff and Caroline, to promote the heck out of the Bike tour and raise some money. I rode my bike for 4 hours (yes, the butt is numb).

In a word, Success! I received over $450 from folks on their way to work and another online donation as well. I'll wait for the end of the day to determine who made the largest single donation and shave their name or place of business in the back of my head. Pictures to follow...I promise.

S.

Bike Tour Preparation

That's Ed from Cyclesmith with Cranky Baby checking my bike to make sure it's good to go for the Rona MS Bike Tour.
Cranky Baby trying to get a little closer to the action. Or Ed. I think she's got a crush on this guy. For years, the great people at Cyclesmith have been sponsors of the Bike tour. I frequent their shop in Halifax, though not yet this summer. I will be going there soon, though, as I really need some new bike shorts.

I am having a four day weekend - yay! Tomorrow, Friday, I will be setting up my bike in front of work, soliciting donations for the Bike Tour from all those on their way to work, and handing out Kool FM T-shirts. It's a busy street and the morning show will be having me on the air with them. I hope people are generous.

On Saturday, I'll be speaking at the Hoops for Hope Girls Basketball Tournament. The guy who put this tourney together has MS and is also a B-ball coach. This is the second year for the tourney. To see all these young women together is inspiring. They play their little hearts out and the entrance fees are donated to the MS Society.

Next weekend I will be in New Brunswick for the Bike Tour there. A few of us from the Cycledelics are making the journey to take part and I'll be MCing the dinner after the first day. It's a little longer than the Nova Scotia tour, though apparently not as many hills (mountains in my mind). I'm planning on riding the first day and driving a support vehicle for Day 2. Then the countdown begins to the NS ride at the end of July. I should be ready to do the two day ride by then. Remember, I missed 5 weeks of training this spring.

This is Randy. He was at the Bike tune up the other night. Randy came from the National MS office for some meetings and loved Cranky Baby. But who doesn't, right?

S.

Bee Ware

(Picture from Wikipedia)

I have written before about things being connected. I am always looking for and/or finding connections between seemingly unrelated things. I did it again.

As you're probably aware, I like bugs. The social insects I find particularly interesting. Bees are one such creature. They do what's best for the hive, defending it from intruders, and if they're sick, they leave the hive so as not to spread disease. Bees have been in the news recently because of "Colony Collapse Disorder", whereby complete colonies of bees simply cease to exist. According to a recent PBS documentary, if something isn't done to alleviate the problem, by the year 2035 we may have to pollinate our own plants. There's a city in China, dependent on the pear crop, already doing that; it's a painstaking, long process to collect the pollen, dry it out, then individually pollinate every pear blossom to produce fruit.

Of course there are a number of agencies world wide looking into this CCD because results could mean a disaster on the world wide level. So what is making the bees disappear? Undoubtedly there are environmental factors, like global warming or wetter weather making life difficult for the bee. (A drenched bee is one of life's most pathetic creatures-it cannot fly until it dries off and is therefore vulnerable to any predator. That's the best time to pet one though, as they sit and wait.)

There are parasites that can cause problems for the bees, though on their own, the parasites don't seem to cause the wide scale bee loss that is being observed. There is also a fungus that bees get that seems to be contributing to the loss.

Some speculate that the mobile bee keepers who move their hives from field to field may be contributing to CCD, the bees gaining increased exposure to bees from other hives and with other parasites or diseases. Or that the movement is exposing more and more colonies to different pesticides and poisons.

But the most interesting (to me) possible cause of CCD is Israel Acute Paralysis Virus. It has been found in a great number of tested CCD colonies and while causation has not been proven, there appears to be a link.

In IAPV, the bee becomes sick, then paralyzed. Nature doesn't cope well when its creatures can't move, therefore they die. En mass. The virus can be transmitted by mites, those pesky little parasites. It would be akin to us getting Lyme disease from a tick.

One of the terms used in the PBS show I watched was "perfect storm". Heard that before. A perfect storm of events transpire to kill off the bees. Immune supression because of parasite infestation, exposure to less than ideal circumstances in the environment, and onset of a virus. On their own, each circumstance is survivable and uneventful, but put all three together and you get the perfect storm resulting in CCD.

MS is much like CCD. We have a certain genetic makeup that makes our immune system go a little haywire, add to that less than ideal environment (perhaps not enough vitamin D), and exposure to a childhood illness, and bingo! MS. Each of those circumstances on their own probably don't cause MS, but put 'em together and you've got it.

I couldn't help but think of the connection between both these illnesses while watching the documentary. As we discover more and more about how our systems work with, and sometimes against, each other, we understand biology a little better. I just wish the discoveries came a little faster.

S.

May the Force be with You

This one's for Robin over at the Internet Institute of the Easily Amused. Sadly, my digital camera didn't take the best shots in the dark, where Cranky Baby's light sabre was glowing in the dark.

There's a new Cranky Baby video that Melissa put together of a bunch of pics I've taken over the past few weeks. I am having trouble posting the video so here's the link instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TgUL8qYewU

If you're still having trouble seeing it, go to www.youtube.com and look for Cranky Baby on a Roll.

S.

Aliens

As sometimes happens, my father has come up with something rather amusing to himself and annoying to my mother. Actually, both Dad and I find it funny, as does the Wookie, and Mom is starting to come around. I think.

About 15 years ago, my Dad became a little fixated with aliens. The kind from outer space. He was watching the X-Files a lot and Millenium (his favourite movie is the original Invasion of the body Snatchers, mine is Alien). Dad's always been interested in space. In fact he had a telescope we used to use quite a bit when I was younger. Looking at the moon, Mars and whatever else we could find. I have even taken to searching for orbiting satellites from time to time and spotted the International Space Station once as it was visible in the sky over Halifax.

A couple of years ago, in the back part of their yard, my mom had quite the vegetable garden. There were even kiwi vines on a pergola back there. Over the years Mom's put in more flowers than veggies and it looks like a botanical paradise when you're in the middle of it. My Dad likes to go up there and have his coffee (who wouldn't?) but the ground was uneven and he needed to do something about that. He built a miniature deck under the pergola that's big enough for two chairs.

Dad started calling his little deck the Alien Landing Pad. Mom didn't think this was funny when he referred to it in front of the neighbours. I gave him some solar powered lights for around the ALP, as I'll call it, and was accused of encouraging him. Of course I was!

Enter the Wookie. He's been travelling for his job for a couple of years and really hasn't had the time to do much with his house and property. But lately, he's had more time here. So this past week he's put a whole bunch of solar lights on his property. Last night was the first chance for me to see it. The lights are in front and on the side and all the way to the back around the pond. There are even two floating lights in the pond. The effect is amazing. Very spooky in one way as the lights aren't terribly strong, but when you look at it from the end of the street and begin to approach it, it's like you're coming in for a landing from an airplane. With any luck, he'll take some good pictures of it for me (my digital camera wouldn't take a good enough shot I'm afraid). So now the Wookie has his own ALP that puts Dad's to shame.

Last night, I hosted an appreciation dinner for a local Special Olympics group. It was so nice to be there and the kids were so sweet. I was even made an honorary member of their team. After the dinner, the Wookie and I went to the village where he lives, in a small community outside of Halifax, where they were having their annual Fire Hall Fair. I had run into Jessica and her mom the other night and they suggested I come out for the fireworks. So that's what we did. After the fireworks we went back to the Wookie's to take a look at the ALP. It really was kind of spooky, though the Wookie insists it's even spookier when it's completely dark.

Today is the Wookie's birthday. I'm off to help him celebrate.

S.

Spit and Cranky Baby

The night my camera battery died I was able to take a couple of pics. The spit -froth- on the plant stem is really a bug nest. Baby bugs, not sure of the species, grow up in there, emerge, then carry on. Below the froth is another bug being "milked" for its honeydew by an ant. The ants are sometimes referred to as farmer ants. They caress the bug, like they do aphids, the bug releases a drop of honeydew, and the ant runs off with it. there's actually another type of ant that farms mushrooms. They grow them in underground areas, tend to them, and harvest them when they're ready. Cool. Below is a shot of a couple of wild irises. Saw a load more of them after the battery died.
I am an honorary Halifax Kinette. One of the things I like to do for them is answer phones at the local cable studio once a month when they have their TV Bingo. so last night I took Cranky Baby with me to learn the ropes. she got behind the board to see how the numbers pop out of the machine.
Then she wanted to see what it was like behind the camera. Very cool.

While I'm thinking about it, check out Lisa's Carnival of MS bloggers (link to the right) and Charles' podcast (from Wednesday, especially, as that's the one I'm on).

I will be back over the weekend as there's a lot going on to tell you about. Tonight I'm off to host an appreciation dinner for volunteers and participants of a local Special Olympics organization. And tomorrow is the Wookie's birthday! There will be presents....

S.