August 29, 2017

U have the GALL to do that ?

If what I want to do is..find observations... ok maybe observations that are also new species.. when I visit with some friends, I tell them...species are like gems in the games you play and someday I can trade my gems for something really cool..... I just don't know what.. yet...
I can.....travel.....or I can take a closer look at what is close yet....un-observed.
...,....Galls... WOW....these guys are cool...
In essence they ask the host for permission to use the host for a purpose...build a house..raise a family...and permission is granted...a lifetime lease....
So the deal with my new found observation,.. the witch hazel aphid is..a female lays an egg on a witch hazel.. which hatches into only a female.. she then asks the witch hazel for permission and we don't know quite how yet an enzyme a chemical maybe mechanical damage of a certain type ..something.. she then Redirects the available materials into a new form a cone..a cone shaped hive where a brood of winged females fly off to find birch trees...and something different happens there...
This here country boy finds that pretty amazing and he also knows where some of these...birtch people stand.....
Last year I spent 💯 US dollars for gasoline. I tried to keep it as low as I could...so I am not so big on the travel thing.... I have a truck and a car and gas money..there are parts of it I have...issues with...
more to follow......Peace.....

Posted on August 29, 2017 02:45 PM by johnwampler johnwampler | 0 comments | Leave a comment

August 27, 2017

What I think so far..

I have been at this inaturalist thing for about 60 days and I have some thoughts... Yesterday was my 61st Birthday and I spent the day doing observations... It was also the last day my drivers license was valid so I did the photo deal and the 2 women there wished me a happy birthday... the first time because I prompted it... but they added a Happy Birthday because they wanted to... That was it ...no phone calls..no cards..no party..no hugs.. it was a beautiful day .. the reminant of the Lakota Nation have a word. I use often..the word translates.... All my relations....so I spent the day with my family..the "standing people" we call them .. trees.. some of my relations fly in the air..some smile in the form of a flower.. on and on goes the list of how life expresses its self in ways that amaze me...and all of us share a common theme.we are a part of something more..we are all actors in a Grand Design...we all sing a song..we all dance a dance..
If my dance can send into the future a message that on 8/26/17 these plants and this bird and this beetle were observed and documented in the form of scientific data collected by a citizen scientist and made available to for viewing now and in the future by............ inaturalist.org.......... WOW that's cool...way cool...
I have been at this nature observation thing for many years.. I have Peterson field guides I bought over 40 years ago..... some of that time I was distracted.....girls..money..toys...ect
But not so much.. I lived in a log cabin that I built 1/4 mile off the nearest road for 10 years...then moved to this land and have been here since...the last 4 years my 2 dogs and I have lived in a.....gher.... we call it a yurt..the Mongol people call them ghers....cloud houses... earth floor.. wood heat..carried water... 12volt electric somethings.... and we love it ... so. I am more than a bit.. eccentric.. some might use the word....crazy... if those people have a candy bar to bet and we play a game of chess I'll have another candy bar...so eccentric is better word...
Things are not going so well on planet Earth too many species of life have went extinct since we humans have gained the upper hand... What we're doing is unsustainable we have some notion that the government or science or God or something is going to fix what's going wrong.... I would rather be part of a cure then part of a disease so if collecting observational data might be part of a cure in the future... that's what I want to do... plus I get to see all these amazing plants and animals with my own eyes what more could an old fart hope for..
That's some of what I think so far........ Peace.......

Posted on August 27, 2017 01:05 PM by johnwampler johnwampler | 0 comments | Leave a comment

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