Friday, February 21, 2014

Earthworms in winter ? ? ?

This is a decidedly superficial and meaningless blog. While today Caracas and Kiev are burning I moan about the weather and post about generally shallow mundane subjects.

Last night and this morning we got hit by sleet and rain. More lovely New England weather. Donning my raincoat I stepped outside to scrape the sleet off the deck and note that I am out of salt. The plastic bucket that I keep my salt in was empty but for a few soggy crystals. So Before dumping in a fresh bag I figured I ought to rinse it out. Conveniently with just above freezing temperature and slop coming down from the sky I can place the bucket just below the diverter from the roof and in a few minutes it will be filled with water.
Went inside to have my morning coffee and 10 minutes later go check my bucket.
Lo and behold
A friking earthworm ! ! !

Its February. I know that the earthworm was not there when I put the bucket under the stream coming off the roof diverter. Where did that earthworm come from then?




12 comments:

  1. With wars and rumors of wars a daily thing, sometimes it's the mundane that attracts our attention.

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    1. Gorges:
      In Venezuela things are a war at this point and people are dying, only the Govt and the Cuban trained anarchists are doing the shooting and the protesters are doing the dying. And while Kerry seems more concerned with telling us all about global warming no one in the press nor US govt seems to care. This is what happens when the administration expressly leaves a power vacuum and gives the wink and nod to the promoters of so called "social justice".
      Watch this video for a hint at what is happening there.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFS6cP9auDc

      The only thing I could add is that the picture is much bleaker even than that. The Cuban dictatorship has since the 1970 run an infiltration and indoctrination program and are so deeply embedded in the government, military and social circles that they now run the country. And have effectively tuned it in to the same shit hole that Cuba has been for 60 years. President Maduro is merely a Cuban trained puppet. The proverbial Manchurian Candidate. Basic staples are no longer available. Food can be bought only with ration cards. Even toilet paper is unavailable. Newspapers have been shut down for lack of news print as none is produced within Venezuela and it all has to be imported. Currency exchanges are highly regulated by the government and only for a privileged well connected few. This prevents imports of any kind thus commerce is paralyzed and shortages and unavailability of basic staples. The few businesses that are brave enough to buy dollars on the black market pay such a high exchange rate that the value of the few imports that can actually get and sell is 30 times the normal. Resulting in criminal charges of extortion and expropriations of stores and their content by the government. Foreign airlines no longer sell airfare to Venezuelans as the Bolivar is worthless and can not be exchanged for dollars so even those with the means can not leave the country. Yet just this morning on the Boston TV channel 4 NETN I see Joe Kennedy II (Mass. Senator) promoting Maduro's benevolence with his"gift" of heating oil for the welfare programs here in the north east. Yes sir that is a totalitarian tin horn despot buying influence in your own US government.
      more here:
      http://caracaschronicles.com/2014/02/19/19f/

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  2. Replies
    1. I would, but it has assumed room temperature . . .

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  3. I'll stick with the shallow stuff as it makes me much happier than seeing what else is going on.
    I should guess a bird dropped it in there? Or they're in your roof!

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    1. Kev: I know what you are saying and that is why I try and keep it to the mundane. Venezuela being where I was born and spent the first 17 years of my life holds a particular connection, thus I tend to follow events there . Despite the fact that what happening there today was inevitable given the history of the last 15 years and the vacuum left by the promoters of so called "social justice" . They are sad times when you get shot because you complain that you can't even buy toilet paper to wipe your but .
      As for the earthworm, I am certain it did not come form the roof as it is only 4 yrs old and it has been covered in ice and snow for the last three months . The ground has been frozen solid as long , so I don't know where a bird would have found it . Its a mystery.

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  4. It's just a heavenly sign that Spring will be here soon, one day. Eventually. In a month or two. Or three.

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    1. CM: It will be at least an other 90 days before things really start to thaw out around these parts. Thermometer reads 15 deg F right now. And they promise colder and 35 mph winds by the end of the day.

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  5. And where did my Newts come from??? The mystery deepens!

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    1. Cro: I suspect your Newt must have spent the winter, or what there is of it, under a nice cozy rock somewhere. Your bucket photo looks real familiar. ha ha. I get the distinct impression that your winters in the south of France are basically quite mild by our standards. We get an average of 9 feet of snow a year. And ground is frozen solid 3 to 4 feet down from mid December to mid April. Our growing season is June July and August. About 90 days at best. Its about 15 degrees bellow zero Centigrade right now. The 12 inch thick concrete basement walls are popping like gunshots from the ground squeezing it. Plastic shatters like glass.

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  6. In all of my digging on my property here in Colorado, I've only found about five earthworms. Crazy, but the soil (decomposing granite, mostly) is complete crap. I do a happy dance when I find worms!

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    1. Can't dig three inches here in summer without finding 3 or 4 earthworms. And Grubs, boy do we have grubs. I'll have to send you a box full of earth worms this summer. LOL sounds like you need to do some serious composting. Some of that chicken and rabbit poop mixed in to a compost pile should do wonders.

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