Virginia waterleaf

Hydrophyllum virginianum, herbaceous perennial native to Eastern North America. This morning the forest was lush and wet and beautiful. This afternoon we got sunshine, despite the threat of thunderstorms, and it was beautiful. We lucked out. There are 40,000 folks without power in Virginia and Maryland following storms. After other people had thunderstorms, wind, and hail, Samuel and I were enjoying the company at the happy hour driveway. 

Tomorrow's forecast is for a magnificent day. 

The European Commission is planning to help Ukraine export its wheat and other grains by rail, road, and river to get around a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports. It is a complicated logistical challenge. 

British officials announced that Russia appears to have lost about one-third of the troops it sent to Ukraine. 

Russia's efforts to take Donbas "lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule" and the battle where Ukraine took out the bridge and a Russian column was so bad that even pro-Russia bloggers are criticizing Russia. 

Russia is running out of troops. Instituting a draft would require calling war a war. 

McDonalds' is no longer pausing in Russia, it is leaving. McDonalds in Russia was a huge symbol 30 years ago, the thawing of the cold war. McDonald's is taking down the arches and will try to sell the restaurants. 


Putin met with his five closest international allies and only one of them spoke up in support of the war. 

There is a cat cafe in Lviv. The Cat Cafe Lviv has been open for more than six years and has 20 cats. It has stayed open during the war.