gorgeous colors

I think we may be at peak season color. I am not an expert in these things but the colors seem incredible to me. They are darker than usual, but it sure was lovely walking and driving today.

I drove from north of Washington DC to south of Washington DC. Naturally I got stuck in traffic but I have cruise control that slows down and speeds up based on the car in front of you. It is a wonderful feature, almost as good as having the horse drive itself. 

Some years ago woodpeckers began attacking my and my neighbors’ houses. The internet said the most effective and kindest way to get them to stop was to feed them. I began feeding the birds. (This is extortion. BTW, it worked, they stopped attacking our houses.)

Now I enjoy it and I have a murder of crows who visit and I try to balance feeding the birds and not attracting rodents. I was just this morning thinking about how happy I am that the hawk who visited a few times didn’t come by anymore. I fed the crows, I put out the extra so everyone else got fed, I noticed they all left and was a trifle annoyed because they can’t leave all that seed out there (again, rodents).

Then guess who came? And stayed? Stayed long enough for me to hunt all over for my camera, try my cell phone, change lenses, and take a bunch of pictures. Hawk stayed soooooo long that the squirrel came back, in frustration, and politely asked the hawk to leave so she could resume eating seeds. I think she was there at least 10 minutes. She seemed confused. Where is everybody? She was watching the squirrel but at no point threatened her.

This is not some artistic vignette, this is the reflection of the slats on my window. The squirrel was nearly the size of the hawk. I am amazed and frightened for my little friends, but at least no one got eaten. As soon as the hawk finally left the squirrel went and ate all the seeds.

There was a meeting today on how to rebuild Ukraine. Along with Zelenskyy and other world leaders and international experts, there was Razom We Stand, a Ukrainian climate advocacy group pushing for a green reconstruction.

A guest on Russian state TV said that Russia "miscalculated its strength" and can't win. He seemed to even insinuate that Russian claims that Ukraine is planning a dirty bomb are bs.

Poland's prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, argues for using Russian assets and those of oligarchs for Ukraine's reconstruction. I remember what happened when Germany was financially destroyed with reparations after WW1 - but dear god Russia deserves it. Why should anyone else have to pay? Maybe sending a lesson that this blatant destruction will cost you would be a good thing, a deterrent? A lesson that you better win because if you lose after deliberately destroying infrastructure and attacking other civilian targets you will pay?

South Africa's ANC has ties with Russia. South Africa abstained in the UN vote condemning the invasion and the next condemning the annexation of Ukrainian territories. ANC youth were observers in the sham referendums in occupied Ukraine. It is understandable in that the USSR trained and supported anti-apartheid operations. However, Cape Town views this as indefensible. There is an oligarch yacht coming to Cape Town and the mayor wants it blocked. A group of South African lawyers are working with plaintiffs from Ukraine on a court order to seize it.