Lesley M

A hand holds a ripe red cherry tomato in front of a blurred tomato plant in the background.

My tomato plant is super confused about what month it is, and honestly so am I.

A heron stands on a sunny grassy field.

A dirt train leading up a low rise. On the trail in the distance are four adult quail birds.

A view looking up at a jagged dead tree against green shrubbed hills and a clear blue sky.

A dirt trail heading up a rise, flanked by bright green grass and oaks shading the trail on either side.

Some pics from the walk today.

IWW IU 520 (Railroad Workers) PRESENTS: TROLLEY PROBLEM SOLUTION "Slip the switch" by flipping it while the trolley's front wheels have passed through, but before the back wheels do. This will cause a controlled derailment bringing the trolley to a safe halt.

Union workers solved the trolley problem, you're welcome

The full reasoning is essentially “we heavily armed cops won’t get into a battle with heavily armed feds over this”

Make of that what you will, but it sounds to me like the LAPD is perfectly happy letting feds run wild through the community

they’ve got their own unarmed civilians to shoot anyway

In case anyone wants a little break, here are a few of my favorite facts that I learned in 2025, in no particular order.

Some trees benefit from, and may even encourage, getting struck by lightning because it kills their nearby competitors nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Grass and shrub covered hills with a plaque in front identifying the spot as the location of the Ape City set for The Planet of the Apes.

Malibu Creek. Also where MASH was filmed, though I didn't reach the MASH site that day, and Planet of the Apes!

Green hills in the distance under a blue sky with clouds. On the flat plain in front of the hills is a still river with the hills, sky and clouds reflected in it.

The sun coming up over dark trees on the left, while a river cuts across the picture diagonally, reflecting the blue sky and small puffy clouds above. Hills can be seen on the other side of the river.

A river running away from the viewer, its waters a dark but still reflection of the blue sky and clouds above. A dead leafless looking bush is in the foreground on the left.

Three Canadian geese swim across a still river, leaving ripples in their wake. The river reflects the sky and clouds above. Beyond the river, the bank is covered with green grass and leafless trees.

Pics from a nice walk the other day.

The first time Charlie Chaplin spoke onscreen, he implored the people of the world to resist the rising tide of fascism.

Nearly 90 years later, it remains a timely message.

Wow, that's a gift that keeps on giving. I hope you're feeling better soon!

Just a reminder that Abebooks is a subsidiary of Amazon. It's better than not buying at all, but maybe try to buy direct later if it's possible.

One of Disney’s first acts after buying the Muppets was standardizing the character names across all languages.

This required a rather charming in-character explanation as to why Kermit the Frog had been known in Latin American Spanish as la Rana René (literally René the Frog) up to that point:

"I'll speak today about the rupture in the world order, the end of the pleasant fiction and the dawn of a brutal reality in which great-power geopolitics is unconstrained."

An extraordinary speech from Canada's prime minister.

Amazon's Ring to partner with Flock, a network of AI cameras used by ICE, feds, and police | TechCrunch Agencies that use Flock can request that Ring doorbell users share footage to help with "evidence collection and investigative work."

It was inevitable.

San Francisco coyote swims to Alcatraz for first time ever "This was the first time our park biologists observed anything like this."

Coyotes are such fascinating, maligned animals. As generalists, they survive in every environment, from the wilds of Yellowstone and Yosemite to urban streets and suburban neighborhoods. Now they’re swimming to Bay Area islands. First it was Angel Island… now The Rock?
www.sfgate.com/local/articl...

No, didn't hear it at all!

A very cute but forlorn looking brown and white puppy with big eyes and floppy ears, sitting on a forest themed blanket. Facebook post message: “Central PA Humane Society: Susan from Accounting is a 4 month old female. We were told she is a Beagle/Australian shepherd mix”

BREAKING: This dog is named Susan From Accounting

Yep! I live a short drive away. I don't go in that direction as often as I used to - I had a daily commute that way for a few years, but not for the last several months. It was fun to watch it being built day by day. I drove out that way last night.

I think nearing completion seems optimistic. They still haven't connected it to the sides or built out the part over the parallel road to the freeway, from what I've seen. People have been confused at the lack of progress, and my understanding is they were waiting for the plants to grow in.

A dog who has fallen out with her husband and step-children for the final time and is feeling the special kind of freedom that can only come from hot-wiring a vehicle belonging to a local tradesman and setting off into a bright winter's day, unencumbered by personal belongings, with no particular destination in mind.

THREAD.

A collection of random dogs I have met on my adventures in the British countryside.

You will find the captions to the photos in the alt text.

Cows stand behind a fence, watching a white duck in front of it. The text reads: " I wrote everything down for you. Just follow my instructions and everything will be fine," said Farmer Brown. "But keep an eye on Duck. He's trouble."

From the awesome children's book, Giggle Giggle Quack:

Here's a weird question:
How do whales sleep without drowning?

These sperm whales are power-napping below the water's surface, hanging like cocoons in the ocean.

But whales evolved from land creatures: they breathe under *voluntary control*. What happens when the conscious mind shuts down?

I love the weird little guys and science threads. It's a huge relief to take a break from everything terrible in the world. Keep it up, and thank you!

How is the City of LA doing financially HALFWAY through the fiscal year? 🤔

General Fund Revenues are slightly up compared to this time last fiscal year BUT Expenditures are ALSO UP. We expect spending to continue to increase for the remainder. 💰

Visit revexp.lacontroller.app

They are building this massive new data science and AI institute (that will house 100 faculty) next door to the department that studies climate change (which, checks notes, has 15ish faculty) in a building that is non-functional most days.

Which says just about every fucking thing about 2026.

Yes! It drives me crazy in some areas where the optimal route requires making a left onto a busy road without a light, crossing all lanes of traffic and making an immediate right, etc. I would love a route that took longer and was less stressful.

There have been a number of effective protests in LA which involve playing loud music outside the hotels ICE is staying in.

Really gorgeous!

I love this idea.

Mr. Rogers: Even though machines might move or sound like they're talking, they don't have feelings.

The wisdom of Mr. Rogers is eternal:

5 Calls Spend 5 minutes. Make 5 calls. Make your voice heard.

Just a reminder that now is an excellent time to make your opinions known to your representatives. 5calls.org makes it extremely easy to do this, and they have an app for your phone as well as their website.