Geoff Wisner

May 27, 1854. The pincushion galls on young white oaks and on shrub oaks are now in their prime. It is a kind of crystalline wool. Those which I have noticed on the shrub oaks are the largest, and are crimson-spotted, while those on the young white oaks are scarlet-spotted...

June 1, 1853. The pincushion galls on young white oaks are now among the most beautiful objects in the woods, coarse woolly white to appearance, spotted with bright red or crimson on the exposed side.

Thoreau several times describes the wool sower gall, which he calls "one of the most faery-like productions of the woods."

May 25, 1852. The pincushion galls appear on the oak. The oak apples are forming. Those galls first named, a sparkling frosted cotton, are very beautiful.

Thoreau, Dec. 11, 1854. A gray rabbit scuds away over the crust in the swamp on the edge of the Great Meadows beyond Peter's. A partridge goes off, and, coming up, I see where she struck the snow first with her wing, making five or six as it were finger-marks. [Photo Mary Holland]

Trump wants to violate the law and bulldoze the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building, and its New Deal mural by Ben Shahn. Because of course he does.

All this appeared to advantage only while the ice (one twelfth of an inch thick, perhaps) rested on the black water. [Photo Mark Alan Lovewell]

...when the base was very broad the apex was imperfect, with many irregular rosettes of small and perfect pyramids, the largest with bases equal to two or three inches.

The surface was far from even, rather in sharp-edged plaits or folds. The form of the crystals was oftenest that of low, flattish, three-sided pyramids;

[Photo Photography Life]

Thoreau, Dec. 10, 1853. Passed in some places between shooting ice-crystals, extending from both sides of the stream. Upon the thinnest black ice-crystals, just cemented, was the appearance of broad fern leaves, or ostrich-plumes, or flat fir trees with branches bent down.
[Photo iStock]

Trump says Hegseth will decide whether to release boat strike video The comments come after the president previously said his administration would release video of a controversial military operation, “no problem.”

Man accused of murder will decide whether to release video of alleged murder.

The ultra-rich are claiming an increasing share of global wealth, report shows The wealth of the ultra-rich is undergoing a historic surge. This is the key takeaway of the third major report of the World Inequality Lab co-directed by French economist Thomas Piketty, which emphas...

There are 56,000 of them, the wealthiest 0.001% of the planet with at least €254 million in assets. Together, they now own three times more than the poorest half of humanity or 2.8 billion adults …Back in 1995, the 0.001% held "only" twice as much as the poorest half.

www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/a...

You will be visited by three spirits.

You will be visited by three spirits.

You will be visited by three spirits.

You will be visited by three spirits (and a baby).

Probably they do not heat, though wet. These are also still plump and tender. I love to gather them, if only for the sense of the bountifulness of nature they give me. [Photo American Chestnut Foundation]

I picked three pints this afternoon, and though some bought at a store the other day were more than half mouldy, I did not find one mouldy one among these which I picked from under the wet and mouldy leaves, where they have been snowed on once. [Photo Pixabay]

Thoreau, Dec. 9, 1852. The chestnuts are almost as plenty as ever, both in the fallen burs and out of them. There are more this year than the squirrels can consume. [Photo Tug Hill Tomorrow]

The eternal lure of the cardboard box.

...and sometimes I find a grub, though it is now cold weather and the plant is covered with ice. Not only our peas and grain have their weevils, but the fruit of the indigo-weed!

Not only our peas and grain have their weevils, but the fruit of the indigo-weed! Almost every seed-vessel, which contains half a dozen seeds or more, contains also a little black six-legged bug which gnaws the seeds...

[Wild indigo by Richard W. Holzman, Baptisia seed-pod weevil by Kate Redmond]

Thoreau, Dec. 8, 1850. I find that the indigo-weed, whose shade still stands and holds its black seed-vessels, is not too humble to escape enemies.

YouTube video by Robert Reich The “Peace President” Kills Again | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich

Hegseth's war crime spree. Trump's pardons and prosecutions. A big blue wave on the horizon. We break down the week's biggest stories on today's Coffee Klatch. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUUA...

Thoreau, Dec. 7, 1856. The swamp white oak leaves are like the shrub oak in having two colors above and beneath. They are considerably curled, so as to show their silvery lining, though firm. Hardy and handsome, with a fair silver winter lining. [Photos Heritage Seedlings, YourLeaf.org]

Same energy.

[Union Station in Providence was designed by Thomas Tefft, who was 21 when the building was completed and died at age 33. Photo taken at age 20.]

Was struck with the Providence depot, its towers and great length of brick. Lectured in it. [Union Station in 1857 and 1886]

Thoreau, Dec. 6, 1854. To Providence to lecture.... I see thick ice and boys skating all the way to Providence, but know not when it froze, I have been so busy writing my lecture; probably the night of the 4th....

The NYT photo desk FTW.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/685...

When everyone knows it's probably Grandpa's last Christmas so everyone makes a big deal about him