Secret o' Life

may my heart always be open to little

birds who are the secrets of living

whatever they sing is better than to know

and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry

and fearless and thirsty and supple

and even if it's sunday may i be wrong

for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully

and love yourself so more than truly 

there's never been quite such a fool who could fail

pulling all the sky over him with one smile 

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

E.E. Cummings, 1904-1962, Complete Poems 

Bird Eggs

The entire range of eggshell colors and markings of bird eggs is the result of just two pigments—one that’s reddish-brown and another that’s bluish-green. Red the whole story:                                                     https://www.audubon.org/news/cracking-code-egg-coloration

Good Vibrations:  http://bit.ly/1JlF8gs

Up From the Skies

                                                              Photo: Nightskyhunter.com 

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,                

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.    

(From: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,  Wm. Wordsworth, 1770-1850 )

Noctilucent Clouds

Noctilucent  clouds (NLC) are located in the earth’s Mesosphere at a height of 82km, unlike ‘normal’ clouds which form in the Troposphere. Their name originates from Latin, meaning, ‘night shining’) and are also known as Polar Mesospheric Clouds. Little is known about them, and the current consensus among scientists is that they are composed of meteoritic dust particles encased in ice crystals. Temperatures in the mesosphere are -100°C, and what little water is found there immediately freezes around the dust particles, which act as ‘seeds.’ Through the process of nucleation, the clouds drop to a lower altitude and are then visible. Exciting and mysterious, NLC are best seen during the summer months at latitudes north or south between 50° and 65°.

Good Vibrations:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcrEqIpi6sg