Ladybug’s Picnic

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Clusters of ladybugs
Clusters of ladybugs

Re-inspired by some questions from a couple from LA at the Visitor’s Center a few weeks ago, I decided I really needed to know more about lady bugs.

Turns out, ladybugs huddle together during the winter. This supposedly accomplishes three things. 1 – they stay warmer, 2- it’s a great time to meet other ladybugs and get it on, and 3- ladybugs are supposed to release some foul scent that deters predators, especially when they’re all crowded together. Whatever their reasons, seeing these masses of ladybugs is a pretty amazing sight.

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Fun with Renters

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Tom and I have been renting out the downstairs apartment in our house since June of last year, and it’s really been a wonderful experience so far. Our renters have been remarkably conscientious and have taken great care of our place. Plus, it’s been fun to meet people. When we first started renting, I thought … Read more

Yosemite Forum – GIS in SAR

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A small group of us went to the Yosemite Forum presentation today by Paul Doherty on using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to help aid Search and Rescue operations. These once-a-month forums are a chance for the community, and the public at large to learn about some great ongoing Yosemite research. Today we learned about how … Read more

Meditation Seed

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A friend returned to work today after taking a 10-day meditation retreat at nearby Dhamma Mahavana in North Fork, CA still reeling from everything that she had experienced there… and I don’t necessarily mean in a good way. Her description of what she went through pretty much terrified me. Correct that, terrifies me. Present tense. … Read more

Plastic into Oil

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We have a problem with plastic trash, and a fuel shortage. What if we could just take all that trash and turn it back into fuel? Akinori Ito from the Blest Corporation has figured out a way to turn plastics back into oil, using a tabletop machine that allows you to feed plastics from the … Read more

Snow Day

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When I looked out the front window, I saw a whole family running back and forth outside our house – sliding happily down the street in their plastic sleds. They’d been at it for an hour at least, and didn’t show any signs of stopping soon. Snow brings so much joy to the mountains! I … Read more

A Day at the Visitor’s Center

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This Saturday, on a perfect 50 degree sunny day in Yosemite National Park, instead of relaxing, enjoying the park, going skiing or rock climbing, I’m going to spend about 8 hours volunteering to stand in the Visitor’s Center and answer questions from visitors – mostly the same question, which is some varient of “Here I … Read more

Learning Interpretation

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New things are so interesting! Because Tom is planning to throw his hat in the ring for a seasonal interp ranger position this summer, and I’m doing this NPS volunteer gig at the visitor center, we’ve both gotten exposed to the Interpretation classes provided at Eppley.org. In park parlance, interpretation isn’t translating from one language … Read more