🌻 PRAIRIEPALOOZA
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Oh, so much is happening. In the last two weeks, we’ve been to St. Louis, Cedar Rapids, and Wisconsin Dells to visit friends and family. I’m joining up with a new marketing agency (don’t worry, science news fans, it’s part time). Andy’s in a boot after the biggest player in the soccer rec league gave him a swift cleat to the calf — he’s out for the season. Things are good. Busy, but good.
With all the travel, there hasn’t been much time for us to hang in the Funkyard, but I did get some serious prairie time at the event of the year: PRAIRIEPALOOZA.
The Missouri Native Plant Society (of which I am now the newest member) hosted a field trip a few weekends ago. Nerds from all over the state — my dear friend Meg included — congregated to tour none other than prairies in the Kansas City region. 😍😍😍
It was amazing.
Everyone there was really nice, and it was great to connect with some of the prairie people that live in Kansas City and Missouri broadly.
OK, OK, I’ll stop. I took a LOT of photos. I don’t think I’d set foot in a prairie since about 2018, and haven’t spent that much time in remnant (that is, original, not restored) prairies since 2011. All of that is to say: It was a real treat!
Pupdates:
Samson has made it to 45 lbs, and has lost all (we think) of his baby teeth.
We put a photo of Samsonite through Google Lens, a “what’s in this photo?” tool that came on our phones, and it suggested he was a black-mouthed cur. We’d never heard of the breed, but Wikipedia tells me that’s likely what the original Old Yeller was. Especially when mixed with a lab, this dog very very much looks like Samson.
We had our first weekend away, and Samboni was a Very Good Boy at our neighbor’s house. At least, so she tells us. He slept ALL day today.
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Next up it’s finally time to harvest some lettuce! Hooray!!! So much of our edible plants have been pretty pitiful, but the lettuce looks great.
Funkyard species count: 166. New arrival: a prickly pear cactus from a neighbor. (Click here to peruse all the Funkyard’s species on iNaturalist!)
I’m reading this awesome post about colors of the world.
We’re watching Reign of Fire (2002) on Amazon Prime. Starring Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, and dragons. We couldn’t believe we were not aware of this, given how closely it aligns with our interests 😅. DEFINITELY recommend.
We’re playing 25 Words or Less with the whole famn damily, which is apparently also a TV game show. It’s catch-phrase-style word guessing, except you have five words and not one, and you have to decide in advance how many clue words you’ll need before your team will guess all five.
We’re listening to pop. If you, like me, ignored pop music for the past decade or so, maybe it’s time to give it another go. Start with Good as Hell – Lizzo, FREEDOM – Jon Batiste, Sunday Best – Surfaces and all of Lady Gaga’s Chromatica. Aw, heck, here’s a whole Spotify playlist. It’s a work in progress, please send any suggestions to add.
We’re drinking New Glarus. Thanks, Wisconsin.
Lately I’ve written mostly marketing copy, like about the benefits of tuna, the impacts of excessive sweating, and KPIs for a mobile workforce. I also wrote about which major cities are projected to see the biggest temperature shifts, and a couple of print stories for Discover which you’ll have to wait forever and a half to read (i.e. till December).
OK team, that’s all for today. Have a great week!
Take care please,
XOXO,
A
P.S.
✌ 💖🌻