A squirrel was skulking suspiciously around the screen porch. He didn’t seem to notice that I was watching. He looked left, looked right, then stuck his nose under a seat cushion and came out with a walnut. He’s even lazier than the one that buries nuts in the compost pile.

Twenty-something cashier at the diner says, “That’s $16.38. Cash or card?” I handed her $16.38. She looked at the coins in her hand with fierce concentration, then held up the quarter and asked, “This one’s 25, right?”

Some of the tomato seedlings were way too tall for their 4-inch pots. I had to plant them in the ground, despite the 49 °F overnight temperature. Then I figured, if normal gardens can have row covers, why can’t mine have column covers? It worked, though it looked kind of ominous. #gardening

A badly-weeded garden plot with black garbage bags over four tomato cages. They look like dolmens erected in honor of the volcano god.

Alpha radiation is stopped by a sheet of paper. Beta radiation can penetrate a magazine but not a book. Authors therefore need beta readers to get more than a superficial impression of the reaction to a work. In this essay I will… #writing

Some people don't understand recycling

OK, this was weird. I went to the curb and looked in the bin to see if the truck had picked up the #recycling yet, and discovered that overnight someone put two gallon jugs of badly spoiled milk in there. The jugs were bloated almost to exploding. If they’d gotten into the truck, they’d have burst and the whole load would have been unusable. I gingerly fished out the jugs and got them to the compost heap without incident. I poked them with a tomato stake and they released a Lovecraftian version of cottage cheese and a smell I don’t want to experience again. A thick layer of shredded dry leaves on top. /Bon appetit/, little micro-buddies! #composting

The neighbors have gathered to rescue three #fox kits from the storm sewer. One is safely in a havahart trap. The others have failed to understand the arrangement of step-stools that have been lowered through the manhole to facilitate their escape. At what age do foxes learn to be clever? #SuburbanLife

When I found out that lambsquarters taste good, I let them grow to full size in one row of my vegetable garden. Five years later, I am still being reminded of why people don’t do that. #gardening

Saw a bumper sticker: “Vintage Tesla: Pre-Madness edition”. That inspired me to go check: #Tesla’s stock price is down 20% this year. No crash, just a long, slow decline. When gas prices are shooting up and an EV maker isn’t profiting, it gives me an optimistic feeling.

TIL about Smigus Dyngus Day. Usually, being raised Presbyterian means I missed out on the fun, but this time I’m going to say it saved a lot of hassle. (N.B.: the Wikipedia page omits to mention that none of the people involved is sober.)

“…seo reade netele ðe þurh ærn inwyxð…” This field was fallow last summer, so it’s got all kinds of flowers now. This is purple deadnettle, invading the field just as the old guy said. It’s an important ingredient of the charm to cure elf-shot. #OldEnglish #bloomscrolling

A weed with tiny purple flowers, against a backdrop of green grass and vetch.

New acronym just dropped. EMPANADA: Everyone Makes Promises And Never Actually Does Anything (h/t Rayne at emptywheel.net)

At the #NoKings rally a Labrador retriever(mostly) is carefully examining all the signs people are carrying. Her owner says she can’t read, but I’m not sure. That breed is pretty smart.

I have just discovered that my wife keeps incense sticks and 4th-of-July sparklers in the same drawer. There is no way this could go wrong. #organized

I hired a crew from the garden center to prune my apple tree. A pair of mockingbirds just lighted on the upper branches, and then changed their minds quickly. #gardening