35 thoughts on “June 30, 2021: Calder”

  1. I get this magazine of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association because I've run several of their trail runs over the years. Interesting inset in the front cover:

    CFPA acknowledges we are on the traditional lands of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the Mohegans, the Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Nipmuc, and Niantic peoples. We pay our respect to the Indigenous people who are no longer here due to colonization, forced relocation, disease, and warfare. We thank them for stewarding this land throughout generations. We recognize the continue presence of Indigenous people on this territory who have survived genocide, and who still hold ties to the land spiritually and culturally. We shall be good stewards of the the land we all call Quinnentucket. Connecticut.

    1. Are land acknowledgements like this common for anyone else?

      Over the past year or two, they have become much more common in academia. Just about any campus-wide meeting at my school (and many others) starts with an acknowledgement that the land the school sits on was the ancestral home of specific Native American groups.

      1. This is the first I've heard of it. I'm not against acknowledging history, but if it catches on I expect it will soon be criticized, weaponized and propagandized.

      2. Becoming more common in the non-profit world as well. Also I have seen some signs up in public spaces and even a few commercial businesses.

      3. They have started becoming more common in the book/library world. Sometimes connected with conferences and sometimes preceding an individual event. A Nambé Pueblo scholar shared some thoughts on land acknowledgments here that I found interesting.

      4. There has been a push to do them in certain public meetings here in Calif. State gubmint.

        I personally find them rather contrived and hollow, but I don't have a better solution to offer.

  2. Minor Details has been posted, featuring an incredible AAA debut by Jose Miranda.

  3. I figured that Milwaukee would trounce Atlanta last night, especially with Trae Young out. Instead, ATL comes out and gives an inspired performance, clamped down on D and built a 13 point halftime lead (Milwaukee had, count 'em, 38 points at halftime). Then, with about half of the third quarter gone and ATL withstanding a second half assault (they were up 10), Giannis got run into (inadvertently) and his knee bent backwards. He was out for the rest of the game with a hyper-extended knee and his playoffs are in jeopardy. Atlanta cruised to an easy victory after that and the Eastern Conference Finals are knotted at 2 and Milwaukee looks to be in real trouble. Giannis was walking under his own power in the tunnel, but I think his status is gonna be out.

    There have been a lot of injuries that have changed the course of these playoffs and some of that can be blamed, I think, on the compressed 72 game scheduled that they played. But, this was a freak injury and it is disheartening to see a superstar from a small market club (or any market for that matter) go down like that. 🙁

    1. Absolutely unfortunate. The playoffs have been marred by injuries to key players.

  4. Chicken sammie wars update: Just had the ChKing BK chicken sandwich (went splitzies with NBBW on the regular vs. spicy).
    OK at $5.49. Spicy was Des Moines spicy. Bun meh. But 2 small fries were $6.98!

      1. I like the design aspect where the chicken isn't perfectly round and fits in the bun, but juts out from the edges.

        1. Our Popeye's last night was tasty and pretty affordable - one classic chick sandwich, one spicy ($4.99 each), regular fries to share and a coleslaw for me, just under 15 bucks all told. They're my fave so far, Wendy's is runner-up.

            1. I saw some fish on the menu but I think it was the catfish strips. Don't recall seeing the flounder sandwich but I was focused on chicken. I'm waiting for them to bring back hush puppies, though, I love those things.

              1. My Ma was from Southern Missoura (Forsyth, Springfield) and made us hush puppies - yumsville.

  5. Took a kayak paddle around the lake. Saw a nesting bald eagle and what I presume was its mate, circling up to ride a thermal.

    Eagle nests are big AF.

    1. Eagle nests are big AF

      I was riding my bike along the Mississippi last weekend and two eagles flew overhead somewhat close on route to their nearby nest and I thought the same exact thing.

    2. You should see their poop. When I was producing TV news we had one from the Raptor Center in the studio. Right before we came back from break he ducked his head, lifted his tail and shot a stream about twelve feet across the floor.

      1. We did car-camping one year at Ft. Ridgely, and they brought in a survivor-raptor exhibit. One of the birds was a repaired Bald Eagle - the lady running the thing said for the first two rows in the seating to move if they want as the birds can eject their stream at any moment.

    3. I have been in my current house for 18 years. It's across the road from Lake Geneva. The first 4-5 years, I don't remember ever seeing a bald eagle. We started seeing a few after that. About 5-6 years ago an eagle established a nest in one of the trees on my neighbors property. Whenever I am on that lake kayaking I see it and often, when I am out in my yard, I see it drifting above my house.

      1. I think hawks in general have been moving north over the years. Twenty five years ago it was rare to see one around here, but now I see them perched on street lights along the highway all the time. We have a Cooper's hawk that lives in our neighborhood now that I see from time to time. I probably saw half a dozen hawks last time I drove into Minneapolis, and that's only about a 20 mile drive. You'd think this was Iowa or something.

  6. Wow. We were just walking the dog around Lower Mill Pond when a young bald eagle came flying around the trees over the water and right at us. When he was about 30 feet away he banked hard left, swooped down to the water, snagged a fish and flew off back towards the river. We also saw a good sized kingfisher, several little sandpipers, two families of geese and a family of ducks. On the trail we came across a rabbit, and several squirrels that refused to run away and got the dog fairly agitated.

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