by Tom Shafer
April 12, 2020
Okay, so last night I slipped into my hot tub around 12:30, on a night I hadn’t expected to because the weather forecast had been so dire – sleet or freezing rain, maybe some heavy snow. I was pleasantly surprised when a dry pocket of air moved through the Miami Valley, and I took full advantage of it.
It was a very quiet night, and just as I hit the water, my eastern coyote band immediately began yipping and yelling. I know they have considerable auditory abilities, and sometimes wonder if they are responding to the “splat” of one hot tub lid landing on the other. Anyway, as I settled in, I enjoyed their cacophonous calls while they lasted – which typically isn’t long. I didn’t hear corresponding yips and yaws from competing bands to the north and south, so when the calls ended abruptly as they always do, I was left to the noises coming from inside my own brain.
And boy has it been busy lately. I have been dealing with life – and death – preparations for my special needs sister, and of course, that can be particularly challenging. Right now she is perfectly healthy, working two part-time jobs she loves and living independently with her long-time (and also special needs) boyfriend. Frankly, I’m not worried about her; I am more worried about securing her care in case I am not around. In addition to that, FEPBlue just unenrolled her from her healthcare (which apparently happened to many, many people based on my inability to connect with their customer service) – so that is just another item my brain is fussing with.
But back in my hot tub, I lay there in solitude enjoying the sounds coming from the woods. Frequently, I don’t engage the spa jets for that very reason. Tonight, I could hear raccoons rustling through the wet leaves, searching for worms and grubs. Deeper in the woods, larger animals, maybe deer or coyotes, were cracking limbs as they moved through the undergrowth. Overhead, the clouds were breaking slightly, allowing peaks at a handful of stars, including the Pleiades. I couldn’t help but think of my father-in-law Richard then because the Pleiades were his favorites (read “My Secret Seven Sisters” under the Ole Richard’s Archives tab – though he mentioned them in numerous writings). He would always say ‘hello’ to them or deliver a secret wink.
Not-so-baby raccoons following mama, recorded on our creekside trail camera
Right then, I began ruminating about Signal Hill Musings, and wondered whether it was honoring properly Richard’s vision for this blog he initiated many years ago. And, I knew that I wasn’t. I realized that I was focusing too much on today’s politics and not enough on our natural surroundings, human nature, and history. Now, don’t get me wrong, Richard was a political animal, a junkie like me, and he too would be writing about Trump (whom he hated with white-hot passion) and the 2020 race to the presidency. However, he would still find time to muse about birds or his Uncle Dwight or liberation of the concentration camps (January 27, 2020, was the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau).
So I decided then that I would do just that. I created a new category, Naturelated, that will be dedicated to everything nature related (see it?!) and moved appropriate writings from other categories to populate it. And I will now concentrate some of my energies to providing you more stories and observations about that world – and human nature – and history.
I certainly won’t be disregarding the political arena because many of you like that as well – and because we are in a presidential election year and I have much to say. I am excited that my man Pete (I interviewed to be one of his speechwriters back in the summer of 2019 but finished third in a race for two positions) “won” the Iowa caucuses and is currently polling second in the New Hampshire primary. You will still be reading my political thoughts, philosophies, and feelings – whether you want to or not!
And thinking of nature, this week the world was treated to a viral webcam video that touched many hearts – especially in these divisive times. The short clip first shows a young, playful coyote looking behind him excitedly, hopping even, then a badger enters the frame, and the two, seemingly friends, begin walking eagerly (and disappearing) through a culvert designed for animal migration in California. Of course, the internet blows up for images like these, animals from different worlds and species, teaming up like in Disney’s The Incredible Journey (the 1963 version), this time pairing a couple of wild beasts instead of dogs and cat. But perhaps surprisingly, it is not all that unusual for coyotes and badgers to team up like this. YouTube provides many examples of them hunting together, attempting to unearth prairie dogs and other subterranean creatures. But it is a little unusual to see them this way, travelling together (or appearing to) through a man-made structure.
Curious coyote on our woodside trail camera
And, hopefully this story will better enlighten the public about these safe passageways that are being created for migrating animals. California was the first state in America to experiment with underpasses, primarily for bears, mountain lions, coyotes, and deer, in an attempt to save both animal and human life. Large overpasses are being utilized in Canada along the Trans-Canada Highway to protect grizzly bears and deer – and humans in their vehicles from colliding with them. Webcams at all of these sites are proving that animals indeed are successfully using them.
The other significant nature story from the last few weeks is astronomical, and that whole world is simply agog about it. Betelgeuse, the eastern shoulder of the Orion constellation and one of the brightest stars in the sky, has been dimming significantly (by almost a third!) since December of 2019. Most astronomers believe that it is on the verge of going supernova, an explosion that occurs when a supergiant star has finally expended the fuel that fires its fusion reaction. Unfortunately, in astronomical terms, “on the verge” could be tomorrow, next month, or a 100,000 years from now. No one has witnessed the supernova of a star that is this close to us (642 light years) – which explains the excitement. And, no one knows exactly what will happen, though many astronomers theorize that the explosion will be so bright that it will be visible even during the day – and may actually be brighter than the moon – for weeks or months!
If you are like me, you want it to happen this week and not 15,000 years from now. So, go Betelgeuse! Oh, and not to freak you out, but if tomorrow is Supernova Sunday, tomorrow technically happened 642 years ago when the Great Schism of 1378 was ripping the Catholic church apart (can you imagine three elected Popes at one time?). Remember, the light we are receiving from Betelgeuse today left there 642 years ago – so it may not even be there now! And oh again, in case you were wondering, the pronunciation is “bet-el-gēze,” not “bēt-el-juice” – but even that opens a can of worms with the astronomers.
Betelgeuse to the upper left of Orion’s belt
(compliments of Sky & Telescope)
Okay, so isn’t that better, some nature stuff, human-interest stuff, and even a little bit of politics? I will do my best to continue on this way, to give you the best of all worlds. It will actually be better for me because sometimes the politics stuff can really get my blood boiling – which can be exhilarating and exhausting. But that other stuff can be equally exhilarating and exhausting – and definitely more fun. And who doesn’t like more fun??
David Bowie
