akkfigueira.bsky.social
Doing and teaching creative things in Utah. "My kids" means my children but also sometimes my students.
Posts about education, art, religion, family, gardening, politics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
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You'd probably see fewer daubers if they were completely gone, unless you have something else drawing them, but it makes sense the widows would move out of the higher traffic areas with more predators around.
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It's such a weight. And such a great feeling to be free of it.
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Yeah. It happens so often that someone complains about something (not necessarily in my yard, just some part of the ecosystem), and I just think "...but it's beautiful and important."
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Ha! I have to admit I hadn't thought of that yet. I’m sure the kids will love the grasshopper kebabs.
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Ugh. I wish people would realize that insects are not an enemy to be destroyed, but a vital part of keeping the world, and ourselves, healthy.
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I don’t even hate lawns, though I do hate monoculture lawns. I have kids, and they need room to play, and human activity is a valid land use. I love walking barefoot through a soft ground cover, but it’s way better when it’s not just uniform grass. And the toxic sprays have to go.
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We’ve seen the same as we’ve tried to invite them in for the past few years by shifting to native plants and building habitat. But there’s incredible pressure, especially from grasshoppers. Everyone else sprays them away, and they all come here, haha. Hopefully something will balance that out soon.
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…these tend to be the same kids who complain about never having time at home to do their school work. I’ve thought before about the need for mental rest to maintain focus, but I wonder if this “free time insecurity” has something to do with that.
Thanks for giving me something new to think about.
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This is interesting and insightful. I give my students a lot of time in class to work on things in an effort to minimize homework, but even when they know they are the only ones who haven’t finished, some of them just won’t use that time for school work. Now that I think about it...
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I don’t know if he’s still producing new stuff, but a lot of his old stuff is available on YouTube. He had a great cast, and I was constantly impressed not only with the writing, but with the precision and complexity of the vocal performances.
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Do you have mud daubers? They’re great black widow hunters. In general, I think black widows get an unfair reputation, and do more good than harm, but I’m curious is that particular wasp was part of the change for you.
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*Not actually all, but a disproportionate amount. And it’s not all of my neighbors. But enough of them that it’s a real effect!
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Much more recent, but have you ever listened to John Finnemore?
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Um. That's supposed to be a "control area." If anyone knows what a Co teolnarea is, I'm curious to know how autocorrect came up with that.
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Oh good!
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I guess what I'm saying is you all can come over if you want.
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Congrats!
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For some reason this is one of the funniest things he's ever said. It's so desperate. Like an impotent parent. "I'M WATCHING!" It's literally everyone's fault but his own. If only they'd stop being such naughty children he'd take better care of them.
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Magical.
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Best laugh of the day. Good timing. Thanks.
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Thank you for adding "guerilla gardening" to my mental soup this morning.
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And that “we’ve cut ties, we’re not associated with this” reaction feels inadequate to me. I get that they didn’t do this on purpose and don’t want their whole cause to be undermined by it. I know they’re “decentralized.” I still feel like they should do more than just wash their hands of it.
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Thanks to you, when my wife had allergy problems this morning my first thought was “Allergies? I hardly know ‘er gies!"
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Been a while
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There were a few different engine types we were using. I want to say they topped out between 200 and 300 feet, but that's just a guess based on my drone flying experience.
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Yeah. I felt the second-hand shame, but that judge’s professionalism was what really stuck with me.
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I somehow managed to forget that.
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Also, when one of the sisters of color in the ward heard what our topic was that day she was very happy about it. She said "You guys are awesome!" To the whole quorum. Just because we were discussing it!
And I was like, tell me again how it's irrelevant?
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For me it was the irony of people complaining about my choosing to focus on something the current Prophet had told us to focus on just a week or so earlier.
Like, if that's not an appropriate lesson topic, what is?
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I've faced racist comments in this ward, and I'm right on the border of looking white or not, depending on who else I'm with. But apparently the EQ Pres didn't think it was relevant. Only time I had a "talking to" about my lessons. 🤦♂️
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This was not long after a federal investigation had found persistent racial discrimination in the school kids in my ward go to, and after a widely reported incident of racist vandalism toward a kid in our town.
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I was an Elders Quorum instructor when Pres. Nelson gave his talk that mentioned rooting out racism. So we did a lesson on it. After that, the EQ president came to my house and said the topic wasn't relevant in our ward and my lessons were too political.
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That was my second thought, but first was Lotho Sackville-Baggins because he thinks he’s more important than he is and takes everything he can while being as graceless as possible. And also welcomes Saruman and his thugs.