Even the sportswriting of 19th and 20th century papers was literature.

Now that the trees and grasses have mostly lit up cigarettes and are taking a well-earned refractory period, I can once again breathe outdoors with relative ease. I’ve become accustomed to slathering everything with Sriracha to ease the itching in the back of my throat, but ice cream season is near.

Absolutely this - but not just this. This has been SOP for the GOP since they began to their push to control the press, after Nixon. It’s all been this. A simple message of hate and fear aligns the thoughtless with all your messages.

It’s Duck Season!

I don’t have a #TenMinMerlin today, but I just a note: I’ve been a bit critical of Merlin’s little quirks, but last time out it registered a Pine Siskin. Well, I laughed and ignored it, of course. Later I saw an eBird list from about the same time we were there: Pine Siskin, seen and heard.

#Taskmaster, every season (or series) has been great so far, but I haven’t laughed so long and so hard until Joanna’s stories with Kumail’s follow-up questions. It’s like George Burns and Gracie Allen, sort of.

My wife just commented on the great Richard Harris song MacArthur Park: “I think a lot of women like it, because it’s about food!” In fairness, it’s a little past her lunch time..

I play games for much the same reason I read - to live alternate lives. However, in games I always end up with lawful good characters because I just don’t want to be selfish or mean. I wonder how common such “non-alternative” approaches are in gaming, vs being the opposite to your real life?

If Earth was being prepared for colonization by aliens from a hothouse planet, would we be seeing anything different?

I realize that this will not happen, but is it even possible for a nation to ban the corporation as legal/business structure? It’s all too clear that regulating them is impossible, and their entire purpose seems to be acquiring increasingly more money without legal restrictions or accountability.

A quick #TenMinMerlin shows the migration is still trickling along. The end signal is traditionally a Blackpoll in the backyard, but they don’t seem to be around much yet.

This morning’s #TenMinMerlin in the backyard tells me that migration is still trickling through. No Merlin mistakes this time!

Doing well by doing good..

So, it started out grumbley and slow for warblers, but ended up pretty good for these days: 12 warbler species: Ovenbird, La Waterthrush, Black and White, C. Yellowthroat, Am Redstart, Cape May, N Parula, N Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green and Wilson’s. Singing as well.

Paydirt! #TenMinMerlin number three - featuring a very obliging Wilson’s Warbler, singing and posing in the bushes next to the field. Best views I’ve ever had!

Ok, things picked up a bit in a marshier spot, so here’s a second #TenMinMerlin with more warblier goodness!

#TenMinMerlin on a cool, damp, overcast morning - perfect birding conditions! I started the day with a solitary Blue-headed Vireo at the house, and am now getting what passes for a warbler wave any more - a smattering of birds. This is about as good as it’s been this spring.

New local bird! In the big Silver Maples two houses down, on my way out for a morning walk, I heard a slow, sweet “Red-eyed Vireo” - Blue-headed! By itself, of course, and almost a new yard bird..

Got the first plantings in - 7 of 8 big tomatoes, 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 of 4 red bell peppers, plus a lavender and a spearmint into the herb garden. No eggplants this year, after several years of very disappointing yields. Nice to have the Yellowthroat twanging at me from the shrubbery..

Tonight, over 350 million birds are expected to migrate North across the United States. Help keep them safe by turning off all non-essential lighting tonight from 11 PM until 6 AM during migration.

More and more, my life has become a Booth cartoon: I spend a lot of time relaxing in the bathroom, holding one-sided political conversations with my wife while she’s doing some sort of household chore in the dining room nearby..

The increasingly unpleasant part of listening to Orioles baseball are the lunatic ads from Baltimore’s Fox Radio station WBAL. No mention of the fact that Iran experienced a Pearl Harbor with us playing the role of Japan. Well, we got over Pearl Harbor in a couple of weeks, so no problem, right?

A backyard #TenMinMerlin - most of the usual suspects (the Kingfisher is wrong, but I’m not sure what it was - maybe the Mockingbird). Our annual Yellowthroat is back! He sings hopefully in the bushes around the edge of the yard for about a week before moving on in disappointment..

Almost forgot! Two #TenMinMerlin shots from this morning:

A fairly standard #TenMinMerlin from the kitchen window while brewing the morning cup of life: only one error today (the blackbird was actually a Starling), and our traditional Yellowthroat visitor still hasn’t arrived for his week-long stay. A Black-and-White is nice, though!

Miss Piggy always had a weakness for handsome men in uniforms!

Today’s #TenMinMerlin out the back window pulled a rich haul! The peewee was actually a Starling, the Chickadee, sandpiper and Phoebe were all our local, very accomplished, Mockingbird, but I have no idea what it’s calling a Winter Wren.

Even their Reichstag Fire is stupid and childish.

Today’s #TenMinMerlin is just the backyard; mostly the usual, with two probable mis-IDs (Mallard and Red-winged Blackbird are either Starling noises or Mockingbird). The Yellow Warbler was real and a new yard bird!

#TenMinMerlin Second stretch of the hike; early Ovenbirds and a selection of Vireos..

#TenMinMerlin First stretch of the walk. Some Parulas and Black and Whites singing happily (it took four tries to get “Parula” past the autocorrect), bug only a smattering of migrants - and the oaks are mostly done flowering!

It was a very pleasant morning for a birdwalk plus stuff..

I have always understood that Ospreys were pretty much obligate fish-catchers, but today I saw a second example in less than two years of an Osprey dropping into a grassy patch and coming out with what looked like a moderate-sized rodent. I don’t know how common this was or is.

Starting the day with my orange azaleas, which is (unusually) fragrant rather like a lilac. Then a #TenMinMerlin from my morning walk, which had scattered warblers and returned nesters.

Please repost this ad, if I don't sell any knife duck pins I will be forced to fire my father immediately.

If baroque music is coffee, French baroque is a frothy latte, with a heart drawn in the foam.

I miss Earl’s approach to baseball.

During the season isn’t really the time to begin working on fielding drills…

#TenMinMerlin from yesterday; a very noisy day indeed, with the Gnatcatchers and Goldfinches whooping it up all around us at the stream. I didn’t get the section where I found out that female Purple Finches sing as well as males, but that was pretty cool!

Post an image from a game you played as a teenager.

Wow! I just had a response by one of the most sophisticated bots I’ve seen! Most of the signs pointed to “human”, but there were some critical errors still. AI is getting disturbingly good!

Another Ten Minute Merlin - this time from Blandy Farm, down in the Shenandoah Valley. I didn’t use the one with the singing White-crowned Sparrow because I liked my first Meadowlark of the year. (While I’m posting this, the White-crowned Sparrow is singing about 100 yards away..)

Rebinging Taskmaster while waiting for Season 21, I was reminded of several things: Me Fern Brady is easily the most lovable player so far, but Ania has moved up to a close second. So many of the players are great, but if I had to pick a dinner party, I’d start with Alan Davies and Julian Clary.

My wild(ish) Azaleas will be in full flower soon! Many years ago, when I ran a wildlife refuge, there were wild(ish) Azaleas much like this back towards the orchid bog. I used to love spring there!

Following in the footsteps of @skwinnicki.bsky.social , I did a Ten Minute Merlin. For a pleasant change, Merlin got everything right, even the Canada Geese, which are moving around now. Tundra Swans occasionally fly over about now, but not today, Zurg. First House Wren and Catbird!

It is so viscerally satisfying to get the taxes in early! I think I’ll try to do this next year, too!

PSA: Muesli is excellent stuff, but should be used only in moderation, and only when you will subsequently be in well-ventilated areas, and never too far from “comfort facilities”. That is all.