"A tree may not have advanced degrees, nor even neurons to give it voice, but its genius as an educator would be hard for even a well-credentialed human to exceed."

Did I mention that the PDF catalog of the Holsinger Studio Portrait Project's exhibition, Visions of Progress, is freely downloadable online? Over 10,000 people saw the show at UVA, then it went to the Black History Museum of Virginia. Now it's touring churches & schools. at.virginia.edu/vop-catalog

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

Dave Matthews and Tim Ryenolds playing Neil Young’s Ohio last night and ends with some Rage Against the Machine.

Listen: because I am hearing this a lot from folks who are in caregiving roles with disabled, sick, dying folks, elders, or children in their care: You are not unable to do anything or unable to take action. Care work IS justice work

It cheers our hearts and warms our blood...

UPDATE: #Fluvanna County’s Planning Commission voted that Tenaska’s proposed second methane gas plant is not in accord with the county’s comprehensive plan. Nhttps://loom.ly/sgzOU_o

Saint Paul schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for optional online learning. I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.

POOPMAN and SHROOMZ wouldn’t be allowed by the DMV, but this is acceptable.

A 2012 report by the TJHD shows that lung cancer incidents in Fluvanna County between 2004 to 2008, the period just after Tenaska built its first gas powered plant, increased more than 30 percent compared with 1999 to 2003. Coincidence?

How much is your health worth? In Fluvanna—Tenaska's "Good Neighbor Fund": "Homeowners whose properties are adjacent to the existing or proposed plants could receive up to $30,000. Residents within one mile could receive up to $20,000, while those within two miles could receive up to $10,000."

Tenaska's plans for a new methane gas power plant in Fluvanna will impact residents of Albemarle as well. Get informed. Tell your friends. Speak up.

Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty

Here's a really easy New Year's Resolution: If you're sick with something contagious, you will stay home if your circumstances allow. If you can't stay home, you will mask around others until there is no possibility you are contagious. By making these choices, you will literally save lives.

“The key takeaway is a message of hope—the effects of Alzheimer's disease may not be inevitably permanent. The damaged brain can, under some conditions, repair itself and regain function.”

Christmas morning bagels with lox. Tomatoes were picked green from our garden the night before our first freeze, and left to ripen on the counter. Wrapped in newspaper and boxed up, they would have lasted longer, but I was hoping to have some for Christmas. Just cut into the last one this morning.

Grateful to work with Wild Virginia. Excited to see where this leads.

Scott Beardsley, you will quickly learn about the separation of powers between branches and what happens when one branch gives a middle finger to another that funds, regulates and allows their existence. Buckle up.

You lot need Dick Van Dyke singing Let's Go Fly a Kite on his 100th birthday more than you know.

The county removed all the air filters from the elementary school but wants to remind us by email that the flu is bad.

I'm helping kids wrap presents at the school's Secret Shop (where the community donates items, and kids pick out a gift for someone special). I just helped a boy wrap a new purse for his mom. "My mom's purse was stolen last week, cards and all, so I'm giving this to her for Christmas." ❤️

Do not underestimate the sheer joy that snow days can bring to kids. Sledding, snow ball fights, hot chocolate, and, best of all, no school. Inconvenient, yes, but a child therapist friend told me about depressed kids who are happier than they’ve been in months after having our long, snowy weekend.

We've been waiting for this. Here we go!

Fungi fighting PFAS

A series of Congressional Christmas Carols where historians write vignettes about congressmen being visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Explain what they said in the past, show them what they're doing now, and tell them what their legacy will be before it's too late.

Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people's bodies. Her bosses halted her work. Now she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world. (Published May 2024)

This all-male panel is deciding whether South Carolina women can be charged with murder for their pregnancies — and whether birth control and pro-choice websites stay legal. This a real thing happening today. Don't look away.

Last tomato of the season.

Inbox: “UVA Emergency Alert: ACTIVE ATTACKER with a gun reported in area of Shannon Library 160 McCormick Road. RUN HIDE FIGHT” #uva

"We are prepared to fund this program for the entire month of November" https://www.29news.com/2025/10/28/virginia-continue-snap-benefits-with-state-funds-during-federal-uncertainty/ #snap #virginia #hunger #poverty #uspolitics

Overwhelmed at 3am? This helps. Make space for hope. Move.

​BREAKING: Today, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum opened all 1.56 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing. These lands are sacred to the Gwich’in Nation, home to irreplaceable wildlife and wilderness, and have never seen industrialization.

ABC News pulled the satellite imagery of the White House comparing Sept. 26 to today. abcnews.go.com/Politics/new...

Attention Cville/Alb: NOW is the time to donate to local food banks, emergency pantries, and food insecurity partner orgs. Funding freezes/cuts to SNAP and WIC are coming and the next few months (++?) will be HARD for our neighbors. —Your local DSS Advisory Board rep ✌️

I scrolled through the @1stforall.bsky.social's gallery of print front pages for local coverage of "No Kings" protests. Here are some of the standout papers, starting with the Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, Colorado:

The family at Charlottesville’s No Kings Day.

Why does the naked mole rat have the longest lifespan of any rodent, nearly 40 years? A 30-year long mystery unraveled @ScienceMagazine today! Its cGAS enzyme in cells has 4 missense mutations that upends its function, promoting DNA repair and suppressing inflammation www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.” Diary of Anne Frank January 13, 1943

Climate change-driven range expansion leads to species interacting and creating hybrids.

Two great finds on the AT near Ravens Roost. A white-spotted slimy salamander and a glowworm! Glowworm beetle larvae are bioluminescent. The side spots glow like lighted windows on a passenger train giving them the nickname “railroad worm.”

The students who planted tomatoes and basil in their school garden in May got to enjoy mini Caprese skewers at lunch today. A bright spot on an otherwise bland lunch tray.

Spending the morning with some of my least favorite caterpillars. The oh so painful saddleback and the oh so destructive hornworm.

IT IS TIME.

These tiny, fluffy tufts are beech blight aphids feeding on the sap of beech tree branch. They're also know as boogie-woogie aphids because they dance as they eat. The spongy orange fungus is called a honeydew eater which grows on the excrement of the aphids, and eventually turns black.

Roses, Late Summer

This may explain why there’s an aggressive response to people who merely post Kirk’s own words. It threatens the existence of the alternate Kirk - the motivational speaker that had been marketed to young kids and white Christian groups through selective quotation & clips.

On this day in 1991, Clarence Thomas’ hearings began. We didn’t listen to the brilliant Black woman who told us the truth. 33 years later, his seat still stains the Court. Maybe it’s time we started listening to the women in the room. #BelieveWomen

Time to remind people about the Commercial Pattern Archive — it doesn’t have instructions and search is a bear but there’s two hundred years’ worth of clothing patterns in here including all the big names new and old: copa.apps.uri.edu

The monarchs are here!