Evanston: squirrels and websites
Not only is Michigan’s road kill epic, so are its squirrels.
Evanston squirrels are gray and of moderate physique.
Those I saw in Michigan were almost twice as large and had black fur, some with bushy black tails, some with bushy red tails.
This is a good time of year for squirrels. They were very active, both in town, where I saw them using telephone and electric lines to cross high above streets, and on the grounds of the B & B where I stayed.
Two lived in a big maple tree just to the left of Thursday’s photograph, and spent much of each day in the driveway eating maple seeds.
I goggled ‘maple seeds’ and came across a recipe for cooking them. They are described as highly nutritious and tasting like hominy.
I also found a NASA maple seed page. The charms of our space program are endless. I quote:
Maple seeds are superb autorotating helicopters. They begin rotating almost from the moment they are released from the tree. Even seeds that are poorly shaped or have badly damaged blades (wings) rotate with "ease."
Autorotation takes place because of the asymmetrical nature of maple seeds (and of paper copies). The center of mass of the seed is shifted well to one end while its center of lift is approximately in the middle. In a complicated process, the forces at work as the seed falls combine to begin a circular rotation of the seed about its center of mass. The rotation actually inscribes a cone around the axis of fall. The shape of the cone will vary depending upon the aerodynamic qualities of the seed's blade (wing). A blade with minimal lift properties will inscribe a steep-side cone while a blade with strong lift properties will inscribe a very flattened cone
Instructions are even provided for making an origami maple seed.
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A reader asked if I would share the 27 sites I visit each morning.
In addition to Yahoo Mail and Gmail, listed in the order I visit they are:
Bay of Islands - New Zealand:MetService.com - Weather
Saturday, June 5, 2010