Saturday, October 12, 2024
Aunt Het Festival 2024
Posted by loonyhiker at 1:39 PM 0 comments
Labels: AuntHetFestival, Fountain Inn
Feeling Like a Lumberjack
Original photos and video by Pat Hensley
Posted by loonyhiker at 1:31 PM 0 comments
Labels: hurricane, hurricane. trees
Sunday, October 6, 2024
The 1987 22¢ Badger North American Wildlife stamp
National Badger Day is a special day celebrated on October 6th each year to raise awareness about badgers. On National Badger Day, people learn about the importance of badgers in nature. Some people organize activities like nature walks, art projects, or storytelling to teach others about badgers. The day is a chance for everyone to appreciate these unique animals and to think about ways to protect them and their habitats.
Badgers are small, strong animals with black and white stripes on their faces and are known for their strong digging skills. Badgers belong to the weasel family, which includes animals like otters and wolverines.
Badgers live in underground homes called setts, which they dig themselves. These setts can have many tunnels and rooms, where badgers sleep, store food, and raise their young. Badgers are mostly nocturnal, meaning they are active at night. They have powerful claws that help them dig for food and create their setts. Badgers eat a variety of foods, including earthworms, insects, small mammals, and plants. In the winter, badgers stay in their setts most of the time, but they don't hibernate like bears do. Instead, they might take long naps and eat food they've stored.
Badgers play an important role in nature. By digging in the soil, they help mix it up, which can improve plant growth. They also help control the population of some animals that might otherwise become pests. Overall, badgers are fascinating creatures that are well-adapted to their underground lifestyle. They're strong, smart, and important members of their ecosystems.
Stamp from the Author’s collection
Posted by loonyhiker at 6:34 AM 0 comments
Labels: animal, nature, stamp collecting, stamps, wildlife
Thursday, October 3, 2024
Hurricane Helene
On September 27, Hurricane Helene arrived with a bang! It was my birthday and I was anticipating a fun day. Instead, I woke up to high winds and heavy rains. At 6 am, we lost power. As I sat in my sunroom in the dark, except for a candle, I heard the wind whipping around outside. I heard what sounded like ladders flying around, which I found out later were my neighbor's gutters that had fallen and were sliding on their porch hitting the railings. At daybreak, our oak tree in the front yard by the driveway fell across the street blocking both lanes. If it had happened a little earlier in complete darkness, one of the cars I saw passing by would have driven right into it. A little while later, a Leland Cypress and our huge pecan tree (over 100 years old) fell in my backyard. Luckily they didn’t hit the house.
Since our power was out, that means our sump pump wasn’t working in our crawl space under the house. Once it was filled with water, our hot water heater and HVAC system were completely submerged under 6 feet of water. When our power came back on, the pump emptied the water but we have to let the equipment dry out before we can even try to see if they will work. (Imagine dropping your phone in the toilet. You have to let it dry before you turn it on or you might fry the electronics.). As of now, we just have all the windows open to keep the house cool. Last night we had to turn on the ceiling fan in our bedroom so we could sleep more comfortably.
We are so thankful that we weren’t hurt and no one we know was hurt or has died. It is almost a week later and 50% of our county still doesn’t have power. Some use well water so without power, they don’t even have water. So many other people and towns have had it worse than we have. As we look at all the devastation around us, we look at our problems as more of an inconvenience than a catastrophe.
Now it is time for clean up.
Posted by loonyhiker at 9:10 AM 0 comments
Labels: hurricane. trees
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)