Want to feel insignificant?

 

   Click on this link and see an image of the Milky Way taken by the Webb telescope.  Zoom in on the image to see some of the millions of stars of the Milky Way.   The Milky Way is just one of the billions of galaxies that we know of in the Universe.

Two progressive pandemic programs come to an end

  

        If you are looking for a silver lining to the pandemic you can look at the child poverty rate drop during the pandemic that was the result of the child tax credit that was paid out each month and the school lunches being provided to all children regardless of income.  You just knew that Republicans and conservative Democrats would never allow these two progressive programs to continue.  The next time a Republican talks about being pro-family mention this reality. Don't expect the party of Lincoln to suddenly grow a social conscience.

P.S.

     I have said it before but Republicans being pro-family ends at birth.

The reality of the politics of crime

     If you listen to a major talking point of Republican candidates crime in liberal cities is caused by being too permissive of criminals.  Fox News has one story after another of horrible crimes in our large cities.  You would think that Republican cities don't have the same level of crime but you would be wrong.  The reality is that Republican leaders are worse at controlling crime than Democrat-led cities.  Here is the fact to use with your Republican Fox viewers.  

P.S.

     The other talking point that Republicans have this election cycle is blaming the Democrats for inflation.  What isn't being asked of Republicans is what would they do to quickly bring down inflation. Cutting taxes seems to be the only Republican policy response to any problem.

Breakfast wildlife entertainment

    One of the most enjoyable features of Columbia is the wildlife that we see out of our breakfast window. As the seasons change we see different animal patterns.  It is just like viewing a nature show in real-time. This past year has been amazing in viewing the show.  We have rain gardens and other flowers in our front yard and compost in the back that the animals have found.  Here is a sample of what we have seen.

Our bluebird family has been around for most of the summer and we still see some of the younger birds still around this Fall.

We had 2 sets of eggs this year.

Our large beech and poplar trees have been home for the raccoon family

The neighborhood hawk was around when the bluebird eggs were in the bluebird house.  We were never sure if the hawk got one of the young bluebirds.

We had multiple hummingbirds at our feeder this year.  They have all left for warmer areas.

The goldfinches are still around

The woodpeckers are also still around year round

This summer we had a few different deer families that created the need to have 8-foot fencing around our flowers.

Our neighborhood fox comes around regularly on the hunt for small rodents and birds.  He likes to bury them in our compost to be retrieved later.

We even found this duck egg that the fox buried in one of our planters.

      I have left out the rabbits, squirrels, frogs, and chipmunks which are also frequent visitors.

New restaurants in the Merriweather District

     Remember when the only place in Columbia to find a restaurant was at the Village Center and the Mall? Now we have every restaurant imaginable.  Here are the new restaurants in the Merriweather District.  

#hocoblogs

Weekend funnies

Do you know what a 15 foot storm surge looks like?

 Here is the 15-foot storm surge at Ft. Myers beach with Hurricane Ian.

Columbia named "safest" city in the United States

 

       Wallet Hub (not sure who they are) has rated Columbia as the safest city in the United States.  While we can all feel relatively safe in our town it doesn't mean that we don't see some of the guns and violence that other cities experience but this recent shooting means we aren't immune from violence. 

#hocoblogs