Obsidian Wings

What are They Thinking???

by wj 

(No, it’s not what you think!  This is an Open Thread that doesn’t start out about politics.  No matter what you assumed from the title.)

Last spring, I decided that spending all my time sitting (either in front of a computer screen or with a book) was probably not the best idea.  So I have gradually started walking more and more.**  There are other people out walking around: other folks mostly retired, or getting ready to be, younger folks jogging, young mothers pushing infants in strollers. 

One thing I notice is the latter group.  I can understand the urge to get out of the house.  And the desire to get the kids some “fresh air.”  They are walking around the neighborhood, sure.  But also out along the major streets.  And around downtown.  Places where there are lots and lots of cars.  And I can’t help but wonder…

Yes, auto exhausts are vastly cleaner and less toxic than when I was very young.  But infant lungs are still far more fragile than adults’.   And all those strollers put the infants’ heads right down there level with the exhausts of all the cars.  That just can’t be good for them.  So

What are they thinking?!?!?

** Fun fact.  You may have encountered the notion that the ideal is to walk at least 10 thousand steps per day.  Know where that comes from?  A Japanese manufacturer was putting out a line of pedometers.  The Japanese (and simplified Chinese) character for 10 thousand is 万, which notionally looks like a man walking.  Ergo: marketing! 

just another open thread

by liberal japonicus

Seems like we are about due for one. Have at it.

Water

by JanieM

Maine folksinger Gordon Bok has an album called “Another Land Made of Water,” the name meant to evoke the Maine coast’s rocky, fir-trimmed bays and inlets, where water and land are magically interwoven.

My picture-taking habit has made me realize that inland Maine, where I live, is yet another “land made of water.” Everywhere you look there are lakes and streams, and since Mainers want access to the water for fishing, snowmobiling, and the like, public boat landings are plentiful. For me, the boat landings provide dandy places to park the car and take pictures.

Water has been a mixed blessing this year, Maine’s ninth rainiest on record. On the positive side, the rain helped create an unusual variation on fall color: the grass was such a deep emerald green that you might almost have thought you were in Ireland. It was especially lovely next to the autumn leaves, persisting late into the season and fading only after a couple of hard frosts.

On the negative side this year were the storms and floods…