Apache Plume

Apache Plume Blossom: photo by Cliff Hutson

Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa) is a member of ROSACEAE, the rose family. It is native to California and found in the arid habitats of the mountains of east San Bernardino County. It is also grows in the desert woodlands and scrub of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and northern Mexico. It is the only member of its genus. Which is to say it is monotypic. 

The flower of the shrub is roselike, or to some a little like an apple blossom, with rounded white petals and a center filled with many thready stamens and pistils. The flowers are small, but not inconspicuous.

The persistent fruits have distinctive feathery plumes that look a lot like pompoms. They are formed when the ovary of the flower remains after the petals fall away, leaving the styles, each 3 to 5 centimeters long. Each style is attached to a fruit, which is a small achene. The plant is covered with these clusters. They are greenish at first, turning pink or reddish tinged later on.

Apache Plume Fruit: photo by Cliff Hutson

Eventually the plumes turn white and when backlit are quite spectacular. The fruit finally disperses when wind catches the styles and blows them away.

Apache Plume: photo by Cliff Hutson

The plant grows three to eight feet tall, with straw-colored branches and spreads six to eight feet. The small leaves are green on top and rusty underneath. Apache Plume can look a little scruffy, but still be attractive in a drought tolerant garden.

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Days of the Cat

Mini and Pumpkin: photo by Cliff Hutson

This week has two days involving cats. National Feral Cat Day is observed annually on October 16. And, October 17 was the twelfth anniversary of a cat, who became known as Pumpkin, walking up our driveway while my wife was gardening in the front flowerbeds, and convincing her that he should live with us.

Feral Cats

Feral Cat: photo by Cliff Hutson

A feral cat is a cat that has been born to a stray or another feral cat and is unaccustomed to interacting with humans. They may be so afraid of people that they are unable to be handled, let alone adopted.

Many people object to feral cats as they can create problems by urinating, defecating, digging in yards and gardens. I did not really mind them  jumping on my car, but some people can see why others take umbrage at the paw prints.  The feral cats can also be upsetting to owned cats. But, perhaps the main problem is that, left to their own devices, they will reproduce like the proverbial rabbits. Since a female cat can become pregnant as early as five months of age, the number of feral cats in a neighborhood can rapidly increase if cats aren't spayed or neutered. Trap-neuter-return (TNR) is a solution to this problem. 

TNR is a program through which feral cats are humanely trapped; sterilized and medically treated. The tip of one ear surgically removed - a "tipped" ear is the universally-recognized sign of a cat who has been spayed or neutered. The cat will then be returned to the location where they were found. Those cats found suffering with terminal or untreatable illnesses or injuries are euthanized. 

My next door neighbor participates in TNR. She feeds them after their return, so they tend to stick around and form a colony. Her cats like to hang out on our adjoining wall, and in my drive. (They also liked to sleep on the hood of my car. I don’t think that they have fully forgiven me for switching to a SUV which is too tall for them to reach.) Many people on the block assume that they are mine. This enhances my reputation as "that strange old man".

Actually, only two cats, Pumpkin and Mini, live with me. Both were stays.

Stray Cats

Pumpkin: photo by Cliff Hutson

A stray cat is a pet who has been lost or abandoned, is used to contact with people and is tame enough to be adopted.

Pumpkin had a collar, but no tags nor ID. Our first thought was to find his owners by putting up posters. We took him in to the IVHS to see if he was chipped - he was not; or if anyone would inquire about him - no one did. So, he came to live with us. We thought we were really clever naming an orange cat "Pumpkin". (Especially in the month of October.) But, it seems we were not the first. "Pumpkin" is fortieth on the list of 100 popular cat names.

Mini: photo by Cliff Hutson

We adopted Mini not quite a year later. She came from a cat rescue group that had found her in a vacant house. Picking a name for her was more difficult. It seems that during the first week it changed on a daily basis, if not hourly. She was very tiny, being only about five months, and it looked like she would always be small. So, I hit up on "Mini", after the car, and it stuck. 

Cats make great companions in the right household. My cats and I have what could be called a strong bond. Both got along well with our dogs, too. The only downside for me is that they never encourage me to go for a walk, and I have gotten a little lazier as a result. 

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National Metric Week

National Metric Week: photo by Cliff Hutson

Each year, the week containing October 10 is National Metric Week. While not observed by most Americans, it was begun by our National Council of Teachers of Mathematics on May 10, 1976, approximately one year after the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, Metric Week serves as an opportunity for teachers, students and the public to learn about the metric system, and/or promote its use. The tenth day of the tenth month  is a clever way of recognizing the importance and convenience of the metric system, which is based on 10s.

While it may be true that - ”The pint's a pound, the world around” - only three countries, Myanmar (Burma), Liberia, and the USA, have not adopted the metric system (or the International System of Units (SI)) as their official system of weights and measures. This makes the US the only industrialized country that has not adopted the metric system as its official system of measurement.

However, its use has some mixed results. The United Kingdom uses the metric system for most administrative and trade purposes, Imperial units are widely used by the public and are permitted or obligatory for some purposes, such as road signs. Americans may know it better than they think. A lot products, from bottled drinks to medicines, are already sold and talked about in terms of their metric measures. And, I notice that automobile reviews cite engine displacement in liters while giving all other dimensions in feet, inches, and cubic feet.

I am somewhat comfortable with the metric system. As an aficionado of European sports cars, dating back to my teenage years, I have long been used to discussing engine size in liters. Then in my thirties, I ran a lot of 5Ks and 10Ks - though I was a “miler” in high school. And, I have owned at least one car where the speedometer was marked in both miles and kilometers. And, at one time when I was still in to such stuff, had two sets of wrenches so that I could work on my wife's car and my own.

But, I can see that making a full conversion will be a tough row to hoe. The change over of signage and packaging will be a tremendous undertaking. For example, one pint [Fluid, US] = 473.176473 Milliliters. I also think, as the rancor of our current presidential campaign has underscored, many of my country people will object on the grounds that it is foreign.

The first practical realization of the metric system came in 1799 in France during the Revolution. It fell out of favor for sometime but was readapted by France in 187. Then during the first half of the 19th century was taken up by the scientific community.

The meter was defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. Today, under the auspices of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures is the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 seconds. Just in case you are wondering, the liter is the unit of volume and was defined as one thousandth of a cubic meter. 

I should point out that the SI is the simplified modern version of the various metric systems. As most metric units are not part of SI, it not strictly speaking “the metric system.” And, a large portion of the American economy is now largely SI, including automobiles, heavy equipment, farm machinery, medicine, science, electronics, computers, cameras, bicycles, the military, and several sports.  

So, at some time in the future I am sure that all of us be using the system. But, in the meantime, I am going to celebrate the completion of this post by lifting an Imperial Pint (568.26125 ml) of ale.

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September 2016 Reading

The books I finished reading in September 2016

September 2016 Reading: photo by Cliff Hutson