• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Archives for Nature & Respite / Nature

Nature

Fox News Friday Open Thread

by Rose Judson|  July 11, 20256:16 pm| 103 Comments

This post is in: Nature, Open Threads, The Horrors

No, not that Fox News. I just mean I have some fox news:

Fox News Respite Open Thread

Foxes are to urban and suburban Britain as raccoons are to large midwestern North American cities. They’re wild animals, and I don’t have any illusions about taming them or anything like that. But this guy or gal has been visiting early in the morning looking for any leftovers in the stray cats’ bowls, and is quite photogenic. A friend suggested Scraps as a name, and The Child approved.

It’s hot here – not southwestern US hot, but it was 93° F today. The UK doesn’t really do residential air conditioning, and as I’m functionally blind in one eye, I walk most places. I’m weary from this week’s  marches to and from school with The Child. I’m weary from work, which is usually quiet this time of year but is currently full-on. I’m very weary from the last ten days* of actual news, and I feel guilty about feeling weary: I don’t live in the US anymore, and to date none of my family are directly impacted by anything other than higher prices, though we worry for members of the family in science- and higher ed-related jobs. Also, I am a freelancer, so more work always means more money for me.

Still, I feel drained, and trying to unplug from the news doesn’t work. I’m behind on one or two things for work. I only have half of the next episode of my podcast finished, and it’s due to publish Sunday. But I’m going away overnight tomorrow anyway, for a one-night “camping” trip on a friend’s property where a 19th-century farmhouse restoration is in progress, and where we will eat and drink too much and play a tabletop Call of Cthulhu game. I’ve been feeling, lately, like I should snatch these dumb, irresponsible moments where I can.

Happy Friday, kinda. I hope you like Scraps the Fox.

*Last 8–9 months of news, really, but the last 10 days have been a vortex of awful. You get it.

Fox News Friday Open ThreadPost + Comments (103)

How about some springtime respite?

by Major Major Major Major|  May 23, 20254:23 pm| 94 Comments

This post is in: Nature, Nature & Respite, Open Threads, Respite

Hello Juicers! Reporting in from fatherhood. Camille is four months this week…
…and doing great! She’s ahead on most of her benchmarks, starting teething, and still super chill, at least by baby standards. No complaints, 10/10.

Boy it sure is a disaster out there, though, isn’t it? Fortunately I’ve got a lot to keep me busy right here. Camille isn’t even the only baby in the neighborhood…

But they grow up so fast, don’t they? Ten days later…

They weren’t even there the last time I walked by. Flown the coop! I’m an empty-nester now. Oh, and the yard is coming along really well, too. Thanks to a big assist from TaMara a couple years ago, we now have these lovely and prolific irises, which gave us quite a show this year!

show full post on front page

Other than that, been reading, working on the video game (just about time for the demo and kickstarter!), playing video games… specifically Clair Obscur, Blue Prince, Lies of P, and The Hundred Line Last Defense Academy… Been trying to avoid Doing Politics Online, with mixed success. Not much point arguing about anything with anybody. Just gotta keep the house in order.

And of course we still have the cats.

So let’s call this a respite thread, for all your respitey needs. Playing? Reading? Watching? What’s up?

How about some springtime respite?Post + Comments (94)

Call & Response (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  November 19, 202412:20 pm| 95 Comments

This post is in: Nature, Open Threads

There’s a slight chill in the air, and the alligators are frisky. Turn the sound up if you want to hear this big fella booming* (a sort of guttural roar) in response to other gators booming in nearby sloughs:

I took that video from my upstairs side porch at about 9:30 AM. I’m guessing the gator is around six or seven feet long and was located about 30-40 yards from where I was standing.

A stout fence separates my still somewhat flooded yard from the river, but when the gators started booming, I whistled for the dogs and went upstairs. There’s a primordial instinct involved.

That said, gators don’t make my top 10 list of scariest things in Florida. It’s the fucking humans you gotta look out for around here.

Open thread.

*I’ve read that gators boom to convey info on their size and location to other gators. That said, I’ve heard what sounds like a 12-foot gator boom coming from a 4-foot gator. But I’m not a gator myself (except in the sense of being a University of Florida graduate and sports fan), so there may be subtleties I am missing. 

PS: Speaking of the Florida Gators, this is an actual hat I wear on game days when the weather is cold enough. Also, I am not a crackpot!

Crocheted hat that is orange and blue with a green alligator on top and orange and blue yarn braids.

Call & Response (Open Thread)Post + Comments (95)

Hope, With Feathers

by WaterGirl|  October 27, 20243:05 pm| 43 Comments

This post is in: Albatrossity, Guest Posts, Nature

Albatrossity sent me the annual first photo of Harley, which he does every year.  I am always relieved to see Harley; suddenly something is right in the world, and I teared up as I always do. Not for the first time, I asked Albatrossity if he would like to do a guest post – his perspective is a comfort to me in tough times.  And he graciously agreed.

(If you want to see all of Albatrossity’s guest posts, click on Albatrossity just below the post title.)

Hope, with feathers

by Albatrossity

Longtime readers on Balloon Juice might recall that there is a certain Red-tailed Hawk,  anthracite and ivory in color,  and a representative of the subspecies known as Harlan’s Hawk, who spends summers in Alaska or British Columbia, and winters here, about half a mile from my house in the other Manhattan, the one that is in Flyover Country. I have nicknamed him Harley, and I recall seeing him first in the winter of 2012-13, and many times since then.

They might also recall that he is swarthy, nay dark, and probably an undocumented immigrant. He has been making this journey every winter for the last 11 years or so, showing up in the fall and disappearing every spring. Finally, they might recall that I watch for his reappearance every fall with a mixture of anticipation (will he show up today?) and dread (will this be the year he does not show up?).

This year was particularly dread-filled, coupled as it is with the horror show candidacy of a felonious demented hate-filled fascist, and some sobering information about my own health that I received this summer. You know way too much about the former, and I won’t bore you with details about the latter (click on this link if you really want to know). But the bad national and personal news, and learning here about Betty Cracker’s health, in a time of my life when many people I knew have left us… Let me just say that I was not in need of any more hints about mortality. No sir, I did not need that. Not this year, or any other year for that matter. But the dread of the unknown was palpable this fall.

On a beautiful fall day here in the Flint Hills of Kansas, after a modest cold front blew some avian migrants our way, I decided to go see what blew in, and if one of them might be named Harley. I looked for his familiar profile on his favorite utility pole perch as I headed to a local fishing lake. And there he was. I pulled over, grabbed a few shots of him vamoosing to his second favorite perch, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Maybe my eyes watered up a bit; it has been dusty here.

So I sent a picture to WaterGirl, who was touched, and also wanted to know if I would write up some thoughts about Harley and his return. I have lots of thoughts, and probably not all of them need to be shared. But I do wonder what bonds me to this bird, and why I care so much about his well-being, his comings and goings. I am pretty sure it is not reciprocal; he eyes me skeptically every time I stop to admire him, and usually takes off before I even get the vehicle to a stop. Our lifestyles could not be more different; he flies a couple thousand miles twice a year, and I have to debate whether I should take a walk up the street. That situation could be passed off as envy, but generally we don’t care so much about folks we are envious of. So what else is it?  Here are some random thoughts about this sort of attachment; feel free to chime in with others.

About the envy, I’ll admit it. He is a beautiful and striking creature, and other locals have commented on his gorgeous presence in the neighborhood. Additionally, I think part of every birdwatcher is envy for creatures that can simply take off and fly to a better place. I do envy Harley, not just for his ability to move freely in the air, but also for his ridiculously precise navigation, his appreciation for the seasons and the light, and yes, even his apparent disdain for the earthbound. He just seems too cool, and he doesn’t even need a tan suit to add to the aura of coolness.

As for the rest, I don’t pretend to know all of it. But some of it must include our need to engage with other living things, what the sage E. O. Wilson called “biophilia”. Obviously not everyone has that, or has it to the same degree. Elon Musk, for example, would probably be perfectly happy on a lifeless planet like Mars (and I would be happy to hear that he got there), so some folks either do not feel that need for a connection, or they have buried it under other layers of needs. Since I spent my working life as a biologist, perhaps I got an extra dose.

Another part of it is familiarity, I suspect. He spends half the year in my literal neighborhood, and we have become familiar with each other’s habits over the last dozen winters. We’ve been through the COVID years, and now as I head into similarly unknowable territory health-wise, it is good to have a familiar presence. Not a confiding familiar, for certain, but it just seems more tolerable when some things don’t change even as the changes of the world whirl around us.

Finally, I think it is the season. Fall has always been my favorite season, for some reason. As my friend and fellow biologist John Janovy wrote in his most excellent book Yellowlegs: “There is something about the end of summer that produces all sorts of strange yearnings in people like me.” It is a great time for doing, and watching, and reflecting, and learning more about all the creatures who share the planet with us. Janovy wrote about following a sandpiper to learn its ways, to “learn things that no teacher, no classroom, no public school, and especially no university could ever teach!” I am not about to follow Harley back to his summer haunts, but I learn from him every fall. And learning is one of my favorite activities. Some would probably call it a curse.

So that’s a long path to simply let you know that Harley is back, for another season in Flyover Country. The next weeks and months and years might be tough sledding, both for the country and for people who care, but I can report that at least one small and beautiful part of that world is in place, and that it is good. Please find some way to indulge in your own version of comfort and self-care. Go seek and find some beauty, and some good, in the world. We all need it.

.

Hope, With FeathersPost + Comments (43)

Light Show (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  July 22, 202411:59 pm| 171 Comments

This post is in: Nature, Open Threads

A lightning storm parked itself slightly east of us last night, and we were treated to an impressive light show for well over an hour. Here’s 30 seconds of it:

Because of the distance, it was the best of both worlds to watch the storm from the porch. It was far enough away that it didn’t feel menacing but close enough so we could be awed by its power.

If you listen to the audio, you’ll hear the tree frogs singing. Toward the end, you may hear a motor because yes, an idiot was out in a boat, heading upriver towards the storm. I hope they got home safely.

Open thread!

Light Show (Open Thread)Post + Comments (171)

Squishable Wee Hours Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  June 22, 20244:43 am| 98 Comments

This post is in: How about that weather?, Nature, Open Threads

Check out this handsome eggplant-colored dragonfly:

Squishable Wee Hours Open Thread

It was hanging out where the swamp behind our house borders the crappy dirt road. In other words, the dragonfly is my neighbor across the street.

The swamp on that side of the road is mostly dry because the river is so low due to lack of rain. South Florida is getting biblical floods, but the northwestern coast has been dry as a popcorn fart.

The low pressure system off the northeastern coast is getting organized and turning west, but it looks like it will soak Georgia instead. Damn.

Open thread!

Squishable Wee Hours Open ThreadPost + Comments (98)

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow

by TaMara|  May 11, 202410:31 am| 110 Comments

This post is in: Cat Blogging, Nature, Open Threads

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow 1

Click for full size. This is from Lars Leber Photography (find his works here), he’s one of my favorite Colorado photographers. This was out on the Eastern Plains of the state.  But this one…from my backyard:

show full post on front page

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow

Click for full size. I never expected to see this from my backyard – between our location and the light pollution. Have to tell you I was more in awe and emotional than I expected as I watched it.

And since it’s Caturday, here’s some Reggie (I swear to you, I’m worse than a new mom with all the photos I’ve been taking and sharing)

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow 3

He loves his puppies and curls up with one whenever he can. This is him snuggled in Trixie’s arm.

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow 2

I swear he just works on his cute poses. That rabbit has seen some things. It was my first Tuxedo Jake’s favorite place to snuggle and I have debated throwing it out (it’s pretty beat up) many times since he passed. But cat after cat has claimed it. So he stays.

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But Wow 4

I have found if I need to get some work done, if I find him something to jump in and out of,  it occupies him for quite a while. Laundry baskets and my office trash can are favorite spots.

I’m off to finally plant the veggie garden. What’s on your list to do today?

Did anyone else get a light show last night?

This is an open thread

Open Thread: Sleep Deprived, But WowPost + Comments (110)

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 24
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Deputinize America - Moorea 2024 2
Image by Deputinize America (7/14/25)
Donate

Recent Comments

  • Professor Bigfoot on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:42am)
  • no body no name on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:41am)
  • Jim Brown on Boomer Nostalgia Open Thread: Nuclear Terrors (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:38am)
  • Aussie Sheila on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:37am)
  • Professor Bigfoot on Late Night Open Thread: Obama Speaks (Jul 15, 2025 @ 6:35am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc