Tattered but Still Flying

The Common Buckeye butterflies seem to be on their last legs, er, wings. Their numbers are increasing and I have seen two different kinds of swallowtails, but I think the buckeyes are probably on their way out. I didn't realize just how tattered this one was until I looked at the picture on the computer screen. It looks like the same creature that is nibbling on the leaves of the sunflowers and the chili plants has been nibbling on this poor butterfly. 

Matt and Claire stayed at Dana and Jim's last night and we all gathered there for dinner. Jim barbecued salmon and roasted carrots and broccoli. I made a salad and my 'special sauce' for salmon which is nothing but yogurt, mayonnaise, green onions, dill and capers. We all squeezed in around their dining table in front of the fancy new, temperature controlled wine fridge. Jim and Matt traded bottles but it can't actually happen until someone drives and it's too easy to fly from Sonoma to drive for eight hours to do the same thing.

Considering the fact that Dana and Jim both had to work, they produced a wonderful meal and a pleasant evening. Dining out with a group of eight people is problematic during the pandemic so this was a much more relaxing solution.

This morning we picked up Claire and Matt at Dana's.  Harold and Anne had their own car since they are in the middle of their drive from Corvallis to Laguna Beach, so we met them at Trail House for coffee. Our favorite baristas were there, the coffee was good, Claire's breakfast burrito had bacon in it so they made her another, and John was happy to eat the one with bacon in it.  The weather was perfect,  and we sat in the sun enjoying a final hour together. We said our good byes to Anne and Harold in the parking lot, took Matt and Claire to the airport where we said our good byes just 24 hours after we said hello to them, and were back home in time for me to take an 11 o'clock Zoom Pilates class. Although I'd rather be taking it in the studio, there are sometimes some advantages to Zoom.

In the news:
The mayor of New York, once widely admired for his handling of the Covid crisis, has resigned under fire, accused of sexually harassing a number of women both before and during lockdown. 

The earth is doomed...we can only slow the progress of global warming, not turn it back. The fires burning in Siberia are bigger than all others burning around the world. The Dixie fire in California is now the second biggest in state history, and is still burning. The winds have slowed, allowing planes and helicopters to fly, but the forecast is for hotter, drier windier weather over the weekend.

In Sonoma County new cases of Covid are rising again, mostly among the unvaccinated. The rate of hospitalization and death is also rising. How many people have to die before these people get the message that it is their fault?

A rich developer has singlehandedly financed a recall of the County district attorney because she prosecuted him for abandoning a bunch of elderly residents in one his many care facilities during the Tubbs fire. Something has to be done about the recall process here. We elected these people, if we don't like the job they are doing we can vote them out in the next election.

Now I remember why I don't read the newspaper anymore....