packing early

One problem with packing early is that you forget what you've already packed.
Solution: repack and label. 
Problem with solution: the label doesn't stick to the packing cubes, nor does the tape. 
Oh well. 
In addition, Samuel is now stressed out because he saw me packing. 

Also I apparently misread something about children being allowed near the volcano. Iceland a few days ago said they weren't allowed and I must have then misread a headline and thought they were allowed again. I thought that was a fast switch and made up a snarky story about whining children to explain why. 

I told someone else about a problem and he is solving it. Hooray! There is a fir tree that is being smothered/choked by porcelain berry. I contacted the man I met in the park planting a native pawpaw tree and told him and he's thrilled because this is a key time to kill the porcelain berry before it spreads further Porcelain berry makes gorgeous berries, blue and purple and aqua and pink. It climbs over and blankets plants, killing them by preventing them from getting sun.  So, my good deed:  telling someone else about a problem.

This is goldenrod in the area next to the road that the city has allowed to go wild. It actually is hideous but this is where I saw the monarch so someone likes it. 

Otherwise, Miranda is right, it is getting to the end of wildflower season. 

The Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement is a group of female Ukrainian veterans. https://www.uwvm.org.ua/ Before the war they fought for the rights of women in the army and opened up a lot of positions. Now they are working on psychological care and training projects for women. When asked what every Ukrainian citizen should learn how to do, co-founder Kateryna Pryimak said civilian women really need to learn to drive. Men leave for battle, if the territory falls under enemy occupation women have to be able to flee and many can't, even if they have access to a car, because they can't drive. The next critical skill is first aid. 

Thousands of Russian troops are now reliant on vulnerable pontoon crossings at Ukraine's Dnieper River. British intelligence has assessed that the two main bridges in the occupied region of Kerson can no longer be used for the transfer of heavy military vehicles after Ukrainian precision strikes. "Even if Rusia manages to make significant repairs to the bridges, they will remain a key vulnerability. Ground resupply for the several thousand Russian troops on the west bank is almost certainly reliant on just two poon ferry crossing troops." Russian troops will have to use up their stockpiles and this will influence how long they can hold out. 

Yesterday Ukraine destroyed 8 Russian tanks and 11 armored vehicles. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced this on Facebook. 

Turkish drone maker Baykar is now booked for three years, which is great karma for a company that donated so many drones to Ukraine in response to fundraisers. 

There is a waterfall in Imatra, Finland. It is a well-known natural attraction and is popular, especially for Russian tourists. Every day at the same time the almost century-old dam is opened and water rushes under the bridge to the sound of music by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. At the end of July the city started beginning the show with the Ukrainian national anthem. 

Many Russians visit the nearby city of Lappeenranta to shop for cosmetics and clothes. Now the Ukrainian national anthem is played every evening above city hall, overlooking the shopping centers popular with Russian tourists.