Author: Lambert Strether of Corrente.

Patient readers, by January 3, 2022 (probably a better year), I will take a break and run an abbreviated water cooler. Please consider this as an open thread and talk between you. ——Lambert

Today’s Bird Song

Six(?) geese, maybe not laying eggs…

Here are a few Covid charts. Number of cases in the U.S.:

Oops. If anything, the daily jump is higher. (It is worth noting that the number of cases may be underestimated. Home testing is not counted, and not everyone can go for the test.) About two weeks ago, the number of cases showed a vertical trend, so it would be interesting to see what happened. I have been running other charts, coming Monday.

here has CDC fast-rising counties As of December 29, 2021:

Oops. California and Texas suddenly looked ugly at all. (I did not add blue dots so as not to cover up the spread of red, but those blue cities did not look any better.)

Before (12/28/2021):

Here, thanks for the keen eye of the astute reader Chris from Georgia, I have effectively dotted the major cities of the same fast-growing counties-blue (plus Denver and Nashville). It seems that some kind of internal enemy is happening in those blue cities… (Chicago is not red, but pink, so there is no point.)

indeed:

Poem of the day:

December 31

Author: Richard Hoffman

All my unfinished moves are lingering
Going through the calendar naked,

A group of scrawny hunter-gatherers,
Snow floating everywhere,

Stumbled towards the future
Fold in the new year that I promise

With pushpins: photos of January
A painting from the 17th century,

Still life: skull and mirror,
Spilled a coin purse and a flower.

Through the miracle of Google, I was actually able to find a painting that met Hoffman’s criteria, about the 17th century (1603). Vanitas still life:

Jacques de Gheyn II Dutch

Exhibited at Metropolitan Fifth Avenue Gallery 964

De Gheyn is a wealthy amateur, known for being an excellent draftsman, but he also paints and sculpts. This painting is generally considered to be the earliest known independent still life painting on the subject of vanity, or a symbolic depiction of human vanity. Skulls, large bubbles, cut flowers, and smoking urns refer to the shortness of life, while the images floating in the bubbles—such as the wheel of torture and the rattling of lepers—refer to human stupidity. The figures on either side of the arch are Democritus and Heraclitus, ancient Greek philosophers who laughed and cried.

I am also free to post this painting here, through the wonders of the Metropolitan Museum, the wonders of its collection of online posts. The Internet can sometimes make all usage very weird, but then we will see things we will never see or know.

Dear readers, I hope the coming year will bring happiness and satisfaction. Let us remember this flower and skull, let us hope we like what we see in the mirror.

Plant contact information: Readers, please feel free to contact me via lambert [UNDERSCORE] Bondage [DOT] current [AT] Yahoo [DOT] com to (a) know how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal, and (b) know how to send me plant images. Vegetables are no problem! Fungi and corals are regarded as honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, put it in parentheses at the beginning of the message: (so). Otherwise, I will use your initials for anonymization. See the previous water cooler (with plants) here. Today’s factory (JB):

JB wrote:

Winter Solstice 2021:

Frank Craighead, the notorious Craighead brothers grizzly biologist Frank Craighead wrote a delightful (regional) book on the seasons, a calendar of nature’s events in a given year. It is said that when the wild rose blooms, the snowmelt and river runoff have reached their peak and gradually decreased. The kayaker is sad, the fisherman is happy. At least, on the day we held the snow…

Everything about Frank C. Craighead Jr. has a season (goodreads.com)

The taller shrubs on the right side of the audience are also roses, but they are domesticated. not sure what it is. Smaller, rich flowers, dark green leaves.

Deer and cottontail deer love rose hips and re-seed volunteers around our yard and on the adjacent park land.

The background audience is poplar on the left, green and gray audience on the right

This is a not so interesting year of 2022!

[Clinks glass]

reader: Water Cooler is an independent entity no Covers the recently concluded sums-thank you! — Successful annual NC fundraising event. Therefore, if you see a link that you particularly like, or an item you can’t see anywhere else, please don’t hesitate to express your gratitude in a tangible form. Remember, the tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback not only makes me feel good, but also lets me know that I am on the right track of reporting. When I have not received donations for five or ten days, I will be very worried. More obviously, continuous donations help me pay for my expenses. I took this into consideration when setting fundraising goals: