by Joe McKenzie
Diapause: On a recent cool morning walk, I wondered where mosquitoes disappear to when the weather cools. They slow down. Probably more are slapped dead in this lethargic state. Is that fair? I would love to see a sluggish, confused swarm of skeeters trying to do their thing, not realizing they were about to go into diapause - their period of dormancy. As we know with weather changes, they can be awakened early in a false spring. They seem as confused as their human neighbors when this happens. Still, better than meeting a bear on the trail at RiverWoods.
Reflection: In the parking lot at church on a Sunday morning, I saw a shiny front license plate for KU clearly reflected on the white concrete. Cool. It was backwards or upside down. No KU jokes, please. The reflection held the crimson color well. Still, things come and go. Clouds came over the church and the parking lot miracle faded immediately, as though science would win over religion and God every time. I might be reading too much into a simple reflection from a Subaru. Wait, that brand is made special by love and God at this church is love. So, if you add in the sun and KU, it all sort of makes sense or is a reflection of something too deep to understand.
Drum Roll: Please! The toy drum of a child fell onto E. Crawford Street at the east end of the bridge. The drum began to roll with the west wind. It landed on it’s bottom and sat waiting to be drummed. It could be soundless forever now. Most drums spend more quiet time than we want to know, many collecting dust. This small, blue, red and white drum’s potential for making music and life come together may be lost. There can be 2 to 8 beats per second in a drum roll, sometimes more. There is much anticipation and hope in each beat of a drum roll, not so much in a rolling drum. The drum roll takes practice and intent. And manners, to always make the request by saying please. Hope that toy drum found a home.
Busier: How does Google Maps have info that a particular restaurant is busier than usual at a certain time of day? I like seeing that data. I wonder what else it could apply to? Probably not a church. Busier than normal? Dillons for sure. The airport? What would they say about a public park on a May afternoon? Olivia’s Place? Always seems busy. What if you, your supervisor or spouse could check to see if you were busier than normal? Google uses aggregated and anonymized(anonymous) data from users who have opted into Google location history. That’s what they say. They also say their info is based on the current density of the users at a given location. Are they dense before they eat or after?
Shadarch: The shadow of a Monarch butterfly crossed my path recently as I walked my dog Chase in the field behind our house. I must have been looking down. The mid-day sun was bright and shining. Across the green grass came a small black shadow with a meandering movement of dips and soars as it flew silently in search of our pink zinnias and orange marigolds. I looked up to see that my guess was right - it was a migrating Monarch butterfly. The shadow had less of the fluttering. But, it’s that time of year and the quick and quirky movement said monarch. Put that into a shadow and you have a new word - Shadarch. Don’t you love making up new words?
