I had thirteen people I was worrying about, so happy all of them are ok. One was there to cheer on the runners from the running club up here and saw/felt the blast. She and Vicky (the nurse) were the only two really near the explosions. Most of the others had already finished and left the vicinity.
A bunch of my runner friends were down there in the marathon, as well as the brother and sister-in-law of one of my best friends. All are ok. Friend's sister-in-law is a registered nurse, finished between the two blasts, and immediately headed into the crowd to see what she could do to help.
You want my not-so-humble opinion? This is the work of a home-grown nutjob like Timothy McVeigh.
Peepers are such a rite of spring around here, sometimes I forget that there are people who don't know what they sound like. As for the salamander, I love those little guys! Northern red-backs lay eggs in moist areas, like under leaves and in rotting trees on the ground. A lot of other salamanders need vernal pools, like frogs and toads do, to mate and lay eggs.
According to Colleen, the entomologist who released the beetles, it may take ten years to see a difference.
It didn't come out very well, but because you asked nicely:
The helmet has two long pieces of plastic tbing coming off it, supposed to be antennae, and the shirt had white spots on the back. But like I said, it didn't come out very well.
I don't thenk the adelgids are beetles, but I don't know, because they're so small I can't see them. The predator beetles we just released are only about the size of a pinhead, and they're large compared to the adelgids. OK, I just looked up pics of the adelgids, and they look kinda like lice. Eeewww!
The adelgids are just the tip of the iceberg up here. We've banned all out-of-state firewood in hopes to try and keep emerald ash borers out, but they've been found an hour or so from the Maine border in New Hampshire. The other really nasty one is the Asian long-horned beetle. One of our biggest industries in Maine is forest products (otherwise known as trees), and these bugs can kill entire forests in a short time.
I'm a very visual learner, Joe, so I'm not sure how much you could help me, but thanks for the offer! As for the peepers, we love them, loud as they may be. It means that f***ing winter is finally over!
We certainly have more appreciation for what we have than a lot of people, Ben. I've had to work for everything I have all my life. In the end, I think I'm better off for it. I certainly appreciate it when a friend sends me something out of the blue, like your PSP and my current laptop.
Apology accepted.
