Entremet Originally shared by Kam-Yung Soh "“Like most people in the US, I grew up knowing the words to this carol and even (shudder) singing them occasionally (singing is not a strong point of mine), but never really thought about what they meant, how the carol originated, or what birds were involved”, says Dr Rasmussen in email. So she decided to figure it out. Dr Rasmussen, who’s tied for third for the most bird discoveries in the world, is probably also the world’s foremost avian sleuth, due to her meticulous detective work a few years ago that uncovered the many ornithological thefts and records frauds in museums that were committed by eminent British ornithologist, Richard Meinertzhagen. But who would ever have thought that an old Christmas carol might also hold an avian mystery? “After all, it’s just a Christmas carol!” Dr Rasmussen points out." https://medium.com/@GrrlScientist/meet-the-real-birds-of-the-twelve-days-of-christmas-fame-grrlscientist-5a8bc09350c9
Whenever I hear about snow in the South I remember the jibes and mockery from folks in California when an earthquake hits the East Coast. "What was that, a 4.8? Pff. We don't even notice when one of those hits." Yeah, we reply, but your buildings are built to withstand earthquakes while ours aren't. We have legitimate reason to fear an event that's no big deal for West Coasters. By the same token, as a snow-loving New Englander I want to show empathy when, say, Atlanta is brought to a standstill by what New Englanders would consider a light dusting. But in fact...that actually looks like the real deal. That amount of snow in so short a time would cause problems up here, let alone down there.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about Northern snow. I did, however, survive the Blizzard of '93 in West Virginia. It was not a trivial adventure.
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