Eid Ka Chand - The Crescent Moon

Today is cloudy and chilly.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 1/12/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I refilled the hopper feeder.  I've seen a large flock of sparrows.








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Thanks to nsfwords, the series Daughters of the Apocalypse is now up to date. \o/  You can browse that page to see if you missed anything.  

These are the notes for "The Tranquility and Beauty of the Winter Landscape."

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Today is partly sunny and chilly.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/11/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I refilled the hopper feeder.

EDIT 2/11/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I saw several starlings foraging in the grass.

I am done for the night.

This poem is spillover from the February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a post from elinox. It also fills the "Validate Yourself" square in my 2-1-26 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem is the second freebie courtesy of new prompters gs_silva, ionelv, and Laura G.

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Scientists find genes that existed before all life on Earth

Life’s story may stretch further back than scientists once thought. Some genes found in nearly every organism today were already duplicated before all life shared a common ancestor. By tracking these rare genes, researchers can investigate how early cells worked and what features of life emerged first. New computational tools are now helping scientists unlock this hidden chapter of evolution.


This is a much more useful look at "earliest life" than a lot of what I've seen with people fumbling around the Ediacaran acting like that's early, simple life. Here we are talking about genes that help define was the earliest life was like -- it had a membrane to distinguish itself from its environment, proteins to perform functions, and DNA to encode information. That is very, very close to the beginning. Much farther back and you get into, hmm, parabiology where things sort of behave like life, but also sort of not because they're missing key pieces. So for instance viruses, which are alive because they can be killed, but they can only reproduce by hijacking another cell's reproductive equipment.  This far back is very interesting to explore, especially if you're also into things like worldbuilding or speculative evolution.

dialecticdreamer is hosting Magpie Monday with a theme of "just a normal day."  Leave prompts, get ficlets! 

This poem is spillover from the February 3, 2026 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from kengr, librarygeek, and (Anonymous) IP Address: (46.110.23.207). It also fills the "Take a Class" square in my 2-1-26 card for the Valentines Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles. It belongs to the series Daughters of the Apocalypse.

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Today is partly cloudy and cold.  Patches of snow remain, separated by stretches of bare muddy ground.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a large flock of sparrows.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 2/9/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 2/9/26 -- I did more work around the patio. 

I am done for the night.

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Buffalo Seed Company Order
Science
Birdfeeding
Website Updates
Early Humans
Birdfeeding
Philosophical Questions: Pregnancy
Artificial Intelligence
Birdfeeding
Website Updates
"An Inkling of Things to Come" is now complete!
Follow Friday 2-6-26: London
Economics
Food
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Wildlife
Birdfeeding
Cuddle Party

Safety has 43 comments. Food has 44 comments. Wildlife has 36 comments. Food has 64 comments. Robotics has 135 comments.


Last week's Poetry Fishbowl went well. I am still writing.


The 2026 Rose and Bay Awards are now open for excellence in crowdfunding. It's time to vote for your favorite projects!

The award period for eligible activities spans January 1-December 31, 2025.
The nomination period spans January 1-January 31, 2026.
The voting period spans February 1-February 28, 2026.

These are the handlers for the 2026 award season:

Art: gs_silva Nominate art! Vote for art! (4)
Fiction: fuzzyred Nominate fiction! Vote for fiction! (3)
Poetry: gs_silva Nominate poetry! Vote for poetry! (4)
Webcomic: curiosity Nominate webcomics! Vote for webcomics! (5)
Other Project: curiosity Nominate other projects! Vote for other projects! (4)
Patron: fuzzyred Nominate patrons! Vote for patrons! (5)

"An Inkling of Things to Come" is now complete. Shiv and his classmates finish their first worldbuilding session.


The weather has been frigid here, but is slightly less cold than it was. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a large flock of sparrows, one female and three male cardinals, and a starling.