Wednesday: Hili dialogue (and squirrel lagniappe)

February 3, 2016 • 6:15 am

It’s hump day and, if all goes well, in exactly a week I’ll be sitting behind a pint and a lunch of fish and chips (and mushy peas) at the Turf Tavern in Oggsford. On this day in 1637, the tulip-mania bubble collapsed in what is now the Netherlands, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed, ensuring that we’ll all pay income tax forever, and, in 1947, “The lowest temperature in North America, −63.9 °C (−83.0 °F), was recorded in Snag, Yukon” (we won’t see that again!). On this day in 1924, Woodrow Wilson died, something students won’t be observing at Princeton, and, in 1959, February 3 was “the day the music died,” with a small-plane crash killing the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and pilot Roger Peterson (I still remember hearing the announcement; I was nine).  Finally, in 2005, Ernst Mayr, one of my scientific mentors and a great evolutionary biologist, died at the age of 100; I wrote an assessment of his life and career for Evolution that you can read here, and an obituary in Science that, sadly, remains behind a paywall (I’ll send a pdf to those who ask). Meanwhile, reports from Dobrzyn are that it’s unseasonably warm (12°C or 54°F), and Hili is enjoying the weather:

Hili: I’m skeptical.
A: What about?
Hili: This weather is not compatible with the calendar.

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In Polish:
Hili: Jestem sceptyczna.
Ja: W jakiej sprawie?
Hili: Ta pogoda nie zgadza się z kalendarzem.
Reader Anne-Marie Cournoyer has proven herself very good at photographing squirrels. Here’s a lovely rodent she photographed at Mont St Bruno National Park near Montreal. It’s an American red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. The animal is in fine nick, and have a look at at its lovely white eye rings and soft white belly! Note, too, its flexible clawed feet, highly adapted for climbing trees.
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5 thoughts on “Wednesday: Hili dialogue (and squirrel lagniappe)”

  1. Hilti surely has taken up weight. My Doktor told me that the minimum distance to walk during a day should be 3 kilometers. Has Hili missed that recommendation?

    1. “And thirdly, The Advice is more what you’d call “suggestions” than actual recommendations.”

      Walk softly around cats, I don’t think Hili takes recommendations…

  2. Fish and Chips and Mushy peas are a fine meal, but Steak Pudding, Chips and Mushy Peas are my favourite, but you can’t get Steak Pudding in the South ,you have to come North where the real Men reside.lol

    1. Thanks!
      I must say I was lucky with this one.
      The little guy was jumping from one tree to another. At one point he stopped, and click! One good shot!

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