seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from India
seen from Germany
seen from Morocco
seen from United States
seen from India
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Mexico
the pull of the mountains [ shot by @ohseephotography ]
How about Sirenidae?
Sure thing!
Have you seen a siren (family: Sirenidae)?
I have now
Yes, in photos/videos
Yes, irl
I'm not sure
An important note for people to be aware of as they are voting, axolotls are not members of the family Sirenidae! The image on top is of an adult, the bottom image is of some young ones :)
Does your local chain grocery store's name end with an s or apostrophe s ('s) so that it sounds possessive?
Yes (e.g. Trader Joe's, Wegmans, Sam's, Rozier's)
No (e.g. Safeway, Publix, Costco, Aldi)
No but I add an apostrophe s where there isn't one (e.g. Aldi's, Kroger's)
I have both types of store near me with equal popularity
bald/nuance (you'd better explain yourself)
I keep seeing people (not from my area) add apostrophe S to chains in my area that do not have them and it confuses the hell out of me. feel free to tag general region
Not my usual fandom content but I wanted to post here because I haven’t seen nearly as many people talking about the devastation in the Southeastern US from Hurricane Helene as I would have expected and wanted to make those who may not know the extent of the damage more aware of the situation from my personal experience. I don’t think people who aren’t living it realize just HOW bad it is.
This is a map showing the areas with power outages in the immediate aftermath of the storm and some stats on the rainfall.
I live in upstate SC, and we have been without power since the storm hit Friday. That means some of us have gone about a week with no refrigeration, no AC (it gets toasty down here even in the fall), no internet, no way of powering critical things like oxygen machines for those who require it, and no cell service in some places. We are slowly getting power back but the number of people without power is still in the thousands. Luckily, we do have a generator at my house and we didn’t have any major damage to the house, cars, etc. There are trees and power lines down everywhere, though. I heard about one older lady and her husband who had a tree fall on their camper with them in it… He passed away holding her hand while being crushed by the tree. She is in the hospital and will need rehab. It is getting easier now but for awhile was very difficult to get gas. People were waiting in line for hours. A lot of stores are still just now opening up and groceries are limited because so much was lost with no refrigeration. It was so bad someone pulled a gun in a grocery store to get fresh meat. We had a few places that had a curfew for awhile because all the streetlights and traffic lights were out and it wasn’t really safe to drive. But overall, compared to many, we are doing well. It’s inconvenient but not devastating.
These are some images from Greenville taken during the worst of the storm. I live about 30 minutes away from this area.
Western NC was hit MUCH worse. We were supposed to go to the Asheville/Hendersonville area for my anniversary this past weekend but fortunately we didn’t make it up there because entire towns were just wiped off the map. Chimney Rock Village, one of my favorite places to visit, is just GONE. Asheville was totally cut off from the outside world for a few days and only accessible via air. Flooding there was just DEVASTATING. Parts of I-40 and I-26 between NC and TN were totally washed out. People are reporting coming across bodies of those who didn’t make it out. At one point, over 1000 people in NC were considered missing…
Here’s a pic of the damage to I-40.
And here are some before and after pics of Chimney Rock Village and the surrounding area. Most of what was there is now in Lake Lure.
My church parish (I am Orthodox.) is working with IOCC to help with relief efforts in Western NC. If anyone is able to donate, please consider offering what you can. If you are not comfortable donating through a church organization, I’m sure there are others out there you can donate to but this is one that I know is legit.
Donate to 2024 US Emergency Response
If you find a group accepting physical donations rather than cash, these are some suggested guidelines.
Anyone else who has further info on how to donate or who lives in the area and would like to check in, please add your own updates.
For millennia, longleaf pine forests stretched 92 million acres across the U.S. Southeast. Today, less than 5 million acres remain. But a growing effort to recover this ecosystem is taking root.
David Printiss heads down a ravine near a longleaf pine seed nursery, known as Garden of Eden, in Florida. © Andrew Kornylak
Panorama image of longleaf pine at Green Swamp Preserve, North Carolina. © Andrew Kornylak
Excerpt from this story from The Nature Conservancy:
Across the coastal plains of the southeastern United States, amid miles of industrial slash and loblolly pine farms, remnants of another pine forest—once North America’s largest—hide in plain sight. Unlike densely shaded deciduous forests, longleaf pine trees grow wide apart. This distance forms an open canopy that lets sunlight spill down through a mostly vacant midstory to reach a forest floor tightly packed with grasses and flowering plants. Though these forests can feel almost empty, the longleaf pine ecosystem is a trove of biodiversity. Some researchers estimate its species richness is surpassed only by tropical forests and coral reefs. But with less than 5% of longleaf pine forests remaining, states, the federal government and conservation groups, including The Nature Conservancy, are working to save these Southern forests—and the species that depend on them—before it’s too late.
Evidently this bitch is the invasive edible plant garlic mustard so I guess I'll yank it up bc why not but idk if I'll eat it. Apparently the roots taste like horseradish which NO and by the time it flowers the leaves may have turned bitter?
A few quick prints for Infinity Con in Tallahassee! Smack in the middle of town and starts at 10 a.m. If you’re anywhere nearby, you should check it out!
11-hour roadtrip in the rain woooo
