Jennifer Eastman

@jeastman

Copyeditor, quilter, birder, gardener. Currently recovering from being a full-time caregiver for an elderly relative with dementia.

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Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· 13d

Summer. Fresh shelling peas from the garden. Pure heaven.

A small blue and white with a handful of shelling peas, some already shelled, some still in their pods.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· 18d

For Caturday, I present: A Simple Tale of a Cat and a Bag of Catnip. Details in ALT text.

Milo (a black-and-white tuxedo cat) is aggressively interrogating a plastic bag filled with catnip.

Milo (a black-and-white tuxedo cat with his luxuriously chubby belly showing) is lying on his side, with his front legs seeming to reach for something in front of him that only he can see. He's been into the catnip for quite a while now, so god knows what has appeared in front of him.

Milo here has suddenly realized that some part of his rear end may be trying to stage an insurrection. He reacts appropriately—claws out, teeth ready, ears WAY back. He is going to teach whatever part of his rear end is causing the problem a fucking lesson.

Milo collapsed asleep on the floor. Just face-planted. Catnip-induced exhaustion. He's sleeping the best sleep of his life.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jul 8

A common loon, just chilling in a northern NH lake, getting ready to have a magical duet with its mate as the early evening light fades.

Photo of a lake in northern New Hampshire. Photo is taken from a kayak on the water. The sun has just set, so you just see fairly smooth water all the way over to some dark hills on the opposite shore. The sky above the hills is cloudless, with a tinge of orange from the sunset. A common loon is seen in silhouette, fairly close to the kayak. Fairly close because loons are quite clever and quick, and (generally speaking) humans in kayaks are stupid and clumsy and thus no threat.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jul 2

My late father's schedule for projects, which he formulated in the late 1980s.

A sheet of paper with the header: "Phases of a Project."

1. Enthusiasm
2. Disillusionment
3. Panic
4. Search for the Guilty

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jun 17

Obama wasn't wrong (at the end of that bit of his speech) about the changes he predicted Trump would make to the White House.

A screenshot of an image produced for Obama's Correspondents Dinner address showing what Trump would do to the White House.

It shows the north side of the White House. The regular columns of the north portico have been gilded, and behind them, hanging in the portico, is a massive chandelier that is almost two stories tall—maybe 30 feet from top to bottom and 30 feet wide. Two young women in bikinis are cavorting in a fountain in front of the portico, and a couple men (including John Boehner, who was speaker of the House at the time) are walking around with golf clubs, as if the north lawn has been turned into a golf course.

The simple peaked roof of the White House has been removed and replaced with a humungous 3-story addition, that says TRUMP in all caps at the top, then "the White House" in hot pink cursive writing, and below that, "Hotel, Casino, Golf Course, Presidential Suite."

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jun 9

Wonderful! My cat Artemis was also very good at cat yoga when she was a kitten.

Photo of a black kitten lying in a ridiculous position on a pillow covered with a red tartan pillowcase. If you could see only her hindquarters, it would seem that she is lying peacefully on her right side, but the front half of her body is twisted around her head looks like she is lying on her back, and her front paws are stretched out almost making it look like she is lying on her belly.

She was fine. She just liked being ridiculously cute. She has a very peaceful, nonchalant expression on her face, as if to say, "Why are you looking at me like that? Doesn't everyone prefer resting in the Pretzel Asana?

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jun 8

Today in bad bird photographs, bluebird fledgling edition! Photo taken with a mediocre old-model iPhone through binoculars, thus it is a bit blurry, etc. But these are the first two of five bluebird nestlings that just fledged, along with their proud mama.

A blurry photo of a birdhouse on a metal garden pole. A female bluebird (the mama) is sitting on the top of the garden pole. At the entrance of the birdhouse you can see two blurry little baby bird faces.

It's a crap photo, but we're so proud of the bluebird couple and their babies.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jun 6

Translation help requested!! In 1993 I bought three small (like 4x5 inches) watercolor paintings from an artist in Athens, Greece. I think he was Russian—named E. Ilatovsky. I was a grad student, thus fairly broke.

Photo of a small watercolor painting of the ruins of an ancient Greek temple. There are a dozen or so columns standing with a cypress tree next to them.

Photo of the back of the other painting. It has a pencil sketch of an ancient Greek theater and some writing in Russian.

Close-up of the writing on the back of one of the paintings.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· May 19

So we've got a bluebird mama who is very proud of her little house. I imagine that she has eggs in there, but it was so warm today that she didn't have to incubate all day and spent half peeking out, surveying her realm. She's so ridiculously cute. Northern New Hampshire. Details in alt text.

Photo of a homemade wooden bluebird house (which my wonderful husband made) fixed on a platform on top of a shepherd's-crook-style metal pole. In the background, you can see a bit of the grassy field and the edge of some woods.

In the entrance to the bluebird house, you can see the small head of a female eastern bluebird. She is looking out at the field in front of her house.

She has spent much of the day staring out this window of her little house, because she is clearly The Best Bluebird Mama Ever, and she is so happy and proud of the eggs she is protecting. Woe to anyone who dares to disturb this mama's babies, because this mama (who weighs all of around 30 grams) will Fuck Them Up.

Just watch from a safe distance and hope you are lucky enough to witness the babies fledging.

Closeup of the mama bluebird in the description below:

Photo of a homemade wooden bluebird house fixed on a platform on top of a shepherd's-crook-style metal pole. In the background, you can see a bit of the grassy field and the edge of some woods.

In the entrance to the bluebird house, you can see the small head of a female eastern bluebird. She is looking out at the field in front of her house.

She has spent much of the day staring out this window of her little house, because she is clearly The Best Bluebird Mama Ever, and she is so happy and proud of the eggs she is protecting. Woe to anyone who dares to disturb this mama's babies, because this mama (who weighs all of around 30 grams) will Fuck Them Up.

Just watch from a safe distance and hope you are lucky enough to witness the babies fledging.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Apr 20

Maybe the last snowy day of this winter in northern New Hampshire. Maybe I wasn't happy with it spitting snow half the day today, but just look at this! Just gorgeous.

A photo of a bit of a field with woods on the edges. The photo was taken from an upstairs window, which provides a nice view of the field. It snowed a bit all day, so the field is white with snow, but the the snow isn't deep. The cloudy skies have cleared up, so now there are just a few high clouds, and the setting sun is pure gold in the west, lighting up the woods on the right of the photo.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Apr 19

This is getting ridiculous.

A photo showing a ridiculous amount of snow for mid- to late April, even in northern NH. Yes, it's technically just a heavy dusting of snow, but FOR FUCK'S SAKE, it's April.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Apr 19

I mean—FFS. It's no longer melting instantly. It's starting to stick on the porch steps and the grass.

A photo of a back yard with a line of trees (pine trees, maples, oaks). Fucking snow is falling steadily and starting to stick on the ground (rather than instantly melting the way it should in mid- to late April).

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Apr 13

I also have this stunner of a red-shouldered hawk. The photo's actually clear, but it was one of those birds who instinctively know when someone grabs a camera or phone to take a picture. It landed in the field twice to grab a vole or something, each time perfectly positioned behind something.

A photo taken with an iPhone through binoculars, so there is most of a black circle at the top and bottom, from the binoculars' eyepiece. The photo is of a field with 4 or 5 inches of snow on it, with some tall dead winter field grasses here and there. A beautiful red-shouldered hawk is standing on the ground, having just swooped down from a nearby tree to grab a vole or something. The clever hawk has PERFECTLY positioned itself behind the tall grasses, so you can't really see it. You can tell it's a large hawk with a rusty-colored chest and belly—enough to ID it as a red-shouldered hawk. But that's as much joy as you get.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Apr 13

Oh, do I have bad bird photos! Like this excellent shot of some wild turkeys.

A photo of 7 wild turkeys in a yard in northern New Hampshire. The photo was taken in the summer, so the lawn and flower beds are lush and bright green, and there are a bunch of mature oak and maple trees in the distance. Unfortunately, I snapped the picture quickly from a window, so the only thing in focus is the screen of the window. The turkeys are just blurry dark blobs—though you can see that there are 7 of them.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Mar 21

Also ...

Screenshot from the satyrical paper The Onion: A photo of a male Northern Cardinal (a bright red bird with some black around the face). The bird is sitting on a twig and appears to be staring suspiciously at the camera. The photo has a headline that says "Area Bird Creeped Out by Bird Watcher."

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Mar 15

Today in "What the Actual Fuck?": Six-foot-tall rooster statues on sale for $250 at the local Tractor Supply. Not sure who thought of this and what they were on when they thought of this. I just backed away without making any sudden moves. Because WTF.

Two large statues of roosters on sale for $250 each. I mean "large" like 6 feet tall. The bodies are sort of mottled shades of green and beige, almost like camo. They have orange legs and feet, plus orange heads. They aren't scary in a creepy kind of way, but definitely scary when you think that some human being (presumably a human, but who the fuck knows what AI is doing these days) actually decided to make these stupid useless things and then try to sell them in northern Vermont for $250 each. Honestly. What the fuck?

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Mar 12

That reminds me of a great New Yorker cartoon by Eric Lewis.

A cartoon titled "Cat Kung Fu." A cat is sitting at the left, staring intensely at a soda bottle cap in front of it. The cat's tail has little lines next to it to indicate that the tail is twitching a little. A thought bubble shows what the cat is thinking: "So——the diet-cola cap returns to challenge the master!"

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Feb 23

The Citi Bikes in NYC are currently unavailable.

A photo of a snowy street scene in New York City. In the background are brick and stone buildings (shops all closed). Snow is flying through the air (it was windy, so the snow was not falling, but flying sideways. In the foreground is a row of Citi Bikes locked into their stations. They all have a foot of snow on their seats and on any other surface that can possibly collect snow.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Feb 20

A particularly lovely Pennsylvania goat on a perfect June day.

A goat who is reconsidering the final passage of her acceptance speech for her Nobel Peace Prize, which she won for her work on relations between Nubians and Saanans. She is smiling because she is toying with the idea of announcing that she wants to share the prize with Trump—hoping to lure him into range of her horns and those the rest of the goat delegation to Oslo.

(A beautiful brown and white Nubian goat standing up next to a wire fence and looking off a bit to her right. The pasture behind her is a beautiful green, and in the background are farm fields, patches of woods, and a large barn painted a dark red color.)

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Feb 20

One of my cherished possessions. The envelope made to go with the Nixon stamps that were issued in 1995. Made by Tricky Envelopes in Santa Cruz, CA.

A regular-sized envelope that was made specifically for the commemorative Nixon stamp. The right side of the envelope, where the stamp would go, was printed with the upper body of a man in a black suit behind prison bars. His hands are gripping the bars. The Nixon stamp completely the picture, with his head added to the body.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Feb 8

Yeah.

Screenshot of weather app that says it's negative 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 Celsius), but with a "feels like" temperature of negative 16 (-26). Brrrr!

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jan 25

A very similar image was used for the Sardines movement that protested against the right wing in Italy a while back. Spotted a t-shirt with the image in northern Italy in January 2020.

A folded red t-shirt on display in an Italian shop. It's a red t-shirt with an image of a small fish being chased by a larger fish, which has its mouth wide open to eat the small fish. Behind the larger fish is a mass of very tiny fish that are formed into the shape of a huge fish, with mouth wide open. In the corner, it says (in Italian) "é solo questione di organizzazione"—"it's only a question of organization."

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jan 15

Screenshot from one of the best sports interviews of all time.

A screenshot of professional hockey player Brad Marchand from a post-game interview in c. 2019. He is a white man with dark hair and a very short beard. He is smirking at the person asking him a question with such a perfect smirk that I considered adding the picture to Wikipedia's page for "smirk."

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jan 14

He didn't have a banana seat on his bike, but Lt. Jim Dangle had a great pair of boots.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Jan 10

Nice little anti-ICE protest in Bradford, VT, this morning. I didn't get good photos, but the mood was defiant and the signs were fantastic. And there were several excellent dogs.

A small crowd of anti-ICE protesters standing next to what is considered a "busy" intersection in Bradford, VT ("busy" in that there are usually at least two or three cars waiting at red lights). At the edge of the road, between road itself and the parking area where the protesters are gathered, there is a long pile of dirty snow and ice piled up by the snow plows after the last storm.

The protestors are holding up signs and waving American flags.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Dec 26

For your consideration, I offer a local tree that, despite being seemingly dead, has lost none of its power. (Northern New Hampshire, USA)

The still-powerful remains of a large tree in the woods of northern New Hampshire (USA). Photo taken in winter, so a bit of snow covers the ground, the hemlock trees in the background, and the outstretched branches of a magnificent tree that just might try to grab you (or maybe protect you from some lurking evil).

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Dec 20

It was the end of October. Photo taken when we pulled the kayaks out of the water. It wasn't really that dark (photo taken at quarter after 5). But the sun was low and behind the trees and clouds opposite. I like the effect. And yes, the water was perfectly smooth.

Photo taken at the edge of the Connecticut River at the boat launch in Oreford, New Hampshire. On the opposite bank of the river, you can see nothing but tall trees, but the lighting is such that the trees are all almost black—it's more like the silhouette of trees. The sky is still light, with some light, wispy clouds, as well as a few darker clouds. All of that is perfectly reflected in the water at the bottom of the photo, which is as smooth as glass.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Dec 17

Yes! That's what they do when they're getting their dinner. This was the snow angel made by a barred owl last year. Much bigger owl than a saw-whet. Saw it dive down and catch a vole (or something similar) that was creeping through a little snow-tunnel. I went out later to photograph the spot.

Photo of a disturbed spot of snow in a field. There is a circle in the middle where the grass below has been exposed. Around the exposed circle you can see the imprint of the feathers on the wings of a barred owl. The owl can hear critters like voles creeping around in little tunnels under the snow, and they dive down and land feet-first in the snow. They can grab voles (or other critters) in their super-strong talons though thick layers of snow.

When they land feet-first like that, they spread out their wings to balance themselves as they are trying to capture the vole with their talons. So the snow on the surface shows a kind of "snow angel." You can see the delicate imprint of their feathers where they dove down.

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Dec 16

I've never seen a saw-whet owl, but I'd love to. They're one of those birds with an absolutely perfect resting fuck-you expression on their face most of the time. Photo credit: Megan Lorenz, on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology page: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northe...

Screenshot of a photo of an adorable saw-whet owl sitting on a branch. The owl is brown and white, paler on its face, darker on the top of its head, with heavy brown and white streaks down its front. It has stunningly bright orange eyes. It has an expression that makes it look like it's thinking, "Fuck you, you asshole. I'm just sitting here minding my own business. Leave me the hell alone!"

Jennifer Eastman@jeastman· Dec 16

Starting to suspect that I've got a northern saw-whet owl hanging around. Wing prints in the snow (photo below) within 10 feet or so of the bird feeders. There were 3 such impressions in the area. Much too small to be a barred owl. I'll go out tomorrow and properly measure it.