Prions

I went to the doctor yesterday and learned about prions.  The internet says they are small, misfolded proteins, that they are not alive but can get other proteins to similarly misfold. I read they are too small to see individually but that a clump of them can be seen with a good electron microscope.  The doctor, a dermatologist, was remarking in response to my statement that I understood that the existence of viruses had only been known since the end of the 1800's, mostly because they are so small.  The doctor said that prions are much smaller and were only known since the 1980's.

All of this was incidental to the visit, which was to have a bubble-like growth on the tip of my ear and a crusty spot on my forehead removed. 

How it is doing

We planted a nice drop-more honeysuckle vine with trumpet shaped flowers, just right for hummingbirds.  We put a large brass trellis right against the dining room window so we have seen many hummingbirds as they drink nectar.  Over the years, various songbirds looked over the site.  It is sheltered by the wall and by the house overhang.  Why not build a nest in the vine?

The reason is that the plant is not all that stable.  Nests can tumble out and have.  It can tilt and drop eggs to smash below and has.  We learned to be on the lookout for exploring birds and shoo them away.  Actions by birds and maybe by us attracted chipmunks, who at first lapped up cracked eggs but ate the blossoms.  Now all those nice blossoms are gone. As Paula Poundstone says, we can't have anything nice.

No power

I was just dressing.  The lights clicked off and back on.  Again.  Then, off.  I thought of the pictures I have seen of Gaza and Iran.  No ominous sounds.  Just no power.

I still don't know all the tools and information sources available to us.  I did learn that there is a helpful estimate of when power will be restored.  So many tools, objects and routines depend on electricity that merely knowing it is not available doesn't cover the situation.  We both found ourselves in the morning dark turning on wall switches before realizing no!, there is no power.

Our smartphones have batteries and get signals through the air so loss of power doesn't stop them.  We saw our power company estimated that they could restore power in 2 hours.  It was more like thirty minutes when Lynn looked down the hall and saw the bedroom had a light on!   Yay!

CNN Photos of the Week 6/22/2025

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/19/world/gallery/photos-this-week-june-12-june-19

Mystery trip #5

Lynn and her friend went on the mystery trip yesterday. It was #5 so I guess there have been five all together.  I see that mystery trip #6 is taking names for later. I didn't choose to go but I was surprised at how much difference keeping the five destinations a secret mattered.  

Of course, there is a certain amount of suspense wondering where the bus is going.  As a mate of someone on the trip, I realized that I wouldn't know where she was.  Turns out that the stops were more or less in the local area. I guess the extra surprise and excitement lends a lift to the whole operation.

Summer solstice in a few hours

It will be summer soon.  At 10:42 PM Eastern Time.  The geographic area I live in was described as a place of long cold winters. People here wear gloves,scarves, heavy hats and thick coats to bear the cold so it is typical to think around here that 90° Fahrenheit is HOT!  We expect such temperatures in the next few days and we intend to bear whatever comes nobly.

Juneteenth

Heather Cox Richardson is a historian who writes about history most days.  Here is what she wrote about Juneteenth:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-18-2025-wednesday