Fragments From Floyd

Ever had one of those days... when everything seemed to be going so right?

Andy at Older and Growing is wondering where he is: Wandering in a fog able to see only a step or two in any direction? Playing a part in a movie? Involved in a paint-by-numbers adventure where some steps are known but the big picture has yet to appear; or on a Quest where he knows what he wants but doesn't know to find it? Where are you? Check the grid.

Jon at Conservation News writes --with a West Coast perspective-- about Place and place writers at Ecotone.

Varicosities of Human Traffic. North America: How Many Roads...

Baby Pictures of the Appalachians and Blue Ridge Mountains

I can't imagine using a single windowed browser. I've used multi-tabbed Netcaptor for years, paid for the full version, and dang. Now I find the same functionality and more in slimbrowser. Very impressive. And free.

And finally, it's fascinating to me, odd duck that I am, that the forest and vegetation I see out my window would also look familiar to someone from parts of China! The mixed mesophytic forest is "now represented by relictual ecosystems in eastern North America and eastern China. The related forests of the Appalachians and central and southwestern China share a large number of higher taxa and relict groups. Many genera and some species and families have disjunct distributions in these distant regions. Over 50 such genera of plants include magnolias, hickory, sassafras, ginseng, mayapple, skunk cabbage, several orchids, jack-in-the-pulpit, coffee-tree, stewartia, witch hazel, dogwoods, persimmons, hollies, sumacs, maples, and yellowood. Several animal taxa also show unique affinities with East Asian relatives, including copperheads (Agkistrodon spp.), hellbender salamanders (Cryptobranchidae family), some land snails, and paddlefish (Polyodon spathula). The taxonomic similarities between these two regions are paralleled by ecological similarities." from WorldWildLife