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@amsrbb.bsky.social

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Hunkered down in Vermont (US). Woods walker. Gardener. Reader. Birder. Masked. Free Palestine. Abolish ICE. Impeach. she/her

A young bald eagle taking off in flight from its nest tree for the first time. The eaglet flaps its wings drops away to the right and is off camera. The pine bough it took off from bounces. Trees and a pond in the background.
An eagle with its wings outstretched and morning sunlight shining through, giving the wings a golden hue. The eagle’s feathering is mostly dark brown with a lot of white splotches on the underside of its wings. Branches in the low foreground, pond and trees in the background.
A young bald eagle on a small branch flapping his wings furiously. Morning light, trees and a pond in the background with mist rising off of it.
A very close up view of a dark brown eagle in a branchy nest, leaning over a fish s/he is tearing apart and eating.
A view of the empty VINS bald eagle nest in evening light. The pond and the hillside in the background are golden.
A single stem crimson and wine colored poppy with a yellow/green center coming up through a crack in patio stones next to a house. Stone foundation and vertical wood siding behind.
A view of trees at the edge of a field on a grey, wet summer morning.
A dark brown, baby but full size bald eagle sitting on its nest in the morning light. There is a pond below uin the background and the far side of the pond is forested.
A potato plant leaf with two small, flat, round bugs on it. The bugs are mostly black and look sort of turtle-like.
Two male mallards swimming on a pond, one closely following the other. The whole scene is shades of green - plants in the foreground and background on both sides of the pond.
A patch of blue lupine flowers in a field
A male mallard duck standing on a big rock in a pond in the sun. There are green shrubs in the background.
Looking through the woods in early May. The ground is brown leaf litter, the trees don’t have leaves. The sky is bright but cloudy over a mountain in the distance.
Orange and red streaked tomatoes - big ones, growing on leafy tomato plants in pretty lighting
An adult bald eagle in a nest leaning over an eaglet, feeding it. Their beaks are touching. Here is a (dead) fish on the side of the nest. The eaglet is tiny! Just a day old and grey and fluffy.
An adult bald eagle in its nest leaning over a barely visible fluffy grey eaglet, hatched within the last 2-3 hours.
A light tan hiking boot with hooks for lacing on the ankle part of the boot.
A bald eagle sitting in a nest with her face to the bright morning sun. There is a tree trunk on the left side of the screen. In the background there are green pine needles and branches. There’s a stripe of rainbow in the photo just below the eagle from the camera’s interaction with the morning light.
Screenshot from Matt’s report: The National Weather Service had another interesting statistic out of this sudden, brief return to cold. Burlington's records go into the The National Weather Service had another interesting statistic out of this sudden, brief return to cold. Burlington's records go into the 1880s. There have only been 17 occasions in which a particular day had both temperatures in the 60s and measurable snow. Two of those days happened in the past couple of months. On Sunday it was 61 degrees just after midnight early in the morning. By mid-afternoon, 0.2 inches of snow had fallen. A similar situation happened back on March 17. We started the day before dawn at 65 degrees, but 0.2 inches of snow fell The most extreme example of warmth on a "snowy" day was on February 25, 2017. A little before 3 p.m. that day, it reached 72 degrees, shattering the record for the warmest February day on record. A cold front arrived later that afternoon, and before midnight, 0.2 inches of snow fell. at 65 degrees, but 0.2 inches of snow fell The most extreme example of warmth on a "snowy" day was on February 25, 2017. A little before 3 p.m. that day, it reached 72 degrees, shattering the record for the warmest February day on record. A cold front arrived later that afternoon, and before midnight, 0.2 inches of snow fell.
A pretty sunrise sky, clear light blue above, some dramatic clouds and a streak of yellow-orange sky above distant mountains. There is snow on the ground and on the trees in the foreground.
A leafless, branchy treetop with about 10 evening grosbeaks in it. You can’t see much color or detail in the birds. The sky is mostly clear and blue in the background.
A photo of the ground in the woods, early spring, covered in leaf litter. There are many circular spots where the leaf litter is disturbed, the leaves are pushed aside and you can see the dirt underneath, but there are no discernible animal tracks.
A video of snow falling with a dark green spruce tree and other trees in the background.
A tiny, grey, fluffy eagle chick in a nest with its head tipped back. The tip of the adult eagle’s beak is visible at the top edge of the photo. There is another eaglet in the nest that’s just a little grey bump
White and yellow daffodils in a messy flower bed under an old apple tree that has no leaves yet. There is a hint of fresh green growth in the shrubbery and a patch of spring green grass in the background
A woman in a black winter coat holding a protest sign that says “Impeach him by the pussy”
Bald eagle on its nest with one of its wings jutting out at a weird angle.
A screenshot from the VINS eagle nest camera showing a first glimpse of their brand new egg, about 6:45pm on 3/17/26. The female eagle is in the nest, looking down at the egg and the male is partially in sight in the upper left on a branch above the nest.
Screenshot receipt for $50 from Trans continental pipeline
A photo of a cell phone screen showing a bluesky post that includes a link to an article about trump and Gallup. The photo of trump’s face accompanying the article is blocked by my thumb.
A bluesky post of mine from 5 days ago that reads: “I'm mad about this. What is that fucking guy's deal??? (Stancil)”
Cat with her paws on the edge of a bathtub, peering in.
A tiger cat with a sweet face curled up in the sun near a bush.
Screenshot of a bluesky post by Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bs... “On a night of life-threatening cold, a homeless person entered a Lansing bus station seeking refuge from the freezing temperatures. Video shows police slamming them to the ground and pinning them with knees on their neck as they plead, "I'm here because it's cold outside, and I have nowhere to go." There are stills from the video in the post of police brutalizing the homeless person.
A dog speeding through the snow, jumping a snowbank and creating his own weather system while two other dogs look on.
…a full-on nervous breakdown. The brownstone directly across the street from me had a red door and, since it was Christmas, the occupant had hung a big wreath on it. I spent a lot of time staring out the window at that door. It was such a cheerful color of red, and such a lovely wreath, and it was this tiny bit of color when the entire world felt grey. You've done things that have impacted people in ways you'll never know. Anything that makes the world more beautiful can be a message of hope for someone who might need it very badly.
A night sky with muted green and purple areas of northern lights. There is an evergreen treeline silhouetted in the bottom 1/3 of the photo.
A yellow dog walking in front of me on a snowy trail dragging a long (10 foot?) skinny stick.
Nine days later, impatience got the best of me. For the first time, I logged into USAJobs and checked my application to see if my drug test had come through. What I actually saw was so implausible, so impossible, that at first I did not understand what I was looking at. Somehow, despite never submitting any of the paperwork they sent me—not the background check or identification info, not the domestic violence affidavit, none of it-ICE had apparently offered me a job.
A wide, calm river in the foreground, sparkling and stretching back to a hillside covered in fall foliage colored trees, blue sky above with wispy clouds
The cover of “The Hero of This Book” by Elizabeth McCracken.
A photo of the cover of What We Can Know by Ian McEwan. A woodstove fire behind it.
A pale orange sunrise sky, with a dark and branchy tree line in the foreground. There are some dark, low clouds and the most crescent of crescent moons is rising just above the branches of the trees.
A black & white photo of Ursula Le Guin holding a cat, with her face pressed into the back of the cat’s neck. Ursula’s eyes look happy.
I used to think that symbolism was silly. I don't think that any more. Donald Trump's entire political career is a testament to the way in which symbolic power can become real. Acting as if he were a real businessman has made him rich. Acting as if he were a real boss has made him the boss of us all. Disregard his symbolic crusade at your peril. Moving past Trumpism will require more than one election; it will require a purge of corrupt public symbols. It will require national symbolic acts of rebirth that everyone can see and experience. Acts like, you know, Jon Batiste playing "The Star Spangled Banner" on a stage suspended by a helicopter hovering over the White House as a lucky citizen selected by lottery pushes the button that blows up the Trump Ballroom during halftime of the Super Bowl. Stuff like that.
A bowl of cereal with a whole (peeled) banana lying on top of the cereal.
…For all his claims to foresight, Cheney never expected to be displaced by what he empowered. He surely did not expect to die on a day when New Yorkers are poised to elect a Muslim socialist mayor in a repudiation of his legacy. Trump and Cheney were more characterologically alike than either man would prefer to admit. While Trump is charismatic and Cheney was anything but, they both ruled through fear, cruelty, and domination. Not even Trump has gotten his own friend to apologize after shooting him in the face. The impunity Trump enjoys is another aftereffect of Obama's decision to forgo accountability for the War on Terror and its many institutional crimes. (All it earned the Democrats was an endorsement from Cheney of Kamala Harris that she seemed not to understand was grotesque and self-discrediting.)…
Screenshot from Punchbowl: “Democrats' shutdown fight put a massive political spotlight on surging health care costs, and that has Republicans looking for options. Talks among House Republicans who want to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies are picking up, and some backers are keeping their options open to secure a path to the floor. The Obamacare cliff is the immediate challenge facing lawmakers. The subsidies expire Dec. 31, and Thune promised a vote before then.”
A banner on the USDA webpage pictured says, “Due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this website will not be updated during the funding lapse. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”
Your New Monthly Premium: • You're currently enrolled in the VERMONT PREFERRED BRONZE plan. • Starting January 1, 2026, your new monthly premium is estimated to be $1,902.98. • Here's the math: Monthly premium of $1,902.98 minus $0.00 of possible financial help. Your actual monthly premium may be different because your financial help may change in 2026. You'll find out your exact new monthly premium amount when you receive your January 2026 bill. • Important: This estimated monthly premium is based on your 2025 information and may not account for changes that could impact your monthly premium, such as changes to your household income, family size, or any enrollment changes. Therefore, your financial help may be different in 2026. To confirm the correct amount of financial help for 2026, please contact Vermont Health Connect at (855) 899-9600 or visit VermontHealthConnect.gov. • Currently, your 2025 monthly premium is $450.85. Here's the math: Monthly premium of $1,751.24 minus $1,300.39 of financial help you receive each month.
Democrats discussed the looming crisis over SNAP funding, which runs out on Nov. 1. They blamed President Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders for the situation, even though virtually all House Democrats voted against a Republican plan to fund federal agencies through Nov. 21. And there was extreme bitterness toward Speaker Mike Johnson, who hasn't brought the House back into session for more than 40 days while refusing to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.). "Mike Johnson - what an insignificant, irrelevant human being he has become," Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) complained. McGovern and other Democrats want Johnson to bring back the House immediately.
A big log on the ground in the woods covered in moss and fallen leaves, with a big tunnel hole where a branch used to be, obviously a portal into the cozy living quarters of small animals.
A small begonia with spotted, pointy leaves in a terra cotta pot.
Messy, scrappy looking fall garden with purple and orange flowers, seed heads and kale, backed by red sumac and taller trees in various colors, all in pretty morning light.
Very tall sunflowers with multiple blooms, bright, clear blue sky in the background, and the waning gibbous moon starting to set.
Photo of a rural landscape in layers. From the bottom: dirt road, green grass, golden tall grass, green grass again in the middle distance, then a hillside with dark green trees, then pale blue sky. There is a mailbox on a post in the near left side.
American politics has sides. There is no use pretending it doesn't. But both sides are meant to be on the same side of a larger project - we are all, or most of us anyway, trying to maintain the viability of the American experiment. We can live with losing an election because we believe in the promise of the next election; we can live with losing an argument because we believe that there will be another argument. Political violence imperils that.
A chart showing incidence of Covid in wastewater in the Northeast US over the last six weeks. The line for the last week goes straight up.