Still Gravity

They look blue to me, but the bird plumage is brown. Really?  A brown Blue jay? Are you serious?  - License our images  here .  Yes. All is about light refraction. Welcome to the world of structural colors. Look for the explanation on this page of The Cornell Lab. The structural colors of the Blue Jay. Amazing illusion.        

The shy Southern ring-necked snake - License our images  here .  Don't kill them. Neither be afraid. These Florida snakes only grow to a foot and are harmless to us. They wander mostly at night and feed on small animals. In cloudy days - like was the case of our photo -, they can be found during day hours.

Mora knives are good for survival and bushcraft. They can do many things in the camp.  Our Morakniv Garberg knife.  This knife is full tang, has a carbon steel blade, and a scandi grind profile - means Scandinavian ( check this video ).  Carbon steel is easier to sharpen compared to stainless steel. The knife spine also works for starting fires with a ferrocerium rod. The bad part of carbon is that it becomes rusty with moisture. The blade must be kept clean and dry. Once in a while rub camellia or mineral oil to keep it healthy - canola or corn oil work. The scandi grind.  Rust can be removed with steel wool, but there is also the potato method - insert the blade in a potato for an hour and remove the rust with a soft sponge.  Old newspapers work for sharpening if we don't have tools - glide the blade flat on the paper sheet. Another option is to use a ceramic coffee cup - turn one upside down and pass the blade through the edge of the bottom at the right angle. A third method

Small colorful weed - License our images  here . Behind these tiny flowers hide an invasive species of the lawns. This is  Commelina diffus a, an immigrant from Asia. There, it's used as dye and for traditional medicine recipes. This research paper  says that this plant has been used to heal swelling, treat urinary and respiratory infections, diarrhea, and hemorrhoids - among many other things. If true, no doubt that the tiny blue flower is a very useful weed. 

Drawing illustrating the article of the  Scribner's Monthly  magazine - Image: Public Domain.  This adventurous account was published in the edition of  Scribner's Monthly  of November 1871. This magazine was published from 1870 to 1881, and one of its well-known contributors was the famous naturalist John Muir.   The author of the text is the protagonist of the ordeal: Truman Everts. This was the guy President Lincoln chose in 1861 to take care of government taxes in the Montana Territory.  Truman joined the Washburn Expedition of 1870 to explore Yellowstone - they were the folks that named the Old Faithful geyser. During a terrible storm, he got separated from the team and went lost for 37 days without supplies and equipment in the wilderness of Yellowstone.  Truman Everts survived eating thistle - the plant was later named "Evert's Thistle" -, and at the time of the rescue his weight was around the 50 pounds.  This ordeal happened before the creation of Yellows