* Black walnuts (there is a black walnut street tree on our our side of the avenue closer to N. Lombard) are toxic to humans. Squirrels seeem to like them, though, and crack them on the sidewalk or our driveway, leaving a black stain that takes a few rain showers to erase. I find the shells buried in the ground by the squirrels. Too bad they are ( Read more... )

Planning for my sabbatical has started in earnest ( Read more... )

A Pene Exclave is land which is politically part of one juristriction, but separated from the main body of that juristiction by a body of water and no land connections ( Read more... )

I have a sabbatical coming up next year, so need to think about what will occur in the eight weeks my company gives me to relax, invigorate, and do something that will motivate me in the years to come ( Read more... )

On NPR yesterday, on Morning Edition, I heard a report about how Africans would migrate to Europe through Spain to escape poverty, oppression and worse. The reporter mentioned that Spain has managed to hold onto two cities on the North AFrican Coast: Ceuta (at the straits of Gibraltar) and Melilla (half way between Ceuta and Oran), each bordering ( Read more... )