Absolutely Nothing About The Bakken -- August 19, 2022

NFL: for absolutely no extra cost -- I am watching NFL Network Live this evening and it's incredible. This is simply amazing. It's obvious why "streaming" is now "bigger" than cable. Simply amazing. Watching NFL Network Live on Hulu on an Apple big-screen monitor / computer. At no additional cost.

Mammalian classification: years ago the two older granddaughters were interested in the hawks we saw in Boston. As part of my at-home education, we studied the Linnaeus classification of the raptors. Absolutely fascinating. We learned a lot; forgot a lot.

On the road trip from north Texas to Montana, Sophia was really intrigued by the pronghorn we saw along the way. 

So, I put together a short tutorial that Sophia and I can study. 

The 30-second elevator speech:

• on the farm, there are horses, and then everything else (cattle, goats, sheep). 
• of course, humans, dogs, and cats fall into their own groups
  
• on the range, there are pronghorn, deer, and antelope. 
• pronghorn are New World; antelope are Old World.
  
• if they have horns, they are not horses; if they don't have horns, they are horses.
• horses walk on one-toe; all the rest walk on two toes, or occasionally four toes.
• and that's it.  

• The three families: horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs are one group (order).

• The other order also has three families: giraffes (to include pronghorn); deer; and all the other farm animals with horns (goats, sheep, cattle). 
  

• Whales? They fall into the the group (order) of even-toes hoofed animals (deer, cattle, pronghorn, antelope)
  

• Why couldn't our science teachers make things this easy?
  

• Sure, this is simplistic, not quite correct, and so much more, but it's called scaffolding, from which we build. 
  

The book page: tomorrow the book I ordered today will arrive, the newly released biography of CCR. So, I'm sipping sake and listening to CCR. One new book each week; this book was released August 9, 2022. [Later: the book arrived before 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, at the door. Amazon never disappoints.]

Age-appropriate: speaking of books, the state of Texas under governor Abbot has gone nuts with regard to books and the issue of age-appropriateness in school. Carried to the extreme, under state law, I'm not sure I am allowed to watch Moon River with Sophia.

Apartment rental: I love apartment living but if things change and we need to buy a house, it is truly amazing. I would qualify for a VA loan for a $500,000 home with a monthly mortgage that would be about what I'm paying for our apartment. Minimal to no down payment. What a great country. 

Streaming: favorite show right now? "Only Murders in the Building." But it looks like the next one will be "The Bear." 

Lego: our younger daughter and I, and now Sophia and I love Lego. The other night we noticed that the magnifying glass in one of the Lego sets actually worked. For collectors, we've priced this little magnifier at $1,000. And even at that, I might not let it go.

Night light: best gift for the under-80-year-old who doesn't yet have a night light? "The astronaut" at Amazon for $35. Link here. Or here to see it in action.