Cold Valentine

good morning jessicca

2026-04-12T00:03:00.000-04:00

* P I C K A C A R D *

love

dad

coldValentine

Raptor

2026-04-11T00:03:00.045-04:00

C A L I F O R N I A C O N D O R

A large bird of prey with a ten foot wingspan.

These are vultures left over from the Ice Age,

soaring over a landscape rich with Sabre Tooth Tiger,

Woolly Mammoths and ground sloths that appeared

near the size of elephants. By 1982 the condor was at

the brink of extinction with its population down to

twenty-two. As scavengers they became the victim

of ranchers who set out poisoned carrion

in order to kill coyotes that preyed upon

their livestock.

A captive breeding program has increased their

numbers to over six hundred, as of 2025.

This vulture loves meat, as any raptor should,

but it first has to already be dead.

Birds of prey are required to have talons

powerful enough to hold fast their struggling

prey, then kill it and carry it away.

A vulture's feet are good only for standing.

There is no need to tightly grasp a

desperate morsel.

B A L D E A G L E

The term Bald in the name is from the Old English

balde, which means "white head", not bald like

a head naked of feathers.

Designated by Congress as the National Emblem in

1782, the Bald Eagle was right out of central casting,

an icon of strength, resolve and justice.

The truth is more complicated, as you might expect.

Survival is the animal's goal in the wild.

Use your energy efficiently. Why go to the effort of

killing food when you can eat something that is

already dead, waiting for your appetite? Eagles

mostly scavenge. They also resort to

bullying osprey and other smaller birds of prey

and steal their lunch.

Still, they look spectacular performing their

grab and dash fishing skills while skimming

a river's surface.

R E D - T A I L E D H A W K

Look at all the surface area of this bird's wings

and tail. Broad wings and a fanned tail sacrifices

speed for the sake of lift. Warm air carries the bird

upward to great heights, and with little effort on

the part of the bird. Burn your calories sparingly,

especially in the desert when a meal might be

limited to a scraggly jackrabbit, itself half-starved.

From this floating perch the hawk surveys the

terrain below with a vision that is eight times

sharper than that of a human, looking for mice,

lizards, snakes and anything else small enough

to carry off.

The female Red-Tailed Hawk is about twenty-five

percent larger than the male. It makes sense

that she have the muscle, since she's the one

left defending the nest. Also, and this is more

important, a brawny mom is able to wrest meat

from the beak of a male, reluctant to share

his meal with the nestlings.

P E R E G R I N E F A L C O N

This bird isn't made to soar.

The Falcon is all about speed.

The long, narrow wings and slim, aerodynamic

tail; its sleek airframe tough enough to withstand

speeds reaching over two-hundred miles an hour

in a dive. Falcons prey on birds in flight.

Its critical you kill your target with your talons.

A bird to bird collision makes you both

equally dead.

The falcon's vision is comparable to that of the hawk

but each species utilizes this advantage differently.

Hawks look about for small animals to eat from

a great height overhead. The falcon behaves

as a bullet adjusting its own path in flight to

achieve the perfect, lethal hit.

G R E A T H O R N E D O W L

What is the point in having a head that can swivel

nearly all the way around? There is a reason

behind everything. In this instance, the neck's

dexterity compensates for the owl's limited

peripheral vision. The owl has wonderful eyes.

Why this weakness?

Rule of everything - nothing's perfect.

Nature is filled with trade-offs. You have to

give up something to get something.

One factor contributing to the owl's spectacular

sight has to do with the bird's unusual eyeball

shape. Its oblong. And it is this characteristic

that enables the eye to close in on an object,

acting as a telephoto lens does in a camera.

Achieving this feat of vision requires an eye

so large it barely fits its socket, making the eye

totally unable to move.

Hence the swivel neck.

Nature gives up something to get something

in return. In this case, what is being sacrificed

for game-changing vision? The individual can

see only straight ahead. Unacceptable.

The compensatory solution: a neck that

can twist to 270 of the circle's 360 degrees.

Nature's judgment: the species thrives with these

choices having been made.

B R O W N P E L I C A N

How do you grasp your prey when your feet are webbed?

Talons are useless for swimming and pelicans

must be fast swimmers to catch their prey.

The solution for grasping lies elsewhere.

Most birds of prey lead with their feet when attacking

their prey. They attack with a powerful grip, using their

long claws like teeth. The pelican attacks head first

in pursuit of a targeted fish. Growing teeth on their bill

was tried by ancient species, all extinct. It made the

head needlessly heavy. Claws became the bird's teeth.

We've ruled out talons and now, teeth as well.

The problem is we are looking to grip the prey

when all we have to do is control it. Bag it.

A pouch, and one that is elastic would work.

It would expand to scoop up and retain a large,

thrashing fish. But this expansive gullet is not

for storage. Once the prey is corralled, the

pelican slings back its head and swallows

the fish whole. No arguments.

Just a meal.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning jeremy

2026-04-05T00:03:00.000-04:00

M E R C U R Y

love

dad

coldValentine

Serengeti

2026-04-04T00:03:00.005-04:00

A F R I C A N S A V A N N A

In this region of west Equatorial Africa

an ancient cycle of life has continued, unchanged,

over the millions of years leading up to now.

Played out on this stage is an endless migration,

vast in the scale of animal movement.

The grassland, covered with wildebeest, zebra

and gazelle, all on the move, trekking by

the hundreds of thousands to elsewhere...

someplace that exists only as a feeling,

shared by the individuals involved in

this Hollywood size epic.

B A O B A B T R E E

A giant, drought resistant tree stands much as it has

over the past 200 million years, a glimpse of life

that prevailed on this land even before

Africa became a continent.

Locals call it the Upside-Down Tree because,

when the leaves drop, the branches look like roots

to a tree stuck in the ground wrong-side up.

I M P A L A

This athletic antelope can clear a ten foot high obstacle

while its pursuer must go around. It's abilities such as

this that keeps a healthy Impala one step ahead

of a pursuing lion or hyena.

Moving from grassland to the woodlands

doesn't make you safe. Leopards and male

lions specialize in ambushing Impalas that

browse the brush, casually nibbling leaves.

Suddenly its neck is being crushed in a

vice-like grip. All hope for breath ends.

The feast begins even as the last embers

of thought leave the mind.

L I O N

A rare social cat that requires for survival a complex

family unit, ruled by a matriarch. Much of the time

males are on the outside looking in. The ticket to

fatherhood requires getting past some battle-scarred

male guarding his harem. The odds of success

are made better when young males band together

to take out the previously feared leader.

The victorious lions must now face-off among

themselves as to who is most worthy of

now becoming the new breeder in chief.

B L U E W I L D E B E E S T

The wildebeest migration never ends; a herd of

more than a million and a half strong, grazing on

the nutrient-rich savanna grasses that flourish

with the passing rains.

There is no opportunity to lead a herd that

stretches to the horizon. There is no decision maker

leading the way. Instead, wildebeest rely on

"swarm" intelligence. Movement is collective.

Everyone just follows everyone else.

S P O T T E D H Y E N A

A matriarchal society of carnivores that compete

with lions for ruling the savanna grasslands.

Hyenas organize into clans that can number

over a hundred. Adult females are larger than

the males. In fact, they look more like males

than do the males. Males are needed to

provide genetic diversity to the species as well

as delivering bonus seasoning to another

individual's life.

M A S A I G I R A F F E

It takes a twenty-plus pound heart to ensure blood

makes it up that long neck to deliver oxygen to

the brain. Giraffes can grow to 19 feet in height.

They consume about 75 pounds of leaves daily

to stay healthy. All those leaves are lassoed by

its 20 inch tongue. The tongue's pigment is very

dark, protecting it from sunburn.

What a rare and exotic beast.

There is no other animal like the giraffe.

What is it about the habitat of the Serengeti

that it alone could enable an animal such as this

to prevail?

A F R I C A N E L E P H A N T

The oldest female runs the herd. She best knows

the location of water and food in times of drought.

Her top priority being family survival.

Another Serengeti animal of rare and exotic

anatomy is the elephant. What other animal

relies on its nose to serve as its arm, one sensitive

enough to pick up a blade of grass, yet having

the power to uproot a tree.

Nature has truly engineered an out of the box solution

for overcoming the challenges an elephant faces

in life.

B L A C K M A M B A

If you don't have antivenom handy when bit

you have about thirty minutes to write your

last will and testament.

The mamba doesn't want anything to do

with you. Provide it a path to escape and

it will leave. Corner it and you are contending

with the most feared snake in Africa. It has

extraordinary speed and size. The mamba

bites you multiple times when it strikes,

injecting lethal doses of toxins that kill nerves

as well as toxins to attack your heart.

May your good-byes be speedy.

R U P P E L L ' S V U L T U R E

An aircraft stuck one of these birds flying at 37,000 feet.

Its exotic hemoglobin protein enables it to breath

in very thin air. What advantage would this characteristic

give to this savanna scavenger? They benefit from

their panoramic view of the savanna to spot carrion

but altitude quickly becomes counterproductive

when above a couple thousand feet.

A vulture flying at several thousand feet

is no longer looking for dinner down below

because they are searching the horizon for

evidence of something big.

The sight of vultures circling is like a dinner bell

for other vultures working the area.

Come join in on the feast.

Something found dead and big as a zebra means

everyone that shows up gets a full belly

for the day as its reward.

O L I V E B A B O O N

Females stay with the baboon troop they were

born into, inheriting the social rank of their mother.

Males leave around the age of six and take on

the challenge of establishing their position

on the pecking order totem pole of another

troop.

Elephants have a defensive alliance with

baboons around waterholes. The baboons

provide the alarm when danger lurks nearby.

In turn, agitated elephants ward off hungry

lions, hyenas and leopards - and anyone

else looking to have baboon for brunch.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning justin

2026-03-29T00:03:00.000-04:00

z e n g a r d e n

love

dad

coldValentine

Pond

2026-03-28T00:03:00.010-04:00

F R E S H W A T E R P O N D

A tight, interdependent little community sharing

a small body of water that doesn't quickly go away.

Each animal is both predator and prey, an unknowing

participant in a self-sustaining cycle of nutrients,

a cycle of life, first by devouring another and then

by becoming a meal for someone else.

This is not survival of the fittest.

This is simply fate for the living.

B L U E D A S H E R w i t h W A T E R M I T E S

This brightly colored male dragonfly should be at

his prime, getting fat eating all the tasty insects

arriving at the pond... as though they were

checking in to a resort for a five star makeover.

Sure, coming right up.

You're gone so quick

you don't know you're gone.

That's dragonfly normal. Just like the training manual

described. But your belly is festooned with a couple

hundred parasitic larvae. You're exhausted. Out of sorts.

And just sluggish enough to be snatched and devoured

by a patrolling perch. Your nutrients are passed along

to another. Crisp on the outside, thick and gooey

on the inside. It has a delightful larval topping.

Like caviar.

Y E L L O W P E R C H

Excellent flavor. We farm them by the tens of thousands.

They aren't going anywhere. They are a fish fry staple.

Gills and scales commercially farmed like chickens.

They aren't exposed to what lurks in the dark, still waters

of a grassland pond. Here the story gets even more

precarious.

Ponds are isolated patches of water that change

with the seasons. They are found where the ground

is too hard for the water to be absorbed or it dips

into the surrounding water table.

Water evaporates and ponds periodically run dry.

It could be months, even years, before rain restores

the ponds and life returns.

Who returns? How could frogs and fish

possibly survive this drought? No water.

No food. No oxygen.

It's amazing what a line of animals can adapt to

given a million years of trying.

B U L L F R O G

Up to eight inches long and over a pound in weight.

That's as big as any native frog gets in North America.

These guys are famous for their deep, resonate croak.

They work together with crickets to create that

good old country, nighttime melody.

This is a male frog. Look at that eardrum behind his ear.

It's huge. The female eardrums are about half this size.

They both sit like buddhas on a lily pad... motionless,

waiting. A dead bluegill floats belly-up nearby.

It's smell of decay is a delicious scent to a passing

fly. It pauses and hovers to investigate. Snap!

The frog's elastic tongue-like appendage snares the fly

in 0.07 of one second. Impossibly fast.

Faster than a speeding bullet.

The bullfrog spends his summer days

at the pool, sunning his pleasant self,

leisurely sweeping up insects as though

they were hors d'oeuvres, featured with

cocktails, in the lobby at four.

N O R T H E R N W A T E R S N A K E

No eggs. They give birth to their young live. A litter of

twenty or more squirming babies is not unusual.

They become hefty with size - big boned thick

as adults. They favor frogs, salamanders and

fish of every description for food.

They aren't poisonous and, unless cornered,

they prefer running over fighting.

You live longer.

It makes sense for a water snake to not lay eggs.

Where's the land? Eggs can't breath in water.

Eggs are food for herons and raccoons.

They wouldn't stand a chance left alone.

No, the strategy for this snake's young

are like that of the jackrabbit. From day one

its basically scatter and hide.

M A R S H W R E N

They kill the young ones of birds that dare to nest

near them. The male is always building new nests,

anywhere from six to over twenty, during the

course of the breeding season. The female choses

one, lining it with something soft and comfortable.

The remaining nests become bachelor pads

and places to strut about.

R A C C O O N

Trash panda. They love your leftovers.

And for greater convenience they can nest

in the attic. Masked bandit. You are a pest

to them. Always getting in their way.

The good news is they prowl around at night

eating mice and insects. They prefer living alone.

Raccoons have been introduced to other habitats

globally. Invasive species generally disrupt

the area as uninvited guests to the table.

They wipe out native species that better

fit the balance of nature.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning jacob

2026-03-22T00:03:00.000-04:00

C O N * F E T * T I

love

dad

coldValentine

Desert

2026-03-21T00:03:00.005-04:00

J A C K R A B B I T

SURVIVAL BEGINS ON DAY ONE.

They are hares, born fully furred, eyes wide open

and they hop around just minutes after birth.

A rabbit, by contrast, is born blind, hairless and

helpless.

Jackrabbits have eagles, coyotes and bobcats

for neighbors. Everyone of these predators

rely on these hares as a staple of their diet.

The Jackrabbit hides in the spindly shade

of a desert creosote bush, its camouflaged form

difficult to detect, provided the animal doesn't move.

When seen, burst away full throttle for your life.

Adults can run nearly forty miles

an hour and leap twenty feet in a single bound.

Their eyes are positioned to see nearly 360 degrees

without moving their head. Their huge ears provide

keen hearing as well as serving as a radiator,

releasing the body's excess heat into the

surrounding air.

Their extreme environment requires they eat

their own stools, making double sure their

gut didn't miss some bit of nutrient or drop

of water that might have slipped through

their first go around.

It's a hard life having to snack on fecal pellets

like they are some daily probiotic supplement.

K A N G A R O O R A T

METABOLIZE DRY SEEDS INTO WATER. THEY NEVER DRINK.

Common to deserts of the American Southwest -

Sonora and Mojave. It's relatives are gophers,

not rats. They have fur-lined pouches outside

their cheeks to hold the foraged seeds

they will return to their burrow for storage.

Having the cheek pouches outside the mouth

prevents saliva from contacting these seeds,

causing them to later mold while stored.

Its skull appears almost half the size of its body.

Behind each animal's ear is a large, hollow chamber

that amplifies subtle sounds, like the faint whoosh of

an owl's wings in flight or the near silent glide

of a snake closing in. Keen hearing is the

kangaroo rat's best defense against predators

that make them their primary source of food.

R O A D R U N N E R

CAPABLE OF FLIGHT BUT PREFERS RUNNING.

Twenty miles an hour sustained speed,

twenty-five in a burst. And you don't know

whether it's coming or going, judging by the

tracks it leaves. It has two toes in front and

two in back. The footprint is the same either way.

All members of the cuckoo family share the

same curious feet.

They are known to kill rattlesnakes.

They might even eat it if it is small enough.

Mostly their diet is made up of mice,

lizards, insects, tarantulas and scorpions.

All you can eat.

C O Y O T E

POPULATION EXPANDS DESPITE ADVERSITY.

An animal once limited to prairies and desert

has now stretched its population from coast

to coast, New York City to Los Angeles, and

everything in between - forests and mountains

alike, in spite of efforts by ranchers and others

to eliminate them as pests.

Coyotes eat most anything.

Rabbit if they catch one, deer if it's already dead.

Insects will do. They can live on fruit if need be.

They are highly social animals and use a

number of different barks, howls and yips to

keep track of each other's location and to

maintain social bonds as well as mark

their territory.

S A G U A R O

THEY TAKE FOREVER TO GROW - 10 YEARS TO REACH 3 FEET.

Let's say your parents planted a one inch tall

saguaro cactus in the yard to celebrate your

birth. You would probably be middle-aged

and using reading glasses by the time it had

its first flower bloom. The saguaro would sprout

its first arm when you are over 75 and making

frequent doctor visits. Your grandkids will

celebrate the saguaro reaching its mature

height when they are all old enough to vote.

In Arizona, it is a felony to disturb these plants

in any way, shape or form.

G I L A W O O D P E C K E R

APARTMENT LIVING IN A SAGUARO. KNOCK, KNOCK.

If you are a woodpecker in the Sonora Desert

you settle for a saguaro in place of wood.

They excavate a cavity in a living saguaro

to make its home. It takes months of drying

before the pulp hardens to a leathery case,

and becomes suitable for raising a family.

This woodpecker likes to extract insects from

crevices with its sticky tongue, one that wraps

around its brain when retracted because it is

too long for its bill. Seriously.

Gila woodpeckers like cactus fruit, nectar,

berries and pet food left in a bowl out on

the patio.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning jack

2026-03-15T00:03:00.000-04:00

I D E A

love

dad

coldValentine

Yard Friendly

2026-03-14T00:03:00.016-04:00

B L U E J A Y

HOW DO YOU GET BLUE FROM A BROWN PIGMENT?

There is no blue pigment in nature. To make

a Blue Jay's feathers blue requires biologically

created microscopic structures that scatter the

sun's light, so that only the color blue is reflected

back to you. The same holds true for blueberries

and hydrangeas, anything living that looks blue.

The Jay is closely related to Crows and Magpies.

Clever birds all; known for problem solving.

Highly adaptable. It's true of every animal you see

making a living about your house. Each of the

animals featured here has its own way of dealing

with you.

A M E R I C A N T O A D

ONE OF THESE IN YOUR YARD RIDS YOUR HOME OF INSECT PESTS.

Each day they swallow about a thousand creepy crawlers

that would like to surprise you and run out from hiding in

your cupboard. And you have guests... over for dinner.

You don't have these problems with Mr. Toad.

Of course, this could easily be the misses.

I can't tell them apart.

You could stuff a lizard in that big mouth.

The thick, gnarly bumped skin slows water evaporation.

Frogs need to be near ponds. All this toad needs

is a log or rock, someplace dark and cool to hide under

during the day. But the toad is an amphibian.

It's eggs have no protective shell, and they must

be laid in standing water or they quickly dry out.

Reptiles lay eggs with shells and they have

no such constraint.

G R A Y S Q U I R R E L

AND YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE VEGAN.

What turns a park squirrel into a murderous carnivore?

Opportunity. A dead bird. A nest of eggs or young ones

momentarily left unguarded. There is no nut and seed

diet that provides the surge in protein, fat and calcium

that animal flesh delivers. Here is the needed

pick me up if you are a pregnant or nursing squirrel.

Have a sudden urge to bite the head off of a baby chick?

Don't worry about it. It's instinct,

and comes with a rational explanation.

B R O W N - H E A D E D C O W B I R D

A YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER FEEDS A SPIDER TO 'BABY'.

The cowbird looks like a black bird with a brown head.

They don't make nests. Cowbirds drop their egg in

the nests of unsuspecting birds because they haven't

the time to raise kids.

For thousands of years the cowbird had made a

good living following the buffalo about as it stirs

insects from the prairie grass. Day after day the

scenery always changed because these large

bison herds were nomadic. If you wanted to make

a living off the buffalo you couldn't take time to build

nests and raise the nestlings.

Most birds take an hour or more to lay one egg.

A cowbird delivers its egg in under forty seconds.

Get in and get out quickly without being seen.

The cowbird young are precocious. They hatch

sooner and grow more quickly than their nest mates.

Consequently they monopolize the food and

push their competitors from the nest.

Is there no justice for the wronged?

E U R O P E A N S T A R L I N G

A CRAZY HIGH METABOLIC RATE REQUIRES INNOVATIVE RESPIRATION.

A bird's airflow system is not like the bellows that are a

mammal's lungs, tidal - first drawing oxygen in then push

out carbon dioxide. An avian respiration has a one way flow

of air, much like that of a wind tunnel. The beauty here is

that even when the animal is exhaling, it is also drawing in

oxygen at the same time, supercharging the metabolism.

The body's intense burning of calories generates a

dangerous amount of heat. Once again, this respiratory

approach provides the solution by efficiently drawing

heat from the body, along side the CO2.

When it comes to flight, birds are jets and mammals

strictly piston engines.

O P O S S U M

HER JOY FROM HEAVEN.

Nocturnal. Highly nomadic. Moving always from

den to den. They are marsupials. Their embryonic

young migrate to a pouch, where they develop into

something survivable.

Possums are surprisingly good climbers. They also

have a high immunity to snake venom. Here's the

problem. Possums prowl for insects, snails, rodents

and the like at night. They have poor vision. They

rustle through leaves where copperhead rattlers like

to rest. Bingo. They get bit, with enough toxin to

quickly kill an animal this size. But the possum

has natural immunity. It may well go on and

eat the snake.

Possums do play dead.

Under extreme stress they involuntarily fall into

a comatose state. To heighten the intensity of the

moment, the possum also releases a death-like odor

to further discourage a predator from making

it a meal.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning jessicca

2026-03-08T00:03:00.000-05:00

P I N E A P P L E F I Z Z

* * * * *

love

dad

coldValentine

Curious Neighbors

2026-03-07T00:03:00.011-05:00

B R O W N B U L L H E A D C A T F I S H

F I S H

Bottom dweller.

Thrives off dead animals drifting to the murky

bottom of lakes and rivers. Here the waters

are so thick with silt, mud and debris that one's

eyes are useless. To compensate the catfish

has a great sense of smell that guides them to

their meal, and tenacles around their mouth

allowing them to feel about the muck to find

their food.

R E D S A L A M A N D E R

A M P H I B I A N

Lungless. They breath through their skin.

Very inefficient method of getting oxygen

to the animal's cells deep inside. Relying

on the passive diffusion of gas drastically

limits the size of an animal. The salamander

pictured here is no more than five inches long.

It fits comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Here's a biological engineering problem

common to both salamanders and lizards.

Their legs stick out of their side instead of

underneath. Consequently, they are constantly

dragging their belly over the ground everywhere

they go.

Imagine horses running the Preakness

with their legs like oars sticking out the side

of a boat. You might as well saddle up

on a potted plant.

A L L I G A T O R S N A P P I N G T U R T L E

R E P T I L E

Comes from a tough neighborhood.

This guy is armored head to tail and

has a bite that will amputate your foot.

It rules over lakes and streams, wherever

it lives. What could possibly threaten this

reptile armed with a bone-crushing beak?

Probably another snapping turtle...

one that wants your territory, figuring

you're too old to defend what's yours.

You are.

Soon you become just another item on

a catfish's menu.

P I L E A T E D W O O D P E C K E R

B I R D

Banging your head against the wall is hard

on the brain. If you've heard a woodpecker

doing their job you know they bang their head

several times a second. Just a couple of those

hits would put an NFL quarterback in concussion

protocol.

In the real world of cause and effect you already

know there must be an engineering solution

to prevent constant bruising of the brain.

There is such a fix but it's only temporary.

After a couple of years of being just a

woodpecker you're pretty used up.

Senility sets in. You begin wondering

which end is up?

Does it ever really matter?

You just couldn't stop banging your head.

B I G B R O W N B A T

M A M M A L

Flying mice.

A mammal with wings.

The bones of the front legs are elongated

into a skeletal structure covered in a membrane

that replaces a bird's feathers for providing lift.

Bats fly at night using their echoes

for navigating around obstacles and

directing them toward their prey.

Sight guides a bird's flight.

An owl's eyes can maneuver through darkness

but who else ventures into the night except

to migrate across a sea of water?

Bats rule the night with their dog paddle

flight skills because they don't have to compete

with a bird's skillful acrobatics.

Like the salamanders, a bat's engineering

was built atop a foundation that wasn't

designed for the purpose of flight.

For instance, the lungs of a bat reflects

those used by ancient four-legged mammals.

The mammal breathes in oxygen, then

exhales carbon dioxide. It spends only half

its time retrieving oxygen whereas a bird's

breathing doesn't need time to exhale.

Their oxygen intake is uninterrupted.

The bird's performance is turbocharged

by this boost in energy efficiency.

How did this advance in respiration

come about?

N I N E - B A N D E D A R M A D I L L O

M A M M A L

Armored against coyotes and bobcats,

not so much protection against bears

and mountain lions. Your best bet

to survive as an armadillo is to avoid

being seen.

Have your meals at night, limiting

your search for grubs and insects

to after dark. Generally this precaution

works out and maybe you live long

enough to raise a family.

Eventually, though, your luck runs out

and you become some predator's meal.

All those vital nutrients that made you, you,

now inhabit another of Nature's creatures

who's first act is to take a nap after its

meal of you.

Once your predator revives it runs and

snoops about, schemes and plots and

looks for a mate before it too, eventually

succumbs to something lethal.

The nutrients that once were a part of you

and then that other guy, now inhabit the nutrient

cycle of another living home, insuring this

Earth-bound process continues.

Existing in Nature.

Food for thought.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning jeremy

2026-03-01T00:03:00.000-05:00

R U S H H O U R

love

dad

coldValentine

Audubon

2026-02-28T00:03:00.012-05:00

G R E A T H O R N E D O W L

Feather tufts like ears are for display.

The bird has claws with a grip powerful

enough to sever the spine of their prey,

be it rodent, skunk or geese. Specialized

serrations on their flight feathers give these

nocturnal hunters a deadly stealth flight.

Great Horned Owls are widely found,

living in desert and forest. They also

make a good living off of park squirrels,

who were just hanging out in the

center of town.

B A L T I M O R E O R I O L E

These woodland song birds breed in summer

and migrate to Central and South America for

the winter. They eat both insects and fruit, as

well as nectar and bird-loving grape jelly. Their

hanging sock nests are weaved from plant fibers,

string and the mangled hair you couldn't do

a thing with.

They are Maryland's state bird and mascot

for Baltimore's baseball team.

G R E A T B L U E H E R O N

Standing four feet tall and having a wingspan

of nearly seven feet, the Blue Heron is the

largest waterbird found in North America.

Herons weigh no more than seven pounds

despite their size because of the hollow

bone structure, common to all birds of flight.

Specialized neck vertebrae gives them

blazing speed when striking for their prey.

They eat most any animal they can swallow

whole... fish, frogs, lizards, insects, gophers,

other birds. They build their stick nests bunched

together atop high trees that thrive in salt and

freshwater wetlands.

C O M M O N C O R M O R A N T

These are large diving birds are found in lakes,

rivers, estuaries and coastal waters most anywhere

on the globe except the polar caps.

They don't walk, not even like a penguin.

They land on tree limbs and power lines and

take their naps on narrow ledges found on

the face of cliffs.

They spread their wings to dry their flight feathers,

which are not fully waterproof. That seems a

surprising shortcoming for an aquatic bird,

but it works. Their wings are what they are

because their makeup gives the cormorant

an advantage at diving and their pursuit

of small fish.

C A R O L I N A P A R A K E E T

A highly social, boisterous parrot that flocked

together by the hundreds. They were the only

parrots native to the United States having

what it took to endure cold weather.

They fed on the poisonous seeds of the Cocklebur

which made this parrot possibly toxic to its

predators. Still this bird is extinct. It's colorful

feathers provided plumage for hats and fashion accents.

Farmers considered them an agricultural pest and

took every opportunity to kill them by the hundreds.

Today they are a prime candidate for extinction

reversal. Their genetic information has been extracted

from museum samples and successfully sequenced.

This species may one day be revived from some lab

petri dish.

C A L I F O R N I A C O N D O R

With a wingspan of nearly ten feet and weighing

in at an amazing twenty-five pounds this vulture

is the largest land bird in North America. They

are also among the longest living birds at sixty

years. Using wind and updrafts the condor can

cover 250 miles in a day, hunting for dead deer,

cattle or beached mammal to devour.

In 1982 the California Condor's numbers had

dwindled to near extinction, with only 22 individuals

left in the wild. These individuals were captured

in a first step to repopulate the region with birds

that were hatched from an intensive captive

breeding program.

As of 2022 the Condor population has grown to over

500 birds, with 347 having been reintroduced into

the wild. Still, the initial reasons for the declining

population in the wild remain.

J O H N J A M E S A U D U B O N

1 7 8 5 - 1 8 5 1

Audubon was a self taught artist and naturalist.

His book, The Birds of America, with its 435

hand colored prints, was a seminal publication

in the study of birds. His original illustrations

were life size, painted from fresh killed specimens.

They were first wired into the pose he desired

to illustrate. An animal too big to fit on the paper

used in his illustrations would then be contorted

to an unnatural degree to make the image fit.

Life size was all important.

Audubon was an historic conservationist

and a notable proponent of slavery

in the years leading up to the

American Civil War.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning justin

2026-02-22T00:04:00.002-05:00

* * * F L O P H O U S E * * *

love

dad

coldValentine

c o l o r

2026-02-21T00:03:00.005-05:00

W O M E N O F A L G I E R S

P I C A S S O 1 9 5 5

Based on a painting of an Algerian concubine

by nineteenth century French artist Eugene Delacroix,

Picasso adds his own gloss to the story with his

vibrant color and Cubist based disposition.

A woman resembling Picasso's second wife,

Jacqueline Roque, presides over this Kamasutra

of challenging head over heels positions.

The owner of this Picasso paid a princely

$179 million for it in 2015, the price of a

fabulously appointed sultan's yacht.

P R O M E N A D E

A U G U S T M A C K E 1 9 1 3

Macke moved his wife and son from Germany

to the peaceful serenity he found in Switzerland.

This became his most productive period, with works

celebrating nature. The following year Macke was

among the soldiers killed in the opening days of

what became known as the First World War.

Like millions more to follow, the Kaiser had

called him to service.

H I M M E L

M A R S D E N H A R T L E Y 1 9 1 5

Himmel is German for heaven.

A red toy soldier on horseback is fastened

to a pedestal like they are a park monument

pigeon roost. An American named Hartley

is busy painting abstractions in wartime Berlin.

The work shown here comes with its own frame

and also makes a striking design for birthday

wrapping paper.

G E I S H A

G E O R G E H E N R Y 1 8 9 4

British artist George Henry traveled to Tokyo,

Nagasaki and Yokohama to immerse himself,

firsthand, in Japanese culture. Eighteen months

later he returned to London, his many new

works of oil carefully rolled into one large

canvas bundle. Tropical heat and exposure

to moisture on the long voyage home caused the

still tacky oils to stick, crumbling when pulled apart.

All was not lost, though.

This Geisha was a lucky exception.

S T R E T C H S T A M P E D E

L E R O Y N E I M A N

Raw color and energized brushwork.

The dash down this straightaway is a chaotic

mix of thundering horse and jockey, whips

savagely flailing the air, slashing the hide.

The excitement is heightened by having

the herd charging directly at you.

Artist Le Roy Neiman was the

Steven Spielberg of action screen-prints.

S U M M E R

P E T E R M A X

Peter Max emerged from his San Francisco

Summer of Love to become an artist for the

Cosmic Sixties. His works vibrated with

psychedelic palette and acidic innocence.

Here were works suited for a blacklight poster

but they wound up framed on walls.

Pity.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning jacob

2026-02-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

F R E E C O N T I N E N T A L

love

dad

coldValentine

c i t y s c a p e

2026-02-14T00:03:00.000-05:00

T O W N S C A P E

C A R E L W I L L I N K 1 9 3 4

A menacing sky looms over a deserted street

with a few isolated buildings scattered here

and there. This nightmare vision forecasts

another war in Europe, and another humanitarian

cataclysm for the still young Twentieth Century.

Dutch painter Carel Willink embraced Magic Realism -

an accurately rendered reality displayed in an

eerie welcome to an unnatural world.

H O U S E S I N T H E S N O W

F R I E D E N S R E I C H H U N D E R T W A S S E R 1 9 6 2

Straight lines are godless and immoral.

That was the artist Hundertwasser's

starting point in architectural thinking.

We should focus on one's emotions.

The forms here are organic, whimsical.

The colors bright and playful.

A sprinkle of silver snowflakes

adds melancholy, in nuance.

M A N W I T H S P E C T A C L E S

M S T I S L A V D O B U Z H I N S K Y 1 9 0 6

St. Petersburg, still under the rule of Tzar Nicholas.

The guy with the glasses is a poet friend of

the artist. Behind him is the steady encroachment

of urban blight on all that is natural.

The soulless progression to obtain greater efficiencies.

Who speaks up for objectives other than industrial

goals? And if someone does, who would listen?

Who among those gathered with power

would take action in defense of the voiceless?

The Twentieth Century.

It was the best of times.

It was the worst of times.

S H A D O W O F N I G H T

R O B E R T Q U A L T E R S 1 9 8 5

Mundane street life bathed in the flagrant colors

of a Pittsburgh sunset. People do what they do

in keeping the street vibrant. No matter what.

The steel mills close. Jobs disappear.

Families move elsewhere for work.

People remain.

Life still fills the streets of Pittsburgh.

Robert Qualters paints his affection

for the people of this, his hometown.

S I X O ' C L O C K , W I N T E R

J O H N F R E N C H S L O A N 1 9 1 2

Rush hour crowd catches their commute home

at the Third Avenue El in Manhattan. They are

shop workers, laborers and clerks toughing

through another bone chilling night.

They are energized, definitely not gloomy.

Life is good. The industrial dynamo promises

endless possibilities for mankind's future

once the spigot fully opens.

B O L S H E V I K

B O R I S K U S T O D I E V 1 9 2 0

The flag-carrying Bolshevik towers over

the masses crowding the Lilliputian streets

of Moscow, his red banner unfurling with

the triumph of Communism. Boris Kustodiev's

allegorical painting of the Russian Revolution

provided the symbolism that would become

the standard for Soviet art and propaganda.

The picture was an immediate hit but

Kustodiev was concerned it would be found

provocative. After all, here's the courageous

Lenin marching ever forward, his giant strides

crushing the little people underfoot.

So much for valuing the individual.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

Happy Birthday Jessicca!

2026-02-09T00:03:00.000-05:00

M E G A B R A I N A T T A C K S !

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y !

J E S S I C C A

* * * * *

😀 😄 😁 😃

* * * * *

love

dad

coldValentine

good morning jack

2026-02-08T00:03:00.006-05:00

D I L E M M A

love

dad

coldValentine

Ansel Adams

2026-02-07T00:03:00.000-05:00

M O O N R I S E

H E R N A N D E Z , N E W M E X I C O 1 9 4 1

A late afternoon sun illuminates white crosses as

the moon rises over a small town, its church

and graveyard.

A N S E L A D A M S

1 9 0 2 - 1 9 8 4

Preeminent American landscape photographer and

lifelong environmental activist Ansel Adams worked

to define the identity of the American west.

He shaped the imagery of mountain and desert

in black and white using his own personal lore.

C H U R C H

T A O S P U E B L O 1 9 4 2

The Taos tribe gave Adams permission to photograph

the San Geronimo Chapel in Taos Pueblo, a church

providing continuous Sunday sermons to the villagers

since 1850.

G E O R G I A O ' K E E F F E A N D O R V I L L E C O X

1 9 3 7

Adams captures a moment of mischievous banter

between the painter Georgia O'Keeffe and Orville Cox,

the head wrangler at Ghost Ranch, her favorite

New Mexico hangout.

B O U L D E R D A M

C O L O R A D O R I V E R 1 9 4 1

The Interior Department funded Adams to photograph

this new Colorado River dam as well as scenes from

National Parks out west. The images provided

were to become giant murals for Federal buildings.

World War Two ended the project's funding.

The photos Adams provided sat, forgotten in the

National Archives over the next seventy years.

T H E T E T O N S A N D T H E S N A K E R I V E R

W Y O M I N G 1 9 4 2

This image was included in the payload

of the Voyager satellite, launched into

space in 1977. This gave extraterrestrials

of uncertain time and place, the opportunity

to enjoy the beauty of Earth along with us.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning jessicca

2026-02-01T00:03:00.000-05:00

C O Q U E T T E

love

dad

coldValentine

p h o t o s

2026-01-31T00:03:00.003-05:00

P I E R R O T C L I M B I N G T H R O U G H A W I N D O W

F E L I X N A D A R 1 8 5 4

The long exposure time required in the early days

of photography made staged action shots such

as this near impossible.

The deep shadows created from loose-fitting clothing

adds to the picture a sculptural quality.

A L F R E D L O R D T E N N Y S O N

J U L I A M A R G A R E T C A M E R O N 1 8 6 9

Tennyson titled this picture of himself as

The Dirty Monk - tired, unkempt and brooding.

Tennyson went about his business of being

the nation's poet laureate while attired

in a romantic's cloak.

O S I P B R I K

A L E X A N D E R R O D C H E N K O 1 9 2 4

Rodchenko wanted people to see objects anew.

His photography involved making the familiar strange.

Here a friend's head barely fits into the portrait space.

A Russian logo is double-exposed over one eye.

The result is an image suited to be posted

as promotion for some Orwellian venture.

T H E G R A D U A T I N G C L A S S

F R A N K E U G E N E 1 9 1 3

We're not documenting students graduating.

Look at the mood. Artistic manipulation.

Ladies posed to perfection under soft lights.

Eugene displays a painter's dreamworld

through his photographer's lens.

C R I S S - C R O S S E D C O N V EY O R S

C H A R L E S S H E E L E R 1 9 2 7

Sheeler was enthralled by the precision of machinery

and the logic of industrial order. The opportunity

to photograph Ford's giant River Rouge factory was,

for Sheeler, like being given a tour of the future.

Here was technological utopia laid out before him.

Here was our substitute for religious experience.

Intoxicating.

O L D T I M E R S T R U C T U R A L W O R K E R

L E W I S H I N E 1 9 3 0

Hines referred to them as sky boys -

the workers he photographed laboring

to build the 102 story Empire State Building.

It was his testament to the heroic nature of

modern industrial man.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine

good morning jeremy

2026-01-25T00:03:00.000-05:00

L A B O R O F L O V E

love

dad

coldValentine

s c u l p t u r e

2026-01-24T00:03:00.004-05:00

D I O N Y S U S

G R E E K T E R R A C O T T A V A S E 4 1 0 B C

The ancient Greeks had a somewhat religious holiday

celebrating the maturation of wine. It was called

Anthesteria, which pretty much meant get stupid

with drink. Prometheus brought the humans fire,

and it was good. Dionysus, God of Wine, gave people

a pleasure only the Gods on Mount Olympus knew.

Afterwards, Zeus felt he ruled over a land of

worthless drunks.

T I M E A R R E S T E D B Y D E A T H

L O R E N Z O B E R N I N I 1670

This terracotta work is known as a sketch model -

something expendable for working out ideas before

taking on carving a monument from marble.

In this depiction Bernini has Time carrying a casket

beyond the reach of Death. Time cheats Death of

his prize because Time always reveals the truth.

Does that make sense?

Maybe you had to be there.

H E A D

A M E D E O M O D I G L I A N I 1 9 1 2

Modigliani carved 27 stone sculptures from

broken limestone blocks he scavenged at

construction sites. This elongated head with

almond eyes reflects Modigliani's fascination

with the art of ancient civilizations such as

Egypt, Greece and Africa. These works come

with a hefty price tag. Tete, a work similar to

the Head above, brought seventy million dollars

at an auction in 2014.

C O N T I N U I T Y I N S P A C E

U M B E R T O B O C C O O N I 1 9 1 3

Art should reflect the Machine Age.

It was the twentieth century. It was time

to celebrate cars, planes and industrial power.

The running figure above displays flourishes

of wind that resemble wings that propelled

the god Mercury to incredible speeds.

W A L K I N G M A N

A L B E R T O G I A C O M E T T I 1 9 6 0

What to make of this wiry, emaciated man, walking.

He is iconic. A fragile nature with enduring spirit.

Isolated. Experienced in madness.

T O U R I S T S

D U A N E H A N S O N 1 9 8 8

When did you start feeling you were on vacation?

Was it when you first walked into Palm Springs heat

in your new summer clothes? Your picture of Larry

spilling secret sauce on his shirt at Circus Burger

was hilarious. Maybe you could get me a copy.

* * * * *

OVER EASY

coldValentine