RenoVous

 There are a lot of dragon books in the fantasy genre, and while Smaug from The Hobbit  may be the most famous, it was a different series that inspired the day. In 2004, Donita K. Paul released her first in a series, The DragonKeeper Chronicles. I have not read a single one, or really much fantasy at all, but I've always liked the representation of dragons, the mythology. They appear in the folklore of many cultures.  In the Western, they're typically winged, horned, and fire breathing.  In Eastern, they are wingless, four-legged serpentine creatures.  They appear as far back as in ancient Mesopotamian art. The "mushussu" was actually a hybrid - a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a long neck and tail, two horns and a snake-like tongue. Considering the origin of the term is "draco" for serpent, and that many depictions are serpentine and reptilian, anthropologist David E. Jones suggests humans create them as ...

  Launched on this day in 2001! Jimmy Wales and Lawrence Sanger first failed with Nupedia in 2000, which only allowed peer-reviewed and edited content written by experts.  With Wiki being open to anyone, they found success. Within a year, they had 20,000 articles in 18 languages. There were questions of reliability, of course, and I remember being told to use it as a source for a school paper would be detrimental.  But I've mostly found that people want to adhere to the principal of an accurate, online encyclopedia. A 2005 investigation by Nature  magazine found that scientific entries came close to those of Encyclopedia Britannica.

 Mahayana is a branch of Buddhism, and today they reflect on the past year. Also known as Vesak, the holiday commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha. In the Mahayana belief, anyone can attain enlightenment through practice, wisdom and compassion. Anyone would be welcome to the temple for prayer sessions, meditation, and lectures. I see "Joyful Chanting" on our local's calendar. It is also a day for charity and community, the sharing of good wishes and kindness with others.

  Michelle Yeoh Marianne Jean-Baptiste Ariana Grande Kieran Culkin Cynthia Erivo Nicole Kidman Anna Sawai Danielle Deadwyler With the wildfires in California, there has been a lack of the usual events this time of year. The Critics' Choice Awards have been postponed.

 In the last 20 years, the Saiga antelope population in Kazakhstan has recovered from 40,000 to 2.8 million. That's why the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative was awarded the 2024 Earthshot Prize for ecosystem restoration. The efforts restored 75 million hectares of grassland, wetland, and desert.  Saiga are considered a keystone species, pivotal in maintaining a healthy ecosystem, and one that's relied on by steppe eagles, sociable lapwings, kulan, and the Przewalski's horse (the world's last living wild horse species). They went extinct in the wild during the 60's, but conservation efforts have also helped recover their populations on the plains of Central Asia. The Earthshot Prize provides funding and expert support, as well as partnership and coaching opportunities through Global Alliance Partners. RSPB

We ended up randomly in the desert because weather wasn't working for us. Too windy at Spencer. Too snowy at Big Creek. And our attempt to reach Twelvemile was derailed by a muddy road, so we just enjoyed the scenery as we drove around the state.