Drink mulled cider and watch a squirrel carve a pumpkin for Wester 2018

Happy Wester!  For any new readers who don't yet know the story of Wester, I'm quoting For Winter Solstice 2016, the Archdruid and I discuss Discordianism and fake holidays.

[Me:] Oh, I'm familiar with Discordianism.  I'm single-handedly keeping alive a fake holiday called Wester, which is the first Sunday following the first Full Moon after the Autumnal Equinox.  When I first posted about it, my Discordian friend claimed it for Discordianism.  As far as I'm concerned, it's still a Discordian holiday.
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[Greer:] Pinku-Sensei, yes, I thought I remembered you were a closet Discordian. Wester is funny; presumably that was the day that some messiah or other descended from the living?
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[Me:] I agree, Wester is funny.  As for an anointed one descending from the living, sorry, that wasn't part of the Wester story that I heard.  However, the holiday has its own animal mascot, the Wester Squirrel, which goes around and gathers goodies to hide instead of hiding goodies to pass out like the Easter Bunny.

Hence my telling my readers at the end of yesterday's National Coffee Day entry to "Stay tuned for a celebration of Wester, squirrels included" — since one of my readers suggested the mascot, the fake holiday is now associated with squirrels.

Wester is a fall holiday with a squirrel mascot and one of the symbols of fall is the pumpkin, I have a hard time thinking of something more appropriate than watching a squirrel carving its own pumpkin.

Squirrel Carves A Jack-O-Lantern | This SQUIRREL is about to carve a face into a pumpkin to make his very own jack-o-lantern.

How cute, although the squirrel isn't a clever as this video makes it out to be.  Some of the viewers think that peanut butter or maple syrup was smeared on the pumpkin where the squirrel chewed out the eyes, nose, and mouth, and I agree with them.  Still, it was clever on the part of the people involved and make for a fun video to watch.


Today is also National Hot Mulled Cider Day.

National Hot Mulled Cider Day is observed annually on September 30.
Fall welcomes warm mugs of mulled cider wrap our chilled hand around. Such a cozy way to spend an evening, sipping a tart, spiced beverage on a chilly evening while gazing at trees ablaze in crimson, gold, and orange.  It is the perfect time to celebrate this holiday and enjoy this delightful drink.
Hot Mulled Cider is a traditional fall and winter drink made by heating cider to almost boiling and adding cinnamon, orange peel, nutmeg, cloves and other spices and then simmering it. Just the scent of it steeping on the stove will warm the home and lift the spirits of everyone in it.

Since this is a non-alcoholic drink, Tipsy Bartender is not the appropriate source.  Instead, watch Jamie's Mulled Cider | Jamie Oliver.

If you're looking for something a bit different to the classic Mulled Wine, have a look at Jamie's Mulled Cider.

It's a little too sugary for me to drink because of my diabetes, but it looks and sounds delicious.  May my readers enjoy drinking it even more than I did watching it!

I hope everyone had a happy Wester.  The next fake holiday I plan on celebrating will be a blue Norther on Festivus.  Feats of strength and airing of grievances around the Festivus pole!

Vox and The Dodo explain how Trump's border wall disrupts nature and is bad for animals

When I wrote yesterday "stay tuned for a retrospective about the top posts of the previous blogging year," I was planning on looking back at popular posts about football and the Super Bowl from last year.  Instead, I have a different kind of throwback entry, a revisit of last year's Trump's border wall is an environmental disaster, too.  That entry had an illustration from Vox.  This one has a video from the same source: How border walls disrupt nature.

The environmental impact of Trump's wall, explained.
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When we talk about the consequences of the proposed wall at the border of the US and Mexico, we usually think in terms of people. But along the political divide are rich pockets of biodiversity, with dwindling populations of species that rely on the ability to move back and forth across the border.
Under the 2005 REAL ID act, the Department of Homeland Security doesn't have to comply with various environmental laws that might otherwise slow or halt construction in a sensitive area. Laws like the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act or the Migratory Bird Treaty Act — none of those apply to border wall construction.
Several parcels of land, including the National Butterfly Center, a state park, and other areas in the federal wildlife refuge system — are still threatened by wall construction. It could still be years before construction starts in some of these areas — but there’s still a lot we don’t know about the full impact of barriers on biodiversity.

Vox has more on this issue in Congress is quietly letting Trump bulldoze a butterfly refuge to build a border wall.  It includes one bit of good news, an exemption for the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, but bad news for all the places listed in the video description.

Vox's video and story came out this year.  Last year, The Dodo had a briefer and more poignant video: Trump's Wall Would Be Awful For Animals.

Trump's proposal for a concrete and cement wall along the U.S. - Mexico border doesn't account for the impact it would have on animals in the region.

Vox may make its viewers think about the issue, but The Dodo makes its viewers feel for the animals.  I think people need both to understand the issue.