Latest news with #Dandelions'
Boston Globe
19-05-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
The beauty and joy of May
At the Arnold Arboretum, May is the busiest month, averaging nearly 60,000 visitors. On Lilac Sunday, 16,000 fans took in the intoxicating scent. The blossoming flowers and trees are spectacular. Emory Watson,6, climbs a tree in the arboretum and proudly takes in the view with her dad. She's told she gets one wish. 'I would climb as many trees as I can because I'm not scared,' she says one recent day. Advertisement Nearby, others are timid around the flowers, where the bees are busy. Experts say just let them be. Emory Watson,6, climbs a tree in the Arnold Arboretum. 'For a lot of people these can evoke fear when you see insects flying about. It's like 'Oh no, am I going to get stung?'' Nicolle Bell a UMass Extension pollinator specialist says by telephone. 'Most of these bees are disinterested in people. They're just trying to survive. And it's a beautiful thing to see bees persisting and making a go of it in these really fragmented urbanized habitats.' Honeybees, which are not native to the United States, have suffered major losses this year, says Bell. 'Massachusetts is a bee haven, with 400 different native species, although some are declining due to habitat loss and other factors…. others have increased.' Advertisement A a male Xylocopa virginica, or eastern carpenter bee, enjoys a southern treat, a pinkshell azalea, Rhododendron vaseyi, a native and endangered shrub of the Southeast, at the Arnold Arboretum. At Crane Beach in Ipswich, thankfully, the nasty greenhead fly season has not started. A fisherman says the stripers are back, but the only one catching anything is one super clean herring gull. It snags a fish but then loses it to a more aggressive juvenile gull who isn't afraid to get down and dirty in the low tide mud. Mr. Clean screams like a baby but does nothing to take it away. Up on Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, the deer outnumber people on the beach. A few scurry away but one doe stands still, watching the evening sun head toward the horizon. (Note to Bambi: Stop by the guard shack and look for info on the controlled bow hunt in October.) A herring gull adult is very vocal about a juvenile gull's theft of a fish, as identified by John Herbert, Mass Audubon director of bird conservation. In Boston this time of year fog, rolls in and out, creating a pillow of serenity until the sun finally wins out. A fleet of 420s, with Boston College sails, cruises in formation in Dorchester Bay past the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The young president loved to sail. 'We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came,' said the president in Newport, R.I., in 1962. Sailboats glide by the JFK Library in Dorchester. In 1967, the Rolling Stones sang about the praises of 'Dandelions' a trippy nursery room tune written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards with backup vocals by Lennon and McCartney. 'Dandelion don't tell no lies Dandelion will make you wise Tell me if she laughs or cries, Blow away dandelion, blow away dandelion.' Advertisement Increasingly the dandelion has been public enemy number one for lawn owners who have been brainwashed into pummeling it with pesticides. It didn't use to be that way. Dandelions were used by the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Romans, and Greeks. The Puritans intentionally brought it to the New World aboard the Mayflower for their 'medicinal and sustenance value,' according to the National Park Service. They continue to be a good source for pollinators. Just ask the bees. Dandelion puffballs glisten in the setting sun as motorists drive down Victory Road. Lawn owners hate the spreading of their seeds, but kids love to blow them and make a wish. But dandelions nowadays are more damned than weeds. The exception is the legendary retired Red Sox senior director of grounds David Mellor. 'Dandelion is definitely my favorite flower,' says Mellor. 'Anytime I see one, I think of our girls picking bouquets for my wife. When the dandelions would turn into puffy seed heads the girls would be giggling and chasing each other around the yard blowing the seeds and having fun. If they were happy, I was happy. In fact, they make me smile, so I don't worry about them or the clover on my home lawn anymore. Instead, we started looking for four leaf clovers.' @font-face { font-family: BentonSansCond-Regular; src: url(" format('woff2'), url(" format('woff'); } @font-face { font-family: BentonSansCond-Bold; src: url(" format('woff2'), url(" format('woff'); } .dipupnext_hed { font-family: "MillerHeadline-Bold", "Times New Roman", Times, Georgia, serif; letter-spacing: .75px; text-align: center; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1; margin-top: 3px; color: #000; width: 100%; font-weight: 600; } .dipupnext_cap_cred { font-family: "BentonSansCond-Regular", "Times New Roman", Times, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: .5px; text-align: left; margin: 3px 0px 5px 0px; font-weight: 200; color: #000; text-decoration: none; text-align: center; } .dipupnext_photo { max-width: 100%; height: auto; padding-top: 15px; opacity: 1; } .dipupnext__form:hover { opacity: .5; text-decoration: underline .5px; } .dipupnext__form{ opacity: 1; } .picupnext__container { width: 100%; position: relative; margin: 0 auto; } .dipupnext__content { width: 100%; display: grid; grid-template-columns: 3fr; } .cdipupnextcontainer { display: block; width:100%; height: auto; margin:0 auto; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; } .upnext { font-family: "BentonSansCond-Bold", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.15; margin-top: .5rem; letter-spacing: 0px; color: #000; padding: 8px 8px 4px 8px; margin-top: 5px; letter-spacing: .5px; } .upnext:before, .upnext:after { background-color: #000; content: ""; display: inline-block; height: 1px; position: relative; vertical-align: 4px; width: 32%; } .upnext:before { right: 0.3em; margin-left: -50%; } .upnext:after { left: 0.3em; margin-right: -50%; } .theme-dark .upnext:before { background-color: #fff; } .theme-dark .upnext:after { background-color: #fff; } .theme-dark .upnext { color: #fff; } .theme-dark .dipupnext_cap_cred { color: #fff; } .theme-dark .dipupnext_hed { color: #fff; } @media screen and (min-width: 800px){ .dipupnext__content { grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr; grid-column-gap: 40px; } } UP NEXT Stan Grossfeld can be reached at
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What's next after Trump orders the DOE to close, study sheds light on lack of baby memories, ‘Severance' stars break down finale
Good morning, all. It's World Poetry Day. Do you have a favorite poem? Let us know. I'll be reading Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's 'Dandelions' today to welcome springtime. Now, on to the news. Subscribe to get this newsletter in your inbox each morning. NEED TO KNOW Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images What closing the Education Department would mean President Trump took steps yesterday to deliver his long-held promise to eliminate the Department of Education, signing an executive order directing Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling it. Here's what that means. The order: It directs McMahon to 'take all necessary steps' to close the DOE and return its main functions to the states. Fully closing the department requires congressional approval. GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy said he'd introduce a bill for that ASAP. [NBC News/Politico] Details: Trump said the DOE's 'useful actions, and there aren't many of them,' would be preserved and moved to other agencies, specifically calling out Pell Grants, Title I funding and funding for students with disabilities. Read about the potential effects. [Yahoo News] Dems respond: In a letter to McMahon, Democrats urged her to reverse the decision, arguing that students, teachers and schools rely on the DOE 'to ensure that all people are able to access and grow through education.' [The Hill] IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Jon Pack/Apple TV 📺 Praise Kier Severance fans finally learned what 'Cold Harbor' was in last night's harrowing season finale. Here's what its stars said about the episode's final twist and what fans are anticipating in Season 3. (Beware: Spoilers ahead.) [Los Angeles Times/Variety] ➡️ At-risk U.S. bridges Officials investigating the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore said 68 bridges in 19 states should undergo 'vulnerability assessments' to determine their risk of collapse from a ship collision. Here's the list of bridges. [CBS News] 🏛️ White House court battles A federal judge yesterday said the DOJ's explanation for how it didn't violate his order to halt deportations was 'woefully insufficient.' Meanwhile, another judge temporarily blocked Elon Musk's DOGE from accessing Social Security data. [AP] 🏀 Celtics get a new owner Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck confirmed that the defending champion team would be sold to private equity firm co-founder Bill Chisholm for $6.1 billion. Grousbeck called Chisholm a 'terrific person and a true Celtics fan.' [Yahoo Sports] 🧠 Infantile amnesia insights Ever wonder why you don't remember being a baby? A small new study on infants suggested that it's not that we don't have memories from that time, but rather, our brains don't have the 'search terms' to access them. [CNN] WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY 🎬 Now in theaters: Anthony Hopkins and Bill Skarsgård's thriller, Locked, and the live-action Snow White. (More on that below). [Rolling Stone/Yahoo Entertainment] 🎵 New music drop: Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's album, I Said I Love You First, is now streaming. [Billboard] ⛹️♂️ In the NCAA men's tournament, among other first round games, No. 1 Duke plays No. 16 Mount St. Mary's at 2:50 p.m. ET on CBS. [Yahoo Sports] 🏀 In pro basketball, the Rockets hope to continue a season-best winning streak when they face the Heat at 8 p.m. ET on Fubo. [AP] ⛹️♀️ In the NCAA women's tournament, among other first round games, top-seeded UCLA plays Southern University at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN. [NBC Sports] ☀️ And don't forget to: Read your daily horoscope. Play the crossword. Check the forecast in your area. TODAY IN HISTORY Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: AP In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. led civil rights demonstrators in a third attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. — two weeks after their first attempt led to a clash with police now known as Bloody Sunday. This one was successful. Altogether, the marches galvanized support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. [AP] 3 QUESTIONS ...about Snow White After many years in the making, Disney's new Snow White is finally here. I asked Yahoo Entertainment reporter Kelsey Weekman, who saw it earlier this week, to catch me up. Divya: You saw it. Tell me about it. Kelsey: It's a visually stunning live-action musical remake of the 1937 animated version we all grew up with. Rachel Zegler's Snow White is modernized to have more agency, but it's subtle, and she's still the same beloved character! Divya: What's all the drama behind it? Kelsey: It's been in the works since 2016, facing constant backlash for many reasons, including Zegler's casting taking the name 'Snow White' in a less literal direction, her comments about the character being 'extremely dated' and using CGI dwarfs instead of real little people actors. The list goes on. Divya: Does it live up to the hype it's been getting? Kelsey: I loved it, and I'm always a little skeptical of Disney remakes! I agree with all the initial reviews — it looks magical, and Zegler is a total powerhouse. It's been a slow box-office season, but this is a bright spot worth leaving the house for. Snow White's evolution: Look back at other actresses who've brought the character to life. FEEL-GOOD MOMENT Darian Day Darian Day's daughter Hallie is a Dolly Parton superfan who carries cutout photos of her 'best friend' wherever she goes, whether that's in her pocket, purse or taped to her dress. 'It's not rare to look around our house and see a little Dolly in every room,' Day said. [People] Have a great weekend. See you Monday! 💡 P.S. Before you go, your daily advice: Bored of eating the same old foods? Cabbage is one of several underrated foods that are worth trying. [Yahoo Life] About The Yodel: The Yodel is a morning newsletter from Yahoo News. Start your day with The Yodel to get caught up on weather, national news, politics, entertainment and sports — in four minutes or less.
