Supreme Court Justice Scalia made that amazing statement about black college students: “Maybe they would be better off attending “slower” schools.” He said this in a case addressing admission practices at UT Austin. I think this is the direct quote: There are those who contend that it does not benefit African Americans to get them into the University of Texas, where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less-advanced school, a slower-track school where they do well. Okay, so he didn’t really say it, he just said that “There are those who contend…” He only said it by implication. I wonder how our president feels about that statement. I wonder how Neil deGrasse Tyson feels about that. Actually, I think I can guess how every black person on the planet would feel about that. Somehow black people evolved from being counted as 3/5ths of a human in our Constitution, through the civil war, past the post-civil war beatings, lynchings, and cross burnings; to being able to play baseball, join the army, sit at the front of the bus, sit at lunch counters, and attend integrated schools. Now they can play any sport, coach the teams they couldn’t play on before, run our businesses, and even be president. But imagine having to coach your son on the consequences of getting pulled over in his car, or god forbid wearing a hoodie at night. So many myths; outdated convictions that just won’t go away. And Supreme Court Justice Scalia perpetuating the one that says black children should attend slower schools……because they’re black.
Sensory overload
We day-tripped to Falcon State Park, a little northwest of here, and an hour and a half away. map for Edinburg to Falcon Lake State Park and Salineno. We saw, and heard, a lot of birds. Had a nice picnic. Then we went by the DeWinn’s Yard in Salineno; that’s where the sensory overload happens. Feeders stocked and maintained every winter. Swarming with birds. Green jayBewick’s wrenAltamira orioleAudubon’s orioleLong-billed thrasherGreat kiskadeeNorthern cardinalGolden-fronted woodpeckerLadder-backed woodpeckerBlack-crested titmouse 
All in one continuous flurry. A bunch of really good birds; especially the orioles. Southern specialties. Altamira oriole range map:
Audubon’s oriole range map:
And the great kiskadee. The kiskadee range map:
Always a worthwhile stop at Salineno.
All in one continuous flurry. A bunch of really good birds; especially the orioles. Southern specialties. Altamira oriole range map: Audubon’s oriole range map: And the great kiskadee. The kiskadee range map: Always a worthwhile stop at Salineno. Bird ears
We took the new cool bird ears out for a test drive. They were wonderful. I don’t recognize the sound of each bird now, because the sounds are all a lower pitch, but I can tell when birds are around and I can tell which way to look. When Becky came out to visit a few weeks ago, we went to Anzalduas Park, down on the Rio Grande. While we were out walking around, Becky commented on how loud the bugs were; that it was almost painful. Neither Judy nor I heard a sound. But now out on a walk, switch the device off, it’s a silent forest, switch it back on and the air is suddenly filled with insects, frogs, and the occasional bird sound. There are headphones on my head and a small controller in my shirt pocket. There are tiny microphones on each earpiece of the headset, so this setup is wonderfully directional. I can’t tell exactly how high a bird is, but I can sure zero in on the direction. These headphones will be my constant birding companion from now on.
Got it
Problem solved. We had one of these around the house when the kids were little. I remembered that I had figured it out, but I couldn’t remember how. It took me a while to figure it out again, but now I’ve got it. I see three different keys (steps) to the solution; none of them being “…this is very easy, try to understand…”. Now for the next one, which I’m sure I never figured out.
I’m hoping the keys I figured out above will put me on the right track. Or this might be the last time these colors are all each on their own face of the cube. I’ll report back. It’s not a Rubik’s Cube
It’s a 3D triangle; a pyramid.
Or in technical terms, it’s a Shengshou Triangular Puramid-Shaped Cube; that’s what it said on the box anyway. Less sides; it shouldn’t be as hard to solve as a cube, right? Not only that, it comes with directions! I quote: 1 Rotate cube, make the 3 blocks of red face in a plane;2 Make the red edge block in the plane, this is very easy, try to understand;3 Cube from another direction, to turn without the red base block into the next diagram;4 General at this time there are three edge blocks direction or the wrong place, sometimes two, Then you can swap any red-faced edge blocks as the switching point, and dislocation edge blocks, perhaps to swap a few times, you can restore. you can restore. Hey, what could be easier than that; especially step 2? I’ll report back.