The Backyard Science group regularly publishes The Daily Bucket, which features observations of the world around us. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds, flowers and anything natural or unusual are worthy additions to the Bucket and its comments. Please let us know what is going on around you in a comment. Include, as close as is comfortable for you, where you are located. Each note is a record we can refer to as we try to understand the patterns that are unwinding around us.
I hired my son to paint a sealant onto our new fence. He told me his brush strokes spattered a few drops of the sealant into my newly constructed Pear Pond, which I'd constructed to provide the local frogs a place to chill out.
I peered closely at the Pond's surface. I could see an unsettling sheen on the water. More sordid details await those who continue reading below the swirl of orange toxicity.
The sealant's tin stated only that it contained petroleum distillates. I looked up the sealant's "Material Data Safety Sheet." The sealant's distillates were Ethyl Benzene and Xylene. Ethyl Benzene causes cancer. I fought back my panic and kept reading.
The sealant wasn't soluble in water. It weighed 7.6 pounds per gallon. Water weighs over 8 lbs/gal. That meant the lighter-than-water sealant was floating on the Pond's surface.
I started pumping more water into the pond. When the pond filled, I kicked down part of the Pond's berm and the top six inches of water rushed out, carrying away all visual portions of the sheen.
Five days later, the two frogs in Pear Pond appear unharmed. In fact they look downright fat.
As you may guess, I still imagined standing trial in Frog Court over this latest environmental violation.
When I receive my copy of those trial transcripts, I'll write another Bucket about those proceedings.
"Spotlight on Green News & Views" will be posted every Saturday at 1pm and Wednesday at 3:30 pm Pacific Time on the Daily Kos front page. Be sure to recommend and comment in the diary.
Now It's Your Turn What's interesting to you? Please post your own observations and your general location in the comments.
Thank you for reading. I'll work this morning so I'll respond to comments before lunchtime, PDT.