JUN 7, American satire: national pique

 

poetry lyrics:/ It's proclaimed from the peak of Denali,/ to the great Gulf of Mexico -- Golly!/
 Purge colonial shame:/ "Foreign" place names rename,/ Like New England,
 New York, Boston, Raleigh/ (Could be part of the prevalent Folly). 

Authors' Note: The reasons are not clear, but in Canada, compared to the US, a much smaller proportion of place-names are copies of names used geographically in the 'Old World'. The same also seems to be true for Australia and New Zealand. Just saying.

Folly Beach (name derived from an old English word for dense vegetation) is a seaside resort suburb of Charleston, South Carolina.

In the US, any proposed name-change would have to be reviewed by protocols of the Board of Geographic Names.

Mount Denali, at 6190m (20,310 feet), the loftiest peak in the United States, is discussed by the prodigious limericist SheilaB on the OEDILF website.

And, just in case you wanted to know for comparison, the loftiest peak in Canada is Mount Logan, at 5960m (19,550 feet).       

And for more views by Canadians on current related issues, poems in the series "Stand on Guard" can be viewed HERE.

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JUN 4, momentous day

TODAY'S POEM (senryu  *)

 military might displayed,

peaceful protesters --

conflicting visions.  

 Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about senryu, a term that designates a lesser-known Japanese short poem that shares the physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature. 

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If you aren't on the 'web-version', you can get there by clicking that choice ('view web-version') at the very bottom of this blog-page! 

JUN 1, selected pics: early morning beach chorus (green tree frogs)

Photos taken on an early excursion to the beach at Sullivan's Island; in the  marshy area just inland from the beach, the frogs were having a vociferous field day!

 And there's an older poetic post that deals with this cute little amphibian, the green tree frog, often seen individually in your garden, as well as in swarms in marshy areas. Click HERE.

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MAY 28, selected pics: great blue heron

strutting slong a beach in the Carolina lowcountry

Authors' Note:  You can review an illustrated poem from way back in 2020 that pays tribute to this large wading-bird, as seen in the Carolina lowcountry; there is also an exemplifying photo-collage displaying further details from much further north in its range. 

MAY 25, submitted palindromes: RANDOM PILES 53

  On the 25th of each month you will find a slide-filling group of palindromic phrases submitted to the editors by a panel of 7 palindromists. These folks have all been working on this project since January 2020. The personal profiles for each of these contributors are displayed in panels published here at the start of things, and then, we have asked them to provide (palindromically, of course) their views on one of the iconic items in the classic literature, starting with "A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama", continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in monthly random piles (a phrase that you might recognize as an anagram of the word p-a-l-i-n-d-r-o-m-e-s).

You can access this delightful entertainment right here by entering submitted palindromes in one of the two search bars at the top of this post and scrolling downwards through the wordplay posts that you will discover, OR, just follow the links indicated above. 

Devotees of palindromic wordplay can further explore limericks and other short verses about the classic palindromes (and quite a few recent concoctions) that are randomly scattered on this blog after September 2000, or collected into grouped postings on our more scholarly blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- start HERE. 

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 OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE. 

 

MAY 22, selected pics: peeping-Tom lizard

upside-down: reflection in a bathroom window

this green anole displays similar curiosity about human activities
to Dr Seuss's bird-narrator from his classic "In a People House"

 

MAY 19, selected pics: geese with goslings

a goose family relaxing in the shade
 on a warm mid-May mid-day

 

Authors' Note:  The above photos display recent sightings in Mt Pleasant SC, near the base of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge to Charleston SC.

You can view an illustrated poem about Canada geese, including goslings, HERE. And, there's a photo-collage that you can access HERE. 

These blogposts feature Canada geese who have made their permanent homes in both the US, as here, and in Canada.

The authors of this piece avoid comments on birthright dual citizenship, and leave readers to draw their own conclusion. 

MAY 16, selected pics: ruddy turnstones

ruddy turnstone in flight (background subtracted image)

ruddy turnstone (flying over beach with oyster shells)

Authors' Note:  Ruddy turnstones, sparrow-sized shorebirds, despite their tiny size, are intrepid and accomplished migrators, with a rigorous annual pole-to-pole itinerary. For a few years now, I have seen them in late May on the same small strip of beach near a harborside boardwalk in the Carolina lowcountry. They seem consumed, when there in groups of a dozen or so, not with global travel issues, but rather with mundane considerations such as which individual can claim rights to a small hole dug in the sand.

You can review an illustrated poem about these shorebirds in general HERE, and one about ruddy turnstones in particular HERE.

MAY 13, selected pics: "green" (native) anole versus "brown" (invasive) anole

 

presumbly a green anole in the dark grey-brown colour phase
(larger head, no body-length white ridge)

MAY 10, waterfowl: shelduck (visitor)

poetry lyrics:/ Quacked the shelduck, "With no GPS/ We migrate. In high winds, we digress/

From our usual flight-path./ So one dark-stormy-night path,/

We land here, refugees in US/ (They prefer that we leave, that's my guess). 

Authors' Note:  The above photos commemorate the unusual sighting of a shelduck, a handsome European duck species, in Brooklyn, New York, USA, in early May, 2026. This particular bird was noted in the company of native mallard ducks swimming and feeding in a pond at the Prospect Botanical Garden. The bird is distinguished by its red face-plate, longitudinal black body stripes and horizontal brown belly stripe.

Occasionally, Eurasian species like the shelduck are forced off course in their migration southward from Europe to Africa by major storms, and land up along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States; this eventuality was at play here, as particularly bad weather had preceded our visit to New York City at the beginning of May. Attributable to the same storm, You-tube had posted a video of a visit to a Pennsylvania pond where a local duck expert had clinched the unusual sighting.     

MAY 7, selected pics: London-canal bird-babies

Photos from canal locales in London, UK, were kindly provided by Josh.

a family of coots

a mute swan family

Authors' Note:  The above photos display the wildlife in easy view along the waterways of the London canal system, of which Regent Canal is the portion best known by North Americans.

May is the time to see the fledgling birds on both sides of the Atlantic, and readers might enjoy the images of Canada-goose goslings found on our recent post.

MAY 4, selected pics: skinks' springtime return

 

Authors' Note:  The above photos hark back to a photo-collage, and illustrated poem featuring the broad-headed skink.

MAY 1, selected pics: yellow-capped night heron

 

Authors' Note:  The above photos were taken by Giorgio Coniglio near the Charleston harbour in May 2026. The bird is focused on hunting in the pluff mud 

(sludge) at low tide, likely for small fish, small reptiles, and its favorite foods -- crabs and crayfish. 

You can review an illustrated poem about these herons, native only to the Americas, HERE.

APR 28, selected pics: brown-pelican yoga-student

 

Authors' Note:  

APR 25, submitted palindromes: RANDOM PILES 52

 

 

You have reached the "Submitted Palindromes" thread on the blog "Daily Edifying Nonsense", a light literary entity that emanates through the blogosphere daily (almost), i.e. 30 times per month.

  On the 25th of each month you will find a slide-filling group of palindromic phrases submitted to the editors by a panel of 7 palindromists. These folks have all been working on this project since January 2020. The personal profiles for each of these contributors are displayed in panels published here at the start of things, and then, we have asked them to provide (palindromically, of course) their views on one of the iconic items in the classic literature, starting with "A man, a plan, a canal -- Panama", continuing with other well-known phrases, such as "Dennis sinned". Otherwise, their contribution will be grouped in monthly random piles (a phrase that you might recognize as an anagram of the word p-a-l-i-n-d-r-o-m-e-s).

You can access this delightful entertainment right here by entering submitted palindromes in one of the two search bars at the top of this post and scrolling downwards through the wordplay posts that you will discover, OR, just follow the links indicated above. 

Devotees of palindromic wordplay can further explore limericks and other short verses about the classic palindromes (and quite a few recent concoctions) that are randomly scattered on this blog after September 2000, or collected into grouped postings on our more scholarly blog "Edifying Nonsense" -- start HERE. 

  _________________________________________________________________________

READY TO SEE MORE ?

To navigate around the 2,000 posts on this blog ("Daily Illustrated Nonsense", or D.I.N.), scroll downwards until you get to a widget with a clickable SUMMARY OF CONTENTS BY DATE displayed with blue fonts -- the most recent are at the top; the oldest at the bottom of the list. Then, just click on any year or month to view the detailed contents -- illustrated short humorous poems, wordplay, parody song-lyrics, funky photos, etc. 

 OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE.

 

APR 22, selected pics: brown-pelican yoga-instructor

 

"Sorry! I have a frog in my throat"

Authors' Note:  The above photos document the bizarre positioning adapted by these birds in digestibng large chunks of jagged, even sharp fish-carcasses, tossed away by fisher-guides after an expedition (see posts about the 'pelicatessen').

APR 20, selected pics: anole patrol

Authors' Note:  The above photos show the activity in our yard once the lizards return in April.

You can review an illustrated poem HERE.

APR 17, selected pics: strutting peacocks

APR 14, selected pics: seals rehearsing

 

APR 11, selected pics: brown pelicans in synchronous flight

 

a single pelican takes off from the same dock

FEB 11, folio-entry, couples: white-faced capuchin monkeys

 

You can view all of our folio-photos from the collection of 'Couples' portraits in a wider context on our full-service blog "Edifying Nonsense". Click HERE.

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OR, go back to the latest post on this blogsite ("Elegy to Tom Lehrer") HERE.

APR 8, selected pics: bird with a serious itch

 

APR 5, selected pics: berry-imbibing songbirds

cedar waxwing

 

cedar waxwing, defunct:
presumed cause of death: head injury striking plate glass window;,
cardboard covering window not efficiently applied;
R-I-P

Authors' Note:  The above photos