Beavers and groundhogs

Recent beaver work

Today is Groundhog Day, and I learned that Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog who supposedly predicts whether or not we'll have an early spring didn't see his shadow today, which is supposed to mean that, yes, it WILL be early. Well, we haven't had much of a winter here in the Pacific Northwest, and the trees have been seduced into putting out buds already. We'll see what the cold weather we are predicted to have beginning tomorrow will do to those nascent buds. At least the day is the halfway mark to the first day of spring!

I took the picture last Thursday of the tree felled by beavers at Lizard Lake. Those guys are busy as, well, beavers. Did you know that they must gnaw on trees or their teeth just keep growing and then they cannot even eat properly? All rodents, apparently, have teeth that continue to grow during their lifetimes. But beavers are special: beaver teeth have really extreme growth, up to 4 feet a year! Because they're not worried about wearing their teeth down, beavers are free to chew on as many hard objects as they can. Learn more about them here.

I watched the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards, and I decided to check out a couple of shows that interested me: The Kominsky Method on Netflix (I really loved it) and Killing Eve on BBC America. Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin star in the comedy series about getting old, and it's just been renewed for a second season. Sandra Oh stars in Killing Eve, and I guess I should have realized it would be bloody and suspenseful, but I got hooked anyway and watched all eight episodes. It's also been renewed for a second season.

And I've seen all the performances and movies nominated for the Oscars, except for Glenn Close in The Wife. I'll try to see that one beforehand, since she has garnered accolades from those two events as well. It's an amazing eclectic mix of shows this year; we are really lucky to have such talent working today.
:-)