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Michelle Cloud-Hughes

@cmdobotanist

Commando Botanist & Queen of Cylindropuntia

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13.11.2024
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Latest posts by Michelle Cloud-Hughes @cmdobotanist

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My first morning out roaming the desert this autumn, and I'm immediately greeted by this excellent bit of desert weirdness.

13.10.2025 16:41 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Did I need a pretty, cactiform hummingbird feeder? No. Did I get it anyway? Duh.

I promise, I'm coming out of my delightful summer hibernation and attempting to be more social. This format annoys me, but I can at least show off my nascent native garden as it slowly progresses.

09.10.2025 18:06 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps Sisters Bernadette, Regina and Rita needed a locksmith to get back into their convent, defying Church leaders.

Someone needs to make a movie about this, stat.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

15.09.2025 15:50 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Nothing like rain in the desert to make a field bio feel good! Especially when it's summer, and you expected to be roasting.

03.09.2025 14:44 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Bets that he's also on the list? I'd give it at least 50/50 odds.

22.08.2025 20:05 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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I enjoyed this review for a collapsible water jug very much. Corvids gonna corvid.

22.08.2025 19:53 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

When the chips are down, there's always bribery.

21.08.2025 18:22 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The sanest of my cousins got a new puppy, and I figured we can all use a cute puppy photo.

27.07.2025 16:30 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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My narrow-leaved milkweed finally took off once I started neglecting it, and I've had a gratifying number of caterpillar and adult monarchs this season. I'll be curious to see how this plays out.

19.07.2025 16:20 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I saw Flavor Flav in the mirror

19.07.2025 00:05 πŸ‘ 18422 πŸ” 2068 πŸ’¬ 421 πŸ“Œ 88

In one of my more embarrassing feats of absentmindedness, I temporarily shoplifted a $50 watering can from my local nursery this morning by deciding not to buy it when I discovered the price and then walking out with it anyhow. Fortunately, I realized it right as I was about to drive away. Sheesh.

14.07.2025 18:44 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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Invasive juvenile scaly-breasted munia munching away on invasive grass (Erharta erecta) and aster (Erigeron canadensis) in my ecology. I suppose that's a type of balance.

10.07.2025 17:36 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A comic of two foxes, one of whom is blue, the other is green. In this one, Blue and Green are just about to get into the car as they hear a mysterious noise.
Noise: A!
Blue: Hey, can you hear that?
Green: I can see it! It's a magpie, sitting on the pavement!

Blue and Green rush to the bird's aid.
Blue: Let's go see if it's okay.
Green: I've never heard one make that sound before.

Just as Blue and Green are about to reach the magpie, it flies off with perfect ease.
Green: Oh, it flew off on its own.

Blue and Green turn to look at the direction the magpie flew, Green with curiosity and Blue with alarm. There's a sound of a car engine starting.
Green: Wait, where did it go?
Blue: It hotwired my car!

A comic of two foxes, one of whom is blue, the other is green. In this one, Blue and Green are just about to get into the car as they hear a mysterious noise. Noise: A! Blue: Hey, can you hear that? Green: I can see it! It's a magpie, sitting on the pavement! Blue and Green rush to the bird's aid. Blue: Let's go see if it's okay. Green: I've never heard one make that sound before. Just as Blue and Green are about to reach the magpie, it flies off with perfect ease. Green: Oh, it flew off on its own. Blue and Green turn to look at the direction the magpie flew, Green with curiosity and Blue with alarm. There's a sound of a car engine starting. Green: Wait, where did it go? Blue: It hotwired my car!

23.06.2025 12:09 πŸ‘ 3853 πŸ” 678 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 14
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I performed an unexpected magic trick this morning in the ecology. I unfolded a bit of my makeshift tablecloth and *poof* baby Sceloporus occidentalis! I'm glad I found them before I set my teapot there. 😬 I'm not sure if this is one of the two(!) I rescued from one of my pots yesterday afternoon.

09.07.2025 15:20 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Advice welcome, for this and future invertebrate rehab attempts.

06.07.2025 17:21 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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I've spent the most recent part of the morning attempting to rehab a wonky-winged monarch. We shall see how she fares.

06.07.2025 17:19 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Overheard just now: "The reason it's such an incredibly stupid show is that it's about people in our age group."

06.07.2025 03:13 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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The trolley from Mr. Roger's Neighborhood went into the witness protection program and is hiding out north of Bishop.

05.07.2025 03:38 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Happy solstice, all. Things have been mostly good. I recently decided to semi-retire. So, obviously, I've spent the last two days working in the blast furnace of southern Nevada. But now I'm off to re-emphasize the retirement part of semi-retirement. I've missed y'all.

21.06.2025 15:35 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Yeah, screw all y'all kids' accomplishment of graduating from high school in spite of living in a burnt-out, run-down, poison-aired ag-town. It's actually all about Jesus. πŸ™„

10.05.2025 16:20 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Surprising me immensely, I won an award at the CSSA conference last night!

27.04.2025 17:16 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0
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Why do AI company logos look like buttholes? A humorous exploration of the uncanny resemblance between AI company logos and human anatomy. Discover why circular, gradient-based designs dominate the AI industry, and what this design convergence t...

Because that’s what the LLMs talk out of, mostly.

velvetshark.com/ai-company-l...

14.04.2025 19:19 πŸ‘ 185 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 5
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How a mouse watching 'The Matrix' helped scientists create the largest map of a brain to date Thanks to a mouse watching clips from β€œThe Matrix,” scientists have created the largest functional map of a brain to date.

Thanks to a mouse watching clips from β€œThe Matrix,” scientists have created the largest functional map of a brain to date – a diagram of the wiring connecting 84,000 neurons as they fire off messages.

15.04.2025 17:24 πŸ‘ 109 πŸ” 27 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3

Anyone else worried that any Democrat representatives who travel to El Salvador won't return? Because I am.

15.04.2025 20:12 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Fasciation - Wikipedia

Fasciation, not polyploidy.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasciat...

14.04.2025 18:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm very near downtown San Diego, about 65km from the epicenter. My hammock turned into a bumpy ride, and all the birds flew away. If I'd been inside, I'd likely have moved into a safe spot for this one.

14.04.2025 17:44 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
The Earthquake Event Page application supports most recent browsers, view supported browsers. Or, try our Real-time Notifications, Feeds, and Web Services.

Earthquakes are so cool. I was in the hammock for this one, which was kinda fun. The birds all flew away, and some small object in the garage fell on the floor. Big excitement! πŸ˜„

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...

14.04.2025 17:34 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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11.04.2025 05:53 πŸ‘ 38882 πŸ” 9149 πŸ’¬ 355 πŸ“Œ 371

At this rate MAGA will only be able to afford to rent the libs.

07.04.2025 14:29 πŸ‘ 24782 πŸ” 5438 πŸ’¬ 300 πŸ“Œ 229
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05.04.2025 00:39 πŸ‘ 19795 πŸ” 3573 πŸ’¬ 253 πŸ“Œ 218