I was trying to figure out what to write this week. So I went to ChatGPT and asked it for some topics. Chat GPT gave me:

• The psychology of sports fandom and its impact on well-being. Explore how deeply people invest in their favorite teams, the emotions tied to victories and losses, and the broader implications on mental health and social behavior.

(I had just asked ChatGPT who would win a particular football game.)

I asked it for more topics. I got:

• The Future of Work: How AI is Reshaping Jobs Across Industries. 
• The Evolution of Love in the Digital Age. 

All were good topics, but then I got to thinking that the source that was giving me answers was more interesting.

So, I decided to have a conversation with ChatGPT about a book that I just read, called All that Glitters by Orlando Whitfield. This book is about the contemporary art world and the author’s friendship with Inigo Philbrick, who was convicted of fraud in a complex scheme of buying and selling modern art. I tried to talk to ChatGPT as if it were a person. I asked ChatGPT if Philbrick was good or bad. ChatGPT gave a nuanced response: “Inigo Philbrick can be seen as a morally complex figure, but his actions ultimately mark him as more bad than good, especially in light of his fraudulent activities.” And finally, I asked ChatGPT if it liked Philbrick. ChatGPT replied: “I don’t have personal feelings or preferences… while some might have been drawn to his confidence and charm initially, his dishonest behavior makes it hard to see him in a positive light…”

The conversation was easy and pleasant. It gave intelligent and nuanced answers to my questions. But ChatGPT and AI, in general, are only as good as their data, and ChatGPT did not read the book, as it only had access to summaries and book reviews. But while it hinted by telling its sources, it did not directly say that it hadn’t read the book.

Given how amenable ChatGPT is to answering questions, I have no idea how the educational world will be able to police the use of ChatGPT. It also made me realize how easy it will be to slip into using AI instead of doing the work and the real dangers posed by it.

So I asked ChatGPT what are the dangers of AI? I summarized its response:

“The dangers of AI can be categorized into: 

1. Job Displacement

AI-driven automation can lead to widespread job losses. As machines become more capable of performing complex tasks, there is a risk that many jobs traditionally held by humans (note its word humans rather than people) may be phased out.

2. Bias and Discrimination

AI systems learn from data and if that data is biased, the algorithms can perpetuate or even amplify those biases. 

3. Loss of Privacy

AI systems can process vast amounts of data. Governments and corporations could misuse AI for mass surveillance, eroding individual privacy rights.

4. Autonomous Weapons

AI has the potential to be used in autonomous weapons systems, which could act without direct human oversight. 

5. Manipulation and Deepfakes

AI can generate highly realistic fake content, such as deepfake videos or audio recordings. This technology could be used to spread misinformation, manipulate public opinion, and deceive people on a large scale, especially during political events. 

6. Loss of Human Autonomy

Automated systems in healthcare, legal, and financial sectors could begin making critical decisions without human input. 

7. Superintelligence

If AI systems were to become more intelligent than humans, they might act in ways that conflict with human values or goals.

8. Dependence on AI

As AI becomes more integrated into society, there is the risk of over-dependence on these systems. If critical sectors like healthcare, defense, or infrastructure rely too heavily on AI, any failure, cyberattack, or malfunction in these systems could cause widespread disruption and harm.

9. Concentration of Power

AI development is driven by a few large tech companies and governments with vast resources. This concentration of power in the hands of a few entities could exacerbate existing inequalities and limit the benefits of AI to a small group.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. But, I would like to add a tenth answer. 

10. 10. Laziness. I didn’t particularly care for the book, but ChatGPT conversations were interesting and could easily have supplanted my reading the book. In the future, we could use AI instead of doing our work.

But I recommend trying ChatGPT. It is fun and, for me, it was helpful to have a discussion about a book.

A friend told me that ChatGPT can also write poetry. Here is a poem it wrote about my dog, Gus. As you can see, AI is not a threat to literature.

Ode to Gus (by ChatGPT)

Gus, my friend with fur so fine,
In your eyes, the stars align.
A wagging tail, a heart so true,
No one loves quite like you do.

You greet each day with boundless cheer,
A loyal soul who’s always near.
Through sunny skies or rainy days,
You brighten life in countless ways.

Your paws leave prints across the floor,
But in my heart, you’ve left much more.
With every bark and joyful leap,
You fill my world with love so deep.

So here’s to Gus, the truest friend,
Whose love and joy will never end.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

I’m in the attic gathering my Halloween and fall decorations. Earlier today, I surveyed the pumpkins for sale at the markets. I began to wonder…is this the year that I stop decorating?

There are many reasons for ending holiday decorations, the kids are living their lives, the large holiday parties are no more. It is a hassle to bring decorations down from the attic, only to repack them and bring them back up. Both are treacherous events since I have one of those pull-down stairs to the attic. Carrying boxes down and bringing them back up is not for the faint of heart. Then there are the outside decorations. Each pumpkin I buy eventually becomes squirrel food. Putting up the lights requires a ladder, another potentially dangerous obstacle. And for what? Will anyone miss it if I don’t put up decorations? The world will go on, and probably few would notice or care.

In the past, my husband and I used to entertain frequently with sparkling holiday parties and other events. Our daughter celebrated her birthday, Hannukah, and Christmas the same month. Our house was alive that month, with lights and candles, Christmas trees, Hannukah candles, festive greenery, and twinkling lights. Lots and lots of lights. My husband decorated the outside, I took care of the inside. And our daughter decorated the tree and the house with me. We baked and baked and baked. And our house smelled of pine and cinnamon and vanilla. At Halloween, there were the costumes, trick-or-treaters, and one night filled with candy that was soon spread all over the rug, sorted into piles.

So I sit here in the attic, with the stacks of fake pumpkins, lights, and cute scary pottery. What should I do?

Then I get more pensive, maybe this is the year that I also stop giving out candy to trick or treaters. Certainly, the children, loaded with candy from other homes probably wouldn’t miss it. It is often cold outside while waiting for the children to help themselves. I eat a lot of the candy anyway.

There are many practical and safety reasons that I can think of not to do this. 

Then I wonder if I stop doing these decorations, will I stop Christmas too? And what about my annual Halloween party where we get together to fill the children’s bags with lots and lots of candy. 

Then I realize that I am asking the wrong questions. There are many reasons not to do this, but a very good reason to do it. When I start using logic and practicality over emotion, the joyous part of me dies a little. These decorations are meant to keep memories alive, and be open to creating new ones. They represent a desire to celebrate a season, even if it has a few inconveniences. It says that I am living in the now. I can decide to scale it back a little bit, that can be a nod to my age, but I am not giving up on the anticipation, the joys of changing seasons, the laughter of children, and the warm embrace of friends and family. The decorations are a metaphor for my memories, my present and future. 

And I know these lights as modest as they are, bring someone a momentary smile.

Memories are not recreated, not replaced, but added to. Christmas is no longer the smells of the Northeast or glistening lights in the snow. Instead, it is now in Key West, where Christmas becomes humorous displays of lights and figurines, mocking the absence of snow and celebrating the tropical paradise. I join friends for drinks before we set out on bicycles to view the decorations. My daughter and her husband don’t arrive until after Christmas, so Christmas is celebrated on a different day. It is a different Christmas, but it is today’s Christmas.

So, this year finds me bringing down all of the decorations, putting them up, and hosting yet another Halloween party, ready to add new memories.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

On the Eastern Shore I frequently encounter people with amazing accomplishments, curious hobbies, and unique interests. Such is the case with Tracy Eutsler, the Executive Director of the Perkins Family YMCA. 

Her hobby? She is a competitive body builder, and she began her career at 50. That’s right, 50!

She has already won a number of regional competitions. Being someone of less than stellar fitness myself, my first question was why? Why did she choose to do this, especially at the age of 50?

Tracy explained that she has had a passion for fitness that began in high school. She had considered body building occasionally, but didn’t get serious until she was approaching 50. Her life was in a place where she could focus on it, and she decided to give it a try. At first it was in her “bucket list.” But when she placed first in the first competition she entered, she decided to take it a little more seriously.

Prior to competing, she needed to find a reputable organization, one where illegal performance enhancing substances were not used. She discovered that the OCB (Organization of Competition Bodies) was respected for natural body building. Next, she utilized a coach to help her learn the poses and subsequently provide assistance with her diet.

The diet is rigorous and requires full attention to the intake of carbohydrates, protein, and fat, at the gram level. Very restrictive diets are required to both compete and prep between competitions. The goal is to be lean for the competitions; but between competitions, she needs a diet designed to build up muscle. It is not possible to maintain a “stage lean” physique for a long period of time. 

There are different categories of competition for women: Physique, Wellness, Bikini, and Figure. Each have different criteria for competing. Based on her body type, she realized that she would be most competitive in the Figure category. After winning her first competition she turned pro, but there are amateur divisions as well. 

Given the rigor required for dieting and exercising, I wanted to understand how she did it. She indicated that she had always enjoyed fitness and teaching classes, and this hobby gives her work out a purpose.

She has been enormously successful in her competitions, winning all but the Virginia Apex Natural (a national competition). The first year she placed 5th and 3rd the following year in this multi-age competition.

She works hard because she knows that at 50 she doesn’t have many years that she will be competitive. She will continue her hobby as long as she is improving. Her goal is to ultimately win first place at the Virginia Apex Natural in September.  She also plans to volunteer at the events and to become a judge.

Tracy is a reminder that it is never too late to follow your passion.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

This weekend we celebrated my daughter’s wedding. It was a perfect weekend, and the celebration was an enormous success that lasted well into the night.

My daughter and her fiancé were eager to be married and begin their life together.  So eager that the groom said “I do” before it was time, muttering so only the first row could hear, “I do, I do, I do.” He waited for the officiant to finish so he could repeat his vows.

The bride and groom love each other deeply. Their love radiates. Their faces soften when they see each other. 

As I watched them, I realized how special love really is.

First, love is wildly contagious. As their love spilled out into the audience, we fell in love as well. I found myself saying “I love you” to friends and family throughout the night. I felt love for people I had just met. 

Love is a feeling that we can conjure. For example, pain is a memory, but we cannot recreate it (otherwise women would have just one child). But I can regenerate the feelings of love as if I am experiencing them all over again. Watching the couple say their vows, I was reminded of how I felt when my late husband and I shared our vows. 

Love is easy. When a room fills with love, feelings become easy to express, people are inclusive and easy going. 
Love is joy. Watching people having a good time on the dance floor made me experience their happiness.
Love is acceptance and celebrating differences. It didn’t matter if you were on the “bride’s side” or the “groom’s side.”
Love is appreciation. It is beyond acceptance. Love is liking people because of and in spite of their differences.
Love is kindness and sharing. 
Love is laughter. My family performed a choreographed dance for the bride and groom. Many of us are not very good dancers, and one of my sisters agreed to wear a disco helmet for the dance. We laughed so hard that we often missed our steps.
Love extends beyond the physical; my aches and pains temporarily subsided. 

That night made me think about a time nine years ago when my husband and I were driving to a hospital where doctors would surgically remove a metal scaffolding from his broken leg. Doctors couldn’t understand why his bone wasn’t healing or the source of his excruciating pain. After removing this metal device, they were able to diagnose a rare, advanced, and terminal cancer.

Doctors didn’t know that this would be our last journey together, but somehow, we did. On the long drive to the NYC hospital, I impulsively put in a CD that we hadn’t listened to in decades…it was the music that we fell in love with. He touched my arm and smiled, “I would have picked that, too.”

And instantly we were transported back to the time before life’s annoyances and pressing demands overshadowed love. Squeezing the toothpaste from the middle of the tube, late nights at work, career setbacks, parenting struggles…all of those melted away. We were back in love, for the last time. Every day we talked. He would ask me to remarry…still wanting to care for me after death. I promised him that I would take care of what remained. Even death cannot end love.

And I want to thank the bride and groom for reminding me of all of love’s superpowers, so powerful, it can even transcend death.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

The blackbirds have left for the fields. So I have resumed filling my birdfeeders, which also double as a squirrel gymnasium. 

Over the years, I have tried a number of squirrel-proof feeders. Ones that spun, others that closed when a larger mammal stepped on the perch…all to no avail. Watching squirrels climb up a greased pole was amusing. They would take turns until one of them was able to absorb all of the oil and the remaining squirrels found a way to stick their claws into the metal. They overcame squirrel baffles by jumping from tree branches above, sticking their nails into them and leaning over to get the treats. 

The squirrels have thwarted all my attempts to stop them. At one point, I decided my birdfeeders were a training site for the squirrel Olympics (I am sure they must have one).

Often, I call on my trusty dogs to “go get the squirrels.” As soon as I speak, I hear screeching toenails skidding across the wooden floors, then the sound of excited barking, and the flap of the dog door as they race out to chase the squirrels. I do this because I know that they will not be able to actually catch the squirrels. Sadie, my toy poodle mix, weighs just a little more than the squirrels and the other two dogs are too slow and unfocused. They meander around the yard sniffing for squirrels. Only Sadie, the smart poodle mix, knows where to find the squirrels. By the time the other dogs make their way over, the squirrels have climbed up the trees and are taunting them with their chatter and tail whisking.

It’s a dance.

Over the years, I have alternately accepted the squirrels or tried to stop them. This fall, I am going to try again to thwart them again. 

I researched squirrel proof feeders to find one that I haven’t bought. I scrolled past the ones where the food holes were too small—the squirrels just chewed the plastic off. I ignored the motorized one where it spins around so fast that the squirrels fall off. While that was fun to watch for a while, eventually the squirrels saw this as an amusement park and were able to stay on for the ride. I ignore the birdfeeders where the perch is connected to the feeder and once a squirrel steps on it, it closes. The squirrels learned to attach themselves to the feeder without touching the perch. I settled for one that has heavy steel bands that encircle the feeder. While the squirrels can get on the birdfeeder, the metal bands between the holes shouldn’t allow them to reach the food. Let’s see how that works.

In the meantime, I have my trusty band of canines, at the ready.

I am a recovering worrier. I got it honestly, my Dad was a worrier. We worriers are a product of both nature and nurture.

First, the nature part of the equation. Research shows that the anxiety caused by worry has a genetic component. While they haven’t been able to isolate which genes play a role, they do know that people are more likely to inherit worrying and subsequent anxiety. If we have a close relative with this issue, our chances of being an anxious worrier are between 2 to 6 times higher than if we don’t. Scientists estimate that 30% of this trait is nature.

Nurture plays a key role, especially when it is learned in early childhood. If parents or close relatives are worriers, some children will learn that behavior. For example, if a mother is worried that each time she takes her child to daycare that something bad might happen, it raises the chance that the child may suffer anxieties at daycare. Often parents model anxious beliefs and behaviors without realizing it. They give the child the feeling that the world’s not safe and anything bad can happen to anyone at any time.

Anxious families also tend to overestimate the negative. If an anxious parent hears something scary or tragic on the news, it isn’t viewed as an outlier but rather a likelihood. Habitual worrying can train the mind to focus on the world as a scary place and increase the amount of worrying. 

Stress and sleep also play a role in worrying. The less sleep we get and the more stress we have, the more likely we are to worry.

Constant worry in the extreme is classified as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). People with GAD feel extremely worried or nervous. Their worry is out of proportion to the actual circumstance and is difficult to control. Both children and adults with GAD may experience physical symptoms as well, including chronic pain, fatigue, or shortness of breath.

It comes as no surprise that worrying is bad for our health. Chronic worrying can trigger a number of health problems because it causes the body’s sympathetic nervous system to release stress hormones such as cortisol. These hormones cause a broad and diverse set of physical reactions such as: difficulty swallowing, dizziness, dry mouth, racing heartbeat, fatigue, headache, poor concentration, irritability, chronic pain, nausea, nervous energy, rapid breathing, shortness of breath, excess sweating, and trembling. Even more significant is that it can result in serious long-term health consequences such as immune suppression, digestive disorders, short-term memory loss, and heart disease. Whew, that is a lot to worry about.

The good news is that there are methods to help us reduce worrying. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is commonly used to treat GAD and we can use their techniques to reduce worrying on our own. CBT teaches different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to situations that help worriers feel less anxious and worried. Another treatment option is acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). ACT uses strategies such as mindfulness and goal setting. ACT is a newer form of treatment.

One treatment in CBT is simply to stop ourselves when we begin worrying. Recognize and tell our brains to stop, it can be as simple as that. 

CBT also teaches problem solving techniques to conquer worrying. The basic technique is to identify the problem, come up with solutions, evaluate the solutions, and select the best one. Then make a plan. 

Another approach is to ask ourselves realistically is this something that is truly a threat or simply a perceived threat. If it is a “real” threat, then follow the problem-solving steps listed above.

For example, I used to worry about the world that we were leaving our children and grandchildren. I recognized that I couldn’t solve global warming. But I could do my part (e.g., voting, driving an electric or hybrid car, reducing my use of plastics, buying recycled products, buying organic) to reduce my footprint on the world. My worrying about the environment was not going to help.

ACT and CBT recommend techniques such as: practicing mindfulness and gratitude, limiting exposure to stressors, relaxation, meditation, sharing these worries with close friends—to release them and have them debunked, distraction, having a supportive social network, and simply accepting what we cannot control. 

To calm the anxiety from worrying, a simple technique is deep breathing (mindfully and slowly breathe in and out to the count of 4). Another is a peaceful nature walk. 

A simple distraction exercise is the 333 rule. Look around and name three things that we see, three sounds we hear, and then move three parts of our body. 

Another technique is to write down what is worrying us. It makes it seem less daunting. 

An ACT technique is to refocus our mind toward good things. For example, count the number of things that we are grateful for this moment. Write down our moments of joy and refer to them. Moments of joy can be as simple as a cup of coffee or seeing a bluebird. Writing down moments of joy memorializes them and provides a good distraction.

The good news about worrying is that it is in our control. Once I started mindfully stopping my worrying, I found that I was a lot happier, a lot more relaxed, and my interaction with others was a lot more positive. When I worried about someone, I reflected those worries onto that person. It was stressful for the person that I was worrying about.

It is easy to see that worrying provides no value. And it is so obvious that even Mad Magazine could give advice on this one.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

As I was walking on the nature trail, I watched two hummingbirds duking it out. One hummingbird was chasing another for encroaching on “his” flowers. It was a very large clump of flowers, plenty for both. Yet his territorial instincts kicked in and he chased away his fellow diner, only to discover that he had lost his place to another hummingbird. Hummingbirds even act territorial at hummingbird feeders.

There are few people who don’t love hummingbirds. The males sport bright jackets of colors and even the doughty females amuse us with their feats of flight as they dart and hover over the flowers and feeders.

Hummingbirds are unique. Their metabolism is so fast that they must eat every 10 minutes and consume 50 percent of their body weight each day. On a typical day, hummingbirds burn between 6,600 to 12,000 calories. Hummingbirds have the highest metabolic rate of any vertebrate animal. During flight and hovering, oxygen consumption is about 10 times higher than that of elite human athletes. Hummingbirds take approximately 150 breaths per minute! To conserve energy when food is scarce and at night, they enter a torpor state similar to hibernation, where they slow their metabolic rate to 1⁄15 of its normal rate.

Hummingbirds eat many small meals. Because their high metabolism makes them vulnerable to starvation, hummingbirds are highly attuned to food sources. They digest their food rapidly and spend 20% of their time feeding. Our local ruby-throated hummingbirds prefer red or orange flowers (though it’s not necessary to color the sugar water in a hummingbird feeder). 

Like many birds, hummingbirds have good color vision and can see the ultraviolet spectrum, which humans can’t see. Their eyesight acuity is better than ours as well.

Male ruby-throated hummingbirds don’t stick around after mating. This puts more stress on the female who must build the nest, incubate the eggs, and raise the chicks.

Ruby throated hummingbirds migrate to Mexico each year. They arrive in North America by late February and early March and return to Mexico and Central America in late November.

The lifespan of the ruby-throated hummingbird is short, from 3-5 years, with the highest death rates in yearlings. Scientists don’t know why, but their population has decreased by 17% in the 21st century. 

What is most amazing about hummingbirds is their flight. Hummingbirds have compact bodies with relatively long, bladelike wings. Their anatomical features allow them to fly like a helicopter in any direction, including hovering. The ruby-throated hummingbird beats its wings about 53 times a second. Yes, that’s right, in a second!

All of these amazing facts bring me to the essential question, why are these beautiful creatures so territorial? If they cooperated and shared their bounty it would require less energy than they currently expend chasing off other birds. I believe that it is because hummingbirds, with their intense bodily requirements, dwell in a world of scarcity. If they do not feed every 10 minutes, they cannot sustain themselves. Lack of food, not cold, is why they migrate. Because their needs are so extreme, they see each morsel of food in desperate terms. In their scarce world, another hummingbird is a threat to their existence.

On the other hand, many Americans live in a world of abundance; America is a rich country with many resources. Despite that, some perceive the world from a scarcity perspective and act accordingly. If we see the world from a scarcity viewpoint, then we are more likely to exhibit bad behaviors. If we see the world from an abundance point of view, we don’t need to be territorial, there is plenty for everyone.

Unlike hummingbirds, we get to choose.

 

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West, Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

There are few more relaxing sounds in the summer than the soft drumming of gentle rainfall, especially on the Eastern Shore. It means that our parched land is nourished—the crops, gardens, trees, and grass are revived. It signals that we can take a respite from watering. The soft, quiet plunks against the window are nature’s restoration. We depend on rain as much as the sun; without rain, our primary source of water would be gone.

So, I decided to learn more about this life affirming substance. First, what causes rain, and it is pretty simple. When a colder mass of air arrives and the amount of water in the air dips below the dewpoint, gravity will cause rain to fall. 

According to a simplified description in Wikipedia: Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall by gravity. The major cause of rain is moisture moving along zones of temperature and moisture contrasts (weather fronts). If enough moisture and upward motion is present, precipitation falls from clouds.

The amount of moisture in air is called relative humidity. The dewpoint is the temperature at which the air must be cooled in order to become saturated (produce condensation, including dew, rain, snow, hail, etc.). Dewpoint is used to measure comfort. A dewpoint above 60 feels humid, but it gets really uncomfortable when it is in the 70s. Meteorologists check dewpoints when making forecasts. For example, they might not forecast rain if the dewpoints are decreasing when dry air is moving into a region.

Another fun fact about rain is that it is not teardrop shaped. Instead, its shape is dependent on the size of the raindrops. Small raindrops are circular, but as raindrops get larger (and heavier) they take a shape similar to mushroom caps.

Science aside, one of the most important assets of rain is its healing properties. Besides the obvious of bringing us life affirming water, summer and spring rains can influence mood through both their sound and its smell. 

The relaxation that we feel from rain is called the petrichor effect, which occurs when the smell of rainfall triggers memories or relaxation. The smell of petrichor is created when raindrops hit our dry and clay soil, trapping air bubbles on the surface. These bubbles burst, releasing aerosols of scent into the air, which are then carried by the wind. The scent is most noticeable when light or moderate rainfalls. 

The sound of rain can also help us concentrate (like white noise), relax, and fall asleep. If you are someone who loves the rain its benefits are greater.

Rain is also healthy; it washes away pollutants and pollen, leaving behind less dust and allergens than the air during dry spells.

I am not alone in my appreciation of the rain; here are some quotes by writers who are just as enamored: 

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” – Langston Hughes

“Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.” – John Updike

So, let’s hope for more gentle rain.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

Sadie wrote a column some weeks ago, here is an update on how she is doing. To recap, Sadie is a 7-pound poodle mix that came from a puppy mill in Blairstown, NJ. The breeder retired and left the dogs to fend for themselves. A couple of rescue groups got involved and I adopted her from one of these groups.

When I adopted her, I knew she was not a normal dog. She was a puppy mill mom, who, despite her terrible life, kept her friendliness. Because Sadie came from a puppy mill, she lived in a crate in a barn without electricity. She never saw outside her crate, so she had no exposure to the outdoors, a home, or connection with a human. When it was time, she mated and produced puppies that went on to live wonderful lives, while she lived in squalor, barely fed, and when she got too dirty, she was hosed down no matter the weather. Her only contact with humans was when she was fed low-quality food (mostly boiled potatoes) and put in another crate to mate and raise her puppies.

But that was the past. Now Sadie is doing well adjusting to the life of a normal dog. She is no longer afraid of the outdoors, and loves chasing squirrels and bunnies. She is still afraid of the dark, which is surprising because she lived in a cage in a barn without electricity, but nevertheless, she refuses to venture out at night. Rain is another frightening prospect; she can’t figure out why she gets wet when she goes outside.

We are working on cause and effect. We haven’t made a lot of progress, yet; my other dog Annie, who had much worse treatment at her puppy mill never learned it; so it may be something that is imprinted at an early age. But we will keep trying. In the puppy mill, she learned that it didn’t matter what she did, she still got the same inhumane treatment.

Learning how to live in a house is coming along nicely. She is working very hard on her house training, but it is spotty (literally). Whenever it rains and wipes away the scent of her urine from the lawn, we have to start over. But it took me 6 years to train Annie, and Annie is now flawless, so I am hoping that Sadie will master it sooner, but with equally good results.

Sadie is eating well now, before she was finicky and slow. Now she gobbles up her food and loves her treats.

She is still very affectionate. She is leaning into the joys of a home…sleeping on furniture, sleeping with her mates and me on the bed (yes, it is a little crowded), and treats, lots of treats. She was able to keep her personality despite horrific circumstances and now she gets to live the life of a dog.

And she is still very brave.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.

I have an amazing old tree in my backyard, it is a gnarled, pitted, dying tree. Arborists dismissively describe my favorite tree as a messy, junk, boxelder tree. Its trunk tells its story, tree cankers surround it as a reminder of the storms that lashed through it, the viruses, bacteria, insects, and mold that tried to destroy it and the lichen that coats its dead branches. And while it probably started out as a junk tree, it is now a magnificent, intricate work of art. I will keep it as long as I can.

After reading Peter Wollenben’s bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees, I developed a special admiration for trees. Richard Power’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Overstory expanded my appreciation.

Wollenben was the first to make the newest research about trees available to the general reader. Recent research has discovered that trees feed each other, especially their own kind, through the fungal mycorrhizal networks that are present underground throughout the earth. The fungi are connected to the trees’ roots, and they form a symbiotic relationship. The fungi supply the trees with carbon and mineral nutrients and the trees “pay” for this by giving them up to 30% of the sugar that they photosynthesize from sunlight. The fungi use what they need and transfer the rest to other trees through their network. 

This network connects to all trees in the forest. Research has shown that mature, healthy trees feed smaller trees, especially saplings who do not get enough sunlight to manufacture their own sugars. It also feeds trees that are not healthy. The small saplings that you see in a forest can be very old, some as old as 80 years, awaiting their time in the sun, which will occur when their parent dies. In the meantime, their trunks grow strong from the food supplied to them by their parent via the mycorrhizal network.

Trees communicate in a variety of ways. They communicate using pheromones or chemicals, warning other trees of pests, fungi, and other predators. Trees also communicate via a voltage signaling system through the mycorrhizal network at a 220 Hz signal that we cannot perceive. 

Trees have methods of responding to assaults. During an assault, trees produce a chemical that makes their leaves taste bitter to some invaders. A well-known example is the giraffe vs acacia tree. The wide-crowned umbrella thorn acacia is a favorite of giraffes. When a giraffe starts chewing acacia leaves, the tree notices the injury and emits a distress signal in the form of ethylene gas. Upon detecting this gas, neighboring acacias start pumping tannins into their leaves which can sicken or even kill giraffes. 

When elms and pines come under attack by leaf-eating caterpillars, they evaluate the caterpillar saliva, and release pheromones that notify neighboring trees of an attack. These pheromones also serve to attract parasitic wasps. The wasps lay their eggs inside the caterpillars, and the wasp larvae eat the caterpillars from the inside out.

Trees appear to be cooperative, by aiding trees that are sick, notifying other trees that are dangers, and even while dying releasing nutrients to neighboring trees.

The problem is that all of the research is on forests and not the trees that we have in our yards. Most scientists believe that this does not occur in trees that are planted in residential areas and trees planted after clear-cut logging.

But already, my box elder has beaten the odds, and I am hoping that scientists have yet to learn about our residential trees. I envision that healthy neighboring trees are feeding my old box elder through their own mycorrhizal network. I am hoping that this box elder will outlast me and provide the same wonderful focal point for the next homeowner.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.