Frazz by Jef Mallett for December 04, 2012

So what did they do for the rest of the hour?

One of my grade school teachers was a nun in her 70s who used to fall asleep in class. We let her, then someone would “accidentally” drop a book and wake her up in time for the bell.

… because of the strange asymmetry of time by which we can remember the past but not the future. We know when we see the first robin that it is the first, but not when we see the last robin. There is no full explanation of that asymmetry, but I think it’s because the Big Bang imposes a boundary condition on the Schrödinger equation of the Universe. An analogy is that we perceive an asymmetry between up and down, but that is only because we live on the surface of a body, and not an inherent feature of space.

I am very happy when I see the first white crowned sparrows in the fall (they have a lovely song and sing all winter!), and sad when I am down to the last one or two in the spring.

And coincidentally, the last robin was in the last place I looked.

“forgot about her lesson plan?”

Hmmm. Perhaps she saw a teachable moment there, as in, “I just learned this kid drives me NUTS!”

Towards is the direction of the net force of gravity. There is no down or up.

It’s a miracle. One of his questions worked!

Around here, robins are always around. The sign of spring is when mockingbirds start their territorial routine of elaborate song punctuated by sudden aerobatics.

“do to limitations”I think you mean “due to”.I know what a stickler you are for spelling.

Yes, you may dare that observation. It sounds accurate to me.

big puma: Anyone making careful charts is an ornithologist – whether they do it for a living or not.

You never know when the last robin you see is the last…but you note the first one you see after a long time without them.