Tuesday 3 May 2022

Parks for Dogs in My City Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Part 2

You may read previous post (Part 1):

- The Rainbow Before Evening : Parks for Dogs in My City Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Part 1



Fig 01- Dogs play in the park

I visited City Brooks community park several times. Not specific for dogs, but for families or every body:

- old
- young
- and kids.

The park is administrated by an agency called Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC).



Fig 02- Dogs in neighborhood



Fig 03- Street, just for illustration



Fig 04- A dog in the park

The main purpose of the park is to provide recreational opportunities for families from nearby areas.

Size of park is more than 150,000 acres, in addition to green areas, it covers many facilities such as:

- tennis courts and ball fields
- a swimming pool and a fishing lake

The area for dogs is quite big, hence we can find separate areas for small and big dogs. The pups playing area is available as well.

How many dog parks in your city?

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Monday 2 May 2022

Colorful Flowers in the Spring – Nature 21

We found many types and colors of flower when walking or jogging in our neighborhood area.

I believe the following flowers are daylily (corrected by Yvonne that are Iris instead of daylily).



Fig 01- Purple flower

By Googling, it said there are plenty of day-lily flowers. About six colors are very common:

- purple
- white
- pink
- red
- orange
- yellow



Fig 02- Is it red or pink color?



Fig 03- Several flower with light purple color



Fig 04- Yellow color



Fig 05- Dark purple

Since our state, Louisiana is a southern state, the blooming of day-lily flowers could be from March to April or early May.

In the Northern states, blooming time from May to June. Blooming just in short period, about 1 to 5 weeks.

Then, we might wonder: how long does day-lily lifespan?

Depend on varieties. Rae Oliver (2022) In Posting “Growing Daylilies: When, Where & How To Plant Daylily Flowers,” said that Daylilies could reach several years.

However, the flowers blooming less after reaching six years.

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Saturday 30 April 2022

What are Health Benefit of Eating Mango? - Part 1 – Health Life 19

It is started to have mango fruit season in our city, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. No, not local product, but from elsewhere:

- across America

- foreign countries



Fig 01- A kind of mango sold in groceries.

Domestic and import mangoes may be come from places such as (just for few examples):

- Florida
- California
- Hawaii
- Puerto Rico
- Brazil
- Peru
- Guatemala
- Mexico



Fig 02- Blooming in the spring



Fig 03- Spring time at neighborhood



Fig 04- Fresh mangoes in the boxes

The price as usually start from expensive as right now, then to be cheaper and cheaper.

Current cost is quite expensive about $ 110 cents per mango, but slowly will reduce to $ 10 cents per mango only.

In late August, most groceries store sell a box of mangoes for US$ 3 to US$ 5. One box contains 24 to 36 mangoes.

Contradict to USA market, mango in the countries such as Mexico has no seasons. It is mean that we may find mango year round or at any time.

# To be continued to part 2

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Friday 29 April 2022

Crowned Heron Crawfishing Near Our Neighborhood – Part 1 – Nature 20

We see this critter at our neighborhood every spring. We don’t know where she is living, exactly.

She loves to play on the sides or shallow parts of creek and streams.



Fig 01- Crowned Heron Crawfishing

Some neighbors said that this is not Crowned Heron, but Yellow Crowned Night Heron.

In the photos, you might see light yellow crowned. I think Yellow Crowned Night Heron is more suitable.

Night Heron refer to their feeding activity at night. It might be the reason why we always see them at our neighborhood in the afternoon.

They rest at day light.



Fig 02- Cherry tomato plants, illustration



Fig 03- Just for illustration



Fig 04- The bird found something to eat

Based on status published by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, 2020) that:

- Yellow Crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) is not included as endangered species in the USA.

However, their species is decreasing day by day, and even list as endangered and protected species in the state such as Pennsylvania.

Two main causes decreasing of population:

- their nests are disturbed by human
- habitat lost in this case is wetlands.

What kinds of foods are consumed by Yellow Crowned Night Heron?

# To be continued to Part 2

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Thursday 28 April 2022

Can Alzheimer's Disease be Passing Down from Parent to Child? - Part 2 - Alzheimer's 4.

You may read previous post (Part 2):

- The Rainbow Before Evening : Can Alzheimer's Disease be Passing Down from Parent to Child? - Part 1 - Alzheimer's 4



Fig 01- A cute little cat, just for illustration

This inherit disease also called autosomal dominant trait.

It means one copy of an alter gene that cause a disease or disorder in one person is passed down from one of the affected parent.

A person who has biological mother or father suffers the early onset Alzheimer's disease, then this person has 50 percent chance for having the early onset Alzheimer's disease.



Fig 02- A little bird, fall down from sky



Fig 03- Blooming flower



Fig 04- Here the picture of autosomal dominant trait
(credit picture to NIH)

Sadly, if a person who has biological mother or father has a gene mutation of the early onset Alzheimer's, this person has 50 percent chance for having a gene mutation.

So, from the diagram above we can see how the genetic disease inherits from generation to the next generation.

Now, let's do math! If a mother (or father) has early-onset Alzheimer's disease has 2 children, one of the two will get Alzheimer's disease. When she/he has 4 children, then 2 of the children will have this disease,

Fortunately, this early-onset Alzheimer's disease is less common. There is 1 person from 10 person who suffer with Alzheimer's disease.

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Tuesday 26 April 2022

Parks for Dogs in My City Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Part 1

Since I don’t have dogs, I didn’t aware that my city, Baton Rouge, Louisiana has plenty of parks for dogs.



Fig 01- A dog in the park.

I just knew one dog park, it is because I drive through near by park when I go to my work place, five days a week.

The dog park belongs to private company, Raising Cane’s. A fast food restaurant, selling fried chicken.

It is opened for public just several years ago. Then, I think that the park looks crowded day by day.

I am curious to find out: is it the only dog park in the city?



Fig 02- A dog on the street



Fig 03- Flowers at the garden



Fig 04- A little dog at the park



Fig 05- Several dogs play in the park

Moreover, I got the list of more than ten parks in our city, among the favorites parks are:

- Dog park at Burbank park
- Cypress lake dog park
- City Brooks Community park
- Forest community park
- Flannery road dog park
- Baton Rouge city park

# To be continued to Part 2

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Monday 25 April 2022

Blueberry is One of Fruits Rich in Antioxidants – Food 13

We have blackberry in our backyard, but the taste is not so sweet, hence, we rarely harvest its.

Our blackberries seem to be source of foods for wild birds which visit our backyard during spring and summer seasons.



Fig 01. Blueberries bought from grocery

We love to consume berries, edible berries off course. Just few of them to mention are:

- raspberries
- blackberries
- Cranberries and blueberries

By reading the article written by Kiersten Hickman, 2022 (Surprising Effects of Eating Blueberries, Says Science) that blueberry contain high concentration of antioxidants.



Fig 02- Blackberries, just for illustration



Fig 03- Blueberries, good for health

An antioxidant called as anthocyanin has multiple functions, they may include:

1) Lowering blood pressure:

- improve health of our heart

2) Lowering LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol

- cardiovascular disease risk might be reduced

3) Helping to fight free radicals

- reduce risk to have chronic diseases such as cancer

4) Improve weight maintenance

- lowering type 2 diabetes risk

Finally, do you like blueberries? Or what kind of berries do you like most?

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The Squirrel with two-toned fur - Nature 132

We have two previous postings about squirrels:  a little squirrel in her nest and four weeks old baby squirrel.  Image 01 - A squirrel with ...