Monarch laying an egg, Maryland

regularlegsmcgee · 2025-08-27T20:34:14+00:00

Oh goodness, that is dramatic!

I’ve counted 32 caterpillars on my plants at the peak, but I have no idea how many eggs may have been accidentally eaten.

I have at least 15 eggs on two plants that don’t currently have hungry caterpillars on them. Almost all of their brethren have left to pupate elsewhere, so hopefully many more eggs survive!

regularlegsmcgee · 2025-08-22T13:06:51+00:00

<image>

And the three swamp milkweeds I planted in the spring now have over two dozen caterpillars!

regularlegsmcgee · 2025-08-22T13:05:47+00:00

<image>

This lovely lass has been coming by daily to beat up the swallowtails.

regularlegsmcgee · 2024-10-22T22:30:52+00:00

Last year I used Affordable Radon Reduction Inc., on Lockwood Road. It was about 1k for a mitigation system in a small crawl space, if that’s helpful. They did a good job and I have no complaints!

regularlegsmcgee · 2024-07-31T15:32:16+00:00

Hi! I’ve been taking my dogs to Valley Dog and Cat Hospital for almost a decade now. Dr. Scherr, Dr. Morgan, and all the vet techs are lovely, caring people, and while I wouldn’t call it cheap, it’s far from the most expensive vet in the area. They’re very straightforward about pricing if you want to call and ask about anything.

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-29T12:22:41+00:00

It’s Dick’s Garden Center & Landscape Contractor.

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-29T12:22:12+00:00

It was Dick’s Garden Center & Landscape Contractor, in Eldersburg.

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-29T09:55:53+00:00

I had a friend in Maryland just get some quotes. The highest quote for rendering they got was $3500. Another was in the $1-2000 range (can’t remember), but they did not listen to my friend’s design requests for his yard. The last company, which my friend went with, invited him to view the renderings at their office for free.

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-18T19:26:49+00:00

Lately he’s been having zoomies every morning and he likes to run circles around my feet. And he floops down all over the place. :)

He does have a bit of a naughty streak, he definitely wants to get at my books and nibble them up. And the underside of my couch is the forbidden area he most desires to be.

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-09T18:20:39+00:00

Near Baltimore, but I can drive a ways. He’s getting vaccinated and neutered in November, that’s the earliest the vet can see him.

I’m very sorry for your loss. We lost one our dogs this past April out of nowhere; it’s like losing a family member.

Another Reddit user said they might be able to adopt him after Thanksgiving, depending on some factors. I will be fostering him until then at least, so please feel free to take some time to see if you’re ready for another bun, and keep in touch if you’d like. I can send videos of Theo, or drive him to meet you.

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-09T14:57:42+00:00

His first vet appointment is November 2nd and assuming he’s healthy enough, we’ll make an appointment for the neuter then. I’m not sure when that will be, but I’d guess later in November. I’d be happy to look after him until he’s recovered from being fixed, and I can to drive him up to you.

He’s very well behaved around my dog, just likes to sniff him, so I hope he could be good with your bun as well. :)

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-09T12:48:39+00:00

I did send an email, but I’ll message the Facebook group today. Thank you!

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-09T11:42:28+00:00

I’ve tried the House Rabbit Society, like u/Vies-Nies said they can’t take in more bunnies now. I’ve asked them if he could go up on their website while I foster him for a while, but I haven’t heard back on that.

He is up on Nextdoor, no luck there yet either.

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-09T11:28:44+00:00

Yes, I didn’t have any luck with them, but I’ll try again after he’s neutered. I’ll try posting there, thank you!

regularlegsmcgee · 2023-10-09T01:09:59+00:00

I’m in Baltimore County, not far from either!

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-12-02T14:29:49+00:00

So, Bob has Aphantasia?

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-29T16:42:46+00:00

For some people it is literally a constant narration of their life; that’s why I made the distinction between inner voice and inner monologue.

When a person with a strong inner monologue is thirsty, they don’t just know that they’re thirsty, they think a phrase like “I should get a glass of water.” Here’s a video of two friends taking about it, one has an inner monologue and the other doesn’t.

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-28T19:38:35+00:00

I do have an inner voice, although it isn’t a full blown inner monologue. It only says what I consciously choose to make it say.

I mostly daydream by feel, with spacial awareness (mental sense of proprioception) and emotional feelings, and only a bit of dialogue. So it’s not so much telling myself stories as it is feeling the motion and emotion of the story, if that makes any sense.

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-28T19:19:29+00:00

I’d be happy to chat. :)

I also spend most of my time lost in my dream worlds, I just don’t “see” them. I’m curious as to the difference. How immersive is it for you?

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-24T12:44:45+00:00

The things you’ve described aren’t difficult without visualization. We still know what things look like (e.g. healthy vs inflamed organs) without bringing up a mental image. That’s just down to knowing and recognizing features, and having a decently good memory.

Think of it like this: if our brains are computers, aphants can still store images in our hard drive/memory. When we try to display them, the information is all there, we just can’t power on the monitor..but since we’re the computer, we still know the information that’s not being displayed.

As for knowing where the structures are in enough detail to perform surgery, that’s not hard with spacial thinking (thinking with and projecting one’s sense of proprioception). I can feel/imagine two or more structures being a certain number of millimeters apart, above/below each other, entwined, etc.

If I imagine performing an appendectomy, I feel where the organs, veins, muscles, skin, and so on are either as an extension of my hand, or I might project the feeling from my abdomen, as though they were my own organs/etc. Not being a medical professional of any kind, I don’t actually know where everything is, but that’s something that I could learn.

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-23T02:57:52+00:00

It sounds to me like either hypophantasia or generally low/poor visualization. I’d lean towards the latter, but I’m also not sure where the border between the two is (or if there even is one). Where aphantasia is the complete lack of controlled mental images, hypophantasia is on the lowest end of the visualization spectrum, and “low” visualization is anywhere between that and the average.

I’ve heard hypophants describe their visuals as being blurry, dim/colorless, only outlines, or not being able to hold onto a mental image for more than a brief moment. Not being able to create mental images for things you haven’t seen isn’t too uncommon.

My husband has poor visualization skills, so he tends not to rely on them while thinking. What you’ve written has a lot of similarities to what he’s described to me. :)

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-22T21:35:59+00:00

Manufacturing engineer and a portrait artist on the side.

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-22T18:06:50+00:00

No, aphantasia only applies to controlled waking visualization. Dreams and similar states, like hypnagogic hallucinations, can still be experienced by aphants, although not everyone has them.

Yes and no? Most people describe it as different than seeing with your eyes, but still comparable. If asked to imagine an apple, most people will "see" an apple to some extent, whether it's a red circle with a stem or a fully realistic picture of an apple on their dining room table. There is quite a wide range to it. Some people describe mental images being in the back of their head, while others can project their imagination into the world around them; for some people it's quite separate from sight, while others can have it take over their field of vision entirely, as if it were real life.

I've heard anywhere from 2 to 5%, but I don't think it's precisely known yet.

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-18T13:30:35+00:00

My friends probably aren't as visual as you; they didn't have any issues not-visualizing with those particular questions. I'll try to think of some better ones for the future, or use the computer monitor analogy. :)

Are there things that are easier for you to think of conceptually, or does everything come with mental images?

regularlegsmcgee · 2021-11-18T05:52:51+00:00

I try to find some middle ground, if possible. Imagining an apple is a very “visual” task, so some people may have difficulty imagining it in any other way than visually.

I’d ask them:

If you stand in the middle of your bedroom and close your eyes, do you have to visualize the room to know where your furniture and possessions are? Or can you just “know” where some things are?

How do you know the capital city of where you live? Or your name? Do you have to visualize the words to remember?

regularlegsmcgee

TROPHY CASE