Ceratiomyxa After The Rain

Day 232: A rather dramatic electrical storm and hard rains kept me from checking up on the Ceratiomyxa until a full day had elapsed. As I had expected, the colony had begun to deteriorate, and even the associated Lycogala was merely a shadow of its former self. The slime mold had had its day. Its population had come together to feed and breed, and its constructs...the pillars and towers which were its signature structure had fairly shone in the peak of its glory. Perhaps it was already beginning to collapse at its core when I first observed it; in any event, it did not weather the storm well, and its protist civilization collapsed, leaving behind an amorphous mass of confused and decaying cells. Those which have survived and the offspring of those which bred successfully must now retreat into the protection of their deteriorated stump, there to try to recover until they can rebuild.

Hang on a minute...did you just see a metaphor run through here?

God Bless America

Day 150: A visual metaphor. Over the last thirty years, I have watched this building deteriorate from a functional garage into its present state. The graffiti has gone through cycles, largely of a John Birch Society nature, and now all that remains of the original is the peeling stencil of "God Bless America." The most recent addition (barely visible at the lower right of the right window) says "shopping," the word's significance known only to its writer, although it would seem to underscore our present plight. How long will the props hold before this edifice collapses entirely? One good gust of wind from the right direction would do the job.