B.J. Deming
bjdeming.bsky.social
B.J. Deming
@bjdeming.bsky.social
Retired from medical transcription, busy rediscovering my 1980s-era undergrad enthusiasm for science, and am blogging at FlightToWonder.com. I also just started a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/bjdeming
Guest Videos: Daily Life at the Dog Shelter

That one doesn't have many shots of dogs, so here is another veeeery good dog (and kitty) video: More information: RSPCA website ASPCA: Adoptable Dogs In Your Local Shelter Link does not mean product endorsement, but this is a good article: How To Know…
Guest Videos: Daily Life at the Dog Shelter
That one doesn't have many shots of dogs, so here is another veeeery good dog (and kitty) video: More information: RSPCA website ASPCA: Adoptable Dogs In Your Local Shelter Link does not mean product endorsement, but this is a good article: How To Know If You Are Ready To Adopt A Dog Featured image: Brian Johnson and Dane Kantner via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
flighttowonder.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:03 PM
www.nsnews.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Reposted by B.J. Deming
Volcano News today includes weekly reports from AVO and CVO, HVO anticipates precursory lava degassing soon, summit and far-field inflation recorded at Piton de la Fournaise, and a 2,100 m plume observed at Sakurajima

Featured image:
Kagoshima cityscape against the background of Sakurajima volcano
5 December 2025
Volcano News today includes weekly reports from AVO and CVO, HVO anticipates precursory lava degassing at any time now, summit and far-field inflation recorded at Piton de la Fournaise, and a 2,100…
volcanoearth.wordpress.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Guest Video: A Day in the Life of a Cat Shelter Helper

Here is the accompanying note to that video on YouTube: Our mission is to take in unwanted, abandoned, stray and mistreated animals and find them loving, permanent homes. We always make sure that all the animals in our shelter are given all…
Guest Video: A Day in the Life of a Cat Shelter Helper
Here is the accompanying note to that video on YouTube: Our mission is to take in unwanted, abandoned, stray and mistreated animals and find them loving, permanent homes. We always make sure that all the animals in our shelter are given all the love and care they need before they are rehomed. We support the RSPCA Inspectors with their case and abandoned animals.
flighttowonder.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Blog Update

Just a quick note to say that I've redone the menu after a stalker strike on it -- deniable, as usual -- this week. It's very basic, but I think I've got the most popular categories in there. Please let me know if you miss something, and I'll add it. Sorry for the disruption, and as…
Blog Update
Just a quick note to say that I've redone the menu after a stalker strike on it -- deniable, as usual -- this week. It's very basic, but I think I've got the most popular categories in there. Please let me know if you miss something, and I'll add it. Sorry for the disruption, and as always, thank you for your interest! Now back to those restless-volcano updates. 😉 Featured image: Coconino Nation, CC BY-SA 2.0
flighttowonder.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Some Restless Volcanoes

December 2, 2025: No new updates yet, just a start toward organizing the posts better. By next week, things should be up to date (fortunately, none of these are making major trouble at the moment, but that could change at any time). This is by no means comprehensive: for…
Some Restless Volcanoes
December 2, 2025: No new updates yet, just a start toward organizing the posts better. By next week, things should be up to date (fortunately, none of these are making major trouble at the moment, but that could change at any time). This is by no means comprehensive: for that, the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program website is an excellent and authoritative source.
flighttowonder.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Decade Volcano: Mount Rainier

First things first: Does Rainier really tower over the city like that? Yes and no. Photographers sometimes do bring it closer with a telephoto lens. It's a spectacular shot. But in real life, Mount Rainier is very impressive, too. Check out this view of the horizon,…
Decade Volcano: Mount Rainier
First things first: Does Rainier really tower over the city like that? Yes and no. Photographers sometimes do bring it closer with a telephoto lens. It's a spectacular shot. But in real life, Mount Rainier is very impressive, too. Check out this view of the horizon, taken from the revolving restaurant atop the Space Needle 30-40 miles northwest of the glacier-crowned volcano.
flighttowonder.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Erta Ale, Hayli Gubbi, Fentale, and Dofen

These are four African fire mountains that volcanologists closely watch right now.
Erta Ale, Hayli Gubbi, Fentale, and Dofen
These are four African fire mountains that volcanologists closely watch right now.
flighttowonder.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Guest Videos: Dogs on the Mayflower and …

Yes, that's one of them in a famous painting by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris. The Pilgrims had two that we know of. They must have left their mastiff indoors when company came. And the company probably left their dogs at home. A serious note Now, Family…
Guest Videos: Dogs on the Mayflower and …
Yes, that's one of them in a famous painting by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris. The Pilgrims had two that we know of. They must have left their mastiff indoors when company came. And the company probably left their dogs at home. A serious note Now, Family Canidae actually evolved in North America and then spread widely across the world even before they hooked up with us.
flighttowonder.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Guest Videos: Cats on the Mayflower and…

Whether it's true or not, some people say that Maine Coons are descended from those early 1600s cats. But those pilgrim cats were newbies. This had happened some 130 years earlier: No. Wait...this: I don't know the sources used for that video but did come…
Guest Videos: Cats on the Mayflower and…
Whether it's true or not, some people say that Maine Coons are descended from those early 1600s cats. But those pilgrim cats were newbies. This had happened some 130 years earlier: No. Wait...this: I don't know the sources used for that video but did come across mention, while doing the cat eBooks, that a conquistador (late 1400s-1500s AD) had given a house cat to a friend -- in what is now Mexico, I think but would have to look it up again).
flighttowonder.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by B.J. Deming
We think there was a small eruption there in July/August (at least a small plume) and some ongoing activity there since (including continued uplift). I suspect all linked to recent activity along dyke from Erta Ale (See COMET reports on July/August activity at comet.nerc.ac.uk/event-respon...).
Event Response Reports - COMET
4th September 2025: COMET Event Response Report 1.9 – Fentale  Volcano, Ethiopia Purpose/Caveats: This event response report was produced to assist situational awareness and rapid response efforts. It...
comet.nerc.ac.uk
November 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by B.J. Deming
An explosive #eruption of Hayli Gubbi #volcano, located SE of Erta'Ale in the Afar Rift (Ethiopia), began at ~08:30 UTC on Nov 23. Eruption onset was fortuitously captured by a @planet.com overpass at 08:31 UTC. Hayli Gubbi has no record of Holocene eruptions. Toulouse VAAC reporting ash to ~15 km.
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Guest Video: National Mutt Day is Coming Up!

It comes around twice a year, in July and in December. More information: National Mutt Day What's a mutt? Wikipedia page Featured image: Ali Peterson/Shutterstock
Guest Video: National Mutt Day is Coming Up!
It comes around twice a year, in July and in December. More information: National Mutt Day What's a mutt? Wikipedia page Featured image: Ali Peterson/Shutterstock
flighttowonder.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Guest Video: What’s a Moggy?

I never heard this word until the Internet became a thing. More information: Wikipedia on moggies A UK perspective The Spruce: Perhaps the best of all breeds Featured image: Maliflower73/Shutterstock
Guest Video: What’s a Moggy?
I never heard this word until the Internet became a thing. More information: Wikipedia on moggies A UK perspective The Spruce: Perhaps the best of all breeds Featured image: Maliflower73/Shutterstock
flighttowonder.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Writing Update Revised

This one is short and serious, so I didn't go with the usual fun feature image. I don't go into it because it has nothing to do with my writing and also because I can't prove anything yet; but I have a serious stalking problem, and the stalkers are very powerful and wealthy,…
Writing Update Revised
This one is short and serious, so I didn't go with the usual fun feature image. I don't go into it because it has nothing to do with my writing and also because I can't prove anything yet; but I have a serious stalking problem, and the stalkers are very powerful and wealthy, and very good at deniability. I think they have something to do with the birth family that probably lost custody of me at age three, when I was Barbara Jean Deming in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to my natural father, who changed my last name to his: Beier.
flighttowonder.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Writing Update

We made it through both sabertooths and popular AKC dog breeds! Now what? Well, the volcano Semeru came up with an answer today, but more generally, here are my plans. First, continue winding down from paleocats (for now); I miss them already. Return to the Friday Feline and Dog Day…
Writing Update
We made it through both sabertooths and popular AKC dog breeds! Now what? Well, the volcano Semeru came up with an answer today, but more generally, here are my plans. First, continue winding down from paleocats (for now); I miss them already. Return to the Friday Feline and Dog Day Saturday Afternoon guest video posts, starting this Friday some time. These might not always be videos, since AI seems to have increased the already large drek content on YouTube.
flighttowonder.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by B.J. Deming
Lassen Peak's new (I presume) HDR webcam is giving a cool lithograph look to the volcano today.
November 18, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by B.J. Deming
On 2025-11-17 #TROPOMI has detected an enhanced SO2 signal of 12.46DU at a distance of 345.4km to #Nyamuragira. #DLR_inpuls #S5p #Sentinel5p #TROPOMI #SO2LH
November 18, 2025 at 7:45 AM
The human face of it -- and one of the bravest women I have ever seen. ❤️😢
"We are hearing the administration say they intend to investigate various Dems who were friends with Epstein. I beg you President Trump -- please stop making this political. It is not about you. Show some class. I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment."
November 18, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Guest Videos: AKC 2024 Top Twenty –#1, French Bulldog

Bat dog! On review of the news, it appears that this breed gets stolen a lot, which is sad. However, here is a heart-warming and amazing story of one dog saving another: three hours until the owner got home! Meanwhile, at the show... 🐺🐺🐺 (Yes,…
Guest Videos: AKC 2024 Top Twenty –#1, French Bulldog
Bat dog! On review of the news, it appears that this breed gets stolen a lot, which is sad. However, here is a heart-warming and amazing story of one dog saving another: three hours until the owner got home! Meanwhile, at the show... 🐺🐺🐺 (Yes, despite appearances, it is a domesticated wolf.) And...WHEE! More information: American Kennel Club breed…
flighttowonder.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Sabertooth Summary: “The Last Sabercat” and a Comment

You might find this very short short story triggering: it takes us into the mind of a dying cat. But the sabertooths are all extinct and it seemed the best way to summarize the series. I have taken some liberties with geography and individual…
Sabertooth Summary: “The Last Sabercat” and a Comment
You might find this very short short story triggering: it takes us into the mind of a dying cat. But the sabertooths are all extinct and it seemed the best way to summarize the series. I have taken some liberties with geography and individual details such as gender and cause of death, but this is about the real 11,000-year-old sabercat whose restored skeleton you see above.
flighttowonder.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Homotherium

This is the first sabertooth that we have an actual picture of. In fact, it's the first time in history that paleontologists have had something other than bones and teeth to use in studying an extinct animal that left no living relatives! (Lopatin et al.) That is the mummy of a…
Homotherium
This is the first sabertooth that we have an actual picture of. In fact, it's the first time in history that paleontologists have had something other than bones and teeth to use in studying an extinct animal that left no living relatives! (Lopatin et al.) That is the mummy of a partially preserved Homotherium cub, discovered in Siberian permafrost in 2020.
flighttowonder.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:45 PM