Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Episode 557 (12-28-20): A Year of Water Sounds and Music – 2020 Edition

Click to listen to episode (5:35)

Sections below are the following:

Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)

Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-24-20.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 28, 2020.

MUSIC – ~13 sec – instrumental

That’s part of “Waiting on the Dawn,” by Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, from their 2007 album, “A Certain Tree.”  This week, as we wait for the dawn of a new year, we look back on Virginia Water Radio’s past year.  We start with a medley of mystery sounds from six episodes in 2020.  Have a listen for about 45 seconds, and see if you can identify what you hear.

SOUNDS  - ~46 sec 

If you guessed all or most of those, you’re a 2020 water-sound wizard!

You heard

Wood Frogs;
a Saltmarsh Sparrow;
names of some 2020 Atlantic tropical cyclones;
Atlantic White-sided Dolphins;
a Black-necked Stilt;
and a North Atlantic Right Whale.

Thanks to Lang Elliott for the Saltmarsh Sparrow and Black-necked Stilt sounds, from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs; to Blacksburg friends for the tropical cyclone names; and to NOAA Fisheries for the dolphin and whale sounds.

I hope that, during this difficult pandemic year, you had safe, adequate water and a chance to hear some restorative water sounds.

We close out 2020 with a 90-second sample of six songs heard on Water Radio this year.  Here are excerpts of “Chesapeake Bay Ballad” by Torrin Hallett; “Turtles Don’t Need No 401-K” by Bob Gramann; “River Runs Dry” by Kat Mills; “Nelson County” by Chamomile and Whiskey; “Love Rain Down” by Carbon Leaf; and “Kartune” by No Strings Attached.  Thanks to those musicians and to Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand for permission to use their music.

To 2020: so long, soon; and here’s to a safe and healthy 2021.

MUSIC - ~99 sec

From “Chesapeake Bay Ballad” – ~15 sec – instrumental

From “Turtles Don’t Need No 401-K” – ~12 sec – lyrics: “Turtles don’t need no 401-K; they sit on the rock in the sun all day.  Turtles don’t need no 401-K; it’s stuck in my head and it won’t go away.

From “River Runs Dry” – ~13 sec – lyrics: “What you gonna do when the river runs dry, when there’s no more water in your well?”

From “Nelson County” – ~21 sec – lyrics: “Oh Virginia, little darling, I call your mountains home.  Nelson County, where I’ll never be alone, no, no, no, I’ll never be alone.”

From “Love Rain Down” – ~24 sec – lyrics: “Well I can’t say that I was every ready, but I can sure say it was time, that I let love rain down, yeah I let love rain down.”

From “Kartune” – ~14 sec – instrumental

SHIP’S BELL

Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Sounds Used

The sound of Wood Frogs were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Heritage Park in Blacksburg, Va., on February 18, 2018.  The sound was used in Episode 509, 1-27-20.

The Saltmarsh Sparrow sound and the Black-necked Stilt sound were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott.  Lang Elliot’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.  The sparrow sound was used in Episode 511, 2-10-20; the stilt sound was used in Episode 543, 9-21-20.

The call-out of the Atlantic tropical cyclone names for the 2020 season were recorded by 11 Blacksburg friends of Virginia Water radio on May 21-22, 2020.  These voices were used in Episode 526, 5-25-20.

The Atlantic White-sided Dolphins sound and the North Atlantic Right Whale sound were from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, “Sounds in the Ocean,” online at https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/science-data/sounds-ocean.  The dolphin sounds were used in Episode 542, 9-14-20; the whale sound was used in Episode 551, 11-16-20.

Music Used

“Chesapeake Bay Ballad” is copyright 2020 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, and a 2020 graduate in Horn Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York.  As of 2020-21, he is a performance certificate candidate at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.  More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  Thanks to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio.  This music was used in Episode 537, 8-10-20. 

Turtles Don’t Need No 401-K,” from the 1995 album “Mostly True Songs,” is copyright by Bob Gramann, used with permission.  More information about Bob Gramann is available online at http://www.bobgramann.com/.  This music was used in Episode 513, 2-24-20.

“River Runs Dry,” by Kat Mills, is from the 2003 album “Long Time,” from Sweetcut Music; used with permission.  More information about Kat Mills is available online at http://www.sweetcut.com/kat/ and at https://www.facebook.com/katmillsmusic.  This music was used in Episode 541, 9-7-20.

“Nelson County,” from the 2017 album “Sweet Afton,” is copyright by Chamomile and Whiskey and County Wide Music used with permission.  More information about Chamomile and Whiskey is available online at https://www.chamomileandwhiskey.com/.  More information about County Wide Music is available online at https://countywidemusic.worldsecuresystems.com/.  This music was used in Episode 550, 11-9-20.

“Love Rain Down,” from the 2013 album “Constellation Prize,” is copyright by Carbon Leaf, used with permission.  More information about Carbon Leaf is available online at https://www.carbonleaf.com/.  This music was used in Episode 547, 10-19-20.

“Kartune,” from the 1992 album “Blue Roses,” is copyright by No Strings Attached and Enessay Music, used with permission.  More information about the now-retired group No Strings Attached is available online at https://www.enessay.com/index.html.  This music was used in Episode 555, 12-14-20.

Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com.

IMAGES – A Photo Sampler from Episodes in 2020 

From Episode 509, 1-27-20: Wood Frog (date not available).  Photo by Elizabeth Shadle, Virginia Tech Department of Biological Sciences, used with permission.

From Episode 513, 2-24-20: Snapping Turtle at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, September 2017.  Photo by Chelsi Burns, made available by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov); specific URL for the photo was https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/27223/rec/3, as of 12/29/20.

From Episode 543, 9-21-20: Black-necked Stilt photographed at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, February 28, 2009.  Photo by Steve Hillebrand, made available for public use by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov; specific URL for this image is https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/15361/rec/4, as of 12-29-20.

From Episode 550, 11-9-20: A summer float on the Rockfish River in Nelson County, Va. (date not available).  Photo by Michael LaChance, used with permission.

From in Episode 542, 9-14-20: Bottlenose Dolphins, photographed near Virginia Beach, Va., August 9, 2020.  Photo by Ty Smith, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/56137254 (as of 12-29-20) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0.”  Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION

Please see the episodes mentioned and hyperlinked above under “Audio Notes and Acknowledgments” for sources of information about the topics of the episodes.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Overall Importance of Water” subject category.

Following are links to previous “year of sounds/music” episodes.

2019 – Episode 504, 12-23-19
2018 – Episode 452, 12-24-18
2017 – Episode 400, 12-25-17
2016 – Episode 348, 12-26-16
2015 – Episode 295, 12-21-15
2014 – Episode 246, 12-29-14
2013 – Episode 193, 12-23-13
2012 – Episode 141, 12-17-12

FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION

The episodes listed and hyperlinked above under “Audio Notes and Acknowledgments” may help with various Virginia SOLs in English, Music, Science, and Social Studies.  For specific SOLs, please see the online show notes for each episode.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.

Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Episode 556 (12-21-20): Surviving the Freezing Season

Click to listen to episode (5:02)

Sections below are the following:

Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)

Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-18-20.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 21, 2020.  This week, for the arrival of the winter solstice on December 21, we feature two cold-weather mystery sounds.  Have a listen for about 15 seconds and see if you know what the two sounds have in common.

SOUNDS - ~15 sec

If you guessed ice, you’re right!  You heard ice shifting on Claytor Lake in Pulaski County, Va., and pebbles bouncing on a frozen pond in Montgomery County, Va.  Those sounds set the stage for exploring a crucial problem for animals in winter: With bodies made up of cells containing water, how do animals survive temperatures below the freezing point of water?  Take about 20 seconds to ponder that question while you listen to “Ice Dance,” composed for this episode by Torrin Hallett, a graduate student at Lamont School of Music in Denver.

MUSIC - ~21 sec – instrumental

Freezing of water inside living cells—known as intracellular freezing—can break or distort cell structures and can impair the function of cellular proteins.  So different groups of animals have different strategies for avoiding intracellular freezing.  Most birds and mammals maintain their body temperature by generating body heat through metabolism and conserving heat through insulating covers and various behaviors.  But the vast majority of animals don’t generate their own body heat, and their body temperature varies with the environment, so they need other ways to avoid freezing within their cells.  Here are three ways, with some examples of animals using them.

One way, used by various marine fish, insects, amphibians, and other organisms, is to produce antifreeze proteins that reduce the freezing point of intracellular fluids.

A second way is to remove much of the water from inside cells, that is, to dehydrate; an extreme example of this is the Antarctic Midge, the only insect native to Antarctica, which can survive removal of up to 70 percent of the water from its cells.

A third way is to manage the location of materials around which ice forms, called ice nucleators; Wood Frogs, for example, can move ice nucleators agent outside of their cells so that freezing outside of cells, where it typically doesn’t cause cell damage.    Removal of ice nucleators is also a survival mechanism of the Arctic Ground Squirrel, the only mammal known to tolerate a sub-freezing body temperature.  [Additional note not in audio: ice nucleators are also called “ice-nucleating agents.”]

This episode is focused on animals, but trees and other plants also use anti-freeze proteins, management of ice-nucleators, and removal of cell water to survive freezing temperatures.

As winter descends, a complex array of cold-survival strategies is happening right outside our doors.

Thanks to Torrin Hallett for this week’s music, and we close with the final 25 seconds of “Ice Dance.”

MUSIC – ~25 sec – instrumental

SHIP’S BELL

Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“Ice Dance” is copyright 2020 by Torrin Hallett, used with permission.  Torrin is a 2018 graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio, and a 2020 graduate in Horn Performance from Manhattan School of Music in New York.  As of 2020-21, he is a performance certificate candidate at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver.  More information about Torrin is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio.  To hear the complete piece (46 seconds), please click here.

The ice sounds were recorded by Virginia Water Radio as follows:
ice creaking on a lake – Sloan Inlet of Claytor Lake, Pulaski County, Va., January 6, 2018;
pebbles on pond ice – Heritage Park, Blacksburg, Va. (Montgomery  County), December 28, 2012.

Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.

IMAGES

Ice-skaters’ marks on a pond in Heritage Park in Blacksburg, Va. (Montgomery County), January 14, 2018.

Ice-covered Goose Creek along Evergreen Mill Road in Loudoun County, Va., January 20, 2018.

Ice on Red Maple twigs along Shadowlake Road in Blacksburg, Va. (Montgomery County), December 16, 2020.

SOURCES USED FOR AUDIO AND OFFERING MORE INFORMATION

Claire Asher, “When your veins fill with ice,” March 11, 2016, BBC “Earth” Web site, online at http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160308-how-one-squirrel-manages-to-survive-being-frozen.

Beth Botts, How trees, plants protect themselves from winter's freezing temperatures, Chicago Tribune, December 14, 2015. 

Maria Vacek Broadfoot, Ask a Scientist: How do plants keep from freezing to death during winter?, Charlotte Observer, December 9, 2015.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), “Living organisms need antifreeze to survive in the cold,” published by Phys.org, February 18, 2013, online at https://phys.org/news/2013-02-antifreeze-survive-cold.html.

Richard W. Hill, Comparative Physiology of Animals: An Environmental Approach, Harper and Row, New York, N.Y., 1976.

Richard W. Hill et al., Animal Physiology, Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, Mass., 2004.

Iowa State University, “How Woody Plants Survive Extreme Cold,” March 1, 1996, online at http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1996/3-1-1996/brr.html.

Devi Lockwood, How Does Antarctica’s Only Native Insect Survive Extreme Cold?, New York Times, September 9, 2019.

Brian Rohrig, “Chilling Out, Warming Up: How Animals Survive Temperature Extremes,” ChemMatters Online Oct.-Nov. 2013 (American Chemical Society), online at https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/past-issues/archive-2013-2014/animal-survival-in-extreme-temperatures.html.

Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), “Why fish don't freeze in the Arctic Ocean,” August 25, 2010, published by Phys.org, online at https://phys.org/news/2010-08-fish-dont-arctic-ocean.html.

Ben Sullivan, Supercold Squirrels Stump Experts : Mammal Survives Weeks at Freezing Body Temperatures, Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1989.

Dan Tinker, “These Animals Don’t Care That It’s Freezing Outside,” 12/14/13, National Wildlife Federation Blog, online at http://blog.nwf.org/2013/12/these-animals-dont-care-that-its-freezing-outside/.

Karl Eric Zachariassen and Erland Kristiansen, “Ice Nucleation and Antinucleation in Nature,” Cryobiology Vol. 41/Issue 4 (December 2000), pages 257-279, accessed online at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011224000922892 (subscription may be required).

Sarah Zielinski, “Eight ways that animals survive the winter,” Science News (Society for Science & the Public), January 22, 2014, online at https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/wild-things/eight-ways-animals-survive-winter (subscription may be required).

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly “Physical/chemical properties of water” in the “Science” subject category. 

Following are links to some other episodes on ice and other water temperature topics.

Episode 195, 1-6-14 – Wading into the New Year, the New River, and Water Thermodynamics.
Episode 250, 1-26-15
– Reaching the Boiling Point.
Episode 313, 4-25-16
Evaporating Water Helps Bees Turn Nectar into Honey.
Episode 403, 1-15-18
– At the Freezing Point.
Episode 404, 1-22-18
– Ice on the Pond.
Episode 406, 2-5-18
– Ice on the River.
Episode 407, 2-12-18
– Snow Shows Chemistry and Physics at Work.

Following are other music pieces composed by Torrin Hallett for Virginia Water Radio, with links to episodes featuring the music.

“A Little Fright Music” – used in Episode 548, 10-26-20, on water-related passages in fiction and non-fiction, for Halloween.
“Beetle Ballet” – used in
Episode 525, 5-18-20, on aquatic beetles.
“Chesapeake Bay Ballad” – used in
Episode 537, 8-10-20, on conditions in the Chesapeake Bay.
“Corona Cue” – used in
Episode 517, 3-23-20, on the coronavirus pandemic.
“Geese Piece” – used most recently in
Episode 440, 10-1-18, on E-bird.
“Lizard Lied” – used in
Episode 514, 3-2-20, on lizards.
“New Year’s Water” – used in
Episode 349, 1-2-17, on the New Year.
“Rain Refrain” – used most recently in
Episode 455, 1-14-19, on record Virginia precipitation in 2019.
“Spider Strike” – used in
Episode 523, 5-4-20, on fishing spiders.
“Tropical Tantrum” – used most recently in
Episode 489, 9-9-19, on storm surge and Hurricane Dorian.
“Tundra Swan Song – used in
Episode 554, 12-7-20, on Tundra Swans.
“Turkey Tune” – used in
Episode 343, 11-21-16, on the Wild Turkey.

FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION

Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.

2020 Music SOLs

SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

2018 Science SOLS

Grades K-3 plus 5: Matter
K.4 – Water is important in our daily lives and has properties.
2.3 – Matter can exist in different phases, and
solids, liquids, and gases have different characteristics

Grades K-4: Living Systems and Processes
1.4 – Plants have basic life needs (including water) and functional parts that allow them to survive.
1.5 – Animals, including humans, have basic life needs that allow them to survive.
2.5 – Living things are part of a system.
3.4 – Adaptations allow organisms to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment.
4.2 – Plants and animals have structures that distinguish them from one another and play vital roles in their ability to survive.

Grades K-5: Earth and Space Systems
K.9 – There are patterns in nature, including seasonal changes.
1.7 – There are weather and seasonal changes, and changes in temperature, light, and precipitation affect plants and animals, including humans.
2.7 – Weather patterns and seasonal changes affect plants, animals, and their surroundings.

Grade 6
6.6 – Water has unique physical properties and has a role in the natural and human-made environment.

Life Science
LS.2     – All living things are composed of one or more cells that support life processes.
LS.7 – Adaptations support an organism’s survival in an ecosystem.

Biology
BIO.2 – Chemical and biochemical processes are essential for life.
BIO.3 – Cells have structure and function. 

Chemistry
CH.5 – Solutions behave in predictable and quantifiable ways (including the solutions within and surrounding living cells).

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.

Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15
– on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15
– on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16
– on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16
– on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18
– on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18
– on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18
– on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18
– on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19
– on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20
– on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20
– on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.
Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Episode 555 (12-14-20): The Joke's on Water

Click to listen to episode (3:30)

Sections below are the following:

Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Image
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)

Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-11-20.

TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 14, 2020.

SOUND – ~4 sec

This week, a Mallard duck’s quacking that somewhat resembles human laughter opens an episode that I hope will bring some actual human chuckles.  As the extraordinarily difficult year 2020 winds down, it seemed worthwhile to devote an episode to a bit of water-related comic relief—that is, water jokes!  So here are nine selected from a collection by David Ladner’s environmental engineering research group at Clemson University; some have been modified slightly by Virginia Water Radio.

1.  The other day I opened my water bill and my electricity bill at the same time.  I was shocked!

2.  Why do sharks swim in salt water?  Because pepper makes them sneeze.

3.  What do you get when you cross a rabbit with a water hose?  Hare spray.

4.  What kind of bear enjoys hanging out in light rain?  A drizzly bear.

5.  What did one ocean say to the other ocean?  Nothing, it just waved.

6.  Thirty people are sheltering under an umbrella.  How many of them get wet?  None; who said it was raining?

7.  What do you call water that’s healthy for you?  Well water.

8.  Would you like to hear a solid water joke?  That would be ice.

And 9.  Did you hear that the ocean and the beach had fraternal twins?  Yep, one was a buoy or the other was a gull.

Even with this year’s public health and economic challenges, I hope your world has some humor, aquatic or otherwise.

We close with some music named for a Saturday morning source of humor for generations of kids from the 1960s until the early 2000s.  Here’s about 20 seconds of “Kartune,” by the [now-retired] Blacksburg and Roanoke, Va.-based band, No Strings Attached.

MUSIC  - ~19 – instrumental

SHIP’S BELL 

Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Mallard calls were recorded by Virginia Water Radio at the Virginia Tech Duck Pond in Blacksburg on December 10, 2015.

Thanks to Dr. David Ladner, Clemson University Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Science, for permission to use jokes found on the “Water Jokes” part of his research group’s blog, online at https://cecas.clemson.edu/ladnergroup/blog/water-jokes/.

“Kartune,” from the 1992 album “Blue Roses,” is copyright by No Strings Attached and Enessay Music, used with permission.  More information about the now-retired group No Strings Attached is available online at https://www.enessay.com/index.html.

Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com.

IMAGE

A bit of visual water-related humor about mosquitoes breeding in water-filled human items.  Cartoon by George Wills of Blacksburg, Va. (online at https://www.etsy.com/shop/BlacksburgArt), from “Mosquitoes and Water,” published in the March 2003 issue of Virginia Water Central Newsletter, from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, online at https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/49331.

SOURCES

Used for Audio 

David Ladner, Clemson University Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, online at https://www.clemson.edu/cecas/departments/eees/people/facultydirectory/ladner.html.  Dr. Ladner’s research group’s “Water Jokes” site is online at https://cecas.clemson.edu/ladnergroup/blog/water-jokes/.

The Outfall Podcast, “Water Jokes: Misdirection and Surprise,” 5 min./7 sec., online at https://theoutfall.com/short/misdirection-and-surprise/. 

Gail Sullivan, Saturday morning cartoons are no more, Washington Post, September 30, 2014.

National Paralegal College/Law Shelf Educational Media, “Copyright Protection: Can a joke be copyrighted?” online at https://lawshelf.com/shortvideoscontentview/copyright-protection-can-a-joke-be-copyrighted/.

For More Water Jokes and Puns

Kidadl, “53 Water Jokes and Puns That Will Have You Crying from Laughter,” online at https://www.kidadl.com/articles/water-puns-and-jokes-that-will-have-you-crying-with-laughter. 

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the “Overall Importance of Water” subject category. 

Following are links to some other episodes on water imagery and other language devices.

Episode 142, 12-31-12 – John McCutcheon’s “Water from Another Time.”

Episode 200, 2-10-14 – “River Runs Dry” by Kat Mills.

Episode 296, 12-28-15 – Setting a Course for 2016 with “On a Ship” by Kat Mills.

Episode 401, 1-1-18 – Diving into 2018 with “Driving Rain” by Chamomile and Whiskey.

Episode 547, 10-19-20 – A Sprinkling of Water Expressions, Featuring "Love Rain Down" by Carbon Leaf.

Episode 548, 10-26-20 – Hello to Halloween with Water Readings and “A Little Fright Music” by Torrin Hallett. 

FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION

Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.

2020 Music SOLs 

SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”

2017 English SOLs

5.4, 6.5, 7.4, 8.4, 8.5, 9.3, 9.4, 10.3, 10.4, 11.4 – symbols, imagery, figurative language, and other literary devices.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.

Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.

Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.

Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.

Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.

Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.

Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.

Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.

Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.

Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for elementary school through high school.

Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water, for 3rd and 4th grade.

Episode 539, 8-24-20 – on basic numbers and facts about Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th grade.