From The Guardian yesterday, regarding the first U.S. Ebola patient: “Thomas Eric Duncan told a nurse at a Dallas emergency room that he had recently visited Liberia, which has been ravaged by the Ebola outbreak. But an executive at Texas Health Presbyterian hospital told a news conference that the information was not widely enough shared with the medical team treating Duncan, and he was diagnosed as suffering from a ‘low-grade common viral disease.’ ”

Just a hunch – mere speculation – but it seems entirely possible that the nurse didn’t know where the hell Liberia was. You’d think the name would be an instant red flag in that situation, but maybe not if you don’t know Liberia from Libya or Lesotho or East Jesus.

I went outside last night and noticed some intense cricketsong near the deck, which is a little unusual. I also happened to have my digital recorder in my pocket. What follows is 20 seconds of northern Illinois cricket, on October 1, 2014, at about 9 p.m. Cricket Oct 1 2014

That inspired me to record 20 seconds of the dog this morning reacting to people walking by in front of the house. She’s looking out one of the windows, and the scratching is her paws on the window sill. Dog Oct 2 2014

At about noon today, the wind was up, but it was fairly warm. I ate lunch on my deck, and listened to the wind, and recorded 20 seconds of it. Wind Oct 2 2014