Thursday, 21 July 2011
Our garage magnified the effect of the heat dome, hitting triple digits. The hot side of the house almost reached 100°F, holding at 99°F for several hours (whew), while indoors almost hit 90°F.
We cleverly dined in the only air-conditioned room in the house the master dining bedroom.
And, John discovered, no inexpensive or moderately priced air conditioners remain for sale in the Lansing area.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Whilst (how often can you toss that word into your blahg?) KW is off on early-morning walks, I have been out picking green beans. This morning I finished the row (yes, just ONE row) at 6:35, and that was late enough given the humidity/temperature combo.
Another current dietary accent is the tag end of the raspberries frozen last year—the berries are already forming for the current crop. Let’s hope this heat wave—expected to continue through the weekend—doesn’t cripple the harvest.
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
I greatly admire the jazz-vocal artist we heard this afternoon serenading the, no kidding, ice cream social we attended—what fun!
Monday, 18 July 2011
One of the tornadoes you may have heard about last spring hit the small town of Ringgold in northwest Georgia. Some devastated buildings are empty and stabilized with tarps and plywood. Some are being reconstructed. This one seems frozen in time, innards bared to the highway traffic.
Sunday, 17 July 2011
In these days of drought, we just got enough rain to bead up on these fuzzy leaves.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
Once again, I realized that the easiest moving experience is when you help someone else move, especially when you only have to drive one load and unload two loads. From passenger vehicles.
Friday, 15 July 2011
Reservoir fish from a week ago.
We’re in a drought again, although it is worse south and west of here. Still, here at the ranchito, we’ve been getting enough dew and sporadic showers, and the weeds are ahead of me.
Thursday, 14 July 2011
On my pilgrimage to the stacks over at Emory, I discovered the university had implemented a major spiffing program. Carpeting. Motorized shelves. Electrical plugs at each (new) carrel. Upscale contrasting red carpet to indicate the edge of the subway, um, er, zone of potentially moving shelves.
And over on the left….
A standup desk optimized for, I’m not sure what.
I used it for taking pictures of pages that I want to skim/read later.
I did wonder if they might be planning to somehow install a treadmill and transform it into the healthiest study experience you can find in the stacks of any library in the southeastern U Ess of Eh.
Then I read the little tag on the plastic keeping the shade clean, and decided they must have a different plan.
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Valley willow from Saturday’s trip to TN & NC.
You know those days where you’re busy all day, and yet you look back and wonder exactly what you accomplished?
Hmm. Well, on second thought, I read a buncha new articles (honestly, I skimmed half of ’em), I finished a Faye Kellerman (eh, better than most of hers), I went to the groc store, I did a system update of a minor kind…um, see, where’d the day go.
I didn’t make a big pot of fried rice. I didn’t do laundry. I didn’t seal the marble in the bathroom.
Eh, that’s enough.
See what I mean.
Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Aesthetically, there’s often something inherently satisfying about trios, threesomes, triads.
One of Sicily’s ancient names is Trinacria, referring to the island’s triangular shape. The word is a riff on the Greek τρισκέλιον (triskelion), and is portrayed today as a face strangely framed by three bent (human) legs, a visual riff on three-legged tables that ran about in the Iliad (if WikiPee is correct).