Monday, 25 January 2016
So, during her pre-dawn prowl, KW discovered—and photographed (a coup!)—a curious raccoon. During my midday prowl down this alley, I saw no raccoons, but I did smell a skunk. Scents don’t photograph (obviously), so you’ll have to imagine….
Bonus texture photo…this plant is vanquishing winter.
Sunday, 17 January 2016
Rusting bird in a shallow birdbath…metaphor for…????…the stability of iron molecules???
Getting on toward sunset…loving the reflections on the power lines.
Waning light at The Stacks…not gonna be seeing this very often or ever going forward.
Saturday, 9 January 2016
We returned to the favorite Chinese restaurant, and had the homemade noodles we’d had before, but all the other dishes were different. Plus, mid-day on weekends, they have additional offerings that are more…labor-intensive? Anyway, these were something like BBQ steamed buns, or hum bao (my guess on spelling; I know bao is the steamed bun part).
Then, we walked about a third of the way around Green Lake to stretch our legs and get our big luncheon to settle into our toes (or something). And back. Parts had a skim of ice, even after mid-day and in the sunshine….
After that, we whiled away the afternoon at the new Star Wars movie. Lots of wars. Or several battles in one war. Plot twists. H_Ford family-talking with now-General Leia. Too many annihilations for me….
Friday, 8 January 2016
I walked along the path near the creek, and tried to hear it burble. I could easily hear a huge flock/murder of crows down by the creek mouth, both in the water and in the overhanging trees, just cawing away (“this is MY branch; get your own” over and over, I imagine). Up the valley, I could hear a bag-piper; was it music from “Outlander,” I wondered. I had to adjust my path to get close enough to the creek to hear the water-noise. Finally, yes! Then, my phone rang.
I wasn’t even sure I had service down in this valley. Turned out the oldest kid was out of school—closed because of a bomb threat. Sigh. Okay; readjust afternoon plans. We can do that.
Youngest nephew is having buddies over for spaghetti, with ice cream cake dessert. Oreo cookie crumb crust, with three flavors of ice cream. All good! I figure a half-dozen boys and a big dose of sugar constitutes another noise source….
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Glorious sunshine again today; we are so lucky. I saw more cherry trees in bloom, poor things.
Over at the pool at the Old Fourth Ward Park, I noticed that the bald cypress are growing knees. These are still wee buttons, but another tree has knees that are around 8–10″ high.
Friday, 11 December 2015
Beltline art. Lots of metal pieces this time. Does that mean more funding for materials? Sorry, didn’t get artist’s name or the title of the piece.
Nature’s art (kinda). The new streetlights make more distinct shadows that I found eye-catching when I was out taking a lap after dusk. Probably helps that most of the leaves are down….
Friday, 27 November 2015
I thought the water in the depths of Old 4th Ward Park was pretty murky until I looked along the edge-shallows…which were clear. And infested with still-life flotillas of minnows. I don’t understand the turbidity…maybe not sediment but algal life?
Thursday, 29 October 2015
During a break in the weather (more wind than rain, but none of it particularly pleasant), we went down to the beach. This dark green arc indicates a fairy ring, and the fungi’s special tenticles makes the grass darker (although some types kill the grass). I love the red of the apples and the gold and brown of the leaves superimposed on the green, both light and dark.
Panos require a lot of work by the processor, and even more so when moving water is involved. Still, this image looks both normal and spooky to me.
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Today I caught the sun just after it crested the horizon for a different effect. Still orange-gold.
Here’s the splitter that has been, under the Guru’s control, helping us convert more of the huge pine to firewood. Thanks to the neighbors for the loan. This one is on a trailer carriage, and is very sturdy. Note the hearing protection. The 8-horse Briggs and Stratton is noisy, and the operator has to stand right over it.
Sunday, 25 October 2015
Orange dawn like the other day…nothing like yesterday’s precip. A great omen.
This ushered in a turn to outdoor chores. Of course, it got overcast and drizzled once or twice before committing to sunshine about 1pm (only sprinkling briefly twice after that).
Today’s number one outdoor chore: putting the kindly loaned gas log splitter through its paces (sorta). The Aldo Leopold comments fit. There are so many steps to getting wood out of a tree and into a fire.
Already completed: the growing of the tree; the felling of the tree; the cutting of the trunk into shorter lengths. That’s where we quit on one of the substantial logs.
Today’s steps…. First, move stout columns of wood to the splitting deck on the machine. Activate the hydraulic arm that pushes the wood against the wedge, causing the splitting. Do this with special care so fingers are not crushed. Open the press. Realign the wood and re-wedge until the pieces are the desired size, tossing them aside to open the jaw and load new pieces. Pick up the new pieces of firewood and walk them around to the other side of the cottage and stack them…with some care (some air spaces, not too much).
I was happy to do the walking-stacking, and let the Guru operate the machinery. Wearing ear protectors (so proud of him).
If you’re lucky, step back and enjoy the aesthetics of the stacked wood against the sunlight on the grove.