Musings

Here’s my hypothesis: when indoor plumbing came to the Sunny South, it was such an add-on, and most houses were built on pilings to frustrate termites, that many people just opted to endure freezing weather by the plumbing version of brute force—keep the pipes open by keeping the water flowing….

As a result, even at nice apartment complexes, this is the sign that greets you at the gate when the temps drop. The swimming pool is still full at this place, too….

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

The sky really was this blue….

Yes, 39°F in the heat of the day. Sure glad it was sunny!

Still, I had a nice walk through the park. Didn’t see Ole GBH,* although we did yesterday….

* Great Blue Heron

Posted at 4:12 PM | 2 Comments »

On this day in 2003, we flew into Seattle in fantastic weather, and had this terrific view of snow-capped Mt. Rainier. Facts:

It’s a stratovolcano (composed of multiple layers of lava and other volcanic exudations) measuring over 14,400 feet—that’s “nearly three miles higher than the lowlands to the west“.

Its Euroamerican name honors a British naval officer who lead aggressive action against American colonials, and brought swathes of the East Indies under British control.

Its best-known Aboriginal name is Tacoma (alternately: Talol, Tahoma), and that name also was used through the nineteenth century.

Also, eons ago, I had similar weather-luck when flying by Denali. But no camera….

Posted at 7:37 PM | Comments Off on Mount Tacoma

Finally, around 3:30 this afternoon, the overcast began to lift and blue skies appear.

Was this to celebrate the third load of laundry of the day? (Geeze, I hope not!) I did them in and around thinking about Mesoamerican archaeoastronomy….

Posted at 4:18 PM | Comments Off on Clearing skies

Today has been so overcast that the outdoors seems like it just quit raining, although it hasn’t really rained since the dark hours. Droplets still cling to vegetation, signs, vehicles—no significant evaporation under these conditions!

In the meantime, I’m trying to track down a good bread machine recipe that uses lots of flax (aka linseed) meal, which is high in omega-3s and fiber, yet tastes good. Historically, flax was a darned important plant in the Old World, for both food and fiber (linen* is flax-thread cloth).

* A bit of etymology: lingerie is from the French linge, referring to washable linen clothing, thus undergarments.

Posted at 3:11 PM | Comments Off on Drippy, overcast

The lichens and mosses are very happy to soak up our winter rains.

We walked to the Saturday organic farmer’s market (with real farmers, even if they use hydroponics and greenhouses) this morning, and I lost count of the houses we passed with “for sale” signs in front of them….

The common technical term for this kind of market is the (weekly—or similar; periodicity varies) periodic market. They concentrate marketing, and are perfect if the vendors or buyers have to invest considerable travel time to reach the marketplace. Traditional market systems feature periodic markets, which allow vendors to be part-time or small-scale. In areas where most market activity is conducted at periodic markets, the market day rotates among major communities/market locations across a region.

Personally, I think periodic markets are pretty darned interesting when you think about their origins and development…. Bunching up trading is advantageous in multiple ways: e.g., it’s easier to tax by spatially and temporally bunching market activities, it’s safer for participants, it frees everyone for non-market activities (especially production) on the intervening days, it allows different communities to have markets with no simultaneous competitor in the immediate area.

* Apologies; this refers to the Mother Goose nursery rhyme: “To market, to market, to buy a fat pig…“.

Posted at 5:13 PM | Comments Off on We didn’t buy a pig*

There’s lots going on here, including reflections, but what I see is that the window is remarkably filthy, smudged, and filmed.

Sigh. The downside of the low-angle winter sun….

Posted at 5:56 PM | 2 Comments »

Honestly, this picture is from today; sorry for the iPhone non-focus….

Atlanta’s in one of those weather quirks that happen every now and then. The high today was almost 70°. What a contrast to the white winter we saw earlier this week in the Midwest!

Posted at 6:11 PM | 2 Comments »

Hey, let’s not do that again soon: drive to Michigan and return on days when major snowstorms are striking.

Last night we hit the road after dinner, and made it south of the freeze zone (and south of Cincinnati, too, because travel there can be, well, frustrating), figuring ice was even more likely to impede our progress than heavy snowfall. Probably an excellent bet….

We returned to ATL under grey skies, but before dark. All well here, except our water was mysteriously off; we suspect vandalism—our bill is paid!

* Here’s the whole nursery rhyme….

Posted at 9:15 PM | 2 Comments »

I find the dry snow skittering across the road rather mesmerizing, like watching a wood-fire crackle. This is not a good thing when you’re driving, but it can help you take a right-seat nap!

Posted at 1:25 PM | Comments Off on Dry road-snow