Saturday, 7 January 2023
I look at this carpet and think, “I have no idea how to decode this textile,” or: once again—my ignorance. This piece was made, I’m pretty sure, before 1950, and perhaps a generation or two before. It’s some kind of special, perhaps not very. I wonder, however, as I tromp across it wearing outdoor shoes.
Friday, 6 January 2023
Here’s a photo of Vesuvius from Pompeii from our visit there in May 2011. For no apparent reason. Except maybe beauty?
Thursday, 5 January 2023
Scariest tree around (because it’s very large and looms over half our home), looking gorgeous in the late-day sun.
Wednesday, 4 January 2023
Turns out we got another wave of precip/storm overnight (after yesterday’s post) and through midday. This was at 7:20am. We received enough rain to cause local flooding and general super-moistness. Then, by 2pm, sunshine and gorgeousness.
So, we headed to our favorite international food shopping emporium to peruse a large assortment of plant varieties (while well masked). I found these Win Beans. That’s a typo for winged beans, and winged beans are Psophocarpus tetragonolobus. The whole plant is edible (including roots), and the pods have frilly edges, as you can see. Did not buy (call me chicken?).
Tuesday, 3 January 2023
I saw these colorful blobs this morning. Please note the iridescent blob behind “Roanoke.” The meteorologist interpreted this as a possible tornado touching down, or one forming/ready to do so. In short, scariness.
By the way, the Roanoke is not in Virginia, and the Texas is not that huge state. However, that slanting red line between the two is the state line between Alabama and Georgia.
So this worrisome storm-tracker radar is for the area southwest of us. At the time, the worst of it was moving northeast, toward us, yet the scary blob actually never nailed us. Instead, we received more peripheral storminess than was predicted this morning.
Monday, 2 January 2023
Bonus from our foray outside the perimeter: a stunning sunset.
Sunday, 1 January 2023
As I recall the traditional southern New Year’s Day good luck/health/wealth menu includes rice, field peas/beans, and greens, often collards. We had spinach for the greens and mixed beans (mostly garbanzos and black) for the beans. We skipped the grain, but had wheat crackers. We topped with white cheddar, green onions, and fresh cilantro.
Saturday, 31 December 2022
For this mini-essay, I’m putting 2022 in air quotes. It’s certainly been a year.
During this year we crossed the equator six times (if I’ve counted correctly). All within a two-week period. Also, we’ve lived through ups, and we’ve lived through downs.
All typical.
Yet, somehow my sense of time seems dented and distorted.
Still, I’m happy to be here on the cusp of 2023.
Saying goodbye to 2022 (please imagine air quotes).
Although you cannot tell, this is a sunset photo, the last sunset of the year.
Friday, 30 December 2022
Working through random thoughts on my 2022 life…from the ground up. No conclusions yet.
Thursday, 29 December 2022
I’m still wading through the qubit article I mentioned on the 24th. I have a modest understanding of the difference between a bit and a qubit, but I do not grasp how the entanglement property of qubits can be truly useful, so I’ll keep reading.
The qubit article is “The World-Changing Race to Develop the Quantum Computer” by Stephen Witt, dated 12 December (in the 19 December issue), in The New Yorker magazine.
Photo of moss on the the roof of the structure in the Japanese garden at the BotGarden in 2015. We had a day this sunny today.