Posts Tagged: water

Weekend Tidbits or an Ode to Hedgehogs, Water, and the Deep Time of Trees, plus a few Con Men

Posted by & filed under ideas + opinions, tidbits.

Hedgehogs, UK Politics, and general understated Amusement in this Metafilter post: “1566 seems very recent, but the hedgehog was around before then”
Transcript of MP Rory Stewart’s hedgehog defense in Parliament in 2017.

Of all the possible Tory MPs possible to be the next Prime Minister, one can only hope that the Conservatives will vote for Mr. Stewart and not Mr. Johnson.

Why Water is Weird

Black, Hot Ice May Be Nature’s Most Common Form of Water

This Evangelical Prayer-Coin Grift Is What the Age of Trump Is All About

“The Wall Street financiers and C-suite lords-of-the-universe have made a Faustian bargain of their own, simply accepting that the President of the United States will have regular bouts of public insanity and upend the post-World War II geopolitical order because the Dow is up and taxes are down. This will not end well for them or for the Evangelicals, because everyone who gets in bed with Donald Trump ends up debased and disgraced. Often, he convinces them to do it to themselves. “

Men Have No Friends and Women Bear the Burden
Toxic masculinity—and the persistent idea that feelings are a “female thing”—has left a generation of straight men stranded on emotionally-stunted island. Unable to forge intimate relationships with other men, it’s women who are paying the price.

A landmark malaria vaccine has been rolled out in Malawi

This Graphic Shows the Best Air-Cleaning Plants, According to NASA

The Art of Blooming Late

Winning the Peace

Trees of deep time are a portal to the past : The vanishing groves
A chronicle of climates past and a portent of climates to come – the telling rings of the bristlecone pine

The London Skyline at Dusk from the Embankment Bridge

Posted by & filed under art + photography, photos + text from the road, writing + blogs.

The London Skyline at Dusk from the Embankment Bridge

Sun. 11.18.18 – Yes, I am back in London to write. I find that I write best here, for a number of reasons both known and rather mysterious to me. When I am home in California, I can muster 2000-4000 words per month, hardly words enough to finish a short story in reasonable time – let alone a book. When I am in London, I can reach that word count in two days or less.

The last two years of US politics have heavily weighed me down and when I get to London, as long as I stay off of the news and social media sites, I am able to feel slightly bouyant again. At least here, I can float in my imagination – unfettered from the fecal matter of US politics – long enough to create and write.

While I am not participating in the NaBloPoMo nor NaNoWriMo, I am doing my best to restart my blogging practice in a more regular fashion – albeit in clumps – as well as finish writing a few stories and a book.

Here I am for a month. Let’s see how much writing and editing I can get done. Wish me luck.

Photo taken by Ms. Jen from the Embankment Golden Jubilee Bridge at dusk with her camera phone.

Just Before Dawn on All Saints Day, or Getting Up Too Early to Photograph the Sunrise at Mackerel Cove

Posted by & filed under art + photography, nature + environment.

Sparky sitting nicely, waiting for a treat Sunrise at Mackerel Cove beach

Thurs. 11.01.18 – To a person who is not yet on East Coast Daylight time, but instead still three hours behind in Pacific Daylight time, waking up at 6:40am in Rhode Island to be out at Mackerel Cove beach to photograph the sunrise and dogs running free at low tide was a bit of a difficult thing to do – though it was well worth it.

The air was cold, 30-something degrees fahrenheit – hat, gloves, and a jacket were needed. The sun rose slowly, with the first pink light reflections on the wet low tide line at 6:50am. For the next twenty or so minutes, Sparky the black lab ran happily after her ball while Kenji the island dog poked along the high tide kelp piles for edibles, as the clouds lying low in packed cotton ball formation in the eastern sky turned from gray to pink to neon pink-orange-yellow to the sun rising over the trees and houses on the east side of the cove. From 6:50am to 7:18am, it was magical.

Photos taken by Ms. Jen with her Nikon D850 and a 50mm lens.

Pygmy Nuthatches at the Dripping Faucet

Posted by & filed under art + photography, nature + environment.

Pygmy Nuthatches at the Dripping Faucet

Sat. 10.20.18 – Once again the pygmy nuthatches returned to the water faucet today and I was prepared with my Nikon D850 and a 300mm f/4 lens. I was further prepared by optimizing the fn button on the front of the D850 to switch image size between FX and DX crop so that I would get more reach to take a nice photo(s) of any birds at the water faucet.

This photo makes me happy.

Silver Lake in its Autumnal Glory

Posted by & filed under art + photography, nature + environment, photos + text from the road.

Silver Lake in its Autumnal Glory

Sat. 10.13.18 – This afternoon, my Mom and I decided to take a drive around the June Lakes Loop to see the aspen trees in their autumn glory of golden tones. While the trees are a bit far on the opposite bank of Silver Lake, the over all view is most glorious from the boat ramp area of the lake.

Photo taken by Ms. Jen with her camera phone.

Orion Rising over The Moovalya Keys

Posted by & filed under art + photography, fun stuff.

Orion Rising over The Moovalya Keys

Sun 12.18.16 – A photo of Orion Rising over the Moovalya Keys taken from the boat ramp looking east this evening by Ms. Jen with her Lumia 950 camera phone. This was handheld at 4 seconds and 3200 ISO, there was a bit of post-processing to get rid of the glare from the lights on the house.

Double click on the photo for the larger version.

The Sunset as seen from South of the HB Pier

Posted by & filed under art + photography, nature + environment.

The Sunset as seen from South of the HB Pier

Mon 10.14.16 – In going through my photos taken in October and November 2016 with my Nikon D800 and a Nikon 50mm f/1.4G lens, I have found a few gems to share with you all. This photo was taken on 10.06.16 just south of the Huntington Beach pier from the boardwalk on an evening where the colors of the sunset were fantastic, so I had to pull over while driving on PCH to go out and take photos.

Enjoy. Double click for larger version(s).

The Moon and the Puddle

Posted by & filed under art + photography, nature + environment.

The Moon and the Puddle in the desert

Mon 01.11.16 – While driving just after sunset eastbound on California highway 62, I knew that the new crescent moon would be setting soon behind me. As the dusk deepened, the road turned to Vidal Junction and out of the farside of my left side vision, I could see the moon. I pulled over as soon as it was safe to do so and saw this large puddle from recent rains in the desert and was delighted.

I pulled out the Nikon D800 but could not unearth the tripod from under the luggage, so here is my photo of the Moon and the Puddle.