Christine April 5th, 2010
a microcosm
in itself a tough concept
of things we don’t see
with each footstep a wonder
my own insignificance
Join in with us at One Single Impression. Thank you to Sandy and all the poets there who contribute to the gathering of poems.
Christine February 3rd, 2010
I guess the President has decided against NASA’s big 100 billion dollar project of sending man back to revisit the moon. I must say I’m relieved to know we’re going to leave La Luna alone, at least for the time being. Instead, Obama wants to put that money towards new rocket technology research. He envisions giving the space industry a little lift-off where they need it – in the development of cheaper, faster, better (pick any two) space ships. Probably that might be a wiser use of our money than tromping around in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong, but who knows. The shift in direction is short on details and seems to be geared more towards encouraging private industry to develop something NASA could use later. At least there do not seem to be any plans to go digging on the Moon in the near future – water or no water. (See my post below in related topics where I wrote about the discovery of water on the Moon or visit here.)
Christine January 14th, 2010
In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments – there are consequences.
Walking around in the Olympic National Park atop Hurricane Ridge at the end of December in your tennis shoes and light jacket looking for wild flowers is not “ignorance”. Holy Cow!
From the Kitsap Sun: “The temperature is about 25 degrees and the wind is blowing about 10 miles an hour, and they’re dressed like this, standing in 4 feet of snow. They tell us they’re going to climb to the top of the ridge, and you can’t even SEE the top of the ridge.”
Christine December 8th, 2009
The last few days have been bitterly cold which feels unusual for this early in December. The winter cold front is hitting our region with gusto; the wind-chill Sunday evening was about minus 15 but we haven’t had a lot of snow. It’s a dry freeze. The first cold snap of the season always seems like such a sudden shift in weather even though we know in our heads winter is coming, or hello — I’m here! Whack ~~
Chores left undone, such as putting the bikes in the basement to clear out the garage for our Honda, always happens fast at the last minute – the night before the storm when the weather page indisputably warns us about incoming snow followed by frigid Arctic air. So the garage is all cleaned out and one window at the back door now is weatherized. We bought the very last weather kit at the hardware store. I have read that given our climate’s shift due to the melting ice caps at the Poles, the subsequent slowing of warm ocean currents will bring much colder winter weather to the Northwest but lasting for shorter periods. That is, winters will hit hard earlier but not last as long. That’s the long term outlook anyhow.
It hardly seems fair to be sitting inside where it is warm, with my cup of hot Oolong, while the birds outside are trying to keep going in the minus 9 degrees this morning. However, to calm my concern I gathered all my warmest clothes early and struggled outside to fill the feeders and put out a little unfrozen water. The problem is: they don’t find the water until it freezes over again. But, I’ll keep switching the water out in hopes they catch on to my routine. I assure you, I skipped back indoors pretty quickly to my waiting cup of tea and a poem-in-the-works on the table. Brrr.
So I sat down to warm up and looked out the window with my cup in hand and here is how the mountain appeared as the sun was rising this morning with a south eastern shadow. Hoo-doggies. I can’t tell you how much I love that sunshine in all its brilliant clarity, but the sun only shines this time of year with a hard tax of cold. That’s alright. I perceive this as a gift of light along with the snow field. And what a field of light it is…
Oh beautiful. Montana can hit you hard when you ain’t lookin’ but she’ll turn around the next instant and give you a kiss which you’ll never forget.
Christine November 29th, 2009
There’s water up there. That is what I think about these days when I look up in the sky on our night walks as the moon waxes towards full. The recent discovery of water on the moon has some scientists very animated and the scuttle is that this is one of the most exciting finds for a long while. The implications are far-reaching. Not only is there some water on the moon but a”significant amount”. Read about it all here.
“…members of the NASA team concluded that they had found unmistakable signs of water — 220 pounds of it, the equivalent of about 26 gallons had it been in liquid form.”
I do think this is very cool from a purely scientific view, but I am concerned that we’ll start messing things up on the moon just like we have here on earth, with some variations on a theme since the moon does not have an atmosphere. We humans obviously don’t have a very good track record. There is enough space junk out there spinning around in orbit to prove this point. What an epic mess. Most of this orbiting trash – no one really knows exactly from which countries all the satellites originate. Now we have to send up satellites to spy on other satellites. It seems rather like the Who’s Who of satellite intelligence. At least these do have a limited life span.
And so, whose territory is the moon anyway? We are not exactly a unified earth yet. Who gets to start digging first? So far only a dozen men have walked on the moon, but not since 1972; thus the moon is relatively as it has been for a very, very long while. This is a fact which I ponder when looking up at the night sky. When does the gold rush begin? Actually, I should call it the Helium 3 rush. He3 is apparently ideal for fusion reactors and is the subject of this article about mining the moon. But this sounds like a long shot at present riddled with huge complications.
Well, until the answers from wiser people than myself start flooding in, I will find comfort with the fact that it’s going to cost an awful lot to rocket a bull dozer up there. Ha. A bull dozer that can operate without air… Oh dear, I suppose they are working on that too.
Christine November 7th, 2009
I love the patterns, textures and visual mystery in this photo Matthew took a few months ago at the beach.
Just when you feel
like you have your own cozy life
all figured out
you happen upon someone else
who provides a deeper definition
to the word
together.
Christine September 30th, 2009
We gotta’ spread the geek love around… and around.
Twenty-four seconds of mind-bending reality. If you glance down at the bottom after this one plays, you will see other short videos to click on and view right here also. The cube is cool… well actually they all are interesting.
Ian, how do you find these things?
Christine August 7th, 2009
The photo I took this afternoon on the road between Bozeman and Helena north of Townsend, MT. Canyon Ferry Lake is off in the distance and was covered with white caps since there was a stiff wind blowing. We were driving back with the cargo trailer full of our son’s belongings which we packed up as his SSEL internship in Bozeman is now complete. The sky was randomly scattered here and there with rain clouds which have moved into the northwest region dispelling the hot weather. We were happy to have the cool temperatures while packing and then driving back again.
Ian’s brain has literally been in the upper atmosphere for weeks now working on two different satellite projects connected with NASA. I believe he is happy to have a little break now before Fall semester begins on the 24th of this month. This shot of the sky outside of Townsend is in honor of his hard work the last 10 weeks! Here’s to special springs, drag and added mass, Ian! Always keep looking up; you’ll never know what will happen.
Christine May 31st, 2009
~~ This appears to be a peaceful scene which I quickly shot out of the car window this morning as we were hunting supplies in Bozeman, MT for our son before he begins his internship at Montana State University tomorrow. It was peaceful this morning and very sunny, but we were somewhat harried trying to find an inexpensive computer desk and gather in a good supply of food for Ian to stock in his own, first official apartment. I mentioned this particularly cool event here regarding the satellite project he will be working on for the next nine weeks.
As a Mom, it was difficult to drive away and leave him standing underneath the carport all alone. Thankfully, his roomie and fellow student-intern was to arrive soon. Still, as a parent one often gets hit broadside by the realization that even though not that much time has passed – yet there he is – a man all set up on his own. What happened? I did a lot of sighing today. Good luck honey on your exciting, new adventure!
The photos are, I believe, looking towards the Gallatin Range. I was rather turned around by the time I snapped these (driving around in circles often will do that to a person) so I could be mistaken as to what mountain range this is.
Christine May 13th, 2009
This is how the hillsides around here appear – aglow with Balsamroot. It looks like heaven, one reader wrote me. Mind the ticks however. It is difficult to walk through any brush or grass right now without carrying one or more ticks back to the car with you. Then try to drive while the other person is madly attempting to corner the suddenly just now discovered little bugger crawling on your collar and dispose of it before the tick goes springing off into a hidden crevice only to emerge on some unknowing victim a day or two later! I hate ticks; here is why. And the hillsides are quite alive with them. The walk was very worth the anxiety and annoyance to find nuances of color in the tiniest wild flower or joy of the blooming serviceberry and chokecherry trees.
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