Category Archives: Places

Better Than the Bird’s Eye View

Posted on February 11, 2018 by

Google Maps ISS

Google Maps | Space

Bonus: “They are wild things.”

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Freeplay Bound to Happens

Posted on September 12, 2017 by
veteran Dave B

veteran Dave B

Only a burning patience will lead to the attainment of a splendid happiness.
(Pablo Neruda)

rookie Nicole

rookie Nicole

Two weeks ago Nicole returned for her second Freeplay Softball league outing and, I believe, got five hits in six at-bats, including two doubles and a triple.

FREEPLAY-Sept-10_DSC0013

I don’t ever go on about my positive progression away from my mediocre mean, but on Sunday I struck out for the first time ever in Freeplay Softball, and only for the fourth time in over 3,000 career at-bats stretching back to 1971. Since I keep track of my yearly performances, it seems this was the first strikeout in around 2,700. This goes to show you that the scale of context is all important in determining whether someone is using statistics to present a positive or a negative.

You throw the sand against the wind
And the wind blows it back again.

(William Blake)

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So Humbling, Together

Posted on December 1, 2016 by

MoonWereOnePixel

If the Moon Were One Pixel

One real world is enough! (G. Santayana)

Bonus enlightenment:

Interactive Journey up Mount Everest

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Tiny Paper House

Posted on May 2, 2016 by

Wikkelhouse from Wikkelhouse on Vimeo.

I like to walk about among the beautiful things that adorn the world; but private wealth I should decline, or any sort of personal possessions, because they would take away my liberty. ~George Santayana, “The Irony of Liberalism”

Be content with what you have,
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you. ~Lao Tzu

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In the Whole of the River

Posted on August 26, 2014 by

E Middlebury River

The gash of the East Middlebury River between E. Middlebury and Ripton, Vermont

E. Middlebury River

Roughly, my two favorite swimming holes on the East Middlebury River. There are several good swimming spots by pull-offs from the road, but the best spots are deep in the narrow canyon and involve hiking and scrambling down the river’s boulder fields. The most magical swimming holes are mildly dangerous to get to, and the swimmer has to be smart about risky spots in the river’s course.

At one point on the river, (I recall from twenty-five years ago,) for about 50 yards the canyon narrows to less than twenty feet wide and this causes about a fifty foot high gash, at the beginning of which is a small waterfall, then comes a deep pool, and, then comes a deceptively dynamic breakout into a huge undercut boulder. It’s very dangerous because the pool is beautiful but it channels a lot of volume into a very risky situation.

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Rites of Spring

Posted on May 9, 2014 by
Roses 2013 Ohio

Rose burst-Spring 2013

Last spring, our first in our new house–built in 1915–provided a parade of flowers in our small and narrow back yard. I didn’t do anything but observe the upwelling pulchritude inherited from the previous owner. Yes, I knew we might get some roses blooming on the spindly, reedy unkempt five rose bushes. As it happened, it was a spectacular bloom.

Then came the major cuts this spring

roses cut back

Roses cut back, and mulched

Fortunately, although there are all sorts of bad things you can do to harm your roses, drastically cutting them back isn’t one of them.

closeup rose

Looking good!

staging pots

I learned a great deal last year. Our small lot faces north/south with a giant buckeye tree on the south end and a really large tulip and buckeye tree in the front. The neighbors have a stand of spruce, including a magnificent 100+ foot granddaddy. This results in partial-shade being the predominant condition. I love hanging pots, so Impatiens and fuschia are my go-to flowers.

But, I love petunias too, so these have to be staged in the only ‘full light’ patch of property I can deploy for their sake. My great experiment this years involves growing the super and wave petunias in the staging area, and then moving them to the front of the house into less-than-optimal conditions.

ilovespring

Sonny lovin’ spring’s sproing.

five spot

It’s a rare occurrence to get all the kids in the same frame, and the best bet to do so is when the window goes up for the first time after a long winter. (Sonny-Kippie-Sassy-Kizzy-Glori)

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The Marmaray Link

Posted on October 29, 2013 by

Wikipedia reports: Construction started in 2004, with an initial target opening date of April 2009.[1] After multiple delays due to historical finds, the first phase of the projected opened on October 29, 2013.

The name Marmaray comes from combining the name of the Sea of Marmara, which lies just south of the project site, with ray, the Turkish word for rail.

Marmaray Tunnell

Nine years of digging, constructing, engineering

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Nashville

Posted on August 12, 2013 by

elvis2-nashville

NAshville-Bebos

Susan is in Nashville for work. She said she would send me photos that I might dig. Thanks, honey! These are cool.

Here’s Connie Britton and Charlie Esten performing as themselves in a sweet meta moment touching upon their network, shy-of-a-hit, show, Nashville.

The TV show is an hour long grown-up soap set in Music City. It’s interpersonal dramas touch upon romance and career jostling in the country music business, so it counts as the first prime time drama about the music business. When anybody in its cast sings, all is good. Connie Britton, playing a veteran country super star, Rayna James, turns out to be a serviceable singer and her stage presence is stellar. Clare Bowen, who plays Scarlet O’Connor, is a find. We already knew Hayden Panettiere, who plays a Miranda Lambert type, Juliette Barnes, can sing. The female songbirds are balanced out by handsome crooning male counterparts. When people sing, I dig Nashville.

When almost anything else happens, I’m reminded how needlessly horrible the show is, how ludicrous is its treatment of the music business, and how wasted are its cast members. Britton obviously is one of the most appealing and most charismatic of all current TV stars. The show is well acted even if the scripts are humorless and the pacing is painful. In the new season, I hope the new showrunners give some velocity to much better dialogue. This could make one of prime time’s sexiest and songful hours shoot up the charts.

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