One Good Tern Deserves Another

Yucky gray days are a great time to reminisce of brighter times in happy places. We were on a dolphin watching tour with Michael Poole in the lagoon around Moorea when these two terns landed on the railing and began to watch the tourists. They were probably hoping for a handout. Had we been fishing,Continue reading “One Good Tern Deserves Another”

Now You See It, Now You Don’t

A large “blemish” can be seen on the lower right part of the upper photo, but not on the lower photo taken a day later. Don’t you wish face cream worked like that? Well, maybe not; this “blemish” is over 100,000 miles long, weighs on the order of billions of tons, and was explosively ejectedContinue reading “Now You See It, Now You Don’t”

Colorful Conundrum

The winter sun is slowly shifting northward again and in the process produces curious late afternoon light shows that vary daily. Its setting rays recently passed through the windows and through a pane of glass that painted this rainbow on the doorway. With a little effort I might have been able to identify the sourceContinue reading “Colorful Conundrum”

Earthy But Not That Rare

They’re called rare earth elements (see yellow highlights above), and while they are not abundant like oxygen or carbon, they are not all that rare compared to the dangerous radon gas which we don’t want in our homes. In fact Cerium (element 58) is as abundant as copper. The problem with “rare earths” is thatContinue reading “Earthy But Not That Rare”

Fifty Down, 950 to Go

We have reached the 50 mile mark for walking this year, and are aiming for 1,000 miles for the whole year. Last year we made 1,002, but most years we do 20-30 miles over the goal. Fairy and I have been walking since we started dating in college during the last millennium, and we enjoyContinue reading “Fifty Down, 950 to Go”

Silhouetted in the Setting Sun

Gray clouds jostled by cold, gusting winds blocked the sun from view for nearly all of the day. Then as we returned from our day’s errands, a momentary beam of light pierced through the clouds and between trees to cast my shadow onto the kitchen cabinet. Less than a minute later it was all over,Continue reading “Silhouetted in the Setting Sun”