It’s a holiday weekend, bookended by Canada Day and the Fourth of July. As a dual citizen, I feel obligated to celebrate as much as possible, which means I am trying to work as little as possible. Today, that means learning something fun. Like perspective bending, with sheep.
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Yesterday I took a brief break to check on my butterfly weed (blooming happily!) and noticed an interesting beetle by the door.
“Ooh,” I asked myself, “could that be a firefly?”
It could. It was.
Last night, between brightly-colored expressions of Canadian joy (aka celebratory fireworks), we spotted brightly-colored expressions of firefly joy above the cedar hedge. The lone Lampyridae had a hard time competing, but he gave it his best shot.
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I have great memories of family nights outside in the garden when I was a kid, watching hundreds of fireflies looking for love. It was magic.
We don’t have hundreds now, but I’m working to make our yard as firefly-friendly as I can, particularly around mating season (aka now). Here’s how:
Some of the things you can do:
Time to recapture a bit of that summer magic.
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Posted in Likes, Science! | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, family, home, Lampyridae, memories, Thoughts | Leave a Comment »
I originally hail from the United States but I’m also proud to be a citizen of Canada. Is it perfect? (Is either country?) No. But this is a multi-faceted country with a complex history and also a lot of good, and being part of something is the best way to both contribute to its present and better its future.
Happy Canada Day, Canada! Let’s all work together for brighter days.
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It’s hot here and everywhere. The critters in the back yard are trying to keep cool.
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It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.
— Yogi Berra
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Lots to do today, so here’s a house-of-cards-building robot for you!
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I’m not quite done with my grandmother’s portrait, apparently. One of the things I did over the weekend was to start learning colorization, and now Grandma has a pretty pink dress:)
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Sunday
Istanbul-Cappadoccia
I’m in seat 34 and already seven minutes late. We’re on the night bus to Cappadocia and I’m settling in for a ten-hour ride into the heart of Turkey. The old woman ahead of me is getting feisty, pounding on the window and demanding to leave, loudly. This little drama is all in Turkish, of course, but it’s hard to misunderstand this kind of impatience. Most of the country seems to travel by bus and this is the largest terminal I’ve ever seen. The station is huge, complete with hotel and shopping complex, mosque, 200,000 lira WCs, and plenty of air guns to keep the kids occupied.
What’s this? We’re leaving right on time, only 14 minutes behind schedule.
Tops in Turkey: Topkapi Palace, cherry juice and jam, beer on a rooftop terrace with a view of the Haghia Sofia and Blue Mosque.
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Recent chat transcript with my father (note the time stamps):
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Posted in Funny, Writing | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, family, Fiction, Thoughts | Leave a Comment »
Mr. Man had to get up early so we started the day with an extra hour. I decided to use it to learn something.
Suddenly, that extra time has disappeared and taken its friends with it.
On the plus side, I found an angel.
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How are stars made? You know, those celestial bodies illuminating the sky, happily burning until they get tired of that and become star dust, the components of which we are made.
“The cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star stuff.”
— Carl Sagan
Check out this simulation of a star forge.
How do stars form? Most form in giant molecular clouds located in the central disk of a galaxy. The process is started, influenced, and limited by the stellar winds, jets, high energy starlight, and supernova explosions of previously existing stars. The featured video shows these complex interactions as computed by the STARFORGE simulation of a gas cloud 20,000 times the mass of our Sun.
— APOD: 2021 June 23 – STARFORGE
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I’m also making today, although nothing as dramatic as stars. More like yogurt, a project that required the sewing machine, and a hack for our leaky dishwasher (yes, another appliance is on the road to obsolescence; they really don’t make them like they used to).
I’m also heading into the workshop to make things out of wood. Well, to remember how to make things. And find my tools. And my respirator. And my wood turning clothes. It’s been a while (thanks, Covid)!
My projects won’t be as dynamic or lovely as a star (or Chopin’s music, for that matter).
I’ll still try.
After all, I want to do my ancestors proud.
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Posted in Likes, Science! | Tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, astronomy, creativity, inspiration, NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day, stars | Leave a Comment »
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