Canada is a global leader in many arenas: friendliness, humor, dishes featuring cheese, gravy and potatoes.
Come fall, it also leads the way in terms of natural beauty.
The leaves on the maple across the street are beginning to turn. Thanks in part to my father falling in love with the Appalachian mountains on a job interview, I’ve watched this dance most of my life. First the green fades into yellows and orange and reds, slowly and then fast, until every vista is filtered through a rainbow-colored lens.
The change depends on a number of factors such as precipitation and temperature, but check out this map for a prediction:
If you have clear skies tonight, take a moment to look up. There will be a super blue moon overhead, and if last night’s preview is any indication, it will be glorious.
This special event is the coincidence of two uncommon moon traits: A supermoon, which occurs when the moon appears larger than usual, and a blue moon, or the second full moon in a month.
I enjoy stumbling across an interesting new way of looking at or interacting with the world, and realizing that a non-zero number of people are highly invested in a thing I had no idea existed.
Exhibit A: The hyperlapse is a niche art form documenting travel via a time lapse plus camera movement, where both distance and time are compressed into one immersive experience.
Here’s an example video of a walk around Canberra, Australia’s capital city.
“If you love what you do and are willing to do what it takes, it’s within your reach. And it’ll be worth every minute you spend alone at night, thinking and thinking about what it is you want to design or build. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
This morning: hot oatmeal and a cool breeze from the patio door. We leave the door open for the fresh air, which brings the scent of wildlife to entertain the cat, as well as some of the unexpected moments of aggravation and joy that help make a life.
Aggravation: noise from a construction site down the block.
Joy: halfway through breakfast, I hear a beat, a pattern drummed out as from a wooden handle on a large metal surface. It is from the construction site, but it is not the sound of machinery or backup beeps or men shouting. Is it a wheelbarrow, a water drum, a backhoe scoop? Whatever the source, there is both intention and musicality. A bored worker, perhaps, or an aspiring musician. Or just someone inspired to create a moment of beauty in an otherwise average day.
And then send that art out into the world, carried on the wind.
The recipes include a lot of interesting food, like medieval mead, garum, pirate rations, and the fascinatingly named “Hardtack and Hellfire.” Some of these items are still familiar, others not so much.
I am so down with this.
Previously, I’ve mentioned Krista Ball’s What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank, on how to feed your fantasy adventurers, but seeing these recipes come to life takes historical food to another level.
Enjoy (or at least feel happy that we have more on tap these days than sweet potato coffee)!
What are you doing this weekend? Maybe you have plans for an all-night rave this weekend, but if you’re free at some point between the hours of dark Saturday night and dawn Sunday morning, consider the Perseids.
The Perseids are known to treat viewers to a fantastic display, and coupled with a particularly dark sky, this year’s show is shaping up to be one you won’t want to miss…
During a meteor shower such as the Perseids, Earth passes through a large cloud of debris in space. Right now, the planet is moving amid the rocks and ice left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle, which last was seen from Earth in 1992. The 16-mile-long comet orbits the sun over a 133-year period, which means it won’t be seen again until 2125. But every August, its remains create the radiant Perseid meteor shower.
While there’s a major meteor shower every month, there’s nothing quite like the Perseid shower for those in the northern hemisphere, with the warm summer nights and better chances of clear skies. And this year, Canada is in a particularly favourable position for the peak night of Aug. 12–13.
And what do you know? I’m in Canada!
Perhaps you’re interested in a bunch of complicated graphs and a cool “activity level” dial? The Global Meteor Network has you covered.
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